Art Of Storytelling The essence of a good story is not so much a lofty moral or an expansive story arc – though there’s nothing wrong with those, if well executed – but rather the handling of the individual scenes along the way. It’s the small details that draw you in and get you hooked. […]
As I write this, Ireland is about to vote on whether to allow same-sex marriage. Much of the debate on the matter has seemed confused to me. I regret that it has been necessary for this vote to take place at all. Civil marriage was introduced to England and Wales by the 1836 Marriage Act. […]
One of my most deeply-held convictions is of the benefit of having a secular state. It is the best protection against excesses committed in the name of a belief system, which applies as much to the oppressions of atheism as to those of any religion. Let’s distinguish between secularism on the one hand and anti-religion on […]
Alex Massie’s recent blog entry for The Spectator has an excellent analysis of the current Labour leadership crisis. Massie quips that “If, as Diderot nearly put it, Scotland cannot be free until the last Labour councillor is strangled with the last copy of the Daily Record then, blimey, on both fronts the country is closer to national liberation than […]
Next week sees the release of a song in support of this year’s Poppy Appeal. There is also a supporting video which is already available to watch via YouTube. The song is “No Man’s Land” (aka “The Green Fields Of France”).[1] It’s a song I’ve loved and admired since I first heard it more than […]