‘My name is Garson Hampfield, and I’m a crossword inker.’
With a smoky sax below the words, so begins an inspired mockumentary about the dying art of puzzle-inking. Created by Michael A Charles, the seven-minute animation is so finely infused with humour you can’t help but wish that inkers existed. As imaginary dinosaurs go, Garson seems […]
Writers can’t just be writers nowadays, says author Robert Dessaix. They also need to be figure skaters.
Stage hounds. Hucksters. Acrobats. A presence in the limelight to help move so many units per festival. When Clive James wows his throng with fluent Auden quotes and a tango twirl beside the lectern, he’s bound to enter […]
A muddle of a week, hence the delayed post. So what’s my defence? Well, Your Honour, I have ten in total, and none is too persuasive:
1) Preparing for the Melbourne Writers Festival. I’m part of the Whole Shebang at Federation Square tomorrow. Check here for a few more clues. http://www.mwf.com.au/2008/content/mwf_2008_home.asp?
2) Preparing for the Melbourne Writers […]
Last time I went to India I was a clean-livered teen, bypassing alcohol for the local orangeade called Tums Up. Next time, now that alcohol is a welcome anaesthesia, I’d be more tempted by Seagull, Sandpiper, Rosy Pelican and the rest of India’s beer flock.
The brands are bizarre. Among the brewing labels are Flying Horse, […]
Old Monk
Rosy Pelican
Australian Max
Stop me if you’ve heard the list before. Any ideas? Here’s a few more to tease the taste buds:
Black Knight
Gymkhana
Taj Mahal
That last one serves as your biggest clue. I’ll publish the list’s link in a day or two, along with the reason I make a point of jotting down such oddball trivia.
Of […]
Extraordinary really. Almost philanthropic.
How often do you hear of a company waiving a client’s payments in order to provide the same desired product (in this case crosswords) for nada?
You’ll have to go trawling through corporate arcana for a precedent. Coz I’m stumped.
But that’s the miracle wrought by The Manchester Guardian this week, unlocking their […]