A Victorian man denied his conjugal rights by his Victorian wife finally snaps and takes possession of his property in a manner the law tells him he is perfectly entitled to. From her perspective, it is not
Continue reading →When Yes Means No
Turn Left at Athens
Something of significance happened in Greece this week, an event that marked the end of an era, the passing of an age and a sign of the times. Demis Roussos died. One hopes the singing tent, who so
Continue reading →Let There Be Light
It could easily be dismissed as a cinematic myth, but I’m pretty damn sure it’s true that early Hollywood westerns simplified the distinction between hero and villain by cladding the good guys in light colours and the bad
Continue reading →Innocent until Proven Dead; and the secrets you will never know.
In this age of Internet trial, the dead are truly Damned. The slurping sound you can hear on the cyber waves is the sound of a thousand career conspiracy theorists licking their lips at the thought of
Continue reading →The Sunday Post: Elegy
I deeply mourn the passing of my dear friend, Juliette, who left us just after Christmas.
Some years ago, when I was in the midst of self-doubt, loneliness and misery, I would thrash about
Continue reading →The 25 Hour News
For All Its Faults…
A detailed description of what happens when a man minding his own business collides with an Israeli air-strike in Gaza can paint remarkable pictures in the mind of the listener. I was exposed to just such a
Continue reading →Victoria’s Daughters and the Fine Line of Time
Many might think the complete and definitive history of the Victorian age has already been written; after all, there have been plenty of books and television documentaries filling the shelves and schedules since the old Queen died
Continue reading →The People's Pitchfork.
Shock, horror this morning amongst all the people who didn’t read the Forbes list of the 1549 wealthiest people in the world – Oxfam have used the top 85 to depress us further on #Blue Monday.
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I Know Thee Not, Old Man
Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons; if there happens to be any long-term tension within the family unit, more often than not the tension arises from strained relations between two males or two females. It becomes especially
Continue reading →Oblivion to Lilian.
I’m not surprised that you didn’t pick up on the name, to be honest, he’s the forgotten man. He’s white, middle
Continue reading →Hotel California!
Last night, after much debate, we decided that since it is patently obvious Ms Raccoon will not be off on her travels
Continue reading →The historic abuse of Kalakala.
Kalakala was beautiful, she might have been invented with the sole purpose in mind of pleasing a man’s eye.
That she has ended her life tired, careworn, exhausted, and scarred is entirely the fault of misuse at
Continue reading →Sacranie Values?
I heard an interesting interview by the BBC’s Nicky Campbell last week with Sir Iqbal Sacranie (OBE) this week. Despite working for the BBC, and particularly its light news and sport channel 5Live, Campbell is no
Continue reading →What the Papers Said
Who can forget it? I certainly can’t. It was one of those unique moments that only happen once in a lifetime, moments in which time stands still and collective jaws hit the floor. The year was
Continue reading →The Elephant in the Caliphate.
The girls are still missing – the Twitter hashtag #bringbackourgirls only occasionally flickers into life as the fashionable world, and the Sky ‘disaster team’, has moved on from their plight. Even the wristband salesmen have moved
Continue reading →Saturday Evening Posts Worth Reading and the 25-Hour News.
Ebola, those 'selfless volunteers', and Our Nationalised NHS.
The hottest political football of the day has to be the NHS, or ‘Our NHS, wonder of the world’. [Edited to add: It was, until we had ‘Cartoons to die for’.]
Indeed, the NHS did rank
Continue reading →That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore
A couple of weeks ago I read a piece in the Times by the regular Saturday columnist Matthew Parris. Perhaps I didn’t pay very close attention, but the theme of the piece seemed to be this: look at
Continue reading →Grecian 2000 (and 15)
One or two female friends of mine who are around the same age as me are feeling rather…erm…let’s just say, queasy at the moment; they can’t get a good night’s sleep; they can’t maintain their concentration
Continue reading →Odd Men Out
I was reminded of these devastating descriptions of the attributes that constitute a killer whilst
Continue reading →Immigrants – 'Gimme Grants'!
Immigrants add to the full richness of British life.
There, I’ve said it. Now you can all land on my head and not bother to read the rest of the post.
There are a
Continue reading →The Sunday Post: Rituals
I have written a couple of times about the little feral cat that I adopted, or who adopted me; and the posts received quite a lot of responses. Cat, as I simply called him at
Continue reading →Saturday Evening Posts Worth Reading and the 25-Hour News.
Luke Gittos on the cult of #Ibelieveher.
SEX OFFENDERS should not be allowed to
Continue reading →When is a Town not a Town?
Okay, so we’ve done politics, we’ve done religion and we’ve done sex – our landlady has tossed many a hot potato into the Raccoon Arms debating circle over the past few years and has left the
Continue reading →The Sea giveth and the Sea taketh away.
When William the Conquerer peered across the English channel from Saint-Valery, Pevensey Castle looked to be the shortest and easiest channel crossing to take the fort. If he tried to do the same today, he would have a long walk
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