My sister and I share the same birthday, three years apart. And five minutes, if you want to be precise. When we were young, we’d have joint birthday parties at which we played all the usual games – musical statues, pin the tail on the donkey, pass the parcel… We’d wear our favourite party ... Read more »
If you’re in the UK and like watching food shows, you’ve probably already seen, or at least heard of, A Question of Taste. It’s the pilot series of a new quiz show currently airing on BBC2 on Monday nights. Presented by Kirsty Wark, it seems loosely based on the format for A Question of Sport. ... Read more »
I’ve recently had two rather spiffing artworks created for or about me and I’m thrilled with both. The first is by the truly talented irkafirka – Nick Hilditch and Chris Bell. Irkafirka take inspiration from the millions and millions of wonderfully random utterings on twitter, choosing one a day to illustrate in the unique and ... Read more »
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it I have always had an interest in World War Two. Not a Boy’s Own fascination with military manoeuvres, tanks and planes or playing soldiers, but from a historical, political and people perspective. At school, history was one of my favourite subjects. I never much ... Read more »
You know how people sometimes talk about second generation immigrants as slightly lost souls – neither entirely comfortable in the land from whence their parents came nor completely integrated into the land of their birth? Well, that’s not me. I was born in London in the early seventies to two doctors who emigrated from India ... Read more »
Vodka has a special place in my affections, so strongly does it feature in my memories of two rather splendid holidays during my youth. the only picture of me I have to hand from 1989 (and I was all dressed up and hadn’t hit the voddie yet) In 1989 I was one of a coach ... Read more »
Way back in May I asked readers of my blog (plus foodie friends elsewhere) to pose questions for me to answer as part of an introductory post for my newbie blog’s 2 month anniversary. I didn’t meet my deadline and managed to post the first set of responses back in June, focusing on those relating ... Read more »
A few weeks ago I asked readers and friends to pose those questions they most wanted me to answer in an self-introductory blog entry. I was overwhelmed by the number and variety of questions and it’s taken me quite a while to pen my (sometimes long and rambling) answers. This first set of questions takes ... Read more »
The Place of Onions, in old Lille. After last night’s rainstorm the intense sticky heat has broken and today is cool, breezy, fresh… I love it! A drop of… [more]
We went to Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire at The Void this morning, an amazing VR experience where we got to be Rebel Alliance members going undercover as… [more]