My Blog

This blog has just returned from a holiday spent far away from internet access for the most part, and all the better for it. Boris the Topsyturvydom mascot cat seemed to enjoy his stay at the luxury cat hotel, but, like me, is glad to be back, as is his companion Phoebe, who makes her…

normblog: Apologists among us Norman Geras has some serious things to say about the reaction of some to the London bombings. I share his view, and like him, was appalled at the sentiments expressed in the article in today’s Guardian by Dilpazier Aslam, which seems to suggest that the bombs can be excused as an…

I’m described as an “amiable Mancunian bear” here. Well, I suppose there are worse things to be called, but the diet starts here…

On a train last week, the young man opposite me ( he looked about twelve, but obviously had a full time job in advertising, as was confirmed by his full-volume conversation with a friend across the aisle) concluded his talk, not with “good bye”, “see ya” or any of those variants, but a new one…

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Man used electric underpants ‘to fake heart attack’ You couldn’t make this up, could you? One of the best headlines I’ve read for years.

EWM: Letter from ManchesterFurther to yesterday’s post about Manchester in art, this site is absolutely the best place to go for images of contemporary Manchester. Aidan O’Rourke (who also features in the Urbis centre) has done a great job of documenting the ever changing face of the city. To see how it was, take a…

BBC – Manchester – In pictures – Picture of Manchester: galleryThis intrigued me, as a Mancunian. I’m not sure I’m completely won over by these paintings, but they certainly beat the inexplicably lauded Lowry, and offer a more contemporary view of Manchester than the Victorian visions of Pierre Adolphe Valette, e.g. this one

Guardian Unlimited | Arts special reports | Salgado Antarctica 1It really is an extraordinary planet (compared to what? I hear you ask) – look at these photos to prove it. The elephant seal looks disconcertingly like me in the morning.

Thursday evening saw your correspondent in Birmingham, staying overnight so as to be present on time at a morning meeting. I stayed in a pleasant hotel, but its situation – at the intersection of two dual carriageways on the ring round – left something to be desired. I decided that I (or rather, the institution…

I took my car for an MOT this morning. The woman who runs the garage is very efficient, but she has a really irritating vocal tic. Her answer to virtually any inquiry is “not a problem.” It’s a variant of the increasingly common “no problem” spoken, for example, when you are given change in the…