Life
Language
The late, great Rod Liddle in one of his classic columns fulminated against what he called the most ‘irritating words’.…
I want to be a good father – like Machiavelli
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna When Machiavelli was tortured, then banished from Florence in 1513 to his modest farm in the Tuscan…
How to do a salade Lyonnaise justice
Salade Lyonnaise is often translated as ‘bacon and egg salad’ and I can’t stand it. Not because it’s inaccurate –…
Could a round of golf be the answer to racing’s problems?
I don’t want you getting the impression that I fritter away my life on a golf course, but when I…
Let them eat grouse
Over the weekend, although I hope that I was not committing blasphemy, it occurred to me that two splendid festivals…
Dear Mary: how can I tell my neighbour his garden is a fire hazard?
Q. We have a granddaughter, aged 21, living in our basement. We see a lot of her and her boyfriend.…
The horror of when your own side turns on you
Should I regret writing a satirical piece for this magazine about Jason Arday? Yes, according to those who blame the…
Amy Hunt could be the saviour of British athletics
Britain’s latest Charioteer of Fire has no need for grandad vests or a Vangelis earworm, just a smile as dazzling…
The budding bromance between Trump and Burnham
As seen in the New Statesman I t’s a quarter to midnight on a hot July evening when the text…
Help! The Germans are invading
The Germans stampeded into the house, overwhelming me with the element of surprise. ‘Incoming!’ I shouted through the main staircase…
What could possibly explain my poor Uber rating?
This is not happening, I thought, as I jabbed at my phone to magic up a hybrid to convey me…
Spectator Competition: Name dropping
For Competition 3463 you were invited to submit an acrostic poem in the style of a well-known poet, the first…
Aussie life
There can’t be many German phrases which lodge easily in the adolescent Australian psyche. Even kids who aspire to one…
Language
Eric wants to know why a fruitless and pointless activity is called a ‘wild goose chase’. It seems that around…
Is it time for a hair transplant?
My father, Michael, who was a sociologist among other things, was once asked by a drug company to do some…
If we allow dogs at weddings, why not a python?
Three women in my Tuesday weights class are getting married. While we squat and thrust and fling our kettlebells around,…
‘If you’re a lamb chop ultra, then start your car’: Koyal reviewed
One of the things I find most confusing is the practice of going for a curry when you’re hammered. Having…
A BMW has no soul – but does that matter?
It’s the way of good cars that, on driving one, you begin to embody it: to become it. In a…
