Current Affairs

January 3, 2026

Wonderful Shocking Delicacies

Please do not read on if you have chaste eyes and a virtuous mind. Or something like that. Seventeen years in Portugal have given me the chance to appreciate its gorgeous regions and absorb some of its cultural and social identities. During that time, I’ve also been surprised by certain cultural expressions considered shocking Continue reading

Current Affairs

Colhões de São Gonçalo, Dança dos Cus, europe, Feira da Foda, Licor de Merda, Lisbon, Periquita, Portugal, Portugal food, Portuguese drinks, Portuguese gastronomy, Punheta de Bacalhau, travel
December 16, 2025

Into Another Dimension

Tradition dictates that it’s time for newspaper people to dig up their doom and gloom predictions for 2026 and beyond. Reports on psychics abound. Journalists think their mortal readers are gasping to learn the latest chaotic predictions about intensifying wars, pandemics, famine. Ah, what miseries have Destiny and Fate wrapped up in golden silks and Continue reading

Current Affairs

Another Dimension, Anus Tangerinus, Athos Salomé, Baba Vanga, Elgar Enigma Nimrod, History of Predictions, Lost Keys, Nostradamus, Predictions, World War III
December 2, 2025

Buried In Splendid Company

I’m running out of space. Old and new books accumulate around the floor of my study, unruly stacks that threaten to tumble and destroy my world. In desperate need of shelf space, for there’s nowhere else I can squeeze more bookshelves, I sort out books in heaps to disperse among the local library, the book Continue reading

Current Affairs, Memoir, Memoirs

Guy de Maupassant, Montmartre Cemetery, Montparnasse Cemetery, Oscar Wilde, Paris, Pere Lachaise, Stars
November 20, 2025

Infantino and Trump: A World Cup Bromance Update

As the bromance between FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino and president Donald Trump deepens with mutual respect and admiration, the rest of us hurtle towards the Football World Cup 2026. In May, I posted The Golden Phallus of Football: A Tale of Trophies, Triumphs and Turmoil. Now I rant about updates on that entry and more. Continue reading

Current Affairs

Bromance, Canada, FIFA, FIFA Peace Prize, Kennedy Center Washington, Mexico, Qualifiers World Cup, Trump and Infantino, USA, World Cup 2026
October 21, 2025

Dictatorship Where?

The shock retrieved my memories of armoured trucks, cars and military personnel patrolling public spaces and residential areas. Tanks stood at road intersections surrounded by armed soldiers in times of relative peace. It was Brazil during the old dictatorship. And it was America, 2025. Mine was a bitter smile, “ They’re using their manual Continue reading

Current Affairs, Memoirs

Bolsonaro, Brasília, Brasil Nunca Mais, Cancer Ward, Censorhip, Constitution Brazil, Dictatorship, Dilma Rousseff, Disappeared, Lula, No Kings, Solzhenitsyn, Torture, Trump, University, University of Brasília
October 7, 2025

That Nobel Peace Prize Malarkey

Alas, Nobel Prize season is upon us. This week, from Stockholm, Sweden, the Nobel Committee will announce the prizes for Medicine or Physiology, Physics and Chemistry, Economic Sciences, and Literature. From Oslo, Norway, the much-awaited Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, 10 October 2025, at 11:00 CEST. The prizes are coveted by scientists, Continue reading

Current Affairs

Atomic bomb, Bob Dylan, Gaza, Japan, Nihon Hidankyo, NM Raging Grannies, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel Peace Prize winners, Nobel Prize, Nobel Prize Lecture, Peace, Tambourine Man, Tangerine Man

About Me

I’ve lived in six countries, twenty-four towns, and twenty-nine houses. I’ve survived cancer. My double helix spins genes defined as Franco-Germanic, Iberian, Native South American, and more, as yet unidentified. I adore miracles: B.A. from Norwich University and M.A. from the University of the Algarve. I’ve never been on a cruise, and have no intention to do so. All of which attest to my resilience, wisdom, and sense of humour (or lack thereof).