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Friday, 27 June 2014

Deutschland deine Engländer (© Stern), a waffle on national identity, my Onkel August and Der Stahlhelm and what exactly did the pater do for the security of his country?

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Well, this very English but also very German chap didn’t get to write that last day entry, and is now back in Old Blighty, with a replenishe...
Tuesday, 17 June 2014

Day Three (a little late, so it’s strictly Day Four) at Heinitzpolder

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Heinitzpolder Day Four (was going to be Day Three, but hassling around with photos, I forgot to post it.)  And it’s a little local exploring...
Saturday, 14 June 2014

Day One of my stay here at Heinitzpolder in which I do very little in the run-up to doing even less, as the sun shines, the birds sing and the landscape is reassuringly flat. And will England, against all odds, prove us wrong? (Er, probably not, at least not against Italy, though they might, perhaps, take Bosnia apart. Trouble is Bosnia are in a separate group. Damn!) And why houses need children

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Heinitzpolder Day One In the grand tradition of a week off, I’ve done little today, which is, though, a little more than I intended. My br...
Friday, 13 June 2014

Our trip to the Fatherland starts with a very, very boring delay. Read on if you really have nothing better to do. Unfortunately, at present I don't and am at a bloody loose end for the next seven hours. And then there’s ‘bitcoins: what the bloody hell are ‘bitcoins’?

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Well, what should have been a joyous occasion, a triumphal entry into Germany via Düsseldorf airport, and then a brief two-hour journey up t...
Saturday, 7 June 2014

I’m not saying ‘I’m humbled’ because that would be a cliché beyond the call of duty even for this tacky blogger. But I’m bloody glad I wasn’t called upon to prove myself. And a certain Sgt Alexander Blackman: how’s about you cast the first stone?

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Ok, so I’m a day late and that I didn’t post this yesterday on the anniversary itself is simply down to good intentions ruined by a mind lik...
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Sunday, 25 May 2014

As the EU votes in its latest gang of expense fiddlers, matters in Ukraine – not ‘the Ukraine’, please! - and Egypt carry on as planned. And just how far will the Far Right carry on rising? Is it curtains for social democracy?

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While we here in Britain, and, of course, the rest of Europe, await the results of the European Union parliamentary elections and some get t...
Saturday, 24 May 2014

What is it with the ‘distinction’ between ‘modern classical music’, ‘modern contemporary music’ and ‘jazz’? And I give a well-deserved mention to guitarist Justin Morell (who might not yet have been made a peer of the realm, but, well, you know . . . plus ça change and other utterly irrelevant cliches). Check him out

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The soundfiles don’t work in the Opera browser. Don’t blame me, blame Opera. UPDATE: Jun 14, 2014. Actually, they do seem to work in Opera...
Monday, 19 May 2014

You can lead a horse to water . . . I begin the task of trying to wean my son off Total Bollocks III on his Xbox and introduce him to something which might in later years give him more lasting pleasure. And you, too, might like some of these pieces

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NB Have a bit of patience when loading this page. These soundfiles seem to load and play in Safari (on a Mac laptop) , Firefox and Chrome (o...
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Friday, 16 May 2014

In which my son asks for a dog for his birthday and I say No, and my name is now mud

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Going through a slight ‘Dad is a bastard’ phase here in Powell Towers, because I have vetoed the suggestion that my son should be allowed to...