It has been something of a surprise to learn this week that we have just reached the end of the nice decade. The name of its predecessor, the me-decade, had made some sort of sense, but niceness hardly seems a quality one would associate with these early years of the 21st century. If there is… Continue reading Ignore the experts: here’s the secret of happiness
Read moreThe prejudice has less to do with the music than the way its performer looks, or his views On the face of it, there are few sillier or unseemly sights in public life than a pop billionaire stroppily complaining that he is not taken seriously enough. Sir Cliff Richard does it every other week. Sir… Continue reading These elderly pop stars have a right to feel miffed
Read moreThe prejudice has less to do with the music than the way its performer looks, or his views On the face of it, there are few sillier or unseemly sights in public life than a pop billionaire stroppily complaining that he is not taken seriously enough. Sir Cliff Richard does it every other week. Sir… Continue reading These elderly pop stars have a right to feel miffed
Read moreYour partner in life is having an affair. Your children ignore you. The last time you went to a parents’ evening, your son’s teacher had difficulty remembering who he was. Your friends have discovered that misery can be catching and avoid your company. Your cat looks at you with undisguised contempt. But all is not… Continue reading Government advice by text? V gd idea
Read moreYour partner in life is having an affair. Your children ignore you. The last time you went to a parents’ evening, your son’s teacher had difficulty remembering who he was. Your friends have discovered that misery can be catching and avoid your company. Your cat looks at you with undisguised contempt. But all is not… Continue reading Government advice by text? V gd idea
Read moreTwo great knights of the realm, Sir Jimmy Savile and Sir Salman Rushdie, have just made our strange world seem a little stranger. Salman has appeared, nuzzling Scarlett Johansson’s neck in a video to promote the actress’s new single, “Falling Down”. Jimmy has revealed in an interview that he was close friends with Margaret and… Continue reading The mad, mad world of the very famous
Read moreTwo great knights of the realm, Sir Jimmy Savile and Sir Salman Rushdie, have just made our strange world seem a little stranger. Salman has appeared, nuzzling Scarlett Johansson’s neck in a video to promote the actress’s new single, “Falling Down”. Jimmy has revealed in an interview that he was close friends with Margaret and… Continue reading The mad, mad world of the very famous
Read moreA mistress of the ambivalent, the American photographer Annie Leibovitz has a talent for catching a cultural mood in her portraits, while exploiting it at the same time. Her photograph of Demi Moore, nude and heavily pregnant, pointed up celebrity exhibitionism, but in an oddly flattering manner. Arnold Schwarzenegger, stripped to the waist astride what… Continue reading Exposed: the world of grubby grown-ups
Read moreIt was, by any standards, something of a shock to discover that the British apparently care more about the plight of maltreated donkeys than maltreated women. The three main charities for victims of rape, domestic violence and abuse have a combined annual income of £17m, according to a report by New Philanthropy Capital. A single… Continue reading There’s more to animal welfare than sentimentality
Read moreIt has been a difficult few days: silence in the hedgerows where there should be song, followed by the publication of a profoundly depressing survey into the decline of migrating birds. But today has brought relief. The cuckoo is back, calling from his normal spot across the field from where I write. In the context… Continue reading Season of renewal – and renewed anxiety
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