Culture buff
It is not possible to imagine classical ballet without the music of Tchaikovsky. The scores of his three full length…
Mealybug Nymphs, Gossamer
after Robert Hooke, Micrographia (1665) A warm wall, heavy leaves, hard green grapes and a cluster of…
Dublin
What a delight it is to toy with a wooden newspaper-holder rather than a smartphone, tucked away in the cosy…
Mealybug Nymphs, Gossamer
after Robert Hooke, Micrographia (1665) A warm wall, heavy leaves, hard green grapes and a cluster of…
Bête noire
England’s top grandmaster, Michael Adams, exerts a powerful influence over the elite player David Navara. In rating terms Navara and…
No. 377
Black to play. This position is a variation from Maslak-Smerdon, Pardubice 2007. Black has powered through on the kingside. How…
Back to school
In Competition No. 2913 you were invited to submit an extract from the school report of a well-known author, living or…
Dear Mary
Q. I am going on a late holiday with a group of people who are keen on nude swimming, which…
Comic relief
Mum’s, or to use its full title, Mum’s Great Comfort Food, is a restaurant in Edinburgh designed to soothe itinerant…
Elizabeth the Great
That the Queen has lived to become our longest-reigning monarch — a milestone which she will mark quietly with a…
High life
On board MS Queen Victoria They remain engraved on my brain, like something out of a Greek tragedy, so…
Long life
While the Germans were raining bombs on London during the second world war, the architects’ department of London County Council…
Long life
While the Germans were raining bombs on London during the second world war, the architects’ department of London County Council…
Low life
Last Saturday afternoon, in Venice, 31 Spectator readers, plus Martin Vander Weyer, the great Taki and I came aboard the…
Low life
Last Saturday afternoon, in Venice, 31 Spectator readers, plus Martin Vander Weyer, the great Taki and I came aboard the…
Migrant
Al Jazeera, the Qatari broadcaster, is going to use refugee instead of migrant in its English output. ‘The umbrella term…
Real life
‘Yes, you can report it, but it’s going to take ten minutes to go through the process,’ said the oppressively…
The right track
Sebastian Coe’s new job as head of world athletics will be a heck of a lot easier thanks to the…
A marriage of misanthropes
This is a cautionary tale for any young couples out there thinking of tying the knot. Be wary of what…
A marriage of misanthropes
This is a cautionary tale for any young couples out there thinking of tying the knot. Be wary of what…
Absolute beginners
Heaven be praised for the sinner who repenteth, however long it takes. For President George Bush Senior, his occasional meetings…
Absolute beginners
Heaven be praised for the sinner who repenteth, however long it takes. For President George Bush Senior, his occasional meetings…
Corbyn and the plebs
Last week, guru Corbyn was invited to reflect on the 2,500-year-old Roman origins of the republicanism to which he is…
