Cooler than Jack Nicolson even – yes, Stanley Kubrick is the man.
This photograph is cool in so many ways. It’s cool to be making a movie with Jack Nicolson for sure. It’s even cooler if you’re the director. Cooler still if you’re Stanley Kubrick. However the coolness surpasses the Arctic Circle and Antarctica combined when…
“The Indian Mozart” – Ravi Shankar (1920 – 2012)
Ravi Shankar (1920-2012) I never met Ravi Shankar but I loved him dearly like many of my generation. I was one of thousands of people in the West who first listened to Indian music because of him. For me, the…
At last! A cure for celebrity photo opportunists.
Cheryl Cole I’m not usually excited by the faux-glamour of celebrity that bombards Western culture on an hourly basis. I try to avoid it and have been known to look blankly at anyone who tells me about Cheryl Cole’s latest…
My long-term companion in music, Charles Rosen dies.
Charles Rosen (1927-2012) There’s been a depressing cull of people that I’ve admired over the last week, Dave Brubeck and then Charles Rosen and as I write this I hear that the inspiring Indian musician Ravi Shankar has also died.…
Gay Marriage gets its Church-scared bill in England and Wales
The British government introduced its politically brave but still cautious same-sex marriage bill in the House of Commons today. It is right and most people here agree that everyone should be equal in matters of the heart and should have…
Kate and Will – Mel and Michael – let’s shut it from now on OK.
Jacinda Saldanha I don’t know any more than anyone else what finally drove Jacinda Saldanha to such a desperate act as suicide. She was the nurse who was “duped” in the feeble Australian radio prank whilst attention-seeking Kate Middleton was in hospital…
A tolling bell with his own notes for composer Jonathan Harvey
Jonathan Harvey (1939-2012) I was sad to hear of the death, from motor neurone disease, of modern British composer Jonathan Harvey (1939-2012). He lived nearby and had been professor of music down the road at Sussex University. He will be…
Wolfie’s Christmas Shopping List 2012
Judging by the number of bad tempered shoppers that have been pushing into me in the streets recently, I’m assuming that the Christmas spirit is well and truly upon us. Yes, people have started that nightmare process of buying presents…
Remembering a special kind of cool: Dave Brubeck (1920-2012)
The American jazz pianist Dave Brubeck who has just died was, or so it seemed, always going to be around. Well, in a musical way, he always will be and his particular kind of jazz will be the soundtrack to…