Putin, power, and Poohsticks.
As megalomaniacs go Vladimir Putin isn’t that special. A Bond villain appearance is the typical and very necessary façade but what exactly motivates them? In Putin’s case money alone is doubtful, since it is probable that he is the richest person on Earth with a personal fortune of circa $200 billion. To put this mind-boggling … Read more
Curiosity
Be curious. Prod it. Pick it up and read it. Smell it. Go there. If you are right, occasionally turn left. If it horrifies you take time out to understand it. Look beyond the headline. Just be curious. © Ian Kirke 2022 Title photograph by Justin Heap on Unsplash
The games we used to play
Many iconic board games rely on a degree of imagination, skill, and chance, be it acting the part of a property tycoon in Monopoly, a sleuth in Cluedo or simply rolling a die and hoping you avoid a certain category in Trivial Pursuit. So where does speedway feature in this hall of fame? Has the … Read more
Dead Cats and Diversions
I love a good natter with friends. Convivial conversations are my favourite, although I equally enjoy a delicious debate where opposing views are mutually tested, and the manner of delivery of conflicting opinions is respected, even if a consensus may be unattainable. What I heartily detest is the hijacking of earnest enquiry, more often than … Read more
Architecture of the Afterlife
The Pyramids of Giza and the Taj Mahal represent the executive end of what mausoleum moolah can buy you. If you aren’t a god on earth or a favourite wife of a Mughal emperor, then I guess your ambitions need to be reassessed. Other than a brick in the wall at Meadow Lane, home of … Read more
Away days in focus
With Nottingham being a six-hour round trip for me, at the end of the season my attendance at away matches can often outnumber those played at Meadow Lane. Yet there is always something special about wearing the black and white (or green) on foreign turf. In my opinion two things in particular are worth the … Read more
Calling out the Big C
Cancer – there, I said it. According to the most recent research reported in the British Journal of Cancer, over half of us under the age of sixty-five will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in our lifetime. If you manage to dodge this bullet there is a significant chance that you will know … Read more
Exposing the bawl of Banksy
Who hasn’t heard of Banksy, the unknown artist who has turned graffiti into a desirable art form? The simple, striking sketches of rebellion that sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds. Where a spray-can effortlessly and uniquely connects the fierce foes of socialism and capitalism, society and counter-culture, pitching religion against secularism, whilst also looking … Read more
Money, Money, Money … in memorabilia!
To a speedway fan a programme is as important as a baton in the hand of a conductor, a bow to a violinist or a wig to a barrister at the Old Bailey. But once the action is over where does your record of sporting endeavour end up? Does it have any residual value, especially … Read more