The Apparition Phase
Last night I finished this novel – The Apparition Phase. When Tim and Abi decide to fake a photo of a ghost to frighten an unpopular school friend, they set in motion a deadly and terrifying chain of events that…
A day on the Metropolitan Line
Don’t tell me I don’t know how to have fun while on holiday – today I’ve spent the day mooching around the far end of the Metropolitan Line, taking pics of the station architecture and infrastructure, listening to great music…
Dan Martin and Seb Patrick
Like a lot of people I’m finding it hard to process grief for this strange new category of people that have been introduced into our lives – people like Dan Martin and Seb Patrick, both of whom have suddenly passed…
Alone in a crowd
Every time I wake up in the morning and I’m all booked up to go to an away game, I ask myself “Why?” What has possessed me to spend the money? To spend hours going to see pretty crappy League…
Your mileage may VAR-y: Why I unashamedly love VAR
I unashamedly love VAR. It might have cost England a late goal in the Nation’s League semi-final, but that didn’t change my mind. I think getting crucial match-changing decisions right is important, and VAR steps up the accuracy of decision…
“I just got a bit fed up with singing and dancing for other people’s profit” – interview with The The’s Matt Johnson
Earlier this year, with Theresa May putting troops on the street during a general election campaign in the UK, I got in touch with The The’s management to see if Matt Johnson might share his thoughts on the political situation…
Thirty years of watching The Fall
It’s an amazing anniversary today. No, not two months since I last updated my blog. It’s thirty years since I first saw The Fall play live. It’s a gig that has lived long in the memory. I must have seen…
The ‘alt-left’ media, memes, algorithms, and the price of the MSM not taking the internet seriously
A couple of very good pieces about the impact of online activity on elections that I recommend you take a bit of time to read. First up, Jim Waterson with “The Rise Of The Alt-Left British Media” It’s a look…
What if taking my son to Leyton Orient is ruining football for him?
A couple of weeks ago my wife and children had just landed in Cyprus, and she texted me: “On the bus to the hotel – we’re the first stop – thank God! Flight was fine – no bumps. James wants…
I’m Martin Belam! You might know me from such internet projects as…
My name is Martin Belam and I’m about to become Social & New Formats Editor at the Guardian and you might be thinking “Who is this bozo and what the hell is that all about” So, by way of a…