It's cuckoos, buck deer farts and alternative St George's day festivities this month, as Professor Nick Groom looks at the English April... What does a cuckoo sound like? Silly question: ‘cuck-oo!’ So imagine my surprise when a university lecturer confessed to me that she didn’t know and couldn’t recognize this seasonal ... Read More...
Month: April 2014
Contrary to popular opinion, Frank Sinatra made some of his most interesting records well into his 'September years', argues Seamus Sweeney... The conventional wisdom holds that Sinatra was, musically, most interesting in the mid-1950s; his collaborations with arranger Nelson Riddle and, to a slightly lesser extent, Billy May produced the classic albums which have ... Read More...
Continuing our 1970s theme, Steerforth recalls that decade's obsession with bizarre dance shows and other strange telly... The above picture shows the Easter story, expressed through the medium of dance. How anyone thought it was a good idea to tell the story of the crucifixion of Jesus through dance and mime, performed ... Read More...
'piles: see Benn, Tony'... Just occasionally, a book's index is a work of art in itself. Here, Jonathan Law finds some that offer a hilarious insight into 1970s Britain... In a recent Dabbler Diary, Brit wrote interestingly about reactions to the passing of Tony Benn – that “indefatigable, articulate, admirable, unique ... Read More...
In today's Dabbler Verse post, Stephen introduces P. J. Kavanagh's poetic tribute to Edward Thomas... This coming Wednesday is the 97th anniversary of Edward Thomas's death at the Battle of Arras. In 1917, April 9th fell on Easter Monday. Edward Thomas in Heaven Edward, with thinning hair and hooded eyes Walking in England, haversack ... Read More...
Unwanted house guests, drugs and procrastination are the subject of this week's foray into the nether regions of Wikipedia... The Person from Porlock was an unwelcome visitor to Samuel Taylor Coleridge during his composition of the poem Kubla Khan in 1797. Coleridge claimed to have perceived the entire course of the ... Read More...
They don't make 'em like Robert Baden-Powell any more. In this week's cupboard is the scout founder, hero of Mafeking and embodiment of British Pluck... Rummaging on my bookshelves the other day I was delighted to find my somewhat battered copy of The Penguin Ronald Searle. It's a first edition from ... Read More...
Daniel Kalder on a space adventure that would really annoy Nigel Farage... I’ve never been much of a Star Trek fan. It’s not because I don’t like Science Fiction- Star Wars and alien invasion B-movies were a big part of my childhood, I grew up reading 2000AD, and I wrote my ... Read More...
For a British ex-pat, even the weather in America is bigger and badder... There is a new four-letter word in the vocabulary of Washingtonians: SNOW. This winter has been remarkable for a continual onslaught of snow and ice storms and record breaking cold. There was no respite. Every week, even as ... Read More...
Nige discovers the extraordinary short stories of 'the American Chekhov'... I must admit I had never heard of the American short story writer Peter Taylor until, last Christmas, Mrs N gave me a volume of his - The Old Forest and Other Stories (available for a penny, and indeed a cent on Amazon) - ... Read More...
