Love me tender
Pedro Almodovar can sometimes be overly flamboyant if not out-and-out nuts — let us never talk about I’m So Excited!…
My jailhouse diet
Gstaad It’s written in the Declaration of Independence, so it must be true: the pursuit of happiness is an…
How Captain Mainwaring lightened my mother’s dying days
On Saturday evening I showered, shaved and, prompted by a strange impulse, put on my going-out clothes. Then I cycled…
A mysterious case of fly-tipping immunity
When is fly-tipping not fly-tipping? I think I can explain, now the pile of rubble has finally moved from the…
The astonishing resilience of my beach paradise
Malindi I could measure my whole life in the summers I’ve spent on the beach in front of our…
Bridge
Terence Reese’s concentration at the bridge table was legendary. Most people know the story of how Boris Schapiro once wagered…
No garlands
At St Louis, world champion Magnus Carlsen met with unexpected setbacks in both the rapid and blitz sections. In both…
no. 568
White to play. This is from Aronian-Mamedyarov, St Louis 2019. We are only just out of the opening but White…
The Brexiteers
In Competition No. 3112 you were invited to submit an extract from Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Brexiteers. The title…
2422: 40 furlongs
The unclued Across lights are of a kind, as are the unclued Down ones, all verifiable in Chambers. Across…
to 2419: Figures in place
The unclued lights are English place names which include a number in their spelling. These words appeared as figures in the…
I’m back on the ‘public humiliation diet’ – thanks to my kids
I’m on holiday with my family in Turks and Caicos, and maintaining my current weight is proving difficult. Regular readers…
Bring out the biltong for Labuschagne, an Ashes hero
Funny, the things cricketers put on their bats. England’s Jos Buttler has ‘Fuck it’ written at the top of his…
Dear Mary: How can my son tell if his cleaner is stealing from him?
Q. What is your view on emailed vs handwritten thank-yous? During my recent travels around pre-Brexit Europe I stayed in…
Like Twitter, but with food: Market Hall Victoria reviewed
The Market Hall Victoria is an international food shed opposite the station terminus. I have long hated Victoria, thinking it…
Are our feelings towards politics apathy or inertia?
My husband, with a dependable appetite for chestnuts, says he would be the ideal person to start an Apathy party.…
Put a sock in it, Kel
My gosh these are delicate times Down Under. Not for Australians the vigorous thrust and parry of political debate with…
Aussiexit
One of the most remarkable aspects of the Brexit decision on June 23, 2016, was that a majority of voters…
Mother Jacinda and climate change’s King Canute
A Pacific Island Forum in Tuvalu was always going to be inundated by climate catastrophism. One of the lowest-lying island…
Culture Buff
A new book reminds us, perhaps unintentionally, that not everything that has mattered in the performing arts started with the…
Let thespians tremble
If you have tears, prepare to shed them now,’ exhorts Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, whipping up the crowd against…
Simon Collins
In a recent Speccie column my friend Giles Auty recalled his late father’s difficulties with door handles. This may have…
Jaded by Jacinda
On a Pacific cruise ship recently, passengers were subjected to a rant by an Australian ‘comedian’ – a word now…
Ice-pack of lies
Unfortunately, critical scientific research does not always filter through to the public. Consequently, climate alarmists are getting away with blue…
