Monday, December 15, 2008 at 10:30PM One of the interesting things is how inexpert the experts have been throughout this recession. I don't remember how good or bad they were in 90 and 81, but this time they're truly appalling in two ways - they can't predict what's going to happen, and they can't explain what has happened. Why is this?
I think there are 3 main reasons
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 10:48PM Growing raspberries is a fine activity. Now, raspberries are the best of fruits – floral and fruity at the same time, vanilla and acid juice. And the texture of pulp and gritstone and the woody crunchiness of the pip between your teeth. Up there with mangosteen, in my view. And that’s only the start.
Monday, September 15, 2008 at 10:04PM Nothing much happened today – oh, apart from a Yankee blue-blooded bank that had survived the Great Depression and a couple of world wars filing for bankruptcy, and another fleeing into the arms of a competitor, and an insurance company asking for a float of $40bn. It’s all going horribly wrong.
Saturday, September 13, 2008 at 9:05PM Today I went to the Ludlow Food Festival. This is one the best food festivals in the UK - Ludlow is a lovely town and the festival attracts a great cross-section of producers. Aside from the festival, there are still proper butchers who sell rabbit and venison as a matter of course, one the best cheesemongers I've ever been to and a beer shop that has bottles beyond belief.
Friday, September 12, 2008 at 7:56PM The first of many to come, XL today went under. One of the UK's largest tour groups, it ran out of money, leaving thousands of people trying to find a way of returning to these fair shores, and thousands of others trying to work out if they had a contract with one of the bits of XL that had some kind of bond or not.
XL had a rather extravagant structure, with more names than a bad referee, and the papers have been full of ready-reckoners outlining who will get all their money back, who should get some of their money back and who should look forward to peering over the heads of the prime creditors at the final meeting. Many didn't even know they'd booked with XL - so much for branding, eh?