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Author Archives: A S H Smyth

The Very Old New Normal

Friday, April 23, 2021

An ancient livery company celebrates St George’s Day and a year of successful ‘virtual’ operation in the teeth of Covid-19 . A year ago today, around the swelteringest part of the Sri Lankan year, I clambered to the roof of our apartment building in Colombo, donned my lairiest tropical shirt, cracked a Lion ‘larger’, and, […]

Filed in correspondence, Journalism | Tagged Falkland Islands Radio Service, London, Sri Lanka, St George, the Falknds, The Worshipful Company of Skinners | Comments (0)

Zooming windows

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Interview with members of the George Formby Society, as they attempt to break an online ukulele-playing record. — For The Critic

Filed in feature, interview, Journalism | Tagged Alastair Cook, America, army, Australia, banjos, Batley, BBC, Bette Davis, bingo, Blackpool, Canada, Covid-19, cricket, Cyprus, dating, Ed Balls, Facebook, Falkland Islands Radio Service, France, Frank Skinner, friends, George Formby, German, Germany, grandmothers, Guinness, Gyles Brandreth, Harry HIll, Hawaii, Humphrey Bogart, Italy, jellyfish, lyrics, mental health, music, naturism, nuclear power, proletarians, Queen Elizabeth II, records, Royal Albert Hall, Russia, Simon Rose, smut, Swahili, The Critic, The Daily Telegraph, the George Formby Society, the Queen Mother, the RAF, Tottenham, ukuleles, Warrington Museum, Welsh, windows, WWII, Yorkshire, Zoom | Comments (0)

Antarctic adventure

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

From the submarine service to the world’s southernmost post office: Q&A with dentist Sally Owen, in the sub-Antarctic. — For The Critic

Filed in Journalism | Tagged Antarctica, British Antarctic Survey, British Army, dentistry, Port Lockroy, Royal Navy, Sally Owen, Stanley, The Critic, the Falklands, travel, UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, work | Comments (0)

Research and rescue

Friday, March 5, 2021

The Falkland Islands bids farewell to the RRS James Clark Ross, and a Marylebone gallery hosts a virtual exhibition of Antarctic photographs. — For The Critic

Filed in correspondence, feature, Journalism | Tagged Antarctica, Marylebone, RRS James Clark Ross, RRS Sir David Attenborough, The Critic, the Falklands, the Royal Geographical Society | Comments (0)

The coast of Hisperica

Friday, February 19, 2021

i.m. Umberto Eco (1932-2016) . This frothing sea surrounds the world and beats earth’s borders with its rushing waves. Its storm-wall slams the rocky foreshore, ploughs the bed with thumping crests, strewing shingled foam in starry furrows, ever-shaken by its thunderous blast. .

Filed in Poetry, Translation | Tagged Irish, Latin, Poetry, sea, translation, Umberto Eco | Comments (0)

The Evensong at the End of the World

Sunday, February 7, 2021

On singing evensong for Candlemas, in Stanley Cathedral. — For The Critic

Filed in correspondence, Journalism | Tagged The Critic | Comments (0)

Quarantined in the Falkland Islands: 2

Sunday, January 31, 2021

The saga continues. — For The Critic

Filed in correspondence, Journalism | Tagged The Critic | Comments (0)

Crashed and Burnsed

Monday, January 25, 2021

On giving a poetically bad speech to the Caledonian Society of Sri Lanka, at the Galle Literary Festival. — For The Critic

Filed in correspondence, Journalism | Tagged The Critic | Comments (0)

Quarantined in the Falkland Islands: 1

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

From South Asia to the South Atlantic, in the time of Covid. — For The Critic

Filed in correspondence, Journalism | Tagged The Critic | Comments (0)

My daughter conjugates the verb ‘to spy’

Saturday, December 12, 2020

i.m. John le Carré (1931-2020) . I spy You spew He/she/Pierre Spies We (Graf) Spee You Spanx® They spunk .

Filed in Non-fictions | Tagged daughters, John le Carré, Maximilian Johannes Maria Hubert Reichsgraf von Spee, Pierre Spies, sex, spies, underwear, verbs, vomit | Comments (0)