The latest series of House of Cards has just started on Netflix. It stars Kevin Spacey as an immoral, unscrupulous, conniving cheat of a President (sound familiar?) and Robin Wright as his wife. Wright is superb - cold, calculating, ruthless, restrained, icy, scheming, utterly immoral, wonderfully dressed, immaculately coiffed, oh and devastatingly sexy. Spacey may … Continue reading Wonder Woman

What's the difference between a sequel and a franchise? A sequel should expand and develop the story, move it forward, expand on the history and deepen it. Some sequels are better than the original - Godfather Part ll for example - whiles some are worse; Jaws 2 anyone? A franchise, though, is normally a cynical … Continue reading Pirates of the Caribbean – Salazar’s Revenge

It’s not important to be liked but it is important to be likeable.   Email is good but talking is better.   Why can’t an employer leave an employee the way an employee can leave an employer? Why is one a sacking and the other a resignation? It would be so much easier if an … Continue reading Business Lessons

What do most people know about the Isle of Man? Birth-place of Mark Cavendish, sometime home to Nigel Mansell and Jeremy Clarkson, motor-cycle races where riders invariably die, strange attitude to homosexuality, Parliament with an un-remembered name. Er…that’s about it. And now to add to the list; setting for Mindhorn, a new British film. Mindhorn … Continue reading Mindhorn

Sky Pro Cycling – a super slick, professional, cutting edge, massively successful (although not in the Classics), innovative, well-funded, expertly managed pro cycling team which has transformed the sport. Sky – satellite or cable TV channel offering 7 (count ‘em) sports channels (plus endless movies) which has transformed television sport and is (arguably) responsible for … Continue reading Grey Sky Thinking

Chapter One There were nineteen fish in the pond in Rachel’s back garden but only three of them could talk. The three were Barney, an overweight shubunkin, Pi, a baby goldfish, and Rita, a platinum koi. Rachel discovered that they could talk one Saturday afternoon after everyone else had gone inside. It had been a … Continue reading Rachel and the Talking Fish

Lanzarote has never been high on my list of desired destinations. Too bare, too stony, too common, too full English breakfast, too hot, too near, too Spanish, too easy, too volcanic. But I knew some people who went on a cycle training camp in April and they said I should join them. I resisted, but … Continue reading Stranger in a strange land

I first read ‘Exploration Fawcett’ when I was about 18 (I’m now 60) and it made a deep impression on me. The story of a ramrod-straight, tall army officer with a big moustache and his young companions, including the improbably named Raleigh Rimmel exploring the wildernesses of South America was unbearably romantic for a callow … Continue reading The Lost City of Z

It has to be said that Paul Verhoeven has form – this after all is the man who directed Basic Instinct (and what school-boy doesn’t remember Sharon Stone’s beaver shot?), Showgirls (widely regarded as one of the worst films ever made) , Robocop, Total Recall and Black Book (good film). Elle is his latest film … Continue reading Elle

Photographs taken on a trip to Budapest with my daughter Rachel in March 2017. In the Jewish Museum of the Great Synagogue. Lovers by the Chain Bridge. Stalin's boots at Memento Park.   Tourists at Fishermen's Bastion. Koller Gallery sculpture garden. By the Presidential Palace.  Rachel being silly at Memento Park.  Memento Park. 'Shoes on … Continue reading Budapest