Archive for August, 2008

A descent into The Idiot

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

“The ordinary accounts of this vortex had by no means prepared me for what I saw.” - A Descent into the Maelström by Edgar Allan Poe
Truthfully, I was not familiar with any accounts of …some trace of her, but I was still unprepared for this unusual, giddying play. It is inspired by Dostoevsky’s tome The […]

Taking the mountain (by strategy)

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Admiral Nelson suffered from seasickness right until he met his Trafalgar. When he met other seasick sailors, he’d tell them “If you don’t want to get seasick, go and sit under a tree.” This approach ensured he died a figure of nautical, rather than arboreal, legend.
Common sense might tell tell us, if you can’t see, […]

Not so rough

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Ever since someone put a bullet through the window of the Honeypot, a Caribbean and English food takeaway round the corner from me, last Christmas, I’ve thought that my ‘hood has certain elements of roughness. I feel pretty safe, but when those two French students were horrifically murdered a mile or so away in June, […]

A historical series of errors

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

A month or so ago Giles Coren made wrote a furious letter to some of the editors at The Times who had indecently altered his flawless copy. I suppose one of them must have taken umbrage at his superior tone and then gone and leaked the letter.
Well, this week, the night editor at the Sunday […]