Writing and Film

The rules of golf when the bombs drop…

From the wonderful Shaun Usher here is a post from his Lists of Note, the sister site to his Letters of Note: As the Battle of Britain began to take hold in 1940, a bomb fell on an outbuilding belonging to Richmond Golf Club in Surrey, England. As a result, the club — rather than halt future rounds of golf — issued an incredible list of temporary golf rules to

True Detective’s truly brilliant opening sequence

Among the many wonderful things about True Detective, the HBO series in which two troubled detectives pick their way through a bleak swampy Louisiana littered with chemical refineries, trailers and serial killers, is its opening title sequence. Backed by the Handsome Family’s Far From Any Road, it perfectly capture’s Rust Cohle’s (Matthew McConaughey) line, ‘this place is like someone’s memory of a town – and the memory is fading.’ The

Other people's shoes: tales of forgiveness and empathy

Exploring the possibilities of forgiveness through real stories: the Forgiveness Project is a UK based charity that uses the stories of victims and perpetrators to facilitate conflict resolution and promote behavioural change.  The project encourages people to consider alternatives to resentment, retaliation and revenge and central its efforts is work with ex-offenders and victims of crime. As well as collecting stories, the Project has created a powerful touring exhibition and

Men made miserable by shopping

A source of fascination are those couples who manage to shop together without ending up in the divorce courts. One man decided to photograph his peers instead of spending the time sleeping or constantly looking at his mobile phone and the result is a very popular Instagram, ‘Miserable men that went shopping. I felt their pain’.          

Robert Burns and the Love-Begotten Babies

It’s a pity that the reputation of Robert Burns, a prolific and uniformly brilliant poet, is consistently condensed into the same few poems, quoted and misquoted over and over again. He wrote on diverse topics – money and politics among them – but on ly a few of his works are widely known. A recurrent theme was his love for and lack of shame in babies born in unconventional cirncumstances.

Farewell to Elizabeth Jane Howard

Very sad to hear of the death, at 90, of the brilliant Elizabeth Jane Howard and irritated that obituaries are focusing on her lovers and marriages. The woman was a genius as anyone deeply touched by The Beautiful Visit, The Sea Change or the mighty Cazalet Chronicles will attest. Seriously – Kingsley who? RIP Ms Howard and thanks.