Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 380

Keep Calm & Carry On

Leave it to our very own Lord of the Flies himself, Graham Humphries, to meet up with Fenella Fielding, not looking so very different considering that there's a gap of forty six years between her appearance at the Hammer film festival last week and 'Carry On Screaming'!

News For the Weaselly Pleased

These days the press is getting such bad press that neutral reporting is clearly a desirable commodity. But neutrality still allows wordsmiths to subtly influence readers. These hidden persuaders are called 'weasels' in the advertising trade. I culled these examples from yesterday's papers.

The BBC reports: Singer Charlotte Church says she is "sickened" by what she [...]

Back To Our Routes

The first new Routemaster-style bus started operation yesterday in London, and inevitably Mayor Boris Johnson has come in for stick from all sides, with Labour MP for Tottenham David Lammy complaining that each new bus costs £1.4m compared with the conventional double-decker bus, which costs about £190,000.

While I'm certainly no fan of Boris's, it was [...]

Bryant & May Locations

In 'Bryant & May and the Invisible Code' Arthur Bryant and his landlady Alma Sorrowbridge move into a new flat and Arthur immediately manages to upset his next-door neighbor.

It always helps to visualize these scenes if I know the exact location where they take place, so I selected the mansion block at number 17, [...]

Glasgow At Night

Wandering around in Merchant City, Glasgow, with my phone at night (in sifting rain) for a few rough-and-ready snaps, I was reminded once again what a great city it is in terms of sheer liveability. The downsides – not enough trees, not enough vegetables and not enough use made of the riverside areas – are [...]

Frighteningly Good

Heading back from the sell-out success of the Glasgow Frightfest, I'm struck by how inappropriate the brand-name can be, for there were few traditional 'horror' films here as such. Rather, we were offered plenty of clever, well-directed movies – crime, thrillers, even SF, that would fall between the cracks in general distribution. Low budget independent [...]

No Sun On Sunday

If you're thinking about buying the Sun on Sunday out of curiosity value (and I don't suppose you are because you wouldn't be reading this) it might be worth remembering that the News of the World hacked a murdered girl's telephone and tricked her parents into thinking she was still alive. And that this is [...]

Rich, Vulgar & In London

Everyone complains about how expensive London is, and part of it is down to property prices being jacked up by the super-rich attracted by the domicile laws, which are unique in the world. If you come from overseas, can prove you are going to return and can establish a domicile separate from your "residency" in [...]

On Readability

I've touched on this subject before, but we are now approaching the end of this year's judging for the Gold Dagger for best crime novel, and a last minute flourish by my swearing postman has brought eleven novels squeaking to the finish line for reading. When you read a huge amount for work or pleasure [...]

The Mysteries of Trains

I bought a return train ticket direct to Glasgow from London on Virgin Trains. This is how many tickets I need for that. I asked the porter why and he gave me the company line. 'I don't know – it's a bit rubbish, isn't it?'