I have a Golden Rule for food preparation, which if I’m honest, can be a little restrictive. If  a dish takes longer to prepare and cook than it does to eat, then it’s off the menu.  Anything else just seems to throw the effort/reward relationship out of balance for me. I’ve yet to find too many kindred spirits though, and if the popularity of  TV cookery and food  programmes is anything to go by, I appear to be in a very tiny minority. But appearances can be deceptive!

It will probably never happen, but  occasionally I have a fantasy about appearing on Masterchef. Greg Wallace and John Torode are whispering conspiratorially  off camera as I make my entrance… Continue reading →

If you’re ever tasked with designing an efficient and customer friendly international airport, I have some advice for you. Get on a plane to Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt, examine everything they do in minute detail, assess and analyse all their systems – and then do completely the opposite. You won’t go far wrong. There may be a better way, which I’ll come back to in a moment, but first I want to tell you about something I discovered as I took my seat on the way out there… Continue reading →

In the mid 1980’s there was a used car dealer based in one of the better suburbs of Sheffield  who had a unique way of advertising. I used to look forward to reading his ad’s in the local paper each week. They were nothing if not honest. Continue reading →

There are times when I feel out of touch with the world, and now is one of those times. Watching TV advertisements during October and November, it became apparent  that huge swathes of the population are acutely concerned with something to which I had given absolutely no thought – Continue reading →

One of my favourite TV shows as a child   was the 1960’s Batman series starring Adam West, Burt Ward, Cesar Romero and Frank Gorshin. I had the Batcape, the Batcar and just about every other Bat-thing,  and even today have  signed cheques and photo’s of stars of the series on my study wall at home. Sad, but true. Continue reading →