There may be something good about visiting an optician. The visit (and the news of your becoming more shortsighted after three years – as if I expected a miracle to happen instead!) may inspire ...
One of my favourite paintings is The Lovers by Rene Magritte. We see a man and a woman sharing an intimate kiss, but their faces are covered with white cloths. You can certainly interpret this as an i...
The sheet music to a popular madrigal O Felici Occhi Miei by Diego Ortiz and Jacob Arcadelt can be seen in The Musicians by Caravaggio...
The poem that you’ll find below bears no dedication, although it would never have been written, had I not been driven to learn more about Portugal last summer. My interest was sparkled by the wo...
I received this leaflet from The Carphone Warehouse a couple of days ago, and I felt outraged. First of all, I was alleged to have had a relationship with Nokia 6610i. I categorically state that I hav...
This is the Beatles’ Shakespearean skit made in 1964 for the British television. I have had no idea about it until today when I found this video on YouTube, and I am now ever so thankful to debs...
This post is going to be very short, and there’s a big chance that by the time I finish writing it, it’ll stop snowing, as well. But – at the moment – it is snowing! Alas, I...
Recently I’ve discovered the works of Edna St Vincent Millay, and I have already briefly analysed one of her sonnets here. I’ve also translated her poem, Thursday, from A Few Figs from Thi...
Here is my attempt to save us all from this depression, be that from mild weather or from rattling winds. The BBC report about radio reshuffle has reminded me of a lovely fairy tale by Hans Christian ...
It looks like this winter Britain and Russia have become inexplicably and inextricably connected by some changes in weather. As you know, I was born and grew up in Moscow. Normally, at this time of th...