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”
When, a noble laureate, Mario Vargas Llosa, described on the dust jacket as being one of the world's greatest writers, , takes up his pen on a subject you admire and profess to know something off, then your expectations are naturally extremely high. You anticipate new and penetrating insights into the character of Casement, you... Continue Reading →
CLINTON – THE MUSICAL: What a great idea. Sex, power, politics, sex, the white house, sex, lying, sex, impeachment, sex. And what fun they must have had putting together the lyrics and music for this one. They portray Clinton as two persons, or one person with two personalities, or maybe a schizophrenic. Anyway there is... Continue Reading →
He moved amongst the Caesar’s and Napoleon’s of finance and power. He moved with diplomatic immunity, and with reputational immunity, the later conferred by a docile French press unworthy of the trade of journalism. He left a trail of sleaze. He almost became the next socialist President of France. He fell, in Manhattan, in the... Continue Reading →
Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. Another day in Edinburgh, another play. The book, by Robert Tressell, had a deep influence upon a whole generation of trade unionists, my generation in fact, for it was published circa 1956. There was hardly a shop steward or full time official in any kind of active capacity who had not read... Continue Reading →
When, as a stranger to the Scots tongue, you first encounter Burns then you find a daunting and fairly impenetrable language. It takes more than a few readings to begin to appreciate the wonder of it all and to get your ear into the cadences of the braid Scots. Booking a ticket therefore, for Tam... Continue Reading →
Written by a Welshman, from the valleys, about a Welsh soldier, also from the valleys, who died from gunshots from her own weapon while on guard duty at the railway gate of Deepcut garrison, perhaps more commonly known to the soldiers who served there, as Blackdown. As a piece of theater it is at once,... Continue Reading →
Broadsides - A collection of bits and pieces 