Category Archives: Uncategorized

OK, we all hate parking attendants. But Sweden has some of the worst. We parked outside a Co-op store in Enskede yesterday, in a bay that was marked as free for an hour’s parking; were away – shopping – for … Continue reading →

From what I can gather from over here in the land of snow and ice – we had our first flurry of sleet this morning – Boris may be heading for a fall quite soon, with his craven incompetence plain … Continue reading →

You’ve got to hand it to Jacinda Ardern – haven’t you? A thumping victory for her Labor Party in the recent General Election; the best record in the world when it comes to the Coronavirus – only 25 deaths, compared … Continue reading →

Well, we’re in conspiracy-theory season again, if it has ever gone away in America; with Trump refusing to distance himself from the ludicrous ‘QAnon’ version of current events – Democrats as Satanic paedophile abusers and blood-suckers, and the like. How many … Continue reading →

In the midst of two extreme national crises – Coronavirus and Brexit – we have a Prime Minister in Britain who is quite clearly not up to the job, and is almost universally despised and ridiculed on account of this. … Continue reading →

I’ve just spent a pleasant weekend literally centuries away from the gloom and corruption of our own times, preparing a talk for the Elgar Society on his early oratorio, Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf.  Not that Olaf’s times were any … Continue reading →

Well, at least he was honest about it. A leading Republican Senator, Mike Lee, has admitted that ‘democracy isn’t the objective’ of the American political system. Apparently this has ‘sparked widespread outrage’ in the USA. (See https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/08/republican-us-senator-mike-lee-democracy?fbclid=IwAR3fp49y4LdzjcoNTPp483TGmidy5AS7zOoUiYcvHWAlQg30kUDYP7KPGIg.)  But why? Isn’t it self-evidently … Continue reading →

Had some shocking news yesterday. Went to my Swedish doctor – Sara, a very young woman, looked about 17, but I imagine she must be properly trained – to be told that I am perfectly well (for my age), all … Continue reading →

If present-day American politics is scripted by Hollywood – see my last post – who’s responsible for our British stage show? My guess would be Brian Rix (hon. MA, Hull University), if he were still alive; a great comic actor … Continue reading →

I’m an American politics addict. I stay up all night watching the presidential election results – for several nights during the first George W Bush one (all those ‘hanging chads’); try and catch the rallies – exhausting in Trump’s case; … Continue reading →