There is a garden near our home in France and it is one of my treasured sights. Among other such sights could be a particular wall or seascape, bush or tree, or perhaps some old railings. Whenever I see one of them, I linger and gaze, sometimes touch or even sniff. As with many of…
The estuary boys
Puzzling over accents gives me enormous pleasure. Trying to work out a person's origins from their voice is an obsession [see In a manner of speaking Greyhares, 9 September 2012] and there is little more disquieting than hearing an accent that I cannot place, or one that jars. At the same time, disguising my own voice…
Approximately ten things found in a schoolboy’s pocket
a catapult; unsprung a gob of purple bubblegum a yard of string knotted; in three places a map of those three places a penknife; worn a breast torn from the pages of Playboy a woodpecker feather; lesser spotted a tasty piece of sausage half a handkerchief semi-snotted pieces of eight - one and thruppence in…
Queen of the nought
This is the story of one of my favourite buildings, of sitting in one of its iconic seats, and of a musical incident that managed to undermine two hours' pleasure. I am no music expert but I love going to concerts and over the years have been to celebrated venues in Berlin, Chicago, Moscow, Sydney…
Veal meat again
Nostalgia for a classic dish sends Joe off on a breadcrumb trail By rights there should be few things duller than breadcrumbs. However, these apparently characterless granules have now been one of my preoccupations for weeks. My problem was, ultimately, a case of taste coupled with stubborn determination. My wife and I share the cooking. We each have our…
The Man who taught his Dog to play Chess
Can you teach a shaggy dog new tricks? Graham Dukes knows a man who can... Some seventeen years ago – yes, it was 1999 – I made up my mind to become famous. It all started at a second-hand bookstall, where I picked up what had once been a correspondence course for budding writers of fiction.…
Heart of gold
Moving house is one of the more stressful of lifetime events; for many it even matches divorce or the death of someone close. Perhaps a major component of the stress is the insecurity that follows being uprooted. However, although many roots are severed some remain, and for me at least, these remnants have helped. The fact…
Reopening gambit
After closely observing my peers, I have concluded that when people retire their approach to life remains much the same as it did when they were earning - busy people stay busy and lazy people do rather little. During my own career I was actually too busy - some say a workaholic! My days were…