What’s Hot

Terry Venables

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Terry Venables . He was more than an acquaintance less than a friend. As in lifetime, opinion is divided on his merits and achievements. For some he was a progressive football man managing at the highest international and club level. For others he did not [...]

November 28, 2023 // 0 Comments

Frans Hals at the National Gallery

Yesterday I went to the National Gallery to see the Frans Hals exhibition – his first retrospective in 30 years- and enjoyed it immensely. You might think that portraiture could be boring but not so. This is because Hals was a supreme technician, that his sitters often adopted unusual [...]

November 25, 2023 // 0 Comments

Art of Film/Comedy/Sky Arts

Last night Ian Nathan presented the latest in the series on comedy. It’s obviously hard to cover this vast topic in an hour but nonetheless I was disappointed by the omissions. Mel Brooks and The Producers got a deserved mention but not Woody Allen. Although the point was made that comedy [...]

November 24, 2023 // 0 Comments

More worries at Sussex CCC

The decision of young Ali Orr – Sussex Sharks wicketkeeper – to reject a new contract and sign for Hampshire has sent shock waves through the club. In the past three years there have been many departures: virtually the whole of the first team, coaches Ian Salisbury – and before [...]

November 23, 2023 // 0 Comments

Napoleon

My heart dropped when in the opening sequence of Napoleon Joaquin Phoenix opened his mouth and a broad Brooklyn accent emerged. In films like Spartacus Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis had thick American accents, but you might have thought that a voice coach assisting Phoenix – or a French film [...]

November 23, 2023 // 0 Comments

John Craxton/Pallant Gallery Chichester

The Pallant Gallery has done – more than any other museum – much to redeem the reputation of many 20th Century British painters. In some cases, like the 1920s society artist Glyn Philpott or Leon Underwood, I wondered why, whereas with others – like Johnny Minton, regarded as the [...]

November 22, 2023 // 0 Comments

Autumn sporting contests

We have now reached the end of autumnal sport contests: the Ryder Cup, the Rugby World Cup and the Cricket World Cup. Of the three I enjoyed the Rugby World Cup the most as England defied the critics – who at one stage doubted they could qualify – by holding South Africa until the 79th [...]

November 20, 2023 // 0 Comments

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

1 2 3 … 358 »

Terry Venables

November 28, 2023 // 0 Comments

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Terry Venables . He was more than an acquaintance less than a friend. As in lifetime, opinion is divided on his merits and [...]
Frans Hals at the National Gallery

November 25, 2023 // 0 Comments

Yesterday I went to the National Gallery to see the Frans Hals exhibition – his first retrospective in 30 years- and enjoyed it immensely. You might think that [...]
Art of Film/Comedy/Sky Arts

November 24, 2023 // 0 Comments

Last night Ian Nathan presented the latest in the series on comedy. It’s obviously hard to cover this vast topic in an hour but nonetheless I was disappointed by the [...]
More worries at Sussex CCC

November 23, 2023 // 0 Comments

The decision of young Ali Orr – Sussex Sharks wicketkeeper – to reject a new contract and sign for Hampshire has sent shock waves through the club. In the past [...]
Napoleon

November 23, 2023 // 0 Comments

My heart dropped when in the opening sequence of Napoleon Joaquin Phoenix opened his mouth and a broad Brooklyn accent emerged. In films like Spartacus Kirk Douglas and [...]