At The Dabbler we are blessed with the finest commenters on the internet. Jonathan Law’s comments are so deep, rich and insightful (and frankly he’s costing us a fortune in Glengoyne whisky) that we have invited him to write his own feature. Notes in the Margin will be an irregular column ... Read More...
London
Something to tide you over our epically wet drought. A couple of days a week I wander to work through the back-streets of Chelsea, between the Kings Road and the river. They must be some of the most charming streets to be found in any city; pricey charm though - I ... Read More...
Following yesterday’s drinks at the Mall Tavern, some Dabblers may be experiencing side effects such as double vision, dizziness, nausea, lightheadedness, loss of balance, bladder urgency and abnormal sweating. You will be pleased to hear that RetroProgressive has found a cure for these uncomfortable ailments, thanks to a February 1936 copy ... Read More...
On your day to day travels about town, have you ever had an epiphanic moment – an instant when you've seen something as you’ve never seen it before? Bryan Appleyard writes about this in his book, The Brain is Wider than the Sky. He talks of the concept of ‘vuja ... Read More...
A ribald, rollicking historical treat for you this week, as Mr Slang brings to vivid life the world of the 'penny gaff' theatres of London... It is impossible to contemplate the ignorance and immorality of so numerous a class as that of the costermongers, without wishing to discover the cause of ... Read More...
'The Pitcher' - Arthur Binstead This week Mr Slang recalls a weekly sporting rag with a strong sideline in the music-halls and tittle-tattle... ‘For Galahad in his day had been a notable lad about town. A beau sabreur of Romano’s, A Pink ‘Un. A Pelican. A crony of Hughie Drummond and Fatty ... Read More...
If you are looking for something to do on a Saturday between now and the end of the month, I can recommend a visit to Sands Films Studio in Rotherhithe. Go along for tea and cake at 4.0 pm, followed by a tour of the premises and a screening of ... Read More...
To make up for the lack of time I’ve had to prepare a post this week, I thought you might like to see inside some of the rooms at London’s Corinthia Hotel. Sorry, I’m not inviting you there for a clandestine kiss and cuddle - but I do have some ... Read More...
Bryan ponders a 'troubling dream' of a photograph... This is William Henry Fox Talbot’s Nelson’s Column under Construction, Trafalgar Square, April 1844. It is a photograph that has haunted me for some time. The Met’s commentary says it ‘marks the beginning of a new, photographic way of seeing’ which, I think, is ... Read More...
The annual Handel’s Messiah concert at St Paul’s Cathedral had a somewhat more edgy vibe this year. Tent City turned out to be a much shabbier type of encampment than I’d envisaged from the press. In the twenty minutes that I waited outside the cathedral, being blasted by the icy ... Read More...
