Category: Journal
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Getting your sh*t together
“They’ve got their sh*t together and that’s very attractive.” I was having a chat with a friend the other day. We were discussing a mutual acquaintance who my friend was fairly taken with; on top of the traditional attributes my friend was particularly impressed by the fact the person in question had their life in…
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In praise of the facts
I wrote this two years ago in the wake of the Paris terror attack. It still seems relevant today… Throughout today, with everything going on, please can I make a plea for facts and facts alone. Rumour, speculation, prejudice and assumption will help no one and nothing at this terrible time. The horrific acts of…
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The same train of thought
Train strikes, don’t you just hate them? If you are a commuter they are probably somewhere between the bane of your existence and a constant frustration which you have accepted as a part of life – like Robin in accounts who sits 10 feet from your desk and can’t chew food without producing noise equivalent…
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Big Fish at The Other Palace
Last night S and I popped to the theatre for one of the most unexpectedly brilliantly shows of the year so far. We almost forgot we had bought tickets for Big Fish at The Other Palace. We booked them on a whim a while ago and were suddenly reminded about them when we saw an…
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#MeToo and the blame culture
If the #MeToo phenomenon has passed you by then you may need to give your cultural awareness sensors a tweak. Since its launch earlier this week the the six-character tag has been flooding social media networks. In the wake of the sexual abuse accusations scandal which is sweeping Hollywood and producer Harvey Weinstein at the…
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The day we did Bake Off
The Great British Bake Off has the nation gripped once more. It turns out that even if you change the channel and some of the presenters the formula still works. If you think about it, that is a bit ironic for a cooking show since often if you change a few ingredients the end result…
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Working the Riviera
Welcome to the Riviera. This week I have been mostly mooching around the Cannes waterfront. Unfortunately this was not a pleasure cruise and the amount of the waterfront I’ve seen is very limited. Every year the duty free industry descends on Cannes for it’s biggest show. This was my first trip to the exhibition. I…
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Coming to the stage…just!
I am, as I think I’ve mentioned, quite comfortable on stage. I’ve blogged in the past about doing amateur theatre in my spare time and “shrinking violet” is not an epithet which has ever been attached to me. But this was a bit different. Every year the great and the good of the travel retail…
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How to survive the Uber catastrophe
We all knew it was going to happen, but in 2017 the world has officially ended. In a turn of events which caught everyone by surprise, this apocalypse has come from a rather unexpected source. It is not the nuclear tackle-measuring contest between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un or the impending political implosion of…
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The art of ambling
Today I ran into the legendary Ian McShane in London. Ok, not strictly true, I walked past him and did the slow-motion look you do as someone famous walks past without airs and graces. The man just has presence. At a glance he was walking down the road, going about his business, in his own…
Millennial get 