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Spectator Competition: Laughter lines
1+ hour, 15+ min ago (449+ words) For Competition 3448 you were invited to supply a joke in verse form. Apologies for an ambiguous brief; I was actually after an existing joke retold in verse form rather than expecting you to invent a new joke, but either approach…...
Roman conquest
1+ hour, 15+ min ago (487+ words) The Spectator Australia The European Individual Championship is a gigantic brawl, and since it began in 2000 the winner has always been a seasoned grandmaster. This year's event in Katowice, Poland, drew 500 competitors, including 90 grandmasters. Lasting 11 rounds, it is not the…...
The Romans would tax anything
13+ hour, 28+ min ago (218+ words) When Nero committed suicide in ad 68, he left Rome deep in debt after military campaigns, building himself a fabulous "Golden House, and the great fire of Rome (AD 64). His successor Vespasian, who fought his way to power in late ad…...
Booing, Welcome to Country, and the long activist game
1+ week, 2+ day ago (701+ words) Several things can be true at once. A majority of Australians, as suggested by the Voice to Parliament referendum, disagree with "Welcome to Country" utterances outside tourist settings. Perhaps even more Australians find "Welcome to Country" particularly abrasive, even insulting,…...
My wild house parties with Rose Wylie
2+ mon, 1+ week ago (371+ words) I rang up my old best friend, Luke-John, for a chat a few days ago and to ask him about his mum, Rose Wylie. She is 91 and this week becomes the first ever female painter to be given a solo…...
Scooby-Doo has better plots: Almeida's A Moon for the Misbegotten reviewed
10+ mon, 4+ day ago (353+ words) Almeida Theatre, until 16 August Hampstead Theatre, until 19 July The elements of this lop-sided story are clumsily arranged by O'Neill. His cold, narcissistic characters don't make much sense and the subplot concerning a property deal is so complicated that it doesn't…...
Antony Gormley's lonely figures transfer to paper
2+ week, 13+ hour ago (484+ words) The Spectator Australia Antony Gormley's lonely figures transfer to paper Many drawings depict a single male in a featureless environment or emerging as though from a Rorschach blot If there's any consolation to be had in the prospect of AI…...
Watch: Meghan says she was "the most trolled person in the entire world
2+ week, 6+ day ago (228+ words) They say that the clue is in the name, but with Meghan the first two letters give the game away:" Watch: Meghan says she was "the most trolled person in the entire world" They say that the clue is in…...
Landscapes of longing in illuminated Books of Hours
4+ week, 1+ hour ago (688+ words) The Spectator Australia Landscapes of longing in illuminated Books of Hours Recalling his lonely childhood in New Zealand, Christopher de Hamel describes how his enduring love of medieval manuscripts took root Allen Lane, pp. 297, 25 Christopher de Hamel is an outstanding…...
Anthemic angst from The Twilight Sad
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (616+ words) The Spectator Australia Anthemic angst from The Twilight Sad The only thing misery loves more than company is a backbeat. While capturing pure happiness surely remains the Holy Grail of any artistic endeavour, the blues is the bedrock of popular…...