Life
The hell of speed chess
Somewhere in hell, there is a cavernous hall filled with row upon row of people playing online speed chess. Their…
The turf
We all wanted Frankie to have a last Royal Ascot hurrah. In the end he got four, including a ninth…
Real life
‘Do you want me to put my dog on the lead?’ shouted the woman on her phone, as she came…
High life
Rome To the Eternal City for the saddest of occasions, the funeral of the mother of Taki, 17, and Maria,…
Kiwi life
They closed the schools for several days recently in the small New Zealand town of Opotiki. A gang leader had…
Language
A Speccie reader has asked me for the origin of the expression ‘mumbo jumbo’ – and there turns out to…
Great discoveries
David Hodge is the 2023 British Chess Solving champion, after winning the Winton British Chess Solving Championship in Nottingham last…
Cobb salad
They do salads differently in America. Caesar salad, Waldorf salad, even their egg salads and potato salads: they’re big, they’re…
Roar of approval
The Red Lion, East Chisenbury, is in the Pewsey Vale on the edge of Salisbury Plain. Wiltshire’s strangeness surpasses even…
Why we all need an Ollie Robinson
It’s a long way from Edgbaston to Karachi, but that’s where my thoughts were turning after Australia’s last-gasp victory in…
The trouble with furries
Last weekend an audio recording emerged of a 13-year-old girl being called ‘despicable’ by her teacher at a Church of…
The only way is Middlesbrough
‘I was 12 when I first got laid.’ ‘Where was that?’ ‘In Middlesbrough.’ ‘How the hell did you get lucky…
Aussie life
With the exception of two or three of our tastier fish species, I doubt if anything in Australia has taken…
Language
For a number of years British journalist Philip Howard wrote a weekly language column for the Times in London (he…
Rosé and roses
What an idyllic setting. We were amidst the joys of high summer in England, with just enough of a breeze…
