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Celebrity Mastermind
Specialist subject: Laura Ingalls Wilder
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- Still think the Girl Guides should have gone with my more concise (&superhero tinged) suggestion: “To do the right thing.” 11 hours ago
- An entire R4 Thought For The Day comparing superheroes & villains, their powers&motivations. Sweet. 11 hours ago
- Well thanks all. My column about my life in municipal pools (including the one with Paul Weller in it) is for next week’s @BigIssue 2 days ago
- So is the Streatham common concrete paddling pool at the bottom the bigger one? 2 days ago
- Help a Sarf London hack filing a column: Is Streatham Common paddling pool ever filled anymore? Lambeth Council website is vague about it. 2 days ago
Category Archives: Religion
Malala, Muslim women and “misery” memoirs
I was reading memoirs and novels by the authors taking part in Thursday’s Asia House panel discussion about women, freedom and the Islamic world, when the multimillion pound book deal of Malala Yousafzai was announced. What does the apparent popularity … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Culture, Religion
Tagged books, feminism, Islam, literature, misery lit, publishing
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The secret elite club of ex-Virgin Marys
“I was always the sort of child who got picked on to DO things, you know?” recalls Julie Christie’s Darling, in the 1965 film, as we see her as a 6 year old Mary in the school nativity play. (watch … Continue reading
Posted in Children, Culture, Religion, Theatre, Uncategorized
Tagged Christianity, culture, feminism, film, FTW, Nativity, Virgin Mary
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How The Middle East Became Another Planet
From Flash Gordon’s Ming the Merciless with his harem and his war rocket Ajax, to Frank Herbert’s prophecy-obsessed desert tribes in Dune battling over a valuable resource, the Middle East has always been another planet to western science fiction creators. … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Culture, History, Politics, Religion, Science, Uncategorized
Tagged 70s, Arab Spring, Argo, books, cinema, culture, Egypt, film, Iran, literature, Planet of the Apes, politics, terrorism, war, zombies
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No Children of Ours: Rochdale and conveyor belt grooming
15 years ago the renowned filmmaker Peter Kosminsky made No Child of Mine, a controversial drama about a teenage girl in care who’d ended up being passed around by men for sex. The phenomenon was called “conveyor belt grooming”. The … Continue reading
Posted in Children, Crime and Justice, Media, Religion, Uncategorized
Tagged crime, feminism, media, Peter Kosminsky, Rochdale, tv
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Halal wine and other spiritual dilemmas
There is a fabulous Moroccan cafe called La Provence round the corner from my old office, on Grays Inn Road in London, where my Dad would come and take me for lunch sometimes. My Dad’s an observant Muslim and would tend … Continue reading
Posted in Food/Drink, Religion, Science, Uncategorized
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St Paul’s can hear the alarm bells ringing.
1pm GMT The latest statement from St Paul’s confirming that they are NOT going to take legal action against the protest camp. St Paul’s Suspends Legal Action Against Protest Camp St Paul’s, 1 November 2011 (All Saints Day) The Chapter … Continue reading
Posted in Business/Economics, Politics, Religion, Uncategorized
Tagged politics, St Paul's
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A very English coup at St Paul’s Cathedral?
Do we have some kind of South American style regime change in St Paul’s Cathedral? The governing Chapter of St Paul’s put out this “clarifying” statement this morning, to distance themselves from the announcement by the Corporation of London that … Continue reading
1951 then and now: Britain Mended, Britain on the Make
If you want to know what Britain was like before The Festival of Britain you should watch the masterful 1950 film noir, Night And The City. The clip is a bit of a spoiler, but features a chase around the … Continue reading
Posted in Comics/graphic novels, Culture, Design, Film, Religion, Science, Uncategorized
Tagged 50s, cinema, culture, design, elitism, Festival of Britain, film, FTW, politics, Richard Widmark, universities
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The Second World War and 9/11
Something happened to Time and our concept of War over the past decade. The Second World War, which still fascinates children today, saw global power shift one way and then the other; a clear victory over Axis (of Evil) power. … Continue reading
Posted in journalism, Politics, Religion, Uncategorized, War
Tagged politics, terrorism, war
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Privilege: Lessons from the Swinging 60s and the Swingeing (cuts) 80s
This has been superceded by the longer post above which is the full comment piece on how far we really are re-living aspects of the 1980s: major strikes, job cuts, recession, Two Nations. Since the Royal wedding in April I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Business/Economics, Culture, Media, Politics, Religion, Uncategorized
Tagged 60s, 80s, cinema, culture, elitism, film, music, politics
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