In 1675 the eminent haikai no renga poet of the day, Nishiyama Sōin, visited Edo from his base in Osaka. While haikai no renga – a form of linked verse with alternating sections of seventeen and fourteen morae – was already characterised by its lighthearted wit and occasional vulgarity, in Sōin’s hands it gained a new freedom of expression, for the first time…
‘Oh, Dey’s So Fresh and Fine’ might be one of the lesser-known songs from Porgy and Bess, the 1934 opera composed by George Gershwin, with a libretto by DuBose Heyward and George’s older brother Ira. In the shade of such timeless evocative classics as ‘Summertime’, ‘I Loves You, Porgy’, ‘My Man’s Gone Now’, and ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’, ‘Oh, Dey’s So…
I saw a peacock with a fiery tail I saw a blazing comet drop down hail I saw a cloud with ivy circled round I saw a sturdy oak creep on the ground I saw a pismire swallow up a whale I saw a raging sea brim full of ale I saw a Venice glass sixteen foot deep I saw…
Even counting their regular customers, few probably appreciate the significance of the bell pepper for trendy chain hamburger restaurant Byron. While the restaurant boasts cuts of ‘properly sourced’ British beef as the star attraction, the humble workaday bell pepper features across several hamburgers, adds substance to vegetarian meals, comes as an optional extra topping, and spices up the brand’s sauce. In red, orange, yellow,…
Abs, much like numbers, are there to be crunched. And the reference to numbers is especially fortuitous in this case, because there are those who would argue that getting abs is all about counting calories, and that only after we’ve added the protein and minused the fat should we start worrying about sit-ups and press-ups, mountain climbers and Russian twists, vigorous…
As Theresa May scoffed down Byron burgers, it was a wonder that a piece of prime British meat didn’t get stuck at the back of her throat. For Labour leadership challenger Owen Smith really was awfully mean when he used an inopportune phrase to criticise the new Conservative Prime Minister. Commenting on a recent parliamentary session, Smith took the sort…
How long is an era? A geological era can last for hundreds of millions of years, and even in common parlance the term is usually reserved for the sort of seismic shifts in politics and culture which come about but once every handful of decades. Not so in World Wrestling Entertainment, where we are already in our third ‘new era’…
As beleaguered former BHS boss Philip Green floats around the Mediterranean, reeling from the barrage of criticism he has received this week at the hands of British MPs, he might soon find himself worrying about much more than a few million pounds and a withdrawn knighthood. For according to Westminster insiders, angry politicians are actively seeking out George Oscar Bluth Jr., better known…
There was a time when more than Big Sam Allardyce’s weight seemed genuinely groundbreaking. As Bolton manager he became renowned as one of the Premier League’s pioneering sports scientists, advocating the use of Prozone analysis, yoga sessions, rhetorical rectal prolapses, and daily pills. And with scant resources he was forced to scour Europe and take chances on talented players who…
Though childhood’s days were past and gone, More innocent no child could be; Though grace in every feature shone, Her maiden heart was fancy free. A few more months, or haply days, And Love would blossom,—so we thought, As lifts in April’s genial rays The rose its clusters richly wrought. But God had destined otherwise, And so she gently…
