10 November 2016 Drinking and Using An exhortation By Chin Chin We all leave our footprints on the planet. In the case of Hadrian it was Roman walls and gateways; in the case of Shakespeare, plays written in immortal verse; in my case it will be a collection of wine bottles full of what was… Continue reading Issue 79: 2016 11 10: Drinking and Using (Chin Chin)
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Issue 78: 2016 11 03: The Hidden Listeners (Chin Chin)
03 November 2016 The Hidden Listeners One man’s resistance. By Chin Chin I always knew that I was being watched but I never knew by whom. Was it an organised crime syndicate? Probably not, because one old computer with the screen cracked would hardly justify twenty-four hours of surveillance from Raffles and Co. After all,… Continue reading Issue 78: 2016 11 03: The Hidden Listeners (Chin Chin)
Issue 77: 2016 10 27: Touching Up (Chin Chin)
27 October 2017 Touching Up And where it leads to. By Chin Chin Yes, that’s how it always starts. The innocent little improvement here or there which leads inevitably to a quagmire of illusion and deception. This time the improvement is made to little Jamie. No, no, not surgery. Not the removal of that unfortunate… Continue reading Issue 77: 2016 10 27: Touching Up (Chin Chin)
Issue 74: 2016 10 06: Boris Johnson, Heir to Palmerston (Chin Chin)
06 October 2016 Boris Johnson, heir to Palmerston A visit to Ankara. By Chin Chin Cripes, it must be jolly difficult, that foreign secretary lark. Round after round of canapés accompanied by good champagne but, my word, you have to keep your eye on the ball. Forget a name or say something indiscreet and, bang,… Continue reading Issue 74: 2016 10 06: Boris Johnson, Heir to Palmerston (Chin Chin)
Issue 73: 2016 09 29: Dear Sirs And Madams (Chin Chin)
29 September 2016 Dear Sirs and Madams How to address a bishop By Chin Chin Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is a cutting-edge UK law firm and the edge which it is currently cutting lies in the field of manners. Until recently the firm, when writing to a group of people such as, for example, the members… Continue reading Issue 73: 2016 09 29: Dear Sirs And Madams (Chin Chin)
Issue 72: 2016 09 22: Fact, Fiction or Fantasy (Chin Chin)
22 September 2016 Fact, Fiction Or Fantasy A treatise on diagnostics By Chin Chin I blame Jerome K Jerome, a man who moved on from an unsuccessful career as a journalist to become one of Britain’s greatest writers; a career in two parts if ever there was one. I had been looking for a role… Continue reading Issue 72: 2016 09 22: Fact, Fiction or Fantasy (Chin Chin)
Issue 71: 2016 09 15: Buttoning It Up (Chin Chin)
15 September 2016 Buttoning It Up A treatise on sewing. By Chin Chin Just a little bit tighter. Pull a bit harder. That should do it. These trousers seem to have shrunk in the wash. Never mind, breath in and one last tug. Bother! The front button has broken on my favourite chinos, the light… Continue reading Issue 71: 2016 09 15: Buttoning It Up (Chin Chin)
Issue 70: 2016 09 08: Polonius’s Moment (Chin Chin)
08 September 2016 Polonius’s Moment What to say to them as they go off to university. By Chin Chin The beginning of the academic year is the time for a Polonius speech. Student loans are in place to cover university fees but the amount available for living expenses looks woefully thin. It is the moment… Continue reading Issue 70: 2016 09 08: Polonius’s Moment (Chin Chin)
Issue 69: 2016 09 01: Talking About Holidays (Chin Chin)
01 September 2016 Talking About Holidays A question of points on the board. By Chin Chin Like fruit, topics of conversation have their season, one week’s chatter supplanting another. This time it is Olympic medals; then it will be a new book; the week after that a corruption scandal spiced with a little sex on… Continue reading Issue 69: 2016 09 01: Talking About Holidays (Chin Chin)
Issue 68: 2016 08 25: Divine Intervention (Chin Chin)
25 August 2016 Divine Intervention A tribute to the wisdom of the Almighty. By Chin Chin There may be a sporting chance of contact with the Almighty on the road to Damascus but I would have put the odds against an encounter at a filling station on the E45, a main road in the north… Continue reading Issue 68: 2016 08 25: Divine Intervention (Chin Chin)
Issue 67: 2016 08 18: Crossing The Water (Chin Chin)
18 August 2016 Crossing The Water Of ferries and the like. by Chin Chin There has always been something special about crossing water. In Robert Burns’s poem Tam O’Shanter, it is the barrier of a river which holds back the demons who pursue the eponymous hero on his grey mare. In ancient Rome, the crossing of… Continue reading Issue 67: 2016 08 18: Crossing The Water (Chin Chin)
Issue 66: 2016 08 11: Trieste (Chin Chin)
11 August 2016 Trieste A city of spies. By Chin Chin Churchill is often credited with saying that “the Balkans produce more history than they can consume locally” but the phrase was actually turned, or at least first turned, in relation to the people of Crete by the brilliant short story writer, Saki. Still,… Continue reading Issue 66: 2016 08 11: Trieste (Chin Chin)
Issue 65: 2016 08 04: Touring With Maps (Chin Chin)
04 August 2016 Touring With Maps The case for turning off SatNav. By Chin Chin To SatNav or not to SatNav? That is the question; at least it is the question which has to be answered at the start of a touring holiday, the striking of a balance in that contest between challenge and convenience… Continue reading Issue 65: 2016 08 04: Touring With Maps (Chin Chin)
