ASH Smyth 4/23/25 ASH Smyth 4/23/25

JMW Turner: An Alternative View

ASH Smyth takes a leaf out of JMW Turner’s sketchbook.

ASH Smyth 2/10/25 ASH Smyth 2/10/25

In Memoriam: Willie Loughlin

ASH Smyth ‘remembers’ the Singing Laundryman.

ASH Smyth 10/13/24 ASH Smyth 10/13/24

Cougar Adventure

In affectionate remembrance of Willard Price, 28.7.1887—14.10.1983

ASH Smyth 8/25/24 ASH Smyth 8/25/24

Briefs From the Field

To his distress, ASH Smyth realises it’s been five years since his last cricket match (which, even more distressingly, he was allowed to captain).

ASH Smyth 5/19/24 ASH Smyth 5/19/24

Every VHS Tape I Have Owned

From Aladdin to William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

ASH Smyth 2/6/24 ASH Smyth 2/6/24

Peruvenirs

Full inventory of souvenirs and other purchases from my trip to Lima and environs, last December.

ASH Smyth 11/23/23 ASH Smyth 11/23/23

'It is the living we should fear'

ASH Smyth reviews Chats with the Dead.

ASH Smyth 11/22/23 ASH Smyth 11/22/23

Many Moons Ago

A Q&A with reigning Booker Prize champion Shehan Karunatilaka.

ASH Smyth 11/11/23 ASH Smyth 11/11/23

Brothers in Arms

From the Archives: ASH Smyth looks out over mist-covered mountains, on Remembrance Sunday.

ASH Smyth 10/14/23 ASH Smyth 10/14/23

Battle

On the 957th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, ASH Smyth translates the Bayeux Tapestry.

ASH Smyth 10/2/23 ASH Smyth 10/2/23

Asbestos, Champagne, and a Pirate Ship

A pal picks up the exceedingly prestigious Polar Medal.

ASH Smyth 9/29/23 ASH Smyth 9/29/23

So. Many. Questions.

My 5-year-old embarks on her 'Neruda phase’.

ASH Smyth 9/27/23 ASH Smyth 9/27/23

Post-Millennial Observances

In celebration of the Meskel festival, ASH Smyth recalls his trip to Ethiopia’s Camelot, some 16 years ago.

ASH Smyth 9/6/23 ASH Smyth 9/6/23

Wilko, out—52 branches of the discount homewares store slated to close next week

From Brownhills to Winsford, plus many more.

ASH Smyth 8/30/23 ASH Smyth 8/30/23

Bertrand Russell Wishes You A Happy Marriage

Alpha and beta’s union is the set of all sets with exactly two elements.

ASH Smyth 8/1/23 ASH Smyth 8/1/23

News At A Glance #39

Elephant tans, Emma Thompson, kumquats, and Milan Kundera. The Emigre’s latest round-up of world news.

ASH Smyth 6/30/23 ASH Smyth 6/30/23

The Forgotten Irishman

ASH Smyth remembers Conor O Brien: apostrophe-hater, architect, mountaineer, boat-builder, writer, IRA gun-runner and officer of the Royal Navy.

ASH Smyth 6/18/23 ASH Smyth 6/18/23

All the words in Michael Chabon's GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD I had to look up (not incl. placenames—kind of—or the Afterword)

From myna and shatranj to Chorpan and termagant.

ASH Smyth 5/17/23 ASH Smyth 5/17/23

News At A Glance #38

Ankles, armpits, Uberlandia, and King Harald the Fine-Hair. The Emigre’s latest round-up of world news.

ASH Smyth 4/16/23 ASH Smyth 4/16/23

News At A Glance #37

Dub music, sourdough bread, Churchill, and Twitter. The Emigre’s latest round-up of world news.