Sofa
The Spectator
Thursday
Medusa
‘Medusa made sure the shampoo hadn’t been tested on animals.’
Parents Evening
Computer
That problem with the computer — solved it.’
Relate 4
‘Well isn’t this nice — the whole family sitting down together at Christmas.’
Curse
‘It’s the curse of the pyramids.’
Tinnitus
‘I thought I’d written a new song but it turned out to be tinnitus.’
Dumped
‘Isn’t that a bit cowardly... dumping her by text?’
Newt
‘I’m sorry — I have a newt allergy.’
Punk 2
‘Well, what did you think an ageing punk looked like?’
Cave 3
Clickbait
‘I hate the way these news websites use clickbait headlines to lure you in.’
Letters: In defence of Italy, and the rise and fall of the military moustache
Italy’s to-do list Sir: You would expect a long letter of rebuttal by a piqued senior diplomat in response to the many barbs that Nicholas Farrell packed into his piece about Italy (‘The dying man of Europe’, 25 October). Among the most painful ones were that Italy is ‘almost doomed’ and parts of it are
Rochester’s special qualities, and the price of Ebola.com
What’s special about Rochester What is special about Rochester and Strood? — Rochester has the second oldest cathedral and school in Britain, after Canterbury. — Medway, the unitary authority area in which the constituency is situated, has one of the highest rates of private home-ownership in Britain, with 92 per cent of homes in private
Portrait of the week | 30 October 2014
Home The last British combat troops turned over Camp Bastion in Helmand to Afghan forces and withdrew from Afghanistan after 13 years and 453 deaths. Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, spoke of ‘whole towns and communities being swamped by huge numbers of migrants’. He later withdrew the word ‘swamped’, but David Blunkett, a former Labour
How to fight Ukip
In the 2005 general election this magazine supported the Conservatives, with one exception — we urged voters in Medway not to vote for a deeply unimpressive Tory candidate by the name of Mark Reckless. Our then political editor, Peter Oborne, went so far as to write a pamphlet in support of the Labour rival, Bob Marshall
Books and arts – 30 October 2014
Podcast: Ruby Wax and Andy Puddicombe on mindfulness, plus Jim Murphy and Movember
The chances are that by now either you or someone you know well has begun to practise ‘mindfulness’ — a form of Buddhism lite, that focuses on meditation and ‘being in the now’. In the past year or so it’s gone from being an eccentric but harmless hobby practised by contemporary hippies to a new
The Spectator at war: The Crescent and the Cross
From The Spectator, 31 October 1914: THE most important event of the past week is the entrance of Turkey into the war, announced in the newspapers of Friday. For some time the Committee of Union and Progress, the gang of desperate and intriguing adventurers who control the Porte, have been doing their best by various
