Urban Noir: The Scabrous City Stories
"Let’s face it, most travel guides are boring. Read of my escapades and rants as I explore cities from the comfort of a bar armed only with a notebook. No Karens allowed!"
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The Darkness of Bruges – A rainy night of brutal honesty in Delaney’s Irish Bar.
Antwerp: Bar stool gems– Our writer takes aim at the patrons of a city centre bar.
Delft: Beer, Bars, and F. Scott Fitzgerald – A slow descent into drunkenness and literary envy by a Dutch canal. Bitterballen not optional.
Rocking Out in Breda - Bar hopping, stage invasion, rain and bitterballen.
The Banjos of Monschau - Pretty, rainy, Bitburger; the highs and lows
The 3rd Battle of Mons - The struggle for “La Même Chose” during the Doudou festival.
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The Schindler Factory: Krakow’s Living Museum – Moving past the Hollywood narrative to the raw reality of the occupation.
Krakow: What to Do, See, and Avoid – Travel tips, where to eat, what to see. No Karens allowed.
The B.O.H.O Bar - The girl in the red dress. The vodka. Thoughts from a couch.
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Blues in a Long Overcoat: Chicago 1996 – A winter’s tale of hotdogs, corporate stiffs, and being Eric Clapton at Kingston Mines.
Between West Street and Bleeker Street - On the Trail of Paul Simon and Bob Dylan in 1994
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The Kiss by The Town Hall- Reflections on Doisneau’s iconic shot
Gare du Nord to Opera - Escape the maelstrom to Haussmann!
Gare du Nord to Bastille - Look up, look around. No Metro!
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Brighton Beach Scumbag - early 90’s nostalgia, bands, acting
A Nostalgic Walk around Brighton – From the station to Kemptown and back. Pubs and memories.
Sussex Uni in the 80’s - 15 Minutes with you. Well, I wouldn’t say no. Morrissey, Mary Chain and cider based cocktails
The Rambler’s Rant: Imperfect Walks & Lots of Rain
"Handy hikes, crap maps , Robson’s Ramblings stumbles through landscapes both rural and urban."
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Kirkby Lonsdale: Not Ruskin’s View– 5 mile walk into the countryside. Then out with locals in Kirkby.
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A Walk in The Downs by Burgess Hill – Beautiful Burgess Hill said no-one ever. But, the countryside around it is.
A Nostalgic Walk around Brighton – From the station to Kemptown and back. Pubs and memories.
The Wey & Arun Canal - On a rainy day walking along and away from the restored canal. Economic history.
Up Wolstonbury Hill - Iron age fort, great views across the Downs. Margaret Thatcher.
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Harrods to Victoria. Quick Belgraviawalk. You can do it easily with your Harrods shopping bags.
Haymarket to Victoria - Traverse the original manosphere of Jermyn Street, avoid the pelicans in the park, wave to Charlie.
London Bridge to Blackfriars Circular - Borough Market, The Globe Theatre, The Shard. The Thames, beards and tats optional.
Lavender Hill - Up and down this Sarf London thoroughfare. More urban, great vibe, Alec Guinness becomes just ‘Guinness’.
Meet The Dead Pubs of Clapham. Clapham Common, Wandsworth Rd, thoughts on working in South London.
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Paris- Escape the Metro! Get your lardy butt from Gare du Nord to Palais Garnier. Bar tips.
Paris - Gare du Nord to Bastille. Some Haussmann, some 1664
Music Reviews
“As the lead singer of a shockingly bad band in the 90’s (see below) I know good music when I hear it. You might agree. Don’t care.”
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David Crosby: The Last High Flying Bird – Examining the harmonic legacy of The Byrds and CSNY. RIP David
Mick Taylor: Sympathy for the Devil Solo– When Taylor kicked Keef’s Ass
Mick Taylor’s Greatest Studio Tracks - Countdown to the best
Street Fighting Guitarist - MT’s evolution from 1969/73
Gene Clark: The Tragic Genius of The Byrds – A tribute to the life and death of the Byrds’s main songwriter
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Taylor Swift Hyde Park 2015 - Tim gets down wiv da kidz
Blues in a Long Overcoat: Kingston Mines 1996– The night I was mistaken for Eric Clapton in a Chicago blues dive.
Why my group was called Shambolic – Not all 90’s bands were Oasis.
Hit & Runner Lover : Disastrous gig at Sussex University 1995
Meat Loaf, Tony Mills of Shy and Brian Greenhoff A Rochdale karaoke!
Lucie SIlvas - Live in London 2018 and album reviews
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Beatles. Worst tracks. Best tracks Best Cover Versions. All debatable!
13th Floor Elevators et al: Garage-Rock Pioneers – Underground 60’s classics. Overlooked but not here.
The Roots of Rock – My curated list of the early 60’s tracks that started ‘rock’.
The Top Britpop Songs - From Oasis to Blur (94 to 97)
Face of Yesterday - The Curious Case of Renaissance
Neil Diamond Solitary Man - A song. A manifesto.
Ancient Rome: The Serious Stuff
“Here I delve into Roman history from the battles that shaped the Empire, the economics of the time through to book and screen reviews"
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The 3rd Century BC – From the Punic Wars and Hannibal to the rise of a Mediterranean superpower.
The 2nd Century BC – Being written! Carthage's & Corinth’s twin fall through to the Gracchi & Marius.
The 1st Century BC – The death of the Republic, featuring Caesar, Pompey, and the crossing of the Rubicon.
The 1st Century AD – The early Empire, the Claudian invasion of Britain, to the siege of Jerusalem.
The 4th Century AD – The twilight of the West: Constantine, the Goths, and the beginning of the end.
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Mary Beard’s SPQR: A Review – A critical look at this popular history.
Domina - TV series review of Livia & Augustus’ rise to power
Barbarians – Acting more wooden than Teutoburg Forest
The Jewish War - Josephus writes a contemporary account of the fall of Jerusalem
Whatever Happens, Happens Rightly. A review and musing on Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations.
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The Crash of 33 AD – First century quantitive easing.
The Theatre at Lillebonne– A look at this well preserved theatre in Normandy.
Trier - A guide around this late empire capital of Constantine, Julian & Valentine
Julian the Apostate - Great or just grating?