Tuesday, 30 July 2019

Try asking a major star to play a real Mafia head, a man who makes a living off whores and child pornography, heroin and blood

›
Here is one of the basic lessons a screenwriter must learn and live with: Stars will not play weak and they will not play blemished, and you...
Saturday, 6 July 2019

A medley of allusions, which add up now to a place which no longer exists in any sense at all

›
The Alexandria of the 1930s and 1940s survives now only in my mind, and in the minds of others. Most of whom knew it a great deal better th...
Friday, 5 July 2019

The central concern of the nation's under-eight-year-olds is hamsters

›
Most young children take a pretty animistic line where domestic pets are concerned. For a number of years I was one of the judging panel fo...
Tuesday, 2 July 2019

Put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch the basket

›
As for the proverb 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket', that, in Carnegie's opinion, was nonsense. His advice was to ...
Monday, 1 July 2019

Like a badger

›
[Andrew Johnson] was of an obstinate, suspicious temper. Like a badger, one had to dig him out of hole; and he was ever in one except on th...
Sunday, 30 June 2019

They really wanted freedom from error

›
Although the Puritans are often depicted as seeking freedom of conscience, that is misleading. They really wanted freedom from error - in o...
Saturday, 29 June 2019

These billions have done more to chart the universe than did Galileo Galilei, Christopher Columbus and Charles Darwin

›
During the last 500 years modern science has achieved wonders thanks largely to the willingness of governments, businesses, foundations and...