I normally consider this blog something rather personal, a place to express my thoughts. But more people know of me thanks to this blog, and thanks to some of the projects I have managed to launch here, than through anything else I do. Long term professional connections, and plenty of […]
I tend to steer clear of Leffe beer in Belgium – it tastes inferior to the likes of Orval or Tripel Karmeliet, and I always tend to fear the market influence of large brewers like InBev, the owners of the Leffe brand. But a friend I’m staying with had a […]
Nauseating posters such as this one: adorn airports worldwide. They are part of the “Britain is GREAT” campaign. The website even states “Welcome to GREAT Britain”. Well, not if you’re Ai Weiwei. A state visit for the Chinese PM is more important than a visa for the dissident artist. So […]
In the 18 months I’ve lived in Kreuzberg I’ve passed Mustafa’s Gemüse Kebap (website, map) stand on Mehringdamm dozens of times. Come rain or shine, summer or winter, there is always a queue of people waiting outside it. Today I finally tried it. Part of the intrigue for me is […]
My first foray into sports blogging! ““Any chance we can go to a football game?” my oldest friend asked me, when announcing he was coming for a weekend to Berlin. “Sure, Union Berlin are playing FC Ingolstadt 04 in the 2. Bundesliga” I replied.” – read my match report!
It was a normal enough Copenhagen situation; that’s what makes it frustrating. I was introduced to some friends of my partner’s in Copenhagen yesterday evening. Two of them persisted in speaking Danish conscious that I did not understand what they were saying, and the third – rather than politely enquiring […]
I’ve been working as a freelancer for more than 5 years. It was at the end of the summer of 2007 that I took that leap, and until now there has been no looking back. I enjoy the flexibility, the fact that I am my own boss, and normally I […]
I think these last few days I’ve started to realise what’s been so wrong with me for the last few months. I’ve ceased to dream, to have hopes for the future. “Something has happened to you these last six months” a dear colleague of mine said to me yesterday. “You […]
So it turns out that this has been a significant week for me personally. Only three days after I took the decision to cease the pursuit of selection to become a MEP, a further decision taken by someone I don’t know and I’ve never met has had further important implications. My partner’s […]
It’s 12:22 on Saturday 24th September 2011 and I’m sat in a friend’s flat in Berlin. At about this time 10 years ago I first set foot in this city, the start of a remarkable journey through European politics, work and further studies that has been a brilliant rollercoaster ride […]
I seldom blog about it these days, but sport is important for me as a way to stay healthy and – to a large extent – to stay sane as a freelancer. Haruki Murakami talks about these sorts of things in What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. […]
Right, this is a blog entry that’s going to annoy a lot of people. But I’m very annoyed. So here goes. I’m totally, utterly and completely sick of dog owners. Note I am not completely and utterly sick of dogs. I’m not unfriendly towards animals. A dog is a dog. […]