Rome, like Paris before it, has a green bike scheme in the centre of the city. Lots of bike racks, lots of bikes, and you pay 50 cents for each half hour or part thereof. Nifty. Of course, it isn’t quite that simple. You have to have a special smart card to unlock a bike and return it to a rack, and...

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Luigi turned me on to David Mamet's Spartan, in a discussion of what was worth watching on TV these days.¹ I loved it. Not just for the violence, which is considerable and effective. Not just for the secret service procedurals, which are everywhere these days and which for all I know are having...

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The Weight

I had thought, when I started this series, that there would be at least one song in each of the Sounds to Grow On episodes that would be worth singling out; that hasn’t been the case. I’m not saying that there won’t be more Folkways tracks in future, only that nothing in the past couple...

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Conflicted, moi? One of the best TV dramas evah, being remade with one of the greatest plonkers evah in the starring role. Edge of Darkness redefined thrillers on BBC television, with astonishing performances from Bob Peck and Joe Don Baker and Eric Clapton's soundtrack to die for. Now the same di...

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Saint James Progress

One song, 20 versions, and there are probably lots more. The Unfortunate Rake (programme 3) is to date the most informative programme I’ve heard in the CKUA Radio series Sounds to Grow On. Sure, I knew The Saint James Infirmary and Streets of Laredo, but I’d never thought of...

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