There is a radio programme in the UK called Desert Island Discs where a “castaway” has to choose 8 recordings, a book and a luxury to make life bearable on that mythical desert island. I have always been obsessed by…
I noticed in yesterday’s newspaper that China has announced the death at the age of 93, of Zhuo Lin, the widow of Deng Xiaoping who was Mr. Powerful in China from 1977 until sometime shortly before his death in 1997.…
I live in the kind of town where it is so easy to put the World to rights. It is a beautiful place populated by well-meaning liberal intellectuals for the most – a mix of old hippies, public service employees…
Mid-August is an evocative time here in Southern England and after a sociable and luxuriously fed weekend there was nothing quite like rounding it off quietly in my small courtyard garden with a simple supper under the fading blue skies…
It sounds crazy over there in the USA. All those people going mad about President Obama’s healthcare reform policies sound like they have gone hysterical. Death threats in the name of God! Where does that fit in with anyone’s idea…
I went to Bexhill-on-Sea yesterday. It is a seaside town in East Sussex, England – not far from here but I have never been there before. I knew about it, of course. As a small schoolboy I read about it…
Would you like me to sing you a song? Well, tough. I have lost my singing voice. Doesn’t he go on? I can hear you now as I mention that dreaded word illness. Now don’t worry, I am not going…
I am half way through my morning mug of coffee, the window is open, pleasantly neutral summer air is breezing its way round my room and, somehow, a small spider has decided to make me its home. Off you go…
Another new week begins with a new dosage of my anti-seizure drugs – epanutin – I am now down to half my original amount and consequently full of hope that I am on the mend. So far I have had…
It is that time of year when it used to be traditional to go to the seaside for your summer holidays – well here in Europe anyway. I was one of those lucky children who actually grew up with the…