From Hell

Many years ago I had a huge morbid fascination with Jack the Ripper. I’ve always really liked the explanation from Stephen Knight’s Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution. This proposed that it was all a Masonic plot to cover up an unwise assignation by Queen Victoria’s grandson, the Duke of Clarence. This was used as… Continue reading From Hell

Mulholland Drive

I saw Mulholland Drive last night. What the fuck was that all about? Don’t get me wrong. That’s not a criticism. Far from it. I thought it was a great film. I loved the fact that two thirds of the way through, everything changed and suddenly you were desperately trying to make sense of what… Continue reading Mulholland Drive

How Not To Go To The Theatre

I made a massive screw-up this week. My step-daughter is doing her GCSEs next year. One of the plays she will be studying is Romeo & Juliet. As it’s currently playing at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park and the Open Air Theatre is one of the best places to see any kind of… Continue reading How Not To Go To The Theatre

A Modest Proposal

Imagine there are two land masses next to each other. One much larger than the other. We’ll call them Big and Small. Most of the people living in Small want Small to remain independent from Big. There is, however, a significant minority of Smallites who value links with Big so highly that they’d like Small… Continue reading A Modest Proposal

The Breakfast Club

Whilst flicking through my cable channels at about 2am last night I came across The Breakfast Club. This is one of my favourite films from the mid-80s and it still looked great last night. There’s one thing that really bothers me about it though. To me the most interesting character in it is the slightly… Continue reading The Breakfast Club

The Heat Is On

I dont’ know. You spend a week in Southern California and when you get back it’s even hotter in the UK than it was there. Something is badly wrong with the world. Actually, it was probably hotter there, but the humidity here makes it seem so much worse. What with the 8 hours worth of… Continue reading The Heat Is On

Progressive Rock

Anyone remember Marillion? I do. I was a big fan at one time. In fact back in the days when I was social secretary at The City University and before they were famous, I booked them. I mentioned this in passing on a newsgroup recently and was contacted by someone who is writing a book… Continue reading Progressive Rock

Decriminalising Cannabis

Last week the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, announced that cannabis we be downgraded to a class C drug in the UK’s legal classification of drugs. The effect of this change will be that possession of small amounts of cannabis will be effectively decriminalised. This follows an experiment along these lines in Lambeth over recent months.… Continue reading Decriminalising Cannabis