#Blessed

There is something about the sound of a brass band that hits me straight in the heart. In an often cruel and selfish world, it’s a beacon of hope and kindness. Huddled together like Emperor Penguins in a tight circle on Briggate, their rousing tones soared through the clouds of skunk and vape-smoke, produced by…

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Brave New World

Heading into the David Lloyd sauna after an exhilarating morning swim, I settled down to embrace the heat and enjoy a moment of peace and self reflection. Inhaling steamy notes of Bergamot and Eucalyptus, I closed my eyes, the gentle crackle of hot coals a nurturing beat in this oasis of tranquility. And then the…

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Polished professionals

Every man has his breaking point. Like Michael Douglas in ‘Falling Down,’ a recent article in The Telegraph brought me perilously close to darkening the doors of McDonald’s “Kiwi shoe polish to disappear as UK no longer cares about shiny shoes.” I’ve blogged long and hard about the horrific demise in standards of dress in…

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A Christmas Message

As the sun slowly sets on 2022, I am delighted to say it has been a record year and I’ve never worked harder. Down to just two courses for lunch at Sous Le Nez, and only taking a week’s holiday every second month, it’s been brutal. But I’ve dug deep, pulled on my exquisitely tailored…

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La Bella Figura is back!

When asked by ‘Beyond’ Magazine’s Editor, Mark Bowness, to pass comment on the stylistic path we might tread in 2022, I started my research over breakfast, with a quick shufti on Google and came up with this: According to GQ magazine, we should be wearing, ‘kilts, sleeveless hoodies, baggy shirts and party wear in ultra-shiny…

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Scarbados

Since Michelsberg Towers opened it’s doors on April 12th, it’s been blissfully manic. Despite the first three months of the year sat on my derriere doing sweet Fanny Adams, I actually felt like I’d earned a break, and was frothing with enthusiasm for our family half-term holiday to ‘Scarbados’ on the East Coast. With a…

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Black Tuesday

Meghan, Harry and Oprah – like driving past a road accident, I tried not to look, but couldn’t help it. Like the squatting thighs of a constipated grey hound, I shuddered, squirmed, and trembled in agony, as yet again, I watched a member of our Royal family, wash their dirty laundry in public. Perhaps most…

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A Bad Mood (Snood)

Microsoft and Netflix – sort your screensavers out! Like Jim Bowen in “Bullseye,” it’s “Look what you could have won,” as vistas of snow capped mountains, sparkling waterfalls and tropical beaches, tease and torment me, at a time when a trip to the butchers is an adventure. Believe you me, there is no Californian sunshine…

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On Ilkla Moor Baht ‘at

Another lockdown Monday morning rears it’s head, and to quote Morgan Freeman in ‘Shawshank Redemption,’ “time draws out like a blade.” The first two weeks of January have been productive, culminating in the launch of my new website, but with my ‘to do’ list now done, I’m in danger of being headhunted by my wife…

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