On the 2nd of August this year (2005), football fans from the Sicilian city of Messina blockaded the strategic ferry route between the city and the Italian peninsula, protesting against their club’s relegation to Serie B. Another small episode in a long history of impassioned football support, and political intrigue (the Sicilian club were re-admitted […]
My Irish 'Mum' does this beautifully and with a subtle grace she managed for years to keep her recipe from me, with the excuse that she does not use a scale when cooking. I managed however to drag up the secret recipe she has been using all along, and, my beloved readers, here it is […]
If, like me, you like the idea of entertaining your guests with your skill in the kitchen, but realise that the reality may diverge from the dream, then here are some ideas for a pretty straightforward meal with Mediterranean influences that will leave your fish eating chocolate loving guests fit to burst with pleasure (especially […]
If, like me, you like the idea of entertaining your guests with your skill in the kitchen but realise that the reality may diverge from the dream then here are some ideas for a pretty straightforward meal with Mediterranean influences that will leave your fish eating chocolate loving guests fit to burst with pleasure (especially […]
How would you picture Michael Cimino, director of The Deer Hunter and Heaven’s Gate? Sitting, sipping a beer in the courtyard of Bologna’s elegant Lumière Cinema, it’s a question that occupies my mind while waiting for the arrival of the celebrated American director. A question, because I don’t know the answer. There are photos of […]
We arrived exhausted in San José airport after iris scanning, fingerprint recording and some sub zero air conditioning temperature in Orlando Airport. It was April but it felt like August, with a warm wind and high humidity. A roaring group of taxi drivers were waiting outside the arrivals terminal and it felt slightly threatening, jetlagged […]
Until recently, I wasn’t even clued into the existance of a distinctive Cornish culture, or that an actual language ‘Kernowek’, a close relation of Welsh and Breton existed. My knowledge of Cornwall stretched no further than gluttonous visions of clotted cream scones drenched in strawberry jam best complimented by lounging in a pollen blanketed field […]
Harry Clarke was recognised for his artistic genius and achieved great success during his own lifetime, yet he often gets pigeonholed into various modes of artistic expression. Clarke however, was not merely a symbolist, a revivalist, an illustrator, or a stained glass artist; he was all of these but also much more complex and interesting […]
Is the Novel dead? Can it survive in an age where other forms of entertainment and information readily seem to fill its shoes? When DVD players are small and portable enough to challenge the convenience of a paperback, is the novel doomed? “I’ve never been very good at either privileging art forms or declaring any […]