The novel by Elizabeth Gaskell used the North-South divide as its central conceit. Here’s a modern take on the phenomenon, now exacerbated by the metropolitan bias of the media. Somehow, you feel those BBC types wouldn’t be quite so discombobulated if their putative move was to, say, Brighton rather than Salford…
Well, this did give me a warm glow, speaking as a vegetarian of 42 years’ standing…
This is shameful. See here for an idea of how far we have allowed a noble notion to slip.
This dilemma was recently faced by me and ‘er indoors. Our solution appears as a comment way down the page. This marks a huge advance for us, as about ten years ago when we decided we were really really going to get rid of some books, we managed about three nominees between us in about… Continue reading Book Cull
I thought this was a spoof at first – but, incredibly, it isn’t. Can we just nuke Macdonald’s, please? Maybe the Earl of Sandwich can press the button…
Before I get to Bob, and I don’t actually loathe him per se, let me put my cards on the table. The Private Eye headline when John Peel died – “Man who played records on the wireless dies: a nation mourns” did strike a chord with me. I liked Peel, but couldn’t see why he… Continue reading Little things I loathe No. 4: Bob Harris
This is an easy target, I know, but I just can’t resist: Health and Safety. At my place of work, we recently had installed, at great expense, and over a long period of time, special fire safety doors to stop the spread of the fires which, of course, regularly break out… These doors are situated… Continue reading Shooting Fish in a Barrel
Michael Bywater is always worth reading, and this piece is brilliant at exposing the way people are increasingly infantilised in today’s society.
New Statesman – The last Mughal and a clash of civilisations This is fascinating, and demonstrates once more that we seem incapable of learning from history. By a melancholy coincidence, I was reading the excellent Philip Hensher novel The Mulberry Empire while the Afghan death toll was rising, and couldn’t help noticing the parallels there… Continue reading The last Mughal and a clash of civilisations
My eagle-eyed reader will have noticed a change in the Topsyturvydom profile. We are now in Manchester, home city for both of us, and we feel we’ve come home.Doubtless blogging will be intermittent while we settle in.