What should we talk about today?
The world according to Kirkey
The Great Pyramid of Giza – the only remaining Great Wonder of the World – has captivated me ever since I can remember. At school I devoured every reference book chronicling the unique chapters of the exquisite and enchanting Egyptian civilisation. Spanning nearly thirty centuries, its history encompassed four dynasties: Early, the Old Kingdom, the … Read more
According to Aristotle, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” If I had shared a beer – or more fittingly a slug of Kykeon ─ with the eminent Greek philosopher, I would have sought to clarify his baffling supposition. I have always struggled with the … Read more
I awoke this morning dog tired; I had tried counting sheep, but I have to admit I’m no night owl. I wasn’t feeling a hundred percent but thankfully I wasn’t as sick as a parrot. Looking at my reflection in the bathroom mirror – as bald as a coot ─ I nonetheless thought I looked … Read more
I’m lucky that I don’t really have a job ─ well not in the traditional sense of nine to five, Monday to Friday, with a boss. That’s not to say that I haven’t had that experience in the past. But pre my sixth decade on this planet it’s not a bad place to be. This … Read more
American writer and Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck concluded, “People don’t take trips… trips take people.” His encapsulation – succinct and sweet – accurately reflects my own personal adventures, although I am the first to acknowledge that I am privileged to have the means and opportunity to explore our amazing planet as frequently as I … Read more
As World leaders gathered in Glasgow in a battle to save the planet, a somewhat lesser conflict was about to erupt in the same city. I didn’t see any premiers at the Peugeot Ashfield Stadium where Glasgow Tigers took on the Poole Pirates in the first leg of the Championship play-off final, although the old … Read more
I do like a tad of risk in my life, yet in matters of comfort, security, and wellbeing I am pretty one dimensional – I like what I like and in true Margaret Thatcher style, “this guy is not for turning.” In relation to holidays, the late British Premier (from 1979 to 1990) had little … Read more
Our thumbs are useful for gripping, allowing fingers to click and acknowledging when things are OK or not so good. I also remember it being used in an elegant metaphor for night shift town centre foot patrol when I was a copper in the then concrete jungle of Bracknell’s pedestrianised shopping centre in the early … Read more
I love where I live but I love to escape it too. I don’t know where my compulsion to flee originates from, but I can recall, aged four, when I lived in Stapleford, Nottinghamshire running to the very edge of the then known universe and touching the Hemlock Stone adjacent to the A6002 and running … Read more
Welcome back to the final leg of my round the World sprint. Having written this I know that there are a fair few episodes still yet to be written. Especially, those last two continents that I can, so I have found out, elegantly fuse from the southern tip of Argentina. COVID-19 you haven’t beaten me! … Read more