Write Stuff
Getting wrong end of the bat
Published 2 December 2008
As the BBC Sports Personality of the year 2008 looms, the almost certain absence of English cricketers on the shortlist should set some alarm bells ringing.
Students must be given financial backing
Published 1 December 2008
Further education, quite naturally, is actively encouraged for all young people finishing compulsory schooling.
Now we know what is news
Published 1 December 2008
The morning after the terrorist attacks in India. What are visitors to the BBC’s website looking at? Three of the five most popular videos concern the attacks. And top spot is held by... “How to grow a good moustache” – a report from a London barber’s shop in which men explain why they are favouring a bit of facial fuzz.
Is it 100-out for Woolworths?
Published 29 November 2008
I remember it so well. Spring 1983, my first trip to the cinema with the whole family, to see ET at the ABC cinema in Edinburgh.
Next big thing? Me, of course
Published 27 November 2008
I’ve always fancied being a male model. I’m still waiting for the call from one of the top agencies, but I suspect unless Airfix or Hornby get on the phone I have little chance.
Spare us from festive muzak
Published 26 November 2008
Last weekend I had a wander through the shops in Carlisle city centre in search of Christmas present ideas. Since this is usually something I do at 4pm on Christmas Eve I was congratulating myself on my forward planning.
Models’ food for thought
Published 25 November 2008
Victoria Beckham is glamorous, mega-rich and successful with a figure to die for – literally. She looks like she’s starving herself to death like lots of other models and celebrities.
Medical magic is in the genes
Published 24 November 2008
Medicine has always fascinated me, especially surgery. Maybe not in a Casualty kind of way, because I can’t watch the gruesome close ups.
Ready to weep at the dancing
Published 22 November 2008
It's an absolute outrage and one that simply cannot be allowed to stand. Centuries of a basic human right have been swept away in a fit of pique.
Nothing funny about BNP leak
Published 20 November 2008
At first, I thought the leaking of details of the entire 10,000 membership of the BNP onto a website was quite funny.
Crunch tips for price of a pint
Published 19 November 2008
Why is everyone making such a fuss about having to cut down on their spending in the credit crunch?
I’ll name that child in four
Published 18 November 2008
I’d like to know who did it. Someone has been stealing my mind. They didn’t do it all at once because I would have noticed.
Time to bring on festivities
Published 17 November 2008
No sooner do the shops clear the Halloween and Bonfire Night displays from their windows than they start filling them with Christmas paraphernalia.
Poppies reveal contradiction
Published 15 November 2008
Watching the annual Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph in London, as we do every year, my wife remarked that we always do that sort of thing well in this country and she is right.
Please mend our skate park
Published 12 November 2008
As a dedicated user of Carlisle’s skate park in Bitts Park, I am appalled to see how badly it has been maintained.
Just what are they driving at?
Published 11 November 2008
Learning to drive at 17 or 18 can be hard enough without the police being on our backs. The Commons Transport Select Committee now believes the way to prevent young drivers being killed or seriously injured on the roads, is to restrict when young drivers can carry passengers.
Experts in the plain obvious
Published 10 November 2008
Never mind bankers being overpaid, what about all these ‘experts’ earning a good living from stating the obvious?
Spiderman vs lipstick pitbull
Published 8 November 2008
So now the debate, rumour and guesswork begins... He’s won the election, but who will now be in the West Wing with him?
Blood line to global leader
Published 6 November 2008
I’m taking over the world. I’m more a lover than a fighter, so I am doing it very subtly. My secret plan for world domination is to infiltrate as many people as I can.
Don’t be shy about retiring
Published 5 November 2008
Why is it, I wonder, that some people can’t bear the thought of others retiring? If they’re younger, maybe it’s jealousy, but contemporaries puzzle me. The Germans have a delightful phrase for retirement: “im Ruhestand” which translates literally as “in a state of peace”. And surely that’s exactly what it should be.
