There is something inordinately comforting about rejoining the company of book characters you have grown to know and love. If an author is doing their job properly, and Hilary Spiers mostly certainly is, it is akin to meeting up again with old friends, people you wish you could have Continue Reading
Movie review: Loving
In a perfect world, the union of two people in wedded bliss would simply be a celebration of love and devotion and not some devious threat to the social order. Alas, none of us live in such an untroubled idyll, so instead marriage often comes loaded with a whole Continue Reading
Now this is music #83: Golden Coast, Darling James, Julie Bergan, MUNA, Maribelle
Life is not easy on us. There are twists and turns all over the shop and coping with it all, whether it’s resolving what troubles us, or finding some temporary sanctuary in the midst of the hurt and madness, can be a real challenge. None of the five artists Continue Reading
Simon Says: Lessons of history from a famed real-life Nazi hunter
It is an oft-used phrase, particularly in these perilous times when far right nationalists seem intent on trying to reshape the earth in their poisonously dark image, but one that very much deserves repeating: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Continue Reading
The Walking Dead: “Rock in the Road” (S7, E9 review)
*SPOILERS AHEAD … ABD BBQ’D ZOMBIE ROADKILL* Ladies and gentlemen step right up, step right up! It’s time to play everyone’s favourite apocalyptic game “Kill the REALLY Bad Guy!” Yes, yes we’ve played it many times before, to varying degrees of success, but the rules are essentially the Continue Reading
The pain and laughter of Youth in Oregon
SNAPSHOT When 79-year-old curmudgeon Raymond (Frank Langella) makes arrangements to be euthanized in Oregon, his family refuses to accept his decision. But when another family emergency arises, Raymond’s daughter Kate (Christina Applegate) turns to her husband Brian (Billy Crudup) for a little help. So Brian reluctantly volunteers to drive Continue Reading
First Impressions: Legion
At one key point in this utterly remarkable, highly-original and deliriously imaginative show, the protagonist, David Haller (Dan Stevens), an Omega-level mutant on the run from as yet-unnamed Bad Guys stops and asks his girlfriend/rescuer from certain death, Sydney Barrett (Rachel Keller), “Is this real?” Granted they’re fleeing for Continue Reading
Simon’s Cat is Looking For Love #ValentinesDay
Can cats fall in love? Well, why not? After all, as Cole Porter wrote in his 1928 classic song “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)” … “Birds do it, bees do it Even educated fleas do it …” So it stands to reason that even cats can feel Continue Reading
Book review: Mosquitoland by David Arnold
When we’re growing up, time and and distance can seem like the greatest of tyrannies. Neither seems particularly predisposed to granting us any favours, and any sense that they might eventually give us perspective or understanding can feel as fanciful as the idea that there are problems in life Continue Reading
Weekend pop art: Apple’s T & Cs re-done in the style of famous cartoons and comic strips
Who actually reads Terms and Conditions (T & Cs) documents? Anyone? anyone? Bueller? Just as I thought – NO ONE. Yeah, yeah we totally should so we know if the vendor we’re signing up with is going to require our firstborn in the event of a missed bill or Continue Reading