Category: THINGS I LOVE
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My “OG” house in a wonderfully green estate
I’ve lived in my house in Rugby for a year and a half now, and it’s slightly embarrassing to admit that in all that time I hadn’t properly explored the area on foot. The estate itself has grown in phases over the last twenty years, and my house is one of the “OG” properties, built…
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Poland’s National Philharmonic Orchestra
Poland’s premier orchestra is currently touring the UK, and by happy coincidence their schedule aligned perfectly with mine. They opened the tour at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall today with a programme pairing lesser-known Polish works with Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Beethoven’s exhilarating Seventh Symphony. It was a pleasure to be back at Symphony Hall…
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Geranium summer
I’m hardly in a position for the garden to be a hot priority, but I do try to ensure that the occupants of my pots are alive with some prospect of flowering. Many of my “OGs” didn’t survive their first cycle of seasons, so I decided to “go big” on geraniums to fill the gaps.…
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An unexpected V.I.P.
Unbelievably exciting! I occasionally see my much loved hedgehog(s) on the security cameras, but I’ve never seen him during daytime. I saw some rustling in the bushes and assumed it was a local cat. Instead it was my spiky pal, on his way home for a good day’s sleep I guess.
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Modest 2026 Dreams: my Rangemaster
It has grown bitterly cold in recent days, hovering around freezing both day and night. This short-term shock of extreme cold (by UK standards) and the longer-term chill of economic precariousness have brought the true meaning of “wealth” into sharp focus. It isn’t yachts, private jets, or fleets of luxury cars. Those baubles accumulate in…
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Being Brompton-less as a London Commuter
They say you don’t know the value of something until it’s gone, and there may be some truth in that. Halfway through the autumn semester, something freaky happened to my Brompton at work. I strongly suspect it was damaged by someone—accidentally, I assume—as it had been left somewhere safe, yet the chain inexplicably became jammed…
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From London with love
It was a festive day of leisurely exploration in London, beginning in the old City with sweeping winter views from the Sky Garden and Horizon 22. From there, the atmosphere turned warmly Christmassy at Leadenhall Market, its historic arcade glowing with seasonal lights. A relaxed walk along the river offered moments of calm amid the…
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What Foucault and Kafka don’t know can’t harm them
I’m generally uncomfortable with the idea of a surveillance state—unless, that is, I’m the surveyor. I now have seven cameras in my fun little home-police state, where I’m mayor, judge, jury, detective, and police constable. Nothing happens in or around my property without me knowing about it. In practical terms, this means knowing the comings…
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Fear Street Part Two
A few additions to yesterday’s picture collection. It’s cheap fun, even in a cost-of-living crisis. I hear that it can cost £100 for a bog-standard meal for a family of four these days (dinners, desserts, a few drinks each). Thus, in the UK we’re being priced out of existence. My only saving grace is my…
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First Spooky Season @ the new house
Summer feels like a lifetime ago, even though it’s been less than two weeks since I was in Montenegro, wearing shorts and a T-shirt. A cold, the return to lecturing, and the arrival of October have all conspired to accelerate time. And while autumn has its downsides, it’s hard not to admire the season’s brilliance—the…
Dr Martin James 