Author Archive: Lesley Jakobsen
Terry Wogan
Programme Name: n/a - TX: 20100101 - Episode: n/a (No. n/a) - Embargoed for publication until: n/a - Picture Shows: - (C) BBC - Photographer: Lorenzo Agius
Michael Terence Wogan (3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) The Varnished Culture farewells this mellifluous long-standing caller of the Eurovision Song Contest. He obviously loved the event, but that didn’t stop the old smoothie from dripping the occasional cup of acid, particularly when hosts gave too much of themselves or acted like ‘eejits’, or when anticipating the voting predilections of each country, which he did with uncanny accuracy (and sardonic smugness). You’ll be missed Woges.
Continue Reading →10 Things We Hate About TV
Perhaps we ought to play outside? (photo by Julian Tysoe)
There might be more than 10…
Continue Reading →The House of the Seven Gables
(by Nathaniel Hawthorne) As ghastly, creaky, redundant and tedious as the accursed House of the Seven Gables itself, this classic Hawthorne is still worth reading for the atmospheric, overboiled thrills and Hawthorne’s unfailing psychological perceptions. Old Clifford, a crazed cross between Boo Radley and Dr Manette, is released from prison at just the juncture when his sister, the frowning and gaunt (she is an old SPINSTER) Hepzibah sets up shop after much deliberation and the delightful, fresh (she is a young MAIDEN) Phoebe arrives unheralded. These three share the House of the Seven Gables, ancient and gloomy home of the Pyncheons, built on stolen land, with…
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10 Types of People We Hate
Photo of Mr Vox by Ricardo Stuckert
Drivers who decide at the last moment to turn right across traffic. People who dither on pavements. People in our way in general. People who buy a big dog and never walk it. ‘Artists’ who can’t draw.. [Like Roger Moore’s character in North Sea Hijack] “I like cats…and I don’t much like people who don’t.” Bono (except when he sings “One” or “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”). People who have houses with wooden floors that can’t be trodden on with high heels. It’s a FLOOR. Religious fanatics and atheist fanatics. Bono.
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