It was like being stared at by a statue. And it gave me a case of the creeping horrors. He had a huge hat and he was looking at me from behind the glass window of a passport booth that looked like a bunker. It was not a friendly look, it… Read full post »

I've been thinking a great deal in recent weeks about.... well not a lot, as it's autumn here in Britain so that means dozing in the train to and from work every day. However, having rediscovered a BBC show called Coupling I thoiught that I'd share a few pearls of… Read full post »

1. Complain to wife on trip to supermarket that the pumpkin we bought a week ago is quite teeny. Hint that second, larger pumpkin might be an idea – especially as they’re only £1.50 each. Grin as she gives in.
2. Spend five minutes being given lecture on how to choose the
… Read full post »

It shines in her eyes

Thoughts smolder – burning kisses

Passion deep inside

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Wow, this is the first I've done for months!

Slick skin, sweat sheen.

Clawed sheets. Slow breathing. I stretch.

My wife sleeps, sated...

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There was a time in my life when my parents despaired of what I would eat. Sausages? Yes. Bread? Yes. Sausage sandwiches? Hell yes. Anything else? Well, it depended on what it was. Some vegetables and Sunday lunch, yes, almost everything else no, apart from pies (meat pies that it is).… Read full post »

To the morons who have just designed and built London’s latest five-star hotel, which sits in the shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral.

Ok, put the blackberries down and pay attention. Congratulations on holding your first conference there, but I have a few tips for you.

&nbs… Read full post »

Apparently the reason why Baden-Baden has its name isn’t that it’s so good that they named it twice. Instead ‘Baden’ comes from the German word to bathe and refers to the springs there that were used by the Romans. In 1931 the doubling-up of the name started beca… Read full post »

I’ve been trying to think of the best way to describe Dubai for the past few days. The best that I can come up with so far is cranes. The place has a lot of them.

The first time I laid eyes in Dubai was in 2005, when I… Read full post »

There are two ways to get to Monte Carlo from Nice, if you ignore the train, which is boring. The first is splash some cash around, pretend that you’re James Bond and take a helicopter. This is fun, but you have to have an expenses department that takes a relaxed… Read full post »

One of the highlights of being a journalist is that sometimes I get sent off to pastures new in order to cover a business conference. These tend to be very mixed blessings at times – on the one hand I love travelling but on the other I hate leaving Kathleen behind.… Read full post »

About two or so years ago I was sitting in the train in the middle of the morning commute when I happened upon a fascinating little nugget in a story in the paper I was reading. It was about the rise of Wikipedia and it also included some of the… Read full post »

I don’t think I could ever be an inventor. A critic, yes, the bloke who sits there in the corner and thinks “Shit, why didn’t I think of that, it’s bloody obvious!”, yes, an inventor? No.

I think I’m either too devious or not imaginative enough (altho… Read full post »

If any OS’ers come to London before May 2010 I’d advise you to stay well away from Downing Street as otherwise there’s a good chance that a rotting cadaver will lurch up to you, shake you by the hand and try and beg for your vote.

Yes, we have… Read full post »

One of the reasons I became a journalist is that I’m, well, nosy. When I grew up my mother’s nickname for me was The Elephant’s Child, because I was constantly asking questions and then trying to find out the answers to the questions that I’d stumped people with.

Earlie… Read full post »

How to survive swine flu.

Step 1 – Attend conference in lovely Belgian city hundreds of miles from home. Look bemused at free hygienic hand spray that is being given out by organizer along with warnings about swine flu. Scoff slightly.

Step 2 – Wake up on last… Read full post »

We all know what today is the anniversary of. We all remember, sometimes in exquisite, horrible, detail, where we were when we heard of the planes crashing into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, and then when the Towers fell. We all remember how we felt on that uniquely terrible day.… Read full post »

I seem to be in a somewhat irritable mood today, so I thought that I’d list the 20 things that are currently pissing me off – in ascending order of anger.

20. People who don’t use their indicators. Come on, are other road users supposed to be psychic? Or are… Read full post »

It had been a long day. When we came back from a wonderful week in Wales we then threw ourselves at the Augean Stable that was our spare room, or the Pit of Lost Things as I’d mentally renamed it. Getting things out of it and either reorganizing it or… Read full post »

Well, today is a red-letter day for about 250,000 teenagers all over Britain. Yes, it's A-level result day, the day when envelopes bearing the results of A-Levels (the equivalent of junior college) fall through letterboxes and land on mats with the thump of academic doom.

Now, those who pass the… Read full post »

I came across this little gem this m0rning and came very close to falling out of my chair in open-mouthed astonishment.

http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=haught_29_5

Apparently the former French President Jacques Chirac has said that when ol' Dubya was trying to persua… Read full post »

This is for my wife Kathleen. 

I remember that morning very clearly. There’s a piece of music I love to listen to, “Pegasus” by Bear McCreary, from the second album of music from Battlestar Galactica. It starts off quietly and slowly and then builds to a crescendo… Read full post »

1. Who was your FIRST prom date?  

Prom? What is this thing called a prom? Oh a dance thingy! Um, that would be the disco I went to at my 6^th Form College. A mate of mine brought his friend Jane, who went to a different school. Two weeks later she… Read full post »

A long time ago, when I was in a Hall of Residence (sort of like a Dorm) in Swansea University I met a girl who became my friend. These things happen, and I suppose it was inevitable that I should take such a risky step. (There’s Welsh sarcasm for you.)… Read full post »

One of the things about living in London is that every double-decker bus has a large advert on its sides. More often than not it’s for a film, and quite often, if I’ve taken my eye of the ball when checking the film listings, it lets us know when certain… Read full post »