Chas Newkey-Burden's Blog, page 30

Some wonderful days in Amsterdam

Chris and I just returned from our now customary New Year's eve stay in Amsterdam.  We had a lovely time. The fireworks and oliebollen were as wonderful as ever. Whilst there, I visited an exhibition called Judaism: A World of Stories at De Nieuwe Kerk, on Dam Square. A church is a strange venue to [...]

Beit Shemesh and beyond: a view from Israel

This is a guest post from David Ha'ivri Over the past few weeks, Israel has experienced a chain of unusual events. All are unrelated, except by the common thread of dramatic spectacle created by media coverage and politicians tripping over each other to express their respective stands on these "issues." Judging from the political statements, [...]

Calamitous captioning

The Daily Mail captioned this photograph: "Festive: Abramovich and his partner Dasha Zhukova celebrated Christmas on the Caribbean island". Yup, and after lighting the Christmas menorah I expect they went and sang carols around the Hanukah tree.

Top fives and OyVaJoys: 2011 in review

Books I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan by Alan Partridge Eleven, by Mark Watson Martin Amis: The Biography, by Richard Bradford Jerusalem: A Biography, by Simon Sebag Montefiore Belieber: Fame, Faith and the Heart of Justin Bieber, by Cathleen Falsani 2011 OyVaJoys: All my TV appearances; speaking at Eton College, Wellington College, and [...]

Happy Chanukah, Gilad

I still haven't made the so-called latkes.

The eternal inspiration of Joe Strummer

I was 12 years old when I first heard The Clash. A friend of my older brother played me their debut album; they had me at Janie Jones. I was gripped by their energy, fury and passion. As I explored their music and story, I was particularly awestruck by their lead singer Joe Strummer, simmering [...]

My so-called latkes

I wish my Jewish friends a happy Chanukah. Non-Jewish readers may be enlightened and entertained by this humorous guide to the festival. I am grateful to the lovely Paull family for presenting me with a mini dreidel, a menorah and 44 candles following our Shabbat lunch on Saturday. They also handed me a guide to [...]

OyVaGoy on the small screen

Both of the television documentaries I've appeared on this week are now available to watch online. To watch me discuss Simon Cowell in More4′s 50 Years Of Bad Sex, click here. My segment begins around 59 minutes in. To watch ITV's Amy Winehouse: Her Life And Legacy, click here. I appear at various points throughout [...]

The end of the Iraq war

The Stars And Stripes were lowered in Baghdad today, marking the end of American military operations in Iraq. The nine-year war took the lives of 100,000 Iraqis and 4,500 Americans. It cost the US $1tr. Was it worth it?

50 Years Of Bad Sex

Following my appearance in ITV2′s Amy Winehouse: Her Life And Legacy last Sunday, I will be on television again this Friday evening. I will appear in a documentary called 50 Years Of Bad Sex. It is on More4 at 10pm. My contribution is not autobiographical, I hasten to add. I'm only 38 and my experiences [...]