Monthly Archives: November 2010
Books, not brickbats!
As the student occupation at University College London gathers pace, a Twitter-generated flash mob scuffles with police outside Topshop (“Philip Green’s taxation could pay for EDUCATION”) in Oxford Circus. Police tell the protesters to move on because it’s private property. … Continue reading
Filed under London, Our Crazy World
The kids, the kids!
Riot girls: For this picture tells a lot, very quickly. It tells us the menace of violence is real as anger grows among groups directly afflicted by the coalition’s cuts. Yet it also reveals that most protesters are peaceful, idealistic, … Continue reading
Filed under children, education, politics, the end of the worr-uld
Pilgrim Day
A colleague at work asked me, “So, like, what are people supposed to be thankful for on Thanksgiving, anyway? What’s it all about?” When I was a kid it was all about getting two days off school and eating as … Continue reading
Filed under America, London, the meaning of life
“One must have a mind of winter”*
The house in Westerly Terrace, Hartford, CT, where Wallace Stevens lived. In the week when we’re told London can expect its first freak snowfall of the season – straight from Russia, I should be giving you Pushkin right now – … Continue reading
Filed under wallace stevens, winter
London: an everyday story of Esoterica and arcana on the tube
Well, I think this is one of the most beautiful photographs of London I’ve ever seen. I was there when it was taken: the moon was exciting that night, and the otherness of the image is also evident in the … Continue reading
Filed under bagatelles, books, London
