Maybe it's because I'm a bit of an old curmudgeon. Or at least getting that way. If you ever go into a pub in the middle of the afternoon and see several men, sitting on their own, reading and sinking a couple of pints before wandering home to watch the...

What is odd, and what is sad, about the man who defaced a Mark Rothko painting at Tate Modern is that he seems rather pleased with himself, going on the slim reports in the newspapers, and a short interview he's given.

26 year-old Vladimir Umanets says he is "not...

There was an arresting BBC documentary recently called 'Wonderland: Young, Bright, and on the Right.' Initially it was quite amusing, depicting, as it did, some late teenage hoorays in the Conservative associations of Oxford and Cambridge wearing jackets and ties, drinking port, and planning their assault on Westminster. Some were...

One of the many curious things about Julian Assange is the calibre of supporter he attracts. On LBC yesterday afternoon, we had interviews with a lecturer in South American Studies from Kingston University, and an American management consultant, both of whom were passionate in their support of the Wikileaks founder,...

Flicking through the online newspapers on Saturday, I was brought up short.

The Independent, which, when first published in 1986, promised no funny business, announced: 'Prince Philip released from hospital.'

My inner pedant shot to the surface. (It's never far away).

Good...

"He looks haunted," said one of my colleagues, as Tony Blair gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry.

While various commentators have said the former prime minister appeared more relaxed than he'd done during Hutton and Chilcott, there was still something slightly askew about him. Something not quite right.

This...

Maybe it's just my over-sensitivity, but the mooted return of Tony Blair to British politics strikes me as mind-bendingly peculiar.

Or maybe just par for an overly-cynical course.

However you interpret them, the facts are far from pretty.

There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Al...

I used to think it was advisable, before entering marketing, to leave reality behind.

Now I've realised it's essential.

Last night, as I stood on the Underground platform at Leicester Square, I saw something which made me rub my eyes in wonder.

No, it wasn't a poster...

Sergeant Nicholas Brody has been a pleasure to watch. Old Etonian Damian Lewis's top-dollar American accent, the way in which he portrayed almost constant, angsty discomfort, and his character's strangely decent incipient terrorism - wanting to avenge a drone strike that killed scores of children - made for compelling viewing....

Late in the afternoon, while still at work, I can smell hops coming off a fresh pint of beer. The scent is so strong it feels almost real. I don't work in a pub. Or a brewery, although the thought is increasingly tempting.

'Muscle memory' comes to mind - the...

Holding the line is so difficult. Walking away from an argument you've won without smiling can take herculean self control. Gloating may not be nice but it's honest: raw, revealing, and truthful.

On that basis, Alex Salmond is an honest man. There's a video on the BBC...

Never meet your heroes. They're all too human. I haven't met Kenny Dalglish. But I'd like to.

My parents come from the north west. I remember, as a child, being taken to Anfield. On one occasion - Boxing Day - we were in the Kop. The cavernous, all-standing terrace...

It's nice to be nice. English teachers and creative writing tutors may shudder at the word, seeing it, perhaps, as a little insipid, but niceness is undervalued. We all know people who are nice, and they don't cause us any problems. They are life-enhancers.

And if it is, indeed,...

What does it mean to be Christian in this country? Does it mean left-wing? Guardian-reader? Because that's what the debate on a benefits cap appeared to be implying this week. Until, that is, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, intervened on Wednesday.

The fact that he wrote in...

Is it chutzpah - simple youthful exuberance, or misguided arrogance? It's certainly entertaining. A 19 year-old girl, predicted to get an A* in each of her three A Levels, has written to Magdalen College, Oxford, to tell them that, after attending an interview, she would rather study law somewhere else....

You may have seen it on The Huffington Post. The Labour Party is looking for an Executive Director, Rebuttal and Policy.

The job description is written in jargon, but at the bottom of page one, provided you're still awake, it says: "Lead and manage the Labour Party's...rebuttal...

It can hardly have been the reaction she wanted. When it emerged that Alesha Dixon was defecting from Strictly to Britain's Got Talent, fans of the dancing show were pleased. To say the least. Had she simply lifted the glitter ball trophy, as she did alongside Matthew Cutler in 2007...

It was Sunday lunchtime. I was having the lamb, while my dining companions chose beef, chicken, and lemon sole. We were in a chain; despite last week's difficult economic news, it was busy, with a positive vibe.

A few bread sticks kept us going until the main courses arrived....

It happens every year, of course. A young singer with a deep ache in their ego, I mean soul, blubs before the X Factor cameras. They say things that might as well be written on cue cards, helpfully held up by the producers: 'It means everything to me.' And: 'I...

It's easy to attack The X Factor. Popularity is sometimes distrusted. If millions watch something, then it can be characterised as a bandwagon. A runaway success will often attract snobbery too. Arts aficionados hold their noses, signalling their allegedly superior taste. Quality is assumed to be absent.

One of...