To mark the Women’s Final, here’s a piece I wrote about Arsenal Ladies, in 1996, for the Telegraph Magazine. I went to see them play a match at Highbury. They were never really welcome there, but it was United Nations’ Day. Politicians love football. I’ve included the little bit of correspondence with my then commissioning…
Continue readingI am pleased to say I have now recovered from Covid and will be launching my novel, Consequences, at Glenfall House on the outskirts of Cheltenham. Everyone is welcome, but please let me know you are coming. Here are the details: Join us at Glenfall House, near Cheltenham, to launch Consequences Friday 2 September, 2022…
Continue readingWelcome to anyone who has come here because they are interested in the Cheltenham International Film Festival. This site is a rag-bag of bits and pieces I have ‘spaffed against the wall’ of the internet in the hope that either: They will stick Or The wall will fall down. Anyone who would like to reach…
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I saw that it was Philip Glass’s birthday recently and was trying to remember when I interviewed him and for whom. No idea. I just remember that he was a lovely guy, possibly my favourite interviewee. It was a sort of turning point in my life. I felt, for once, he was interested in me…
Continue readingI really am going to write some more about the film Yesterday. But for now, here’s one of my little treasures. In the mid-80s, I had a part-time freelance gig working on a putative pop music history series. It was going to be presented by the Beatles’ producer George Martin, whose company was co-funding it,…
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I’m listening to The Roches, singing the title track of their 1995 album Can We Go Home Now. It has just popped up on my iPhone, which is playing a selection of things from my Apple Music library that it thinks I will like, based on algorithmic logic. The Roches were three sisters from New…
Continue readingIt’s hard to think of a good word for something that has the potential to ruin the lives of millions of people as it multiplies and spreads around the planet. Fortunately we already have a good word: it’s “virus”. “Virus” is good, because it has a shared meaning. There is no need to define our…
Continue readingWhy would anyone delete their Facebook account? That’s a question some people have asked me since I jumped out of the shark-tank, some months ago. More people, though, have told me they’d like to, or they’ve thought about it, but they can’t. They need it. There is no alternative. Leaving it will make them feel…
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