Dear friend, family member, former neighbor, backpacking progeny of a schoolfriend or workmate… Now you have decided to spend some time with me in Austin, I thought it would be useful to give you the benefit of my experience on the city and what it’s like to live here. Forewarned being forearmed, etc. This is … Continue reading On Visiting Austin
Month: January 2016
An English Person’s Guide to Texas
The first thing you need to know is this: everything you’ve heard about Texas is true. It is big. The roads are big, the trucks that rumble on them are big, the bugs you’ll find curled up dead and twitching under the sink are huge. The people are friendly – you’ll see more smiles than … Continue reading An English Person’s Guide to Texas
The Big Sell
OK, I understand advertising. I get it, I really do. And, no, it doesn’t necessarily have to be evil (although, mostly, it probably is). And, if I walk into a store, I know I’m volunteering for some form of the hard sell. I understand what you might call the ‘social contract’ of that one. But, … Continue reading The Big Sell
Movies: the Early Years
There are two things that are true about my relationship with the movies. First, I love them. Adore them. Nothing makes me happier than sitting for two hours watching somebody else’s weird dream float across a screen the size of a small whale. Second, I am a philistine. My taste in movies is the very … Continue reading Movies: the Early Years
On Learning to Drive in 4 Days
I’d never even sat behind the wheel of a car until I got to Texas. And big, wide America doesn’t take well to passengers. I don’t know how to look after a horse, so I figured I best learn to drive an actual car. I started the traditional way: driving around and around a parking … Continue reading On Learning to Drive in 4 Days
On Becoming a Pet Santa
I have an almost infinite list of Things I Will Never Do. I will never run for political office. I will never again do karaoke (I did it once, I count it as the Wild Thing I Did at University). I will never bungee jump, as that is jumping off a secure platform with an … Continue reading On Becoming a Pet Santa
The Pitch #1: The Tom Waits Duets Album
It came to me in a dream. A vision. A blinding flash of mind-expanding inspiration. You know what Tom Waits needs? A duets album! You feel silly now not having thought of this yourself, don’t you? Well, that’s why I have this super-important blog and you don’t. It all makes sense if you think about … Continue reading The Pitch #1: The Tom Waits Duets Album
On John Lennon’s “Imagine”
My list of Songs I Hate is a long one. It would include anything Ace of Base have ever done. “Wind of Change” by the Scorpions. Tom Jones’ version of “Kiss”. But my #1 Most Hateful Song is “Imagine”, by John Lennon. I know: this seems a bit hipster, a bit cooler-than-thou. After all, it’s … Continue reading On John Lennon’s “Imagine”
Small Change on Strangers 