It is usually dangerous to make generalisations but here we go - Canadians are nice. What draws me to this position? On my first trip five months ago I discovered that when it comes to matters of taste, there are many people in Canada who have an endearing quirkiness, as I described in July [A…
What men think
Alan West tries to break the habit of a lifetime When a friend asked me to join his new club, I admit I was a little dubious. What sort of a club? I asked. Well, it’s a bit like a Women’s Book Club. My friend had been impressed by his wife’s book club, which meets…
Ecdysis
The other evening I found myself listening to a lecture by an enthusiastic young man explaining that since electronic text was the technical highlight of this young century, we must accept the consequences. Newspapers and magazines, he assured us, would be dead within a decade. And Printed Books would be next in line for the…
Lost propriety
Three years ago we ditched our car. At first we wondered if we would feel bereft but the move has been a success with money saved, a contribution made to the fight against global warming, and no symptoms of car withdrawal. By using a mixture of walking, cycling, public transport, home delivery and the occasional…
A good telling off
As an adult, being on the receiving end of a 'good telling off' is most unpleasant. I got one from government officials in my late 50s; it was for a minor breach of some draconian secrecy regulations. The issue at hand was trivial - using privileged information to suggest to a consumer group a topic…
Speed merchant
Joe Collier trades speed for enlightenment The reverberations that followed a drive in the countryside in April are only now settling. We had set our hearts on seeing a 13th century tithe barn, but there was a problem. It was four o'clock, the barn would close in an hour, and we were lost. We were…
Down and outs in Paris and London
There can't be many things I have in common with the down and outs of Richmond, but it is clear that we both share one affinity; the local graveyard. I know why I like it. Apart from it being a short-cut to the station there is something special about its airy calm, elegantly bordered York-slab…
Blankety blank
Being an unwitting stooge in an organised charade made me furious and the feeling persists weeks later. Moreover, as it was a very public affair the charade affected many more people than just me! It all started several months ago when, out of the blue, I received a letter from a university inviting me to…