Crime and Punishment

I have a beautiful hard back copy of the literary classic, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.  Even my copy with its font size 7 type it is the size of a brick.  I have been looking at it for years thinking about reading, feeling guilty that I hadn’t, so a few days ago I finally picked it up and read the foreword.   The following day one of my best friends rang me to say she had two tickets to watch Crime and Punishment at the Citz in Glasgow and I jumped with glee to be given a sneak preview into the book later that evening.

The Voice From Heaven

Madonna, Kylie, Pink Floyd, New Kids, Daft Punk, Metallica, Asha Bhosle and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan  are all happily lying in my ipod’s music library albeit in different playlists!  Who is is this last chap, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan aka RFAK aka The Voice From Heaven?

Having recently performed to a capacity crowd of 12,000 at London’s O2 Centre, Ustad (Maestro) Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is a Sufi qawaali singer

Let The Games Begin

The Olympic Games are now officially open. The opening ceremony hasn’t even occurred, the Olympic torch is still doing its rounds but Team GB have won their first game in women’s football.

Well, we don’t like doing things in order do we? Despite the great win, race relations overshadowed the opening games today with two headlining stories.

Roots: The Great British Story

There is a wonderful TV series showing on the BBC called The Great British Story: A People’s History I just watched the first programme over a cuppa last week.

It was insightful learning about how important and beautiful some towns and cities used to be, particularly as one suburb of Glasgow, Govan, once loved by the Romans is now junkie heaven and infamoulsy connected to its fictional comedy resident, Rab C Nesbitt.

As the programme moved across Britain 

Tea for Two

Afternoon tea is an institution and a real indulgence to be shared with girlfriends or cousins with a generous helping of gossip and scandal for entertainment.  As The Telegraph recommended London’s best afternoon teas, I will go a little further afield with my recommendations all genuinely tried and tested by me…burp!

Pret-a-Portea at The Berkeley, London is wonderful, it’s almost painful biting into the latest fashion-inspired fancies served on Paul Smith china, £37.50 per person with champagne tea starting from £47.50 per person.

Another London tea treat that is kinder on the purse

Architecture Anoraks

Down at the botton of my road in Hampstead is one of the National Trust’s modernist properties built in 1939 by architect Erno Goldfinger at 2 Willow Road (amazing surname!).  There is always a tour group hanging around it but if it wasn’t for the sandwich board pointing it out you’d walk straight past.

The National Trust is opening the doors (from March) of another