Archive for August, 2016


A review of the Spanish film “Julieta”

August 31st, 2016 by Roger Darlington

You may be reluctant to see sub-titled films but you should make an exception for the latest work from Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. “Julieta” is an admirable work and you can read my review here.

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)


A review of the Quentin Tarantino film “The Hateful Eight”

August 30th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

This is a slow-burning movie but it has many of Tarantino’s trademarks including fine acting, clever dialogue and lots of blood. Check out my review of “The Hateful Eight” here.

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)


Did you know that the United States has a Flag Code?

August 29th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

I’d always thought that the practice of Americans in placing their right hand over their heart for the raising of the flag and the singing of the anthem was simply tradition. But, as this piece from the BBC site explains, there is actually a Flag Code. The code was first drawn up only in 1923, […]

Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)


Word of the day: femtosecond

August 28th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

This is an unimaginably small unit of time. One femtosecond is a millionth of a billionth of a second. I came across the term in an obituary of the Nobel prize-winning scientist Ahmed Zewail which opens as follows: “Before 1990, all students of chemistry and adjacent sciences were taught that it was impossible to determine […]

Posted in Cultural issues, Science & technology | Comments (0)


The day they invented the Internet

August 27th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

“If you had walked into Rossotti’s beer garden on 27 August 1976, you would have seen the following: seven men and one woman at a table, hovering around a computer terminal, the woman typing. A pair of cables ran from the terminal to the parking lot, disappearing into a big grey van. Inside the van […]

Posted in Internet | Comments (0)


A review of the film “The Age Of Adaline”

August 26th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

Such is serendipity that a couple of weeks ago I’d never heard of the actress Blake Lively and then I see her in two films. The first movie was the newly-released work “The Shallows” which I viewed at the cinema [see my review here]. The second film was the earlier (2015) work “The Age Of […]

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)


Do you know why my personal blog is called NightHawk?

August 25th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

It has nothing to do with my sleeping habits which fortunately are excellent. It is in fact a reference to a Second World War night intruder ace whom the media dubbed ‘the Czech Night Hawk’. He was Flight Lieutenant Karel Kuttelwascher who was my wife’s father and I wrote a biography of him which was […]

Posted in History, My life & thoughts | Comments (2)


What was the best ever romantic comedy?

August 24th, 2016 by Roger Darlington

I’ve recently watched a Channel Four documentary called “There’s Something About Romcoms” which reviewed some of the best romantic comedies of the last 30 years. The starting point for the programme was the 1989 movie “When Harry Met Sally …” I just loved this film and you can read my review of it here.

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (2)


I’m a granddad again and I couldn’t be prouder

August 23rd, 2016 by Roger Darlington

Regular visitors to NightHawk will be aware that I have a granddaughter called Catrin whom I used to see about once a week until a year ago when her parents relocated to Nairobi. She’s now five and a half. Well, at 9.30 pm local time last night, I became the proud grandfather of a second […]

Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (5)


15 of the funniest jokes from the Edinburgh Festival

August 23rd, 2016 by Roger Darlington

Like a laugh? Not going to the Edinburgh Festival? Never fear – thanks to the “Guardian” newspaper, we have a compilation of 15 of the funniest jokes right here.

Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)