Thoughts on … new Sky/EFL TV deal making Leyton Orient Saturday 3pm kick-offs an endangered species
I’ve been trying to add to the general joy of the internet by writing about positive things I have enjoyed and sharing things I’ve read that I thought other people might like. This one does come with a side-serving of…
52 things some other guy learned this year is always worth reading
Horseback raves, a programming language called Tabloid, the alphabetic order of your surname depressing your academic grades, and the ability to buy genuine human teeth if you so wish, you will find all of these things in Tom Whitwell’s always…
Thoughts on … 80s photography and the Turner Prize at Tate Britain
It is kind of lovely in a way to get to an age when all the things you grew up with are getting retrospectives, exhibitions, repackages, remakes and remodels, and I enjoyed this week The 80s: Photographing Britain at Tate…
![[The Cure at the Troxy]](https://martinbelam.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/600_cure_troxy-150x150.jpg)
A one-line review of every gig I’ve been to in November 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…
How much internet ‘brain rot’ have I got to be able to write this quiz?
A little bit of bonus quiz action for a Monday. “Brain rot” has been announced as the Oxford word of the year, covering “overconsumption of material considered to be trivial or unchallenging” especially through endless scrolling online, or reading the…
![[Hugh Grant in Heretic]](https://martinbelam.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/600_heretic-150x150.jpg)
A one-line spoiler-free review of everything I watched in the cinema in November 2024
I’ve ditched the usual blurb about “not being a movies person, but anyway…” because since I started going to the cinema regularly in 2022 I’ve turned into the kind of guy who downloads the London Film Festival brochure and meticulously…
![[Picture of Martin Belam in the crowd at Leyton Orient by @Calumbrofficial]](https://martinbelam.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/leyton_orient_oldham_zoom_calumbrofficial-150x150.jpg)
Thoughts on … an absolutely mad FA Cup match between Leyton Orient and Oldham Athletic
Well I have been to A LOT of football over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever quite experienced anything like yesterday’s second round FA Cup match at Leyton Orient, against Oldham Athletic. Oldham used to be in the…
A Black Friday plea from a small independent retail business
In the past on Black Friday™ I used to live blog it for the Guardian, initially as a pseudo-affiliate marketing link ploy, and in later years with a view to promoting small sustainable businesses in the UK that got in…
Blake’s 7 and the rare occasion of the internet being lovely
The other day a very rare thing happened, which is I posted something on social media, had a little moan, and then somebody replied politely and changed my mind. I think the last time anybody had a nice interaction like…
![[Waiting for The Hills Have Eyes in Hackney Wick]](https://martinbelam.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/600_hackney_wick-150x150.jpg)
Lovely Token Homo cult movie screenings in London
Over the last few weeks I’ve been to a handful of cinema screenings by Token Homo, who bills himself as putting on “queer, cult, and curious cinema events at venues across London”, and they have been great. Not only have…