Deanna Durbin – Singing the Durbin Way

Nige celebrates a surprisingly influential singer... Today is the 91st birthday of Deanna Durbin, singing film star of the 1930s and 40s. And she is still alive to enjoy it, somewhere in France, where she has lived quietly for decades since turning her back firmly on the biz we call show ... Read More...

In praise of Australian wines

Having successfully defended blended whiskies, Henry turns his attention another enemy of certain drink snobs: Aussie wines... A couple of years ago before I was an enormously well-respected wine writer with my own column in a prestigious magazine, I replied to something written by Tim Atkin on which wine region or ... Read More...

Dabbler Diary – Afflicted by a Pox

My household has this past fortnight been afflicted by a pox. The windows have been boarded up and I’ve been roaming the corridors wafting a carbolic smokeball. Eerie groans echo in fetid chambers. The plants have withered and no visitors come. It is the chicken pox, and both my daughters ... Read More...

Songs for Albert Ross

This Lazy Sunday it's time to pull the duvet up tight and get cosy and warm, as Worm casts us adrift on the dark and stormy waters of the North Atlantic... In 1967, a couple of twitchers on a jaunt to the Hebrides to look for migratory arctic birds were met ... Read More...

Bestial style for winter?

Susan's globetrotting again. Here's a winter warmer from her archives... Big furry ears make me happy. It might work for you too. Can you imagine the winter high street bustling with creatures? Foxes, badgers, the odd Minotaur, not to mention all the beasts you can't name. Could hats change the world? Asks ... Read More...