Contrails If you were a conspiracy theorist, you’d be wondering where all these planes were going to meet up. Sadly, I think the answer was Stansted Airport :-( Quote of the Day ”Any sufficiently advanced punditry is indistinguishable from bollocks”. … Continue reading →

Et in Arcadia ego… Walking back from lunch yesterday I looked over the bridge and saw this. The weather currently is what used to be called an “Indian Summer”, possibly by people who had never been in India in the … Continue reading →

Wizard stuff King’s Cross, yesterday. The Harry Potter industry continues to thrive. It must be one of Britain’s biggest cultural exports. Quote of the Day ”Potentially, TV can transform the Presidency into a monarchic dynasty. A merely elective Presidency scarcely … Continue reading →

Darwiniana This plaque greets visitors to Christ’s, the Cambridge college where Charles Darwin was an undergraduate. Last Friday I’d been invited to lunch there by a friend who is a Fellow of the college, and afterwards she asked if I’d … Continue reading →

Love in Venice Seen in 2017. I wonder if that particular craze has passed. Quote of the Day ”These are stochastic-parrot clever-hans software tools, potentially very useful when properly harnessed, but a source of madness to people who fall into … Continue reading →

Cyclamen A staggeringly beautiful plant, seen in a Norfolk garden. Quote of the Day ”During my time as a political strategist, one of the most vexing problems was figuring out why so many people vote against their perceived interests.” James … Continue reading →

Wide open I love north Norfolk for its open skies, beaches and birdlife. This was Brancaster the other day. Quote of the Day “Chopsticks are one of the reasons the Chinese never invented custard.” Spike Milligan Musical alternative to the … Continue reading →

The dancer In Jim Ede’s house, Kettles Yard, Cambridge. Quote of the Day “And God said, ‘Let there be light’ and there was light, but the Electricity Board said He would have to wait until Thursday to be connected.” Spike … Continue reading →

Fountainhead Seen the other day. For a moment, it looked as through the flowers were perched atop the water. Quote of the Day “The love of money as a possession — as distinguished from the love of money as a … Continue reading →

Acorn This fell on to the pavement in front of me the other day. Funny to think that from such a tiny, beautiful seed a mighty oak might grow. Quote of the Day ”Did you know that Mozart had no … Continue reading →

David’s One of my favourite bookshops. Above it is the apartment where Maynard Keynes and his wife Lydia Lopokova used to stay when they were in Cambridge. Quote of the Day ”Remember your humanity, and forget the rest.” Bertrand Russell … Continue reading →

Surreeality Standing on Monday morning in Noordeinde in the Hague waiting for a friend I was drawn to the window of an art dealership across the street. I hadn’t realised how weird the picture would seem until I printed it. … Continue reading →

Doggy sense This is one of my all-time favourite photographs. We were driving along the seafront in Antibes one sweltering Sunday afternoon when I saw a small dog sitting in the shade of a beach umbrella looking at his master … Continue reading →

What we’re missing Once upon a time we used to have these at this time of the year. Not this year, though. Climate change is no respecter of ancient pleasures. Bah! Quote of the Day “We haven’t got a plan … Continue reading →

Who do you think you are? Pulling into an hotel car-park in Burgundy I found myself face to face with this Quince, which looked distinctly unimpressed by the new visitors. Afterwards, I looked it up on the RHS site to … Continue reading →

On reflection… Semur-en-Auxoise, last week. Quote of the Day ”Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education.” Bertrand Russell Musical alternative to the morning’s radio news Keith Jarrett | My Song Link Long Read of the … Continue reading →

What’s missing Arles, August, 2026 I’m pedantic about apostrophes, so of course this struck me. And since it generally indicates that a word is contracted, I wondered how the owners of the café came up with the name. But then … Continue reading →

Hope springs eternal We’re in Provence, in a village that had been threatened by the wildfires. One morning we walked up to what I’m calling the “burned treeline” for want of a better term. On a road that had served … Continue reading →

Modernists I love the paintings of Edward Hopper. One of my favourite works of his is Nighthawks, which shows three customers at an all-night diner sitting at the counter opposite a server, each appearing to be lost in thought and … Continue reading →

This is the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks The moment This photo was taken by Robert Clark from the window of his studio in Brooklyn. Quote of the Day “At most 5,000 vehicles will be built. Because there are … Continue reading →

Place de la République Striking new artwork celebrating a lovely local village square. Quote of the Day Susan Sontag once observed that “great writers are either husbands or lovers”. Husbands, in her telling, are reliable, intelligible and decent. Lovers are … Continue reading →

Non-potable Quote of the Day “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” William Faulkner Musical alternative to the morning’s radio news Alison Krauss & Union Station | Dimming Of The Day Link Long Read of the Day ‘Empire’s … Continue reading →

The decisive moment Well, a provençal moment anyway. Quote of the Day ”The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them … Continue reading →

Bart gets a facelift Seen in an Arles street yesterday. With “No More War” scrawled on his forehead. Wonder what Homer would think. Quote of the Day ”In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be … Continue reading →

Burren View One of my favourite photographs. It’s taken from the northern shore of Galway Bay looking south to the ‘moonscape’ of the Burren in Co Clare. Quote of the Day ”The English hoard words like misers; the Irish spend … Continue reading →

Gold Coast Where we’re headed this weekend. Quote of the Day ”Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” H.L. Mencken Musical alternative to the morning’s radio news The Grateful Dead | Brokedown Palace (Live at Carter-Finley Stadium; … Continue reading →

Poppy farming A reminder of what the garden was like before the Great Drought. Quote of the Day ”Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” Groucho Marx Musical … Continue reading →

Big Skies A view of Brancaster beach that is almost painterly. Quote of the Day ”Successful investing is anticipating the anticipations of others.” John Maynard Keynes (I think he also likened betting on the stock market to judging a beauty … Continue reading →

Mugshot I was brooding about Keynes the other day (because of something I’m writing) and suddenly looked at the mug on my desk, and there he was, courtesy of a David Low cartoon in the New Statesman of 1932! Quote … Continue reading →

Come on in A hibiscus flower seen on an evening walk. And a bee who accepted the invitation and covered itself in pollen! Quote of the Day ”The political problem of mankind is to combine three things: economic efficiency, social … Continue reading →