One for you, Russell.
BOOMERSpeak up. I am listening.I appreciate the energyThe thrust of your young voice.But if you offer enmity,To condemn my seniority,then deafness is my choice.I cannot help when I was bornAnd...
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Lucky Lucifer
FIRST AMONG UNEQUALSShould that foul weakness,Religion, ever swamp this mindThen I would find some credenceAlmost some relief, in this stark belief:That I’d been correct to throw away all hope,...
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RUSSIAN RAILETTE
Russian RailetteI love Russia. I first went to Leningrad, as it was then, in 1959. When I returned as a writer in 2002 and again in 2005 to St. Petersburg, everything had changed. The Russians (well,...
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Japanese Medical Advice
RISING MEDICAL SON ...No, I didn't write this, but it certainly made me smile. As someone who struggles with a weight problem day in, day out, I can't totally agree with everything said in this...
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WISE WORDS FROM A FINE MAN
Often, as a writer, you can start the day feeling down, crestfallen and defeated. That's when you need to trawl through literary history to give yourself a transfusion of inspiration. I particularly...
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Music Laid Bare
A STINKED-UP, DIRTY BUSINESS; BUT A LOT OF FUN (and a great read ...)Last night I finished reading Simon Napier Bell's epic history of the music business, and rarely have I enjoyed a book as much as...
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BRITAIN 2015: THICK AND INFANTILE
Powerless in the face of StupidityWhat’s wrong with Britain in 2015? Well, here’s a prime example of the way our so-called ‘society’ has turned into a manipulated mush. Every day many of us are moved...
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Terry Pratchett: A Brightness Extinguished
TERRY MEETS THAT CHARACTER: DEATH.When a writer, artist or musician dies, another luminous avenue of creative originality suddenly ends and we are all the losers. Now another light has been...
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An Astronomy Anomaly: Patrick Moore the Hoaxer
Hoaxed! How Patrick Moore pulled the woolover the eyes of the UFO CommunityMention the name Lembit Öpik (left) these days, and this ex- Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire usually conjures up an...
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TAMÁM SHUD
The Bizarre Mystery of the Somerton ManI remember walking through Somerton Park, a suburb of Adelaide in South Australia, back in the early 1960s. The mainly residential seaside suburb is home to the...
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MURDER BY MAGICK?
MURDER BY MAGICKThe Mystery of Netta Fornario: Iona's Occult EnigmaIt could be the first page of a disturbing screenplay. We’re on a bleak, windswept remote Scottish island. At a spot known as the...
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The Vanished Lighthouse Keepers
The Weird Mystery of Eilean MorThe Eilean Mor Lighthous at nightWhat happened to the lighthouse keepers?Eilean Mor is one of the principal islands in the Flannan Isles, also known as the Seven Hunters,...
View ArticleDani de Morón y Kike Terron - Bulerías
Now that Paco de Lucia has gone, who might replace him? This man is a good contender. I watch this then turn to my own guitar like a man who has had his fingers run over by a tank. If only I'd...
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Culture and Politicians?
Vote for me: I'm cultured.It is generally expected of local press contributors in the run-up to this election to steer clear of mainstream political bias and let the candidates fight it out among...
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The Holy Lance PART 1
Himmler’s Holy Lance:Part 1: ‘The characteristic thing about these people [modern-day followers of the early Germanic religion] is that they rave about the old Germanic heroism, about dim prehistory,...
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HIMMLER'S HOLY LANCE Part 2
Himmler's Holy Lance Part 2:The logbookof a RelicTrevor Ravenscroft (1921-1989) served as an officer with the Commandos in World War II and spent four years in Nazi prison camps after he was captured...
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Himmler's Holy Lance Part 3
HIMMLER'S HOLY LANCE PART 3:DEATH, PATTON AND THE LANCE'S FATE.When it came to storing money or valuables and committing robbery for Himmler, SS Josef SpacilGeneral Josef Spacil (1907-1967) was very...
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Clashing Symbols and Witchfinder Generals
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understandingcount the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man;and his number is Six hundred three-score and six.Book of Revelation 13: 18Bambi. Mickey...
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Deep Beneath our Feet
Bizarre Tales Beneath our FeetBeneath the landscape of Great Britain lie thousands of miles of forgotten tunnels.Half a mile beneath me as I write, in the heart of the Nottinghamshire coalfields, a...
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