Recently updated blogs

We go back to Marlin Apartments in Stratford, where homeless families live 4 and 5 to a single room – around which they are pursued by militias of rats, mice, bedbugs, cockroaches, tiny flies and other pests that I didn’t care to view closely at the time. There are pictures and stories here if you can stand it. Being eaten by bedbugs was plenty to be getting on with, but …

This is a fraction of the items currently in my to-do list app, which functions more like an underpass covered in graffiti tags these days than a tool for productivity. I’m passing through, jotting down names of people I meet, frantic reminders of deadlines, books to read, errands to check off. The chaos of it gives me shivers. As my dad loses access to words, memories, faculties, ranges of motion, …

A diary of my visits to my club's section of river, somewhere in deepest, darkest Sussex.Last month I received an email from Kyle, a fellow South African who'd recently made Sussex his home. Kyle wanted some ideas about where he might find trout in running water before the approaching close of the season. I delivered the bad news first. Unusually for Britain, finding river-dwelling trout in Sussex is about as …

Bear’s Castle is an enigma. There is little agreement over why it was built, or its purpose, but it truly captures the imagination. Bear’s Castle stands on the edge of the Yan Yean Reservoir, just out of Whittlesea. It’s one of those places I’d only seen photos of, so to say I was pleased to have a chance to visit earlier this year is an understatement. Bear’s Castle is on …

looks up Blimey, er, time's kinda flown. But what a year. I posted in INTERLUDE that I needed to sort myself out before the Winter of Discontent II landed. Well, we got through that. We also found a house, went through 5 months of ballache buying it, moved (again), and I'm now up to my neck in DIY. I did a contract for Rockstar, on stuff I'll probably never be …

This tour is massive, the excitement must be wild, what does it mean to you to be able to do this? It’s what we’re always waiting to get back to on our time off to be honest. It’s the most amazing rollercoaster, there are so many highs and lows, so many amazing moments and then some days when it’s really hard. So much life is concentrated into those couple months …

Start with something simple. We've got the verb give, which we all know, and the thing that you give is a gift. They're quite obviously related. This is Not Interesting.Then you've got people who use the word gift as a verb, as in "I gifted it to him." That's a bit odd because it's verb to noun to verb again. But it's still pretty obvious.Then you have the verb drive. …

Karen Lord, The Blue, Beautiful World, Del Rey, 2023.Audiobook available.The Blue, Beautiful World is a fascinating science-fiction stand-alone novel about first contact. Owen is a global music star. The crowds flock to his concerts, commune in his music which celebrates the countries where he tours. Beyond his fame and talent, he's also investing in virtual reality, and in a particular corporation he supports. He's surrounded by loyal aides and managers. …

After The Spirit of Gravity in February I ended up talking to Jason Hotchkiss and Jo Summers. I knew Jason from a Build Brighton guitar pedal workshop years ago and as a sound artist from Sound Plotting, but Jo knew Jason as the game developer who made 1D Pong. After …

In my last entry, I talked about how NASA was floating a weird proposal. In essence, the agency wanted to change the New Horizons mission from a Kuiper Belt explorer to doing solely heliophysics. This, while the spacecraft is still in the Kuiper Belt, exploring this largely unexplored part of the Solar System. Oh, and the proposal also suggested replacing the entire science team (that built and knows the spacecraft). …

In scale and speed of construction, Tianjin West seems almost impossible – especially when viewed from Britain. It is, therefore, the perfect embodiment of China’s high speed rail network, on which the station can be found. It is also, I am sorry to say, the antithesis of the development of high speed rail in Britain, […]

I've been feeling kind of ... broken lately. Broken in the way that a car breaks down. Like I have a flat tire or two, the alignment is screwed up, the A/C doesn't work any more, and the right blinker is permanently turned on. And, of course, that doesn't even take into account the exterior damage: the busted tail-light, the smashed-in left side, the peeling paint, the rust, the huge …

Be vewy quiet! Trump, gagged So Kevin McCarthy has been ousted from his position as Speaker of the House. Meanwhile, Trump, on trial for massive fraud, has been hit with a gag order because he won’t stop running his mouth. Discuss, if you are so moved. Oh, and on an unrelated note, I’m now a WRITING COACH! Get in touch with me if you’re facing writer’s block or any other …

I love to bake bread. It takes a lot of time and effort to become a true professional, but the beautiful thing about bread is that even if you’re a beginner and your bread rolls are uneven and ugly, it still tastes amazing. I don’t mind if it takes time to bake bread, and most... Read More The post Quick and easy bread rolls first appeared on The Nordic Kitchen.

Hi,I read this morning, with great interest, your Old Deptford History, very good, so much information. My reason for looking on your site was because I am starting a novel which begins in Deptford High Street in the summer of 1914.Why I am sure you ask am I starting my novel there. My mother and her family, of two sisters and four brothers, were born there, although I'm not sure …