IT IS THREE and a half weeks since I saw and, more importantly, heard singer, songwriter, musician, author and performance artist Amanda Palmer in the slightly unlikely setting of Bexhill on Sea.
ARE YOU JUST sick of the news, or is the news actually making you sick? It’s a pertinent question in the age of ‘doomscrolling’. In America, psychologists are already talking about ‘headline stress disorder’ and ‘news anxiety’ as consumers wilt under a relentless barrage of negative news reports - true and false.
Good food, Hospitality
LET ME TELL you about Poppy. She was waiting tables in a London French restaurant when I noticed her. She was slight, very young and (as the young have a tendency to be) good looking. She also knew precisely what she was doing.
Curiosity, Ideas, Back stories
OKAY, I ADMIT IT, I have a problem with copy generated by AI chatbots. That’s hardly surprising, you might think, after all I’m a human who has written for a living for more than half a century. But, to be clear, I’m not in fear of my livelihood - it’s just that chatbot copy is so often very badly done.
Travel, Wild places
THE YOUNG policeman looks bored. “Do you have a booking,” he says. “Yes,” I answer, “we’re staying at The Northern Light Inn.” He doesn’t quite manage a sigh. “Let me see the booking,” he says.
