Thank god, the Christmas food (and drink) fest is almost over. Though if your Christmas is like mine, you may end up with quite a few culinary curiosities in your food cupboards. I buy numerous jars of pickles every year. Last year’s pickled walnuts were still in the cupboard when I ... Read More...
RetroProgressive
Dabbler style
I have just read Jonathon Green's fascinating post from earlier in the week, having been out very late at a party. What I write may not make too much sense, so I'm sticking mainly to photographs today. My suggestion is that guns should never be used for shooting again, but ... Read More...
If the summer holiday is the 'silly season', the Christmas break surely has to be the 'shopping season': A celebration of something sacred transformed into a festival of greed and degenerate gift-grabbing. Whilst out battling Christmas shoppers the other day, I was just about to pay for yet more wrapping paper, ... Read More...
If it weren't for a proper, old fashioned newspaper, I would not have discovered an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, and would never have visited the extraordinary property that has recently been named one of 31 national treasures by the USA’s National Trust for Historic Preservation. Located at 2007 Franklin Street, Haas Lilienthal ... Read More...
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...
You may have read the excoriating email that retired naval officer, Nick Crews, sent to his three children, complaining of his “bitter disappointment” with their “copulation driven” self-indulgence? Reading this made me want to have a rant of my own on the issue of modern manners – or rather, lack of ... Read More...
In our part of the world, most of us reach middle age without ever seeing a dead body, making death a subject of fascination. Death is just out of reach, yet it affects us all – it is both universal and indiscriminate. Death – A Self-Portrait, the new exhibition at ... Read More...
Despite having fuddy-duddy connotations, I was surprised to discover that the pastime we call bird watching isn’t actually that old – or at least the term isn’t. Bird watching is popularly thought of as the sort of thing dweeby old guys do to get away from the Missus. The twitcher’s ... Read More...
This week I’ve written several posts on the subject of hair and headwear. First I spotted a sudden surge in the number of fashion accessories made using hair. Then I noticed that old hairdressers’ dummies are rapidly becoming collectors’ items… In case you don't know, these are the mannequin heads ... Read More...
Alcatraz Island emerged from a bank of fog and I suddenly realized why it’s known as The Rock. Stories of ancient curses, military fortresses and its designation as a National Park are not why visitors flock by the ferry-load to this tourist attraction in the Bay of San Francisco. The ... Read More...