Pete Hartley: sometime dramaturg, perennial scribbler
It’s hate Jim, but not as we know it. Some of the vitriol expressed on the morning after the recent UK General Election was a tad gut-wrenching. Social media contributors whose votes had not had the desired effect told their ‘friends’ in no uncertain terms where they should go, what they should do and which … Continue reading Brexit stage right
The most popular uneasywords of 2019 Another year of blogging done. Here, in reverse order, are the most popular uneasywords posts of 2019: At number 9 is a post from November 2018 explaining how the paintings of Jack Vettriano inspired a musical theatre show: Swinging with the Singing Butler. Number 8 is also … Continue reading Nine from ‘Nineteen
The word 'academic' is the bane of creative subject teachers' lives, yet it is an unjustified means of establishing a hierarchy of learning. It is usually defined by the proportion of cerebral to practical activity. Subjects with a high practical content are deemed less worthy. That is lazy thinking. The academic is ultimately worthless without practical application.
It was a magnificent honour for the terminally ill Mike Airey to see his name emblazoned of the vintage Blackpool Standard Tram 147 less than a month before he died on 12th August 2006. Twelve and a half years later, the tram looks as resplendent as ever. It has recently had a few more buckets … Continue reading Ticket to pride
Fiction, addiction and ostentation.
Say it like it was. These days we are all contemporary historians. Like it or not, most of us leave our virtual marks on the annals of antiquity. We document our days by tapping out our texts, instagramming, whatsapping, chirping twitter, elevating our selfie-status on Facebook, or even blogging! We petrify our monograms in digital … Continue reading Mehistoric Times
This is the work of a reluctant blogger. Self-promotion does not sit easily on these shoulders. In previous decades the blatant hawking of one’s own work was seen as distasteful, but modern marketing and the growth of online communication has altered that perspective. There is a propensity today to promote the artist rather than the … Continue reading Manifesto
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