(Icon chosen to annoy Donald the Elephant ( Read more... )

I bought a lovely Julian coin on eBay, and exchanged a couple of emails with the seller. The seller recommended Shaun's book on him to me, as s/he had done Shaun's course on him. I was able to reply that not only did I have the book, but the author was an old pal of mine from postgrad days!

Why do I get the feeling that all Julian's friends know ( Read more... )

I'm posting this article on Michelangelo's Night, from the Medici Chapel and the painted version by Michele (Tosini) di Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio here for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A very dear friend of mine is about to have an op, so here's looking at you, kid! The lovely Signora Notte, being 16C, has less optimistic prospects (hence she stands ( Read more... )

I went to S'mug on Great George St this afternoon to meet Elma for a coffee. It was empty, apart from a tall, thin lad in a baseball cap at the counter. The waitresses were chatting to him about Hamlet. Interesting, I thought. Then I recognised him... ( Read more... )

I had a fun day visiting Doug and Anna in their enchanted and enchanting house, which used to be a dentist's, tucked away in a back lane. Doug has been working on it for 10 years, in more recent years with Anna, stuffing it with Victorian mock-Gothic panelling and settles from architectural salvage from redundant or refurbished churches, and with… ( Read more... )

It was cold, it was damp, but it was fun!
I met up with my Californian pals loupnoir and albionwood, who are here for Celtic Connections. We had a massive business lunch in Paradise, a wonderfully cosy Iranian restaurant on GW Road. The soup, Ashe Reshteh, has chickpeas and noodles, and is so thick you could almost stand your spoon up in it. The Khoresht Ghaimeh ( Read more... )