You'd have to have a heart of stone not to chuckle a little bit at Andrew Mitchell's contriving to catastrophically lose a battle that I for one had thought he'd won months ago, or at least at the Judge's ruling that PC Rowland - the rozzer at the gate - ... Read More...
Year: 2014
In today's Dabbler Verse feature, Stephen considers self-awareness, and introduces a poem by C. Day Lewis... Is it possible to look at yourself objectively? To see yourself for who you are? Speaking for myself, I have my doubts. Still, I like to think that I am more optimistic about the possibility ... Read More...
What kind of lunatic wears socks with sandals? The Wikiworm consults Wikipedia to see what it has to say on this important topic... Wearing socks with sandals is a controversial fashion combination and cultural phenomenon that is discussed in various countries and cultures. It is sometimes considered a fashion faux pas. The earliest evidence of wearing socks in sandals ... Read More...
It has long been believed that Ernest Shackleton's glimpses of an 'extra man' on his Antarctic expedition were exhausted hallucinations. But Frank has discovered important new evidence showing that he may have been right all along... Who is the third who always walks beside you? When I count, there are only you ... Read More...
Ever wondered why Americans have an enormous family turkey dinner just before having to do it all over again a few weeks later? Author and historian Peter Firstbrook explains Thanksgiving for a British audience, including why it's so close to Christmas... Today, millions of families throughout the United States will sit down ... Read More...
Christmas in America is a-comin' already - and Rita isn't too happy about it... “Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells” sang the little boys in the back seat, loud and enthusiastic rather than tuneful. “Really boys,” I interrupted, “it’s not even Thanksgiving yet!” I tried to interest them in a made-up turkey song, ... Read More...
If you thought The Hellfire Duke was something else, wait until you meet his uncle Goodwin - as we continue our weekly serialisation of Jonathan Law's The Whartons of Winchendon... Rismin! Accoron! Osmindor! Rumbonium! High summer in deepest Bucks – and something very strange is stirring in the woods. The woman stalks slowly ... Read More...
This week Mahlerman turns his attention to the Late Quartets of Beethoven - music so great that even T S Eliot would struggle to put it into words... "I should like to get something of that into verse before I die." This is how TS Eliot, in a letter to his friend ... Read More...
A chain smoking sport star from a simpler time is the star of today's Wikiworm article, trawled from the deeper recesses of Wikipedia. Maxwell "Max" Woosnam (1892 – 1965) was an English sportsman who is sometimes referred to as the 'Greatest British sportsman' in recognition of his achievements. Amongst his achievements were winning an ... Read More...
Frank went to see the exhibition Terror And Wonder : The Gothic Imagination at the British Library. On his way home, he fell into a hypnagogic trance. When he awoke, he found he had scribbled the following story in his pocketbook... One foul and thunderous day, Prince Fulgencio was much pained ... Read More...
