Diary, thoughts, and observations
Animation of a robin (30 April 2024)
Using a plunger (ir)responsibly (21 February 2024)
Hay fever (21 April 2023)
Freedom? (14 July 2021)
Lockdown eased (13 April 2021)
A year of lockdowns (24 March 2021)
Cutting down on doomscrolling and caffeine (18 March 2021)
Blue tit and robin (27 February 2021)
Relief, hope, and despair (21 January 2021)
A winter’s sunset (4 December 2020)
Annus horribilis (30 October 2020)
Staying at home in tumultuous times (9 June 2020)
Feral pigeons (29 April 2020)
Wood pigeon Coronavirus diaries (28 April 2020)
Blue tit Coronavirus diaries (17 April 2020)
Blue tit Coronavirus diaries (14 April 2020)
Full moon Coronavirus diaries (8 April 2020)
Squirrel watching Coronavirus diaries (3 April 2020)
Deliverance Coronavirus diaries (29 March 2020)
Photographing parsley Coronavirus diaries (28 March 2020)
Staying at home, except for buying food Coronavirus diaries (22 March 2020)
Mangoes, dates, and figs Coronavirus diaries (20 March 2020)
Parsley and basil Coronavirus diaries (19 March 2020)
Anxious days Coronavirus diaries (18 March 2020)
Rejoice, for there is toilet paper (13 March 2020)
Empty shelves (10 March 2020)
The great toilet paper panic buying (8 March 2020)
Mega urgent (18 January 2020)
Boris the . . . Spotted in London (19 August 2019)
Sunday afternoon in Wimbledon Common Short video (23 July 2019)
Wimbledon begins (1 July 2019)
Are you a responsible dog-walker? Spotted in Wimbledon Common (27 May 2019)
Taking off on 29 March Spotted in London (25 March 2019)
Screaming and shrieking foxes (26 February 2019)
M&S American-sounding washing-up liquid (14 February 2019)
Groundhog Day of Brexit (6 February 2019)
Windsor, home of the royal wedding Tales from the London Underground (20 November 2018)
Royal wedding as a commercial opportunity (23 May 2018)
What is a selfie worth? (14 May 2018)
Royal memorabilia: princely tins of shortbread (29 April 2018)
Royal memorabilia: the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (28 April 2018)
Magnolias and spring (9 April 2018)
Pelicans in St James’s Park (8 April 2018)
Commemorative mugs (21 January 2018)
Season’s greetings (22 December 2017)
Non-moving travelator Spotted at London Heathrow (20 December 2017)
Doll wedged in hedge Spotted in London (20 December 2017)
Crocodile in central London Spotted in London (29 November 2017)
Aldi’s posh steaks (27 November 2017)
Fully-wrapped double-deckers advertising Google products Spotted in London (25 November 2017)
Aspiration and temptation (21 November 2017)
Name-dropping and bad timing (15 November 2017)
A week since Parsons Green (22 September 2017)
Wimbledon queue starts (2 July 2017)
One for £1, two for £3 (29 June 2017)
Wombling in Wimbledon Common (25 May 2017)
Reality check (28 March 2017)
Living in interesting times (14 February 2017)
What’s free? Spotted in Edinburgh (11 October 2016)
Marxist-Leninists in town Spotted in London (9 October 2016)
Bunny ears for smartphone Tales from the London Overground (17 August 2016)
Spotting a Morning Star reader Tales from the London Underground (31 July 2016)
Brexit as commercial opportunity (1 July 2016)
Cat on night watch? (9 June 2016)
I need coffee! (6 June 2016)
Rainbows (31 March 2016)
Signifiers of spring (27 March 2016)
Venison, red wine, and juniper crisps (25 March 2016)
A momentous year? (21 February 2016)
£500 gold pizza (19 February 2016)
Poundland still closed due to rodent infestation (23 January 2016)
Rodent infestation shuts down Poundland (16 January 2016)
Multiple bus collision (12 January 2016)
It hasn’t felt like Christmas (27 December 2015)
Tap, tap, tap Why do people take photographs of paintings in a gallery? London diary (1 September 2015)
Will the current Greek crisis define a generation? Thinking aloud (30 June 2015)
Wimbledon (queue) begins (28 June 2015)
Perishable goo (17 June 2015)
One for £2, two for £5 Silly supermarket offers London diary (17 June 2015)
Interesting tube journey London diary (16 June 2015)
Fifty shades of grey teeth Spotted in London (31 March 2015)
CSI: Tesco Spotted in London (15 March 2015)
Fifty sha✻es of ... Spotted in London (7 March 2015)
2014 so far Random observations (30 November 2014)
Private and confidential I rant therefore I am (30 October 2014)
Scottish referendum and charity shop display (16 September 2014)
Missing the Boat Race (6 April 2014)
The two Russians (12 March 2014)
Pancake Tuesday (4 March 2014)
Rain, rain, rain, and more to come (11 February 2014)
More betting in Tooting (3 February 2014)
Watching biathlon Sochi 2014 (9 February 2014)
Watching curling (24 January 2014)
Fox London diary (23 January 2014)
A few notes on ‘Secrets of the Scammers’ (9 January 2014)
Storms: weird weather in Britain (9 January 2014)
Scotch eggs (6 January 2014)
A whole leg of prosciutto crudo ham purchased (3 January 2014)
Perils of sponsoring the England cricket team? (30 December 2013)
A whole leg of prosciutto crudo ham (28 December 2013)
Season’s Greetings (24 December 2013)
Reduced-to-clear shelves and stock (3 December 2013)
I should write more (1 December 2013)
Cold, chicken soup, and TMS (25 November 2013)
Cheeseburger without cheese (8 November 2013)
Mince pies (30 October 2013)
Being a worrywart (5 October 2013)
Will smartphones be around for long? (20 September 2013)
Watching Dave (21 July 2013)
Should I join the queue, or should I not? Wimbledon 2013 (28 June 2013)
Crazy day, crazy tournament Wimbledon 2013 (27 June 2013)
Wimbledon starts (23 June 2013)
Spotting mistakes Blogs and personal sites (21 June 2013)
Loratadine days (25 April 2013)
Chechnya and Boston bombing (24 April 2013)
Why are coffee shops thriving? (21 February 2013)
Season’s Greetings (21 December 2012)
Misreading misleading headline: Drinker throws glasses and stool in pub brawl (16 December 2012)
Revolutions and democracies: whither Egypt? (6 December 2012)
Taxonomy of political positions (12 November 2012)
US presidential election 2012: when will we know the result? (5 November 2012)
The Royal Family as celebrities (21 September 2012)
London 2012 so far (5 August 2012)
Olympic torch relay (23 July 2012)
Wimbledon starts: banners in Southfields (25 June 2012)
Wonga and credit crunch (16 June 2012)
Germany, expansionary monetary policy, and inflation (14 June 2012)
Jubieurolympics: feel-good factor in London? (8 June 2012)
Double-dip recession and empty retail units (1 May 2012)
Weird book selection at pound shops (27 April 2012)
The supermarkets are coming (15 April 2012)
Catching a bad cold (16 March 2012)
Europe: shift to expansionary fiscal policy? (29 February 2012)
Newspapers and readers’ comments (15 February 2012)
Syria: the West’s dilemma (13 February 2012)
China and the primacy of domestic stability (12 February 2012)
Old ladies on the tube (12 February 2012)
Airports in London: build, expand, or do nothing? (20 January 2012)
What is Britishness? (14 January 2012)
E-books (3 January 2012)
Shoppers and the economy (29 December 2011)
Václav Havel passes away (18 December 2011)
Christmas card (6 December 2011)
Recession and TV adverts (5 December 2011)
Politics: investment, efficiency, and cuts (4 December 2011)
Tabloids and fabrication (1 December 2011)
Threat of deflation? (1 December 2011)
Governments and markets (28 November 2011)
Economics, human nature, and history (25 November 2011)
Public interest (25 November 2011)
Books in the digital age (12 November 2011)
What next for Pakistan? (BBC documentary: Secret Pakistan) (3 November 2011)
Garlic, glorious smoked garlic (1 November 2011)
Halloween (29 October 2011)
Pakistan’s double-dealing (BBC documentary: Secret Pakistan) (26 October 2011)
Writing is difficult (14 October 2011)
Heathrow, or purgatory (8 September 2011)
Argentine steakhouses: a new fad? (28 August 2011)
Do you have wireless? (21 August 2011)
Riots in the streets, routs in the markets (12 August 2011)
¡No pasarán! (24 July 2011)
Damn you, Google! (16 July 2011)
Watching Wimbledon (Day 3) (23 June 2011)
Wimbledon, rain, and ticket outs (22 June 2011)
Royal Wedding: mug shots — 9 (3 June 2011)
A few thoughts on bin Laden’s death (3 May 2011)
Royal Wedding: a media occasion? (28 April 2011)
Anyone for commemorative busts of the royal couple? (25 April 2011)
Royal Wedding: mug shots — 1 — 2 — 3 — 4 — 5 — 6 — 7 — 8 (21~25 April 2011)
Green Flag (16 April 2011)
Do you have to be an Aussie to work for Aussie Man and Van? (8 April 2011)
Parliament Square: William ❤ Kate (6 March 2011)
Contemporary English butchers? (2 March 2011)
Libya in a stalemate? (2 March 2011)
Revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa (22 February 2011)
Libya’s Ceauşescu moment? (21 February 2011)
BT keeps calling (25 November 2010)
Mysteries of ATMs (15 November 2010)
Sliced white bread (13 July 2010)
Vuvuzela (5 July 2010)
Sentences long and short (3 July 2010)
Austrian Airlines sends e-mails (22 June 2010)
Tatsachenentsubstantialisierung (8 June 2010)
100% accurate? (28 May 2010)
1970s: a foreign land (21 May 2010)
Eurostar services disrupted, again (15 May 2010)
Chernobyl (27 April 2010)
Literary judges (26 April 2010)
Prof. Figes — Why? (23 April 2010)
Caste and pollution (8 April 2010)
Mekong: a future flash point? (4 April 2010)
It’s too late: we’re all doomed (31 March 2010)
Useless bank! A rant (15 March 2010)
Translation or study (14 March 2010)
A fancy cup of coffee (13 March 2010)
Machine translation and learning languages (11 March 2010)
How large is Luxembourg? (27 February 2010)
Eurostar’s strange survey (16 February 2010)
Eurostar’s problems (16 February 2010)
Oil crunch (12 February 2010)
Winter Olympics My favourite events (12 February 2010)
Embarrassing moments: at a supermarket (8 February 2010)
News articles I read today — 25/01/2010 (25 January 2010)
Will the ‘Big Freeze’ end soon? (11 January 2010)
The ‘Big Freeze’ — will everything run out? (10 January 2010)
The only place shut on the high street (7 January 2010)
Political speech of the decade (3 January 2010)
The ever-expanding MacBook battery (23 December 2009)
Economic effects of snow and cold (22 December 2009)
Typing in a pub (2 December 2009)
History and data (1 November 2009)
Everyone is biased! (25 October 2009)
Brussels Diary: Market (Gare du Midi / Zuidstation) (18 October 2009)
Brussels Diary: Oktoberfest (15 October 2009)
Can machines replace human translators? (15 October 2009)
Unread books (14 October 2009)
Christmas pudding (16 September 2009)
Am I missing something? (14 September 2009)
People still drink on the tube (3 September 2009)
Estación María Zambrano (Málaga) (29 August 2009)
Plastic cups and lesbians (16 August 2009)
Buying books at charity shops (10 August 2009)
Belgian National Day (24 July 2009)
Armageddon? (24 July 2009)
Belgian National Day — cake (17 July 2009)
Swine flu What next? (29 June 2009)
Genghis Khan as business guru? (24 June 2009)
What’s the point of this blog? (24 June 2009)
Academic journals Uncertain future? (3 June 2009)
Supermarket Danish salami from Germany? (12 May 2009)
Luxembourg Strange shop sign (5 May 2009)
London: St Luke’s Church, Chelsea (4 April 2009)
A Tale of Two Cities London Underground and Paris Metro (28 February 2009)
Apostrophe (30 January 2009)
2009: End of consumer society? (3 January 2009)
2009: End of capitalism? (1 January 2009)
Banks Need I say more? (21 December 2008)
UK in recession Hypermarket for booze cruisers? (18 December 2008)
Good-bye, Woolies (11 December 2008)
Urban landmarks (2 December 2008)
In my inbox Holiday in Bangkok? (27 November 2008)
Recession Optimists and pessimists (1 November 2008)
UK bookshops Imminent demise of chain bookshops? (28 October 2008)
London Underground An entertaining journey (23 October 2008)