Waiting for that killer shot
Dubai, UAE When it comes to photography I am unqualified to write. Yet somehow, needs must at the moment. A few evenings ago, you would have found me in a hotel reception, somewhere in electricity-crunching Dubai, waiting for friends to join me for dinner on the town. They were late, I was bored, and then in strode the Koreans. Dubai is the fourth most visited tourist city in the world after London, Paris and Bangkok; more than 14 million foreigners go there every year. The bigwigs are praying that number will reach[...]
The logic has escaped me
Tripoli, Lebanon I always said I would not write about religion. These days you are seeking trouble if you do. Yet in an era when barbaric deeds are performed in the name of Faith, it seems odd to remain silent. Maybe it is because I spend swathes of my life as the only Christian in a Muslim world; lands where I tread a knife edge every hour of every day. These are places where reasoned argument does not exist. More likely it is a knock on the door, an impromptu roadblock and[...]
Much goes on in Syntagma
Athens, Greece I worry when things change, so perhaps I am a creature of habit. Yet to see Greece today, it is a land I do not recognise. Yes, I am surrounded by unrivalled antiquities and the weather is second to none. And yes, the people are welcoming as ever, keen that I have the best of times. But around me I see worry, once energetic colleagues dragging their feet, while many conversations start with the word “crisis”. Greece is a land in trouble, that is very clear. I know the land[...]
Keep looking upwards in Manchester
Manchester, United Kingdom “You have to look up in Manchester,” said my colleague, a look of acceptance on his face, “all the best bits are above ground. Way up, in fact.” I nodded, as I had just walked the two-mile route between Mancunian front door and office, a stroll that should have been good. The sky was blue, the air crisp, the traffic not too bad and I had started out after breakfast with a spring to my step. The only near miss had been an out-of-control cyclist, headphones in place, gum-chewing[...]
The lonely lettuce leaf
Grasmere, Cumbria, United Kingdom I looked at the lettuce leaf. I imagined it was looking at me. After all, it was alone, abandoned, by itself in a sea of porcelain white. Its only company was a brightly polished knife and fork, soon to be tested. A strange situation, perhaps. Yet this was a meal, someone’s snack, maybe even lunch. This was a meal for a dieter. I worry about dieters, not for their welfare, not whether their specific regimen is an advantage. I worry because I feel sure their eating may affect[...]
The Seven Rules of Minster Survival
York, United Kingdom For reasons that escape me, today I went to York Minster. Outside, it was raining, while seated indoors and around me were 1500 worthies. Take note - I do not class myself as worthy because shamefully I am not in any great way religious. Yet this was something called a Sung Eucharist, a term I Googled to death beforehand but, as I took my wobbly metal seat in the South Transept of York Minster, still had no idea what to expect. Normally I attend weddings, should they invite me,[...]
