That great man of letters, Ben Jonson, recognised that the regard for wealth often engendered a quasi-religious respect as he wrote in his letter to the Countess of Rutland in 1616: Whilst that for which all virtue now is sold, And almost every vice, almightie gold. Two centuries later the …
It will come as no surprise that Oscar Wilde had rich and bohemian tastes. “Poke him and he would bleed absinthe and clotted truffles” remarked the actress Elizabeth Robins. Wilde loved to stay and dine at London`s Savoy Hotel, but the publicity it received during Wilde`s “indecency” trial lost it …
Although he adored the city of Paris, JRR Tolkein hated the food. “I detest French cooking” he declared, adding that he only liked “good plain food and good tea” On the subject of tea, whilst at his prep school the young Tolkein and a few other boys formed a secret …
As far back as AD 115, the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus acknowledged that Many who seem to be struggling with adversity are happy; man~ amid great affluence, are utterly miserable. So the awareness wasn’t new. After World War II, Canadian born economist John Kenneth Galbraith contemplated the growing prosperity and …
I was idly flicking through a travel brochure for Switzerland this morning, for no other reason other than I found it in a book I was looking for, masquerading as a bookmark. Within it were photographs of wonderful countryside, beautiful lakes and William bloody Tell. This supposed hero of the …
This is a rather odd story that involves Caesar salad and Wallis Simpson, let me explain…. As a result of Mrs. Simpson’s extensive world travels, Caesar Salad was introduced to many of the great European restaurants by her instructing international chefs as they struggled to recreate the dressing to satisfy …
I recently received a lovely note from a lady called Kristy asking about blogging. Flattered as I am, I feel that the best place to start is with probably the best “how to do it ” site on the internet -by a fellow by the name of Jeff Goins. He …
It is all quite busy here at the moment as I am putting the final touches to my new book – A Splendidly Smutty Dictionary of Sex. The book will be unleashed upon the unsuspecting public sometime in January. To give you an idea of what lurks within its pages, …
Well, well, well, it appears the staple of most kitchen cupboards , the eponymous tin of baked beans are not as they seem. They are not baked at all, they are stewed ! Heinz and the rest of the baked bean mafia have been lying to us for years. Most …
Several thousand years ago, the Babylonians would give credit by using clay tablets for barter transactions. A commodity and quantity would be marked, and the tablet could be redeemed for a couple of cows for example. The Romans further developed the art of borrowing and lending, and by the …
