-
HMV
A few thoughts on the new difficulties faced by HMV. In part this is response to some utter nonsense I’ve read online, and some of the news reports surrounding HMV heading into administration for the second time in five years. There are undoubtedly structural problems with how music is sold in 2019, but I think there are multiple…
-
Is Bandersnatch the Future of Television?
No. No, it’s not. Bandersnatch is the recently released episode of Black Mirror from Charlie Brooker available on Netflix. It takes the form of a choose your own adventure book/game and I loved it! In many respects, this episode ticked just about every box for me. It was set in the eighties, in and around writing…
-
DJI Osmo Pocket: A Slow Motion Test
Over Christmas I treated myself to a new camera – the newly released DJI Osmo Pocket. This thing is a wondrously small gimbal mounted camera, that I thought might be really interesting to carry with me on bike rides. This absolutely isn’t a proper review, since I’ve not had the device long enough. Instead, it’s…
-
Very Good, Jeeves by PG Wodehouse
Just over a year ago, I thought that I’d read some Jeeves and Wooster stories set in and around Christmas. Looking around, it seemed that Very Good, Jeeves was my best bet. It included Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit – a Christmas story if ever there was one surely? Now for the past few years, I’ve been…
-
The Secret Barrister
I think it’s safe to say that The Secret Barrister is easily the scariest book I’ve read in a long time. The one takeaway you instantly get from it is that you never want to get involved in the UK legal system. Unfortunately, even if you’re a squeaky clean individual who does nothing wrong, there are many…
-
Boxing Day Radio Times 2018
The third of three days’ worth of useful help to plan your TV entertainment. You’re welcome! In case you didn’t want to watch a new version of The ABC Murders on BBC1 (or indeed, watch the older version on ITV3 just to spoil your later entertainment), then there is always the radio – including a…
-
A Gothic Christmas
-
Christmas Day Radio Times 2018
Happy Christmas everyone! You’re probably stuffing your face with discounted Celebrations and Quality Street, or hitting the web early to get all those online sales. There are probably a few arguments and the usual Christmas merriment. Some are already planning how soon they can return an unwanted gift – or at least re-gift it. But…
-
Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver
A superb gothic horror set in the wild fens of Suffolk. I first came across Michelle Paver with her excellent ghost story Dark Matter, set amidst an arctic expedition in 1939. She followed that with Thin Air, another great ghost story, but this time set in the Himalayas in the 1930s, following the route of…
-
Christmas Eve Radio Times 2018
The big day is nearly here, and having navigated trains and traffic, cursed at airport drone-flyers, and got annoyed with people using smartphones in front of you in the street, you’re feeling all Christmassy! These days of course, there is serious competition from the streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. And this year,…
-
Chris Evans – Ad Free?
Christmas Eve sees Chris Evans present his last Radio 2 breakfast show. Then he takes a few weeks off, before he reappears in brand new studios over in The News Building, just under The Shard by London Bridge station. There he’ll begin his new Virgin Radio breakfast show from the 21st January 2019. When I…
-
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Have you ever wondered what life was like in a band in seventies? Then this is the novel for you. I am something of a sucker for books, films and TV series set in the music industry. From Almost Famous (which perhaps is closest in vibe to this novel), to Vinyl and the little seen Roadies, I’m fascinated by a life that…
Podcasts, Radio, TV, Books, Cycling, Photography and More
-
Yellowface/All The Lovers In The Night
Yellowface by R F Kuang I first came across R F Kuang with last year’s very enjoyable Babel, an alternate history of the British Empire told in a world where magic exists and is controlled by an elite group of individuals. Yellowface is very different, but no less enjoyable. It’s a book about books, and…
Hadrian’s Wall
Check out some of my other photography
