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‘I am basically Taylor Swift with Cheaper Trousers’: an interview with MJ Hibbett
Note: this interview first appeared in my newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Indiepop legend and writer of some of the most life-affirming songs, well, EVER, Mark “MJ” Hibbett, is headlining my show This Machine Kills Wasps on Thursday 8th Feb at the lovely Folklore Rooms in Brighton. To celebrate this FACT I got… Read more
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Hurstpierpoint Wassail 2024
Another weekend, another Wassail. This time we went to the Sussex village of Hurtpierpoint, where Jo spent the day teaching tunes to locals, before we all gathered for a procession and some wassailing of apple trees. We ended up in a pub on the high street, in all our fairy lights and ivy finery, confusing… Read more
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I joined an improv class and here’s what I think about that
January is a good time to do courses. Everyone is full of hope and excitement at doing something new, which is important in a month as cruel as this. [1] I joined a Level 3 course run by the local improv Kingpins The Maydays. I did this despite having not done their 1 and 2… Read more
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Walthamstow Wassail 2024
I have been going to the Walthamstow Wassail for so long that it has been a decade since I wrote about it for the Guardian. I have been going to the Walthamstow Wassail for so long, that when I tried to give my friend a hug, she pulled a muscle. I have been going to… Read more
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The Ace Doctor Who Podcast reviews The 2023 Christmas Special: The Church On Ruby Road
It was a very interesting experience, editing this in a pub in New Year’s Eve, removing pregnant pauses to a banging soundtrack of Heaven 17 and The Human League. I uploaded it before midnight, which was met in our local by a crack addict falsely announcing that he had just proposed to his newly pregnant… Read more
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Brighton Toy and Model Museum
Underneath Brighton station is a treasure trove of forgotten dreams. Brighton Toy and Model Museum, once the Sussex Toy and Model Museum, specialises in “the golden age of British and European toymaking”, and there isn’t much in here beyond the 1970s. Each of these four Victorian cellars is intensely packed with dolls, boats, trains, and… Read more
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The Daleks In Colour, as reviewed by People of Colour (and a ginger guy)
Lana Del Ray is being performatively heartbroken in my ears, my train is trundling to the coast, and it’s time for the last blog post before Christmas. For I am a fireman and my blog is the firebox on an obsolete steam train. Please enjoy this very special episode of the Ace Doctor Who podcast,… Read more
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Venn Diagram: Best Comedy of 2023
I told you the clowns were coming. Not necessarily red in nose and claw, but trained and brutalised by Phillippe Gaulier in Paris, broken down to their base components, then built back up again, full of vulnerability and wonder. Viggo Venn won Britain’s Got Talent with little more than an unexpected number of high vis… Read more
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Best albums of 2023: Morning Star round-up
We are now in the era of Spotify Unwrapped. This is the zeitgeist of the streaming giant encouraging users to share which musicians they’ve not been giving their money to the most often over the past twelve months. Out there, away from the algorithms, it’s been a good year. The one overriding theme? Death, best… Read more
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Tokyo Diary day #2
“It’s your holiday, do what you want to. The holiday police aren’t looking over your shoulder”. I was tired today, and felt bad that I wasn’t making more of my limited time in Tokyo. Flying feels a guilty miracle. All that carbon, all that waste, just to play board games online on the other side… Read more
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