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Tag Archives: Africa

A Hitch in time

On the late, great Christopher Hitchens, and the role the Falklands may have played in his political development. — For The Critic

News At A Glance #3

More or less news more-or-less concerning Lord Salisbury, Quakers, and Chaldaean numerology. — For The Emigre

Aguê the Sinister, also called Azizan

Among the Ewe people of Togo (formerly Togoland), the village of Bé lies at the foot of the Tokoin plateau, between a stagnant lagoon and a sacred wood, the meagre remnant of an ancient equatorial forest that once covered the south of the country in its entirety. Here, the animist bokonon priests and priestesses of the python cult worship the forces of […]

NEWS AT A GLANCE

. One’s past is what one is. It is the only way by which people should be judged. — The Nelson Evening Mail, Wednesday, August 29 1906 . Globalisation is going into reverse. The (great) auk became extinct because he forgot how to fly. Your underpants contain cellulose. In the medieval period, walking through a labyrinth or […]

NEWS AT A GLANCE

. The average salary of professors at Dublin University is £530. — The Nelson Evening Mail, March 14 1907 . The persecution of Christians is now worse than at any time in history. Toto’s ‘Africa’ is one of Myleene Klass’s all-time favourites. The Hillsborough disaster is still in the news. Simon Bolivar, a Venezuelan military and […]

NEWS AT A GLANCE

. In many parts of Africa gin is the only currency. — The Nelson Evening Mail, January 6 1909 . James Ramsay MacDonald became Prime Minister of Great Britain three times. Water is a better conductor of sound than air. A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the […]

Biograffiti

from the index of a popular anthology* U. A. FANTHORPE was born in Kent. BILLY COLLINS is the author of six books of poetry including… Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes. IAN MCMILLAN is poet-in-residence for Barnsley FC. TOMAS TRANSTRÖMER… suffered a serious stroke which left his speech impaired and his right side paralysed…. [He] continues to […]

theASHtray, vol.7

From the arts desk at the end of the universe, reflections on Douglas Adams, Erwin Schrödinger, Joseph Kony, YouTube, Ian McKellen, Stephen Fry, Bilbo Baggins, Saul Zaentz, trademark and copyright law, Lewis Hyde, Amy Winehouse, Florence Welch, Queens of the Stone Age, MUSE, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård, and the many and various meanings of Liff. […]

Same, same

I buy books on Africa the same way my mother buys books on Ireland. (I don’t read them the same way.)

A Ghanaian election

How much do you remember about the Ghanaian presidential run-off of 2008? Hm? No? Fair enough. Me neither. And there’s a reason for that. But Jarreth Merz does. The Swiss documentary-maker spent three hectic months on the campaign trail, the better that we might understand – and he’s put it all down in his film, […]