As well as the usual diamonds and whatnot, Princess Anne received hundreds of wedding gifts from ordinary members of the public, many of them ludicrous and possibly insulting. See part 1 of the list here, and here's part 2... Here is a further selection from the list of gifts received by ... Read More...
Funny
We were delighted that our friend Terry Stiastny triumphed at the Paddy Power Political Book Awards last night, beating Andrew Marr, James Naughtie and others in the Fiction category for her fine novel Acts of Omission. The Dabblers went along to the swanky reception party, which was attended by every political journalist and Parliamentary grandee you ... Read More...
A little after one in the morning we emerged arm-in-arm from the Bristol Museum and walked unsteadily in the direction of the taxi rank outside Brown’s. Mrs Brit was in a cocktail dress and heels. I was in a dinner suit (by M&S, machine washable) and a real bow tie ... Read More...
As well as the usual tiaras, diamonds and whatnot, Princess Anne received hundreds of gifts from ordinary members of the public. These included novelty handcuffs, some 'futuristic crayon pictures', a biro, to mention just a few of the best ones... I've always liked a bloody good list, which is presumably why ... Read More...
As everyone who has ever worked anywhere knows, the worst bit of any business is the customers. Here, Steerforth recalls the most absurd questions he was asked when working as a bookseller... The following is a real-life encounter I had with a customer when I was a fledgling bookseller: Customer - I ... Read More...
Frank reveals the story behind The Heft of Dough, the notorious concept album made by the power pop combo Agnetha and Anna-Frid and Benny and Bjorn and Dot Tint... The Heft Of Dough is the title of an LP recorded towards the end of the last century by Agnetha and Anna-Frid ... Read More...
Frank Key recalls a cosy memory of a 1980s Christmas on the political hard Left... 1983 was, for me, a memorable year for Christmas crackers. I was young, newly-married, and an earnest and idealistic leftie. Being the armchair revolutionary type, I had not actually joined any of the various socialist or ... Read More...
Nudging our way through the drinkers and smokers outside the Bath Pavilion on a cold rain-spotted Friday night Mrs Brit and I bumped into Ian, an old friend. I’m always bumping into Ian and always pleased for it. He’s the best drunk I’ve ever known, by which I mean it ... Read More...
In this story, extracted from Frank's new book The Funny Mountain, an 18th century Baron's ha-ha wall plays an important role in intergalactic warfare... Writers of science fiction are fond of the invisible force-field, an unseen barrier which unexpectedly stops a spaceman, or the evil Thargon, in his tracks. Landscape gardeners ... 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...
