Funfare for the Common Man

  © Joe Woodhouse, The New Yorker Plus, my attempt to be an armchair epidemiologist: my triage take (this is not going to end well) We’ve somehow survived just over 2 weeks of quarantine in our cramped flat without managing to strangle each other. It’s amazing that as parents, you can spend months and months trying to get your child into a pattern and set of routines, only for it all to get thrown out the window when something like self-isolation comes into force. To hell with what all the so-called ‘baby experts’ say about limiting your kid’s screen time and giving them a balanced diet and establishing clear routines and getting fresh air and…and…and…our daughter has been watching 8 hours of cartoons a day, eating pizza and pastries and other unhealthy crap, running around the flat attacking the cat with various household objects like a maniac and generally causing all sorts of havoc. She has yet to wreck one of my online lessons, but it’s probably only a matter of...

I figured this is as good a time as any to kick off my latest little ‘project.’ It’s been in the works for a few months but I’ve been putting it off. It was prompted by a student who asked me, quite some time ago, what else I read besides books. I think I was complaining when I said that I ‘only’ read 40-50 books a year and if I gave up reading articles (news, business, sport), I could probably double that. She then asked ‘what the hell do you read and where do you find it?’ and I sort of rambled off a few websites and sources of inspiration. Here we are, many months later, and I’m finally getting round to it. If social media is anything to go by, seems like people need something to keep them occupied at the moment, and reading is always a good idea – right? – so I am more than happy to oblige. (So much for my ‘try to be more social’ resolution for 2020!) Loyal and devoted readers will know that I’m forever making empty promises that I have little chance of keeping....

Let’s face it: spoilers suck. And people who spoil things are utter scum-sucking, bottom-feeding slugs who deserve to spend an eternity in purgatory. Damn them! This post is primarily about spoilers in sports. Movies, TV shows…that’s a whole different ballgame, and perhaps the subject of another post. Whether you are into sports or not, it doesn’t matter. I’ll still try to suffuse a bit of ‘bigger picture’ perspective on things. But let me tell you: I have had so many sporting events over the years spoiled, and I definitely hold grudges forever. I have a very hard time forgiving people over spoiling things for me. Firstly, many of you might be asking – how can there be spoilers in sports? Aren’t most events broadcast live these days? If I watch something live, won’t that mean avoiding spoilers? Would that it were so easy. Obviously, and as my good pal Jeff repeatedly tells me, if I want to avoid spoilers and then grumbling about it, then just watch the damn ...

I’m back to wrap up my 2019 reading project. For a brief reminder about this year’s reading theme, you can go back and revisit part 1 here .  There was a sort of plan to branch out and cover a wide range of geography and themes in my reading, but I don’t know how successful it turned out. I barely ventured pre-1950 and geographically I ended up limiting myself to North America, Europe and Africa,  a smidgeon of Australia thrown in unexpectedly. It was Gary Younge’s article which originally inspired me to look at African writers, and his recommendations were all absolutely superb (I’ve been meaning to send him an email to thank him for the inspiration). But I only attempted one book from the Middle East – unsuccessfully – and otherwise skipped out entirely on South America and Asia. Shame on me. I kept my eyes and ears open for a broader range of diverse voices, but circumstances, opportunity and want kept me focused elsewhere. As an avid reader, I just love ...