Language & Culture
Great Art Encounters – The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli
Up close and personal with a classic of the Italian renaissance —– It was only as our night train from Vienna drew towards Florence that
5. March 2024
Category: Language & Culture
Language & Culture
Great Art Encounters – The Slav Epic by Alphonse Mucha
A monumental work that helped to create a national consciousness —– Yesterday, a dream of mine came true. I finally got to see all 20
25. February 2024
Language & Culture
What’s the big deal? A millennial discovers Taylor Swift
Trying my best not to turn into a grumpy old fart —– This last week, I have been called upon to ponder two questions of
21. February 2024
Language & Culture
Poetry and the importance of memory
From a quirky new year’s resolution to revivifying an ancient art —– Back on New Year’s Eve 2022, I made a new year’s resolution: to
25. January 2024
Language & Culture
Feel-good films to lift you out of the doldrums
I consider it a matter of considerable unfairness that Christmas is in December. Why does the festive period have to come to an end at
11. January 2024
Language & Culture
I read 41 books in 2023…here are the best of the bunch
Twenty-twenty-three: an economic bust, but a reading boom —– Quite frankly, 2023 didn’t have the feel of a year when I’d manage to read more
25. December 2023
Language & Culture
Sacrilege? I think these covers are better than the original songs
Songs are like people – they need time to find their perfect partner —– Every now and again I get up in the morning and
21. December 2023
Language & Culture
Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, 20 years on
On the beauty of fleeting human connections —– November 2003, North London. Five bright young female law students file into a cinema auditorium in Wood
5. December 2023
Language & Culture
Great Art Encounters: “Guernica” by Pablo Picasso
A trip to Madrid to meet a 20th century masterpiece —– Damn. I’ve seen it. That wasn’t meant to happen. I’m in the Museo Nacionale
30. November 2023
Language & Culture
What a kerfuffle! 10 funny words in British English
“What a palaver!” I shouldn’t be laughing right now, as I am talking to my sister about a fall she just had while out running,
16. November 2023