Ruskin, as we discovered earlier this week, knew a thing or two about hawthorn blossom. But was he right about Tennyson's marshy punting? And what are Spiritual Boats? Frank investigates... In the poetry of Tennyson, boating has “a very marshy and punt-like character”. This is the view of John Ruskin, in ... Read More...
Film
Some of the most memorable films live on in our affections not just because they're beautifully shot or well acted or superbly scripted. Sometimes what really makes them stick in our memory is a song... The right sort of song - presented in the right way, in the right place, and ... Read More...
A treat for you today as commenter and friend of The Dabbler John Halliwell brings you music inspired by the rhythm of the trains... As a child I developed an almost fanatical love of the steam engine; I doubt Betjeman felt that love any more intensely. Winter was a favourite time: ... Read More...
Who invented the one partner for life rule? And why? If you’re of the old school, you may well have been happily married for decades… but for Kay (Meryl Streep) and Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones), things are a bit stale after 31 years together. Kay would like to spice up her ... Read More...
The Dabbler is pleased to welcome superblogger Rob Baker on board for a series of guest posts taken from his excellent Nickel in the Machine. In his day job Rob is a TV producer, but is concentrating more and more on writing, having recently launched The London Project in an ... Read More...
On his birthday we pay tribute to a great actor - and one of life's scrappers. Dustin Hoffman celebrates three-quarters of a century this month. Obviously a great actor, but just as obviously quite funny looking. He had to wait until he was 29 for his break - in The Graduate ... Read More...
Kensington Gore: Luke Honey takes us on a trip around some London landmarks captured on film and uncovers some strange and groovy goings on down the King's Road... I first noticed him one Saturday morning; about a week or so after moving into my new house in Battersea: a man with ... Read More...
When I was invited to a preview of independent filmmaker Mike Freedman’s latest documentary, I turned on my SatNav and headed for somewhere in SE11. Manoeuvring into the narrow driveway of what initially looked like a modern housing development, but then appeared to be the entrance to some sort of ... Read More...
Quintessential Mahlerman this week: four exemplary unions of music and film... A few weeks ago I took a sideways look at plagiarism in movie scores, going on to name the guilty men and sit them on the naughty-step. But a much easier route has always been available to film producers when ... Read More...
"You buy a bag of peanuts in this town, you get a song written about you"... This week Brit considers the musical legacy of Orson Welles’ masterpiece Citizen Kane... The gloriously awful singer Florence Foster Jenkins, as featured in Mahlerman’s post about unserious music, put me in mind of the opera scene ... Read More...
