James Bell Central

Month: December 2016

  • From The Vaults: Animals On Things

    From The Vaults: Animals On Things

    Animals On Things is just too weird and complicated to explain.

    Here’s the video:

  • A Bond Girl’s Food Diary

    A Bond Girl’s Food Diary

    * MASSIVE CONFLICT OF INTEREST ALERT *

    The third of this month’s recommendations is my wife’s food blog:

    http://abondgirlsfooddiary.co.uk/

    Because, hey, why not?  It’s really good.  And genuinely, no amount of theoretical persuading would make me recommend it if I didn’t think it was really good.  (Not that there has been any persuading attempts – she was a little shocked when I told her I was doing it.)  She’s a trained chef, and she takes her food at least as seriously as I take my music. (more…)

  • The Walk of Life project

    The Walk of Life project

    There’s guy who has this theory that there is no film that wouldn’t be improved by ending with the song ‘Walk of Life’ by Dire Straits.

    It’s a bold claim.

    Okay, it’s obviously a daft claim, and not all of them work, but some of them really do. (more…)

  • Eulogize This: ‘Illusions’ by Richard Bach

    Eulogize This: ‘Illusions’ by Richard Bach

    Well, Mr Bach, as they said in the 70s, shine on you crazy diamond…

    http://www.eulogizethis.com/illusions-richard-bach/

  • ‘The Brain’ by David Eagleman

    ‘The Brain’ by David Eagleman

    Recommendation #2 for this month.

    I have been thrilling entertaining delighting telling all my friends about this book by David Eagleman about the brain.  (H particularly cannot hear enough about it.)  It’s a popular science book written by someone who is a big deal in their field (and who studied with Francis Crick, the giant of 20th century science who, together with James Watson, stole the discovery of DNA from Rosalind Franklin).

    Every once in a while a landmark book/TV series comes along with the intention of popularising a field of academic expertise: Kenneth Clarke’s Civilisation, Jacob Bronowski’s The Ascent of Man, Carl Sagan’s Cosmos.  And everything that David Attenborough has ever done. (more…)

  • The Isis Farmhouse pub for sale

    The Isis Farmhouse pub for sale

    So, the Isis Farmhouse pub, just south of Oxford city centre, where we’ve been holding the Bastard English Session for years, where my boat-dwelling community would meet when in the depths of flooding, and where H and I got married just a few months ago, is on the market. (more…)