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Monthly Archives: April 2012

theASHtray, vol.13

David Walliams does Roald Dahl, AA Gill does Mary Beard, and I do children’s literature, Little Britain, Donald Sturrock, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Sunday Times, Romans, the Daily Mail, Cicero, Bettany Hughes, Time Team, the Cambridge Latin Course, constipation, movie posters, The Ides of March, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The English Patient, […]

theASHtray, vol.12

A trenchant critique of all things Israel-Palestine – starring Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin and Helena Bonham Carter – Ricky Gervais, retardations, Karl Pilkington, Channel 4, nurses, Gladiator, Star Wars, Leon, Madame Tussauds, Marvel, Shrek, Hamlet, Tom Phillips (RA), Lord of the Rings, Orhan Pamuk, museums, cabinets of curiosity, Istanbul, A Serbian Film, Daniel […]

La Fille du régiment

Donizetti’s silliness at the ROH, reviewed. — For theartsdesk

TS Eliot’s MO

I drop ice-cubes down the vests of those who can’t follow my pop-literary references.

Town of Runners

Documentary on what’s in the water in the distance-running capital of the world: Bekoji, Ethiopia. (Reviewed.) — For theartsdesk

Navel-gazing, with Pamela Stephenson

Review of More4’s Pamela Stephenson: The Fame Report. — For theartsdesk

A younger Shakespeare hedges his bets

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and/or temperate…

NB – Sports Direct

Dear SportsDirect.com, Thank you for your stream of PRICE CRASH!! special offer e-mails, coming in approx. twice a day for the past 9 days. What I would really like, though, is the trainers I ordered more than a week ago. Please feel free to let me know when they are on their way. (E-mail will […]

theASHtray, vol.11

An Easter holiday special, in which we take in Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Ancient Egypt, the Grand Tour, stuffed birds, Congolese objets d’art, camera-less photography, amateur collectors, wunderkammern/cabinets of curiosity, Bruce Chatwin, Nicky Hirst, madeleine moments, Broomhill Sculpture Park, sculpture in general, Ronald A. Westerhuis, Carol Peace, Jake Rusby, Mike Roles, Dartington Crystal, Swedes, […]

Almost no-one wants to be like Spike

Review of ITV’s Perspectives: (John) Sergeant on Spike. — For theartsdesk