23 February 2017 Beards Shaping the whiskers. By Chin Chin It is said that great sculptors will spend days looking at a piece of marble before they make the first cut. An inch to the right and Venus will be missing a nose. An inch to the left and the curve of her body will… Continue reading Issue 93: 2017 02 23: Beards (Chin Chin)
Category: Features
Issue93:2017 02 23:catch me if you can (J.R.Thomas)
23 February 2017 Catch Me If You Can So where are all the fish? by J.R.Thomas Dr Johnson did not think much of fishermen. “A fishing rod,” he said, “is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other.” There are many fishermen who would agree with him, but they… Continue reading Issue93:2017 02 23:catch me if you can (J.R.Thomas)
Issue 92: 2017 02 16: Excusing The Soliloquy (Chin Chin)
16 February 2017 Excusing The Soliloquy How to explain talking to yourself. By Chin Chin There are advantages to getting older. You become wiser for a start and the younger generation (who often believe that age and honesty march together) will listen to your recollections with increasing respect. “Did you really invent computers, Mr Chin? … Continue reading Issue 92: 2017 02 16: Excusing The Soliloquy (Chin Chin)
Issue 92:2017 02 16:Dropping the pilot(J.R.Thomas)
16 February 2017 Dropping the pilot Farewell to Richard Chartres by J.R.Thomas Matters are dealt with differently in the spiritual world. Differently from in the worlds of politics and business, certainly. Can you imagine a situation where Mr Obama, having reached the end of his term of office, and not being allowed under the… Continue reading Issue 92:2017 02 16:Dropping the pilot(J.R.Thomas)
Issue 91: 2017 02 09: Everything must go (J.R.Thomas)
09 February 2017 Everything Must Go What should we keep? by J.R.Thomas Our film review this week (see “Lion”) deals with the problems of the poor, so let’s have some counterbalance by looking at the problems of the rich. One particular problem, that is. That no matter how much money you may have, you just… Continue reading Issue 91: 2017 02 09: Everything must go (J.R.Thomas)
Issue 91: 2017 02 09: Clothes Pegs (Chin Chin)
09 February 2017 Clothes Pegs A nasal approach. By Chin Chin People are remembered for different things: Churchill for oratory and leadership; George Washington for honesty; Turner for colour; and I, I am afraid, may be remembered for clothes pegs. That isn’t because I have invented a new type of clothes peg and will shortly… Continue reading Issue 91: 2017 02 09: Clothes Pegs (Chin Chin)
Issue 90: 2017 02 02: Finding The King (Chin Chin)
02 February 2017 Finding The King Detecting royalty at a glance. By Chin Chin It was an unnerving experience. There I was at an excellent New Zealand restaurant having a good look through the menu. I was still wondering what to eat when a young woman appeared wielding a pad and a pencil, presumably to… Continue reading Issue 90: 2017 02 02: Finding The King (Chin Chin)
Issue 90:2016 02 02: Sir Thomas Dalyell (J.R.Thomas)
02 February 2017 Sir Thomas Dalyell of the Binns, Bart. One of the greatest of the awkward squad by J.R.Thomas If you were wondering to whom we could be possibly referring, try “Tam Dalyell”, hero, or villain, depending on perspective and taste, of the Belgrano incident and many other Parliamentary controversies. Sir Thomas – never,… Continue reading Issue 90:2016 02 02: Sir Thomas Dalyell (J.R.Thomas)
Issue 89: 2017 01 26:Service with a shock (J.R.Thomas)
26 January 2017 Service with a Shock The future of the electricity supply by J.R.Thomas Who would want to run an electricity supply company in these times? More and more choice for the consumer, with all sorts of potential supply, including pumping heat from under back gardens or powering freezers from mini windmills on the… Continue reading Issue 89: 2017 01 26:Service with a shock (J.R.Thomas)
Issue 89: 2017 01 26: Melania’s Gown (Lynda Goetz)
26 January 2017 Melania’s Gown Does it really tell us anything? By Lynda Goetz On the whole, I am not a big follower of fashion, probably largely as a result of the rather puritanical approach of my father and the words drummed into me as a teenager; “If you follow fashion, you’ll never have any… Continue reading Issue 89: 2017 01 26: Melania’s Gown (Lynda Goetz)
Issue 89:2017 01 26: A cry of anger from the back of beyond (Richard Pooley)
26 January 2017 A cry of anger from the back of beyond Who was Pierre Poujade? by Richard Pooley When my wife and I first arrived in France in 2013, we rented a house on the southern edge of Brive-la-Gaillarde for seven months. Friends in other parts of France, let alone those in the UK,… Continue reading Issue 89:2017 01 26: A cry of anger from the back of beyond (Richard Pooley)
Issue 89: 2017 01 26: The Tax System (Chin Chin)
26 January 2017 The Tax System A guide. By Chin Chin It is tax return time of year again and the nation disappears under a cloud of receipts and invoices as everyone participates in the general search for missing pieces of paper. There is also the excitement of trying to get the information into the… Continue reading Issue 89: 2017 01 26: The Tax System (Chin Chin)
Issue 88: 2017 01 19: January Blues (Lynda Goetz)
19 January 2017 January Blues A few suggestions by Lynda Goetz Today, Wednesday, has been a beautiful day down here in the West Country, cold, but not too cold, beautiful blue skies and sunshine all day until the early winter sunset cast a pink glow over the few scattered clouds – presaging, if the old… Continue reading Issue 88: 2017 01 19: January Blues (Lynda Goetz)
