tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95019382024-03-23T18:06:38.518+00:00Think of EnglandThe stiffest upper lip on the netBrithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.comBlogger1201125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-77085086119179846012012-10-30T07:18:00.001+00:002012-10-30T07:18:14.555+00:00Noseybonk does Jimmy SavileNoseybonk is back on The Dabbler!
And you can read my Dabbler Diary most Mondays.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-63403077432014178612012-06-25T13:23:00.000+01:002012-06-25T13:23:02.093+01:00Roy Hodgson, Martin Amis and Jimmy Carr...all feature in my new Dabbler Diary.
If you enjoyed Think of England - back when I used to write it, that is - you may like this new feature. Same sort of thing.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-20800608563931304772012-05-20T11:46:00.000+01:002012-05-20T11:46:23.622+01:00Zen, Walls of Sound, Men of Constant SorrowSome Dabbling. A review of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones; a look at the genealogy of the song A Man of Constant Sorrow; and today, a celebration of the Wall of Sound.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-6497031981315071042012-04-24T13:24:00.005+01:002012-04-24T13:24:42.254+01:00From Bernard Hermann to the White StripesI write about the musical legacy of Citizen Kane at The Dabbler.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-29893273009894861782012-04-11T13:21:00.000+01:002012-04-11T13:21:55.867+01:00George Osborne is shocked, shocked! ... and more tax twaddleMore tax, I’m afraid, but it’s in the news and once again I’m shocked, shocked I tell you – as ‘shocked’ as George Osborne is about tax avoidance. Only I’m shocked, shocked about the distorted way the ‘debate’ is being framed.
George Osborne is shocked, shocked that some very rich people are reducing their tax bill by using devilishly clever tax loopholes. Only it turns out that the main ‘Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-30153296835511032452012-03-26T13:03:00.006+01:002012-03-26T13:19:25.204+01:00Owen Jones and other tax errorsOh great, you wait weeks for a post and then he does one about tax.Now funnily enough I don’t claim to be an authority on UK tax law – this being so unfathomably complex that the Coalition felt the need to establish a whole Office dedicated to its Simplification - but having written professionally about the last fourteen Budgets I do have a grasp of the most basic basics. Which is more than can Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-75514918995126940142012-03-12T13:56:00.001+00:002012-03-12T13:56:55.282+00:00Monkee BusinessOver at The Dabbler I write about the late Davy Jones and the Monkees.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-68007269119963475322012-02-27T13:53:00.002+00:002012-02-27T13:56:33.744+00:00Flashman in Slightly FoxedIn the Spring 2012 edition of the beautiful Slightly Foxed literary magazine I write racily about Flashman.You should buy a copy, or better still, an annual subscription. John Gray has an article in the Spring edition too, but don't let that put you off.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-35591343629114886222012-02-27T13:52:00.002+00:002012-02-27T13:53:05.478+00:00Break up the Union?Over at The Dabbler I search for the musical essences of Britain.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-64709217271763091362012-02-22T13:16:00.002+00:002012-02-22T13:20:35.021+00:00Monsters, IncOn a more positive note, after that grouchy quartet of posts, I have been watching Monsters, Inc a lot lately, due to Charlotte's enthusiasm for it. It really is a masterpiece - the concept is inspired and only Airplane! packs the gags in so densely, and the hit rate is higher in Monsters.Loads of these Pixar films put Hollywood's 'grown-up' output to shame, but I reckon Monsters is the best evenBrithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-20975755187005640172012-02-17T23:40:00.002+00:002012-02-17T23:43:55.379+00:00And lastly, AppleOh yes, and I hereby predict that much sooner than you think, all Apple products will come to be seen as irredeemably naff. Too many annoying people praise them too much.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-13245485910826922422012-02-17T23:33:00.003+00:002012-02-17T23:40:25.944+00:00Rowan Williams - also time to quitAnd while I'm on a roll, j'accuse Dr Rowan Williams, who, with the notable exception of the Mugabe episode, will surely be remembered as the Archbish who got everything wrong. He clearly saw his role as not just managing decline but speeding it along as best he could, apologising the Church into oblivion. I'm not sure he's ever written anything that couldn't have been happily written, and much Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-41433347687085742332012-02-16T22:39:00.002+00:002012-02-16T22:58:03.866+00:00Theodore Dalrymple - time to quitTalking of misanthropic sods who've jumped the shark, I'll be happy never to read another cut-and-paste rant about the decline of the British by Theodore Dalrymple again. Yet another torrent of over-familiar bile in The Spectator the other week. Of course horrible people are horrible, but most people, contra Anthony Daniels (TD's real name) are not even remotely horrible, including many who have Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-16165686327213512502012-02-15T22:39:00.003+00:002012-02-15T22:51:04.926+00:00Richard Dawkins - blowing the legacyI have poked fun at Giles Fraser on this blog for his frivolous, attention-seeking resignation over the obviously non-imminent threat of violence against the camping crusties at St Paul's, but I have to hand to him for this demolition of the increasingly silly Richard Dawkins on Radio 4's Today programme.Dawkins could have gone down in history as a great populariser of science and an important Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-90050394693352512612012-01-27T13:10:00.001+00:002012-01-27T13:11:57.998+00:00BeerdI discuss student hovels and review Bath Ales' latest venture, a craft beer bar: Beerd, on St Michael's Hill, Bristol.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-78492567390836392202012-01-20T20:38:00.000+00:002012-01-20T20:39:04.667+00:00Danish dramaI review Borgen (BBC Four) on The Dabbler.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-75059592945528199502012-01-18T22:34:00.002+00:002012-01-18T22:38:20.391+00:00ElsewhereStony broke songs and Mervyn Peake on The Dabbler.And don't miss our exclusive self-interview - a coup for us - the great Jonathan Meades, on France.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-26119467490967742952012-01-10T13:35:00.001+00:002012-01-10T13:36:09.366+00:00Saunton SandsOver at The Dabbler, I contemplate my brief mortality in a godless universe on Saunton Sands.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-35880299126661524792011-12-29T15:22:00.002+00:002011-12-29T15:30:17.644+00:00The Year of the PodAlthough 2011 has been a quiet year for Think of England in terms of posts - The Dabbler inevitably takes up the majority of my blogging time (and I contribute to the Christmas and year end stuff over there this week) - nonetheless remarkable things have been happening deep within its bowels.For 2011 has been the year of Poddington, whose bizarre thoughts continue to accrue on the infamous Why Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-39108679011158266352011-12-06T11:28:00.003+00:002011-12-07T11:53:21.475+00:00Brit Jnr Minor arrivesWe have doubled our number of daughters, to two.Elizabeth Orla, arrived Saturday at 11.55am. 7lb 9. Spit of her sister.All well, if sleepless.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-39476468838176899712011-12-01T19:47:00.001+00:002011-12-01T19:48:25.909+00:00These people who are taking Jeremy Clarkson's remarks seriously......I'd have them all shot.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-88414029133744185202011-11-30T22:23:00.002+00:002011-11-30T22:24:22.913+00:00My litany of grievances against Thom YorkeI list my complaints about Thom Yorke and talk about Radiohead's album The Bends here.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-48044340144824679082011-11-21T21:43:00.001+00:002011-11-21T21:44:32.855+00:00More YardI grill Bryan Appleyard over at The Dabbler about his new book and also why he keeps stopping and starting blogging.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-59154908594806902382011-11-17T13:41:00.002+00:002011-11-17T13:43:19.484+00:00Bryan's BrainMy review of The Brain is Wider Than the Sky by Bryan Appleyard is up at The Dabbler.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-26113763617047209432011-11-15T21:59:00.002+00:002011-11-15T22:00:01.769+00:00Back to IlfracombeAnother airing for my queasy Ilfracombe prose-poem at the Big D.Brithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.com0