If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!The TV License is a brilliant way of funding the BBC, and I’d always defend its continued existence.
TV Licensing, though, is a vicious set-up that mercilessly hounds innocent individuals. Every three months or so for the last two years […]

Have you got an iPhone? Then buy The Independent Guide to the iPhone. It’s the first time I’ve actually had my name on Amazon. The last book I wrote made it onto the site (and it’s still there today - see the grab below), but the publisher went bankrupt before they got it to print. […]

I’d drawn a mental line under the spending. When the last workman put his key through the letterbox and drove off down the road I somehow imagined it was all done.
But no. Freezer. Microwave. Dining room furniture. Bedding. A TV and license. A phone line. Broadband… I’ve got a list that scrolls right down my […]

Back at the house tonight I found the builder had been in and finished off the floors. That’s it. The end of the indoor builders jobs. The only thing that needs doing now is the shed, which is an outdoor job and will be done on Friday.
I had assumed that the builder would - naturally […]

Me, in 2003 (left) and 2007 (right)
Danny Bird took us some new pictures for the mag. The last time he did it was 2003, and I was shocked to notice, on looking at these new ones, that I wore the same jumper in both sessions.
I had considered that jumper to be one of my newest. […]

The house is almost finished. There’s a little gap in the kitchen floor, and I still need a couple of pairs of curtains and two light shades, but its now tidy and clean and, more importantly, warm.
That was important, as the heating at home decided to pack up on Friday and has done the same […]

Despite owning the house for almost eight months now, I’ve still not moved in. Since the end of March, it’s been an unbroken stream of workmen through the door, fixing, repairing and improving every room. It should have all come to an end yesterday when Michael, my long-term plumber and builder, finished off the downstairs […]

Shibboleth at the Tate ModernLike most weekday Londoners, neither Rich nor I has much interest in a weekend commute. However, free tickets to the MPH Show, which would otherwise cost £33, lured us onto the trains and tube for a busy day in the city.The Show was good. It was an hour and a half […]