Neil Tennant in Pet Shop Boys: Dreamland

A one-line spoiler-free review of everything I watched in the cinema in February and March 2024

I’ve never really been a movies person, they last too long and I always want the bar/toilet after 20 minutes like at a gig, which stresses me out. But I got myself a BFI and a Picturehouse membership and once…

Joseph In The Backyard at the Moth Club, Hackney

A one-line review of every gig I’ve been to in March 2024

This monthly series is probably more for my benefit than yours, but maybe your interest will be piqued by one of the reviews. Maybe you’ll scroll straight past. Maybe you’ll unsubscribe thinking what did I see in this blog in…

New m-orchestra single – ‘Buyer Beware’

New m-orchestra single – ‘Buyer Beware’

Just a quick note that I released a new single yesterday. Buyer Beware tells the story of a man who hears from his neighbour about why the people who used to own his house fled in a hurry. It is…

The Guardian Thursday quiz tag page

150th (week) birthday for the Guardian Thursday quiz

150 weeks ago I pressed publish for the first time on a quiz on the Guardian website which came to be known as the Guardian Thursday quiz. It had grown out of the fact that I had done a successful…

Julian Rampen's debut novel, The Bay

A one-line review of every gig I’ve been to in February 2024

This monthly series is probably more for my benefit than yours, but maybe your interest will be piqued by one of the reviews. Maybe you’ll scroll straight past. Maybe you’ll unsubscribe thinking what did I see in this blog in…

The Boy and the Heron

A one-line spoiler-free review of everything I watched in the cinema in January 2024

I’ve never really been a movies person, they last too long and I always want the bar/toilet after 20 minutes like at a gig, which stresses me out. But I got myself a BFI and a Picturehouse membership and once…

Florrie Ransom at the Finsbury, London

A one-line review of every gig I’ve been to in January 2024

This monthly series is probably more for my benefit than yours, but maybe your interest will be piqued by one of the reviews. Maybe you’ll scroll straight past. Maybe you’ll unsubscribe thinking what did I see in this blog in…

Ncuti Gatwa in Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road

A one-line spoiler-free review of everything I watched in the cinema in December 2023

I’ve never really been a movies person, they last too long and I always want the bar/toilet after 20 minutes like at a gig, which stresses me out. But I got myself a BFI and a Picturehouse membership and once…

Yours truly with the Fallen Woman at the Lexington, London

A one-line review of every gig I’ve been to in December 2023

This monthly series is probably more for my benefit than yours, but maybe your interest will be piqued by one of the reviews. Maybe you’ll scroll straight past. Maybe you’ll unsubscribe thinking what did I see in this blog in…

Natalie Palamides, David Earl and Fionn Foley blundering through Ireland somewhere

Happy birthday to my blog and a Happy Christmas to you

My first ever blog post was on Christmas Eve in 2002 which means this website is now old enough to drink in the US. I used to write prolifically about my work, politics, the internet and pop culture etc, but…