“Naturalism: From East to West” Review
A month ago I went along to a public workshop on naturalism, on the set of the Cherry Orchard at the National, The chair of the seated panel, Matt Wolf, […]
War on Tau
Apologies for the hyperbole in the title, but if we are to believe this BBC article on National Tau Day, pi has provoked violent anger in people “They feel like […]
“A Good Man Goes to War” Review
It’s rather late to be reviewing the “mid-season finale” of this year’s split Doctor Who, broadcast 3 weeks ago, and while this post has been festering my brain has been […]
Wisteria Ramble
I got very excited about this. This wisteria is considerably older than I am (it is at least 40) and it has never flowered. I remember it when I was […]
“The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People” Review
So far this year’s Doctor Who has gone in a totally new direction: scarier, uncompromisingly complex and heavily multi-layered. At first glance, “The Rebel Flesh” may appear to be a […]
Thank You, Guardian Cardiff
I moved to Cardiff in January 2010. In March that year the Guardian launched a new hyperlocal news site “Guardian Cardiff”. As a newbie to the city (I really had […]
“The Doctor’s Wife” Review
In the past 24 hours the legendary status of last night’s Doctor Who episode by Neil Gaiman has been cemented online by a series of awestruck reviewers. It’s certainly a […]
“The Curse of the Black Spot” Review
After the plot-ful and pacey opening two-parter, it was inevitable that the this episode would be considered filler (especially with Neil Gaimen’s much anticipated story following next week). That’s fine […]
“The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon” Review
The pattern is broken. For five series since Doctor Who returned in 2005 we’ve had 13-episode runs following a fairly predictable pattern; this time the run is split, and opens […]
One Person, One Vote
First, let’s nail the lie. Under the alternative vote, during counting, when a candidate is eliminated (as all but the winner eventually are, starting with the one with least votes) […]
Me and AV
Apparently no one gets excited about AV (Alternative Vote) except me. Even the yes campaigners interviewed on the radio are at pains to say how they know it’s nobody’s favorite […]
What Harm Can It Do?
викWhy is reflexology more popular than iridology? In the absence of an evidence-base, what makes one treatment more successful (in terms of uptake) than another? Put another way, if I […]