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Continue reading →: Music Review: Various artists – Real Ibiza Volume 8
This review was originally published on The Doughnut. If you’re thinking “Ibiza? Ugh, no thanks!” and expecting loud, raucous rave and trashy pop – think again. This is a collection of (mostly) chilled-out Jazz blended with subtle, unobtrusive grooves creating some enchanting – but never boring – tracks to…
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Continue reading →: Looking after our own in a global village
From my opinion column written for the Egremont 2Day newspaper. My heart sank when I saw the chatter on Facebook. While it might have been morning for me, for all my friends living in Bangladesh it was now afternoon. During the six years we lived abroad we had felt many…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien My rating: 5 of 5 stars I came to re-read The Hobbit with some trepidation having first read it before I was a teenager. It inspired me on to read the tauntingly thick single bound edition of the LOTR Trilogy. I loved all the books.…
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Continue reading →: Music Review: Dave Fidler – Easy Gone Easy Come
This review was originally published on The Doughnut. It’s not just that Dave Fidler is from Manchester, just a stone’s throw away from the land of my birth, that I like him. Nor is it that he crafts good tunes and is equally at home bluesing it up or mellowing…
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Continue reading →: A Vote of No Confidence?
From my opinion column written for the Egremont 2Day newspaper. The elections are nearly upon us and considering the strong political roots upon which Egremont 2Day was founded it seems appropriate to me that this issue at least mentions politics and elections in some way. That would be all well…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: My Trade: A Short History of British Journalism by Andrew Marr
My Trade: A Short History of British Journalism by Andrew Marr My rating: 4 of 5 stars Andrew Marr’s book (which is anything but short with 385 pages of dense text) is a surprisingly enjoyable journey into not just the history of British Journalism but also a good treatise of…
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Continue reading →: Theatre Review: Two by Jim Cartwright
This review was written for the Egremont 2Day newspaper in March 2015. Fancy a night out? How about a couple of pints down at Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake? You’ll be served by a cheery landlord and his wife and the characters coming and going are a real treat. At…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller My rating: 5 of 5 stars I remember seeing the film version of this book just as I entered my teens. I could only remember small snatches from the movie: Art Garfunkel as Nately I recall as a character but not what he did; I do…
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Continue reading →: Music Review: Lola L’amour – Are You Looking For Love?
This review was originally published on The Doughnut. A provocative title from a provocative lady who flirts with you with her eyes and her body as much as with her sultry, smokey voice. This Jazz Lady par excellance, recreating original songs in the tradition of Peggy Lee and Doris…
