A friend organises film nights and, many years ago, an elderly member recommended the TV series The Wire to me. I was somewhat hesitant to start watching a five-season drama but he persuaded me to watch the first season, whilst simultaneously giving me the five-season DVD boxset. When I watched episode one, something wasn’t quite … Continue reading A man gotta have a code
Category: Culture
Battle Cry of Freedom
When I was in the USA, I was exposed to parts of American history. It was mostly odd facts like California was once part of Mexico or the history of independence in Boston. I became curious, especially about the American Civil War, a pivotal event in American history. I’ve just finished reading Battle Cry of … Continue reading Battle Cry of Freedom
There’s a light beyond these woods
Like so much music, I think I discovered Nanci Griffith whilst listening to Whispering Bob Harris on BBC Radio 2 in the Nineties. Her voice, musical storytelling, guitar playing, and melodies instantly appealed to me. I think she’s classified as a folk singer but there was country in the music too. She’s probably the only … Continue reading There’s a light beyond these woods
Can we have two golds?
As the Tokyo 2020 Olympics ended, I was reminded of the London 2012 games . I remember how excited everyone around me was. And when the opening ceremony celebrated the best of British, it heralded what would be a wonderful Olympics. The demand for tickets at London 2012 was high. Of the tickets I applied … Continue reading Can we have two golds?
Cradling sun
During my trip to USA in 2019, I met Ajeet in San Francisco and visited him in Berkeley. You can read about it here. I was delighted when he sent me the above photo, which he took at Albany Bulb. This is a photo he’d tried to capture many times without satisfactory results — until … Continue reading Cradling sun
Woolly mammoth in King’s Cross
Of the many hidden London walks we did during lockdown, the King’s Cross and Camden walk was surprisingly educational despite us being familiar with that neck of the woods. It’s easy to think that places you are familiar with could have been any different. The Notting Hill walk revealed that pigs were once farmed there. … Continue reading / view photos Woolly mammoth in King’s Cross
No one makes mugs of AC-12!
WARNING: This post contains spoilers for Line of Duty, series 6. We waited until series 6 finished before watching all the episodes on consecutive nights. The precarious part of waiting was avoiding all the spoilers. Everyone was talking about the new series! After seeing the last episode, we were watching GoggleBox, which was covering the … Continue reading No one makes mugs of AC-12!
Chips on the beach
Ever since the film Bhaji on the Beach came out, people who’ve seen it know about Indians taking coach trips to the British seaside. During my childhood, our annual holiday consisted of a day-trip to the seaside. The Indian community in North London hired a coach and, once a year, descended on some beach, such … Continue reading / view photos Chips on the beach
Cholera in Lambeth
I’ve spent much of this past winter’s lockdown doing walks from the excellent London’s Hidden Walks series of books. This walk covered Lambeth and Vauxhall. On our walk, we saw another couple with their Hidden Walks book. One of the themes of these walks has been that, despite living in London all my life, there … Continue reading / view photos Cholera in Lambeth
New York public transportation
We say public transport, you say public transportation… As Covid-19 lockdown continues, I return to photos of my last time abroad, when I went to New York a long, long time ago… In the land of the car, many US cities have good transport options: subways, buses, trolley buses (trams), ferries, bikes, and scooters (electric … Continue reading / view photos New York public transportation