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The Persuaders!

My Sunday afternoon ritual in the 1970s was to watch the Persuaders at 3-30pm. It adopted the formula of the earlier Man From Uncle: suave actor (Robert Vaughn) opposite someone totally different – Russian Ilya Kuryakin (the Scot David McAllum ) – overseen by an old boy (Leo Carroll). [...]

November 19, 2023 // 0 Comments

Jilly Cooper/Tackle!

My first boyfriend Nick was an aspiring journo and Fulham fan. One day Jilly Cooper then a witty columnist for The Sunday Times granted him an interview in her Fulham home. She was pleased to hear that Fulham had won. I read that she is a football fan now supporting Leeds United. Now aged 86 she is [...]

November 18, 2023 // 0 Comments

Art of Cinema/depiction of war

I was so looking forward to Ian Nathan and the Sky Arts film team appraising war films in this series but I was disappointed. There were too many omissions and the emphasis was on British films like The Cruel Sea, an excellent film, but one featuring a merchant navy corvette, not the Royal Navy. [...]

November 17, 2023 // 0 Comments

Vintage Crime: A Short History Of Wine Fraud/Rebecca Gibb (book review)

This morning, on my habitual overnight “tour” of the British national newspapers seeking items or stories of potential interest to Rusters, on the website of the Daily Mail I came across this review by Constance Craig Smith of a new book on the subject of wine called Vintage Crime: A [...]

November 17, 2023 // 0 Comments

The Cricket World Cup comes to life

Australia’s 3-wicket win at Kolkota was the most enthralling game so far in a rather tepid World Cup. South Africa chose to bat as the advantage seems to pass to the team that does. However they were soon 24-4 and Australia in pole position. David Miller’s century brought some honour to [...]

November 17, 2023 // 0 Comments

Bernard Levin, Michael Portillo, Simon Sebag Montefiore

What do the three above have in common? You may be surprised by my answer: a Panama Hat. Sir Ttevor MacDonald recently paid an affectionate tribute to Bernard Levin. . This tribute also included his travel programmes, made late in his life following Hannibal’s march and the length of the Rhein, [...]

November 16, 2023 // 0 Comments

MCC v India

I switched onto TMS at 7-30 am to hear an interview with an author critical of the MCC’s governance of cricket. The theme was typical of the contemporary cricket writer: the MCC  was a cosy, private, right wing members’ club and largely incompetent. Later I listened to the preview of the [...]

November 15, 2023 // 0 Comments

The Lancaster Bomber

Last week there was a fascinating documentary on the Lancaster bomber on Sky. The Lancaster was the elite aircraft of Bomber Command which under Air Marshal ‘Bomber’ Harris raised German cities to rubble. This is a remarkably prescient topic given the Israeli Air Force bombing of Gaza. In [...]

November 13, 2023 // 0 Comments

Leicester Tigers 25 Harlequins 29

Quins sit atop of the Premiership but there are cracks. Marcus Smith only converted 2 of the 5 tries and, defensively improved, they still look vulnerable. Joe Marler, Jack Walker, Marcus Smith, André Esterhuizen and Danny Care are all back from the World Cup whilst Will Porter, Nick David, Lennox [...]

November 12, 2023 // 0 Comments

Venice: City of Pictures (Martin Gayford)

As one might expect from such an eminent art historian Martin Gayford’s latest work on Venetian art and architecture is a thorough, well-researched study with beautiful images. He covers the ‘Big Four’ of Venetian art – Titian, Tintoretto (the only artist born in and of Venice) [...]

November 11, 2023 // 0 Comments

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