Broadsides – A collection of bits and pieces
"Unprovided with original learning, uninformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a blog”
Not the most pleasant headline, but this is a true travel story about an experience at a leading British hotel chain during a city break in Liverpool. I travel a bit more now that I am retired, and love nothing more than a short city break, mostly in the UK, but occasionally further afield. I... Continue Reading →
As often as not, in fact far too often, you sit yourself before your computer screen, in complete command, hoping to finish that play you’ve been writing, or complete the book you are working on. You write a line, and then nothing. You stare at the screen, but nothing happens. You procrastinate. Perhaps write another... Continue Reading →
We lunched on the Rock Just Patricia and me On champagne and lobsters And some cake from Dundee Our uber was a sailboat Crossing the sea Fetching the family For afternoon tea The painting was commissioned from Rob Hain, an artist from the Scottish Borders region, noted for his empathy with and affinity to the... Continue Reading →
Morag is the name of our temporary Edinburgh landlady. I know nothing else about her, as the letting agents, with whom we contract, are excessively discrete about their clients. So all we know is that she is Morag Her apartment, which she has let to us for the month of the August Edinburgh Festival, is... Continue Reading →
To my horror, I spotted a mouse dashing across the kitchen floor. It should not have been there. It should never have gotten into the property. I employ three rather fierce cats who regularly patrol the perimeter. They are not allowed in the house; they live in the garage. However, their regular patrols have kept... Continue Reading →
I carry no torch for Megan and Harry. Their pursuit of privacy, via a thousand red carpets, endless celebrity appearances, royal bashing interviews and curated photoshoots is, in the end, quite nauseating And now they have released the dancing duo of the delivery room, in a clip which really should have been kept for their... Continue Reading →
She wa a clippie oon a bus That passed our base at Lossiemouth I bought the fare fer Elgin toown An’ tendered to her a half a croown. The fare it was but one and six An she giv me back a chilling Chorus:Och, she giv him back a shilling She clipped ma ticket wi... Continue Reading →
I have taken up the practice of meditation. At the end of each stressful day of retirement, for about ten to fifteen minutes or so, I attempt to isolate myself from the world and descend into a sort of numb trance-like state, a little like taking a particularly strong opiate pain killer or an equally... Continue Reading →
Amazon asked me to review a recently purchased belt.
Or if you like, his beliefs are not fixed or certain. There is nothing fundamental in his beliefs. Those he has, can be described as being on a spectrum of beliefs, a bit like gender beliefs. Thus he once bbelieved women could have penises. But he has swung the other way, now he believes only... Continue Reading →
A horrendously overcrowded jam-packed standing-room-only journey by train from Nottingham to London. Somewhat surprised to get an email from East Midlands Railways enquiring if I enjoyed the trip. My reply is below: “What a splendid journey. We found ourselves lodged in the connecting corridor of two carriages, along with many other of your passengers, far... Continue Reading →
THE KING'S SPEECH (DRAFT) HIS MAJESTY’S MOST GRACIOUS SPEECH TO BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT MY LORDS AND MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS My Government’s priority is to re-establish equity and fairness in the public realm while strengthening the economy, increasing public sector investment and encouraging growth in our economy, ensuring that the most vulnerable... Continue Reading →
This stunning, dramatic, magnificent portrait, by Ken Currie, hangs in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. It portrays Scotland's principal forensic anthropologist, Professor Dame Sue Black. It is an enormous canvas, 9 feet by 6 feet, which the artist has entitled "The unknown man" It captures Professor Black at the very height of her... Continue Reading →
I got myself involved in a small controversy over there on Twitter. I was reading a fairly vigorous thread from a group called “Staff of Colour”, about their many grievances against their employer, who is Nottingham Castle. The specific nature of their grievances is quite difficult to discern, but I’ll come to... Continue Reading →
I got myself involved in a small controversy over there on Twitter. I was reading a fairly vigorous thread from a group called “Staff of Colour”, about their many grievances against their employer, who is Nottingham Castle. The specific nature of their grievances is quite difficult to discern, but I’ll come to that later. They... Continue Reading →
It was a strange phone call. It could have been from a geriatric dating agency for old codgers like me. But in fact, it was a clinical questionnaire for a forthcoming MRI scan. Still, for a confused person, and I am quite often confused, you might understand why I was getting a bit excited: Are... Continue Reading →
The nationalists, in Scotland, are in the driving seat and appear quite unstoppable in their determination to take Scotland out of the United Kingdom and to go it alone. They hold nearly all the cards for the coming “consultative referendum” and, presuming success, the inevitable actual referendum that will follow. Scotland may become independent without... Continue Reading →
The principal factor that sealed my vote in the Brexit referendum was that of the “democracy deficit”, so widely evident in the politics and accountability of the European Union. There is no academic analysis of this deficit that can adequately explain or motivate sufficient anger or concern as to make it a central feature of... Continue Reading →
I was in the capital, traveling on the number 139 Bus, en route to London’s Borough market. It required a change at Waterloo, for the number 381. For no particular reason I decided to go and have a look around Waterloo station, perhaps because, for me and thousands of other soldiers, it had been such... Continue Reading →
I wrote this play, in the vernacular of the Nottingham accent, about the fate of British Soldiers from Nottingham and Newark and Derbyshire, who were sent to Ireland in 1916 to crush the Easter Rising. Yet to be performed, so if you know any theatre groups in the East Midlands - drop me a line!... Continue Reading →
Broadsides - A collection of bits and pieces 