Archive for October, 2017


An up-date of the 71 countries that I have visited

October 7th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

I am half English and half Italian, so it might seem inevitable that I love travelling to other countries and meeting people from other cultures. In fact, I grew up in a working class, single-parent household where overseas trips were rarely on the agenda. My Italian mother took us – by train – to her […]

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My congratulations to Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro

October 6th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

I am delighted to hear of the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to English writer Kazuo Ishiguro. I have enjoyed two of his works. “The Remains Of The Day” my review of the book here my review of the film here “Never Let Me Go” my review of the book here my review of the […]

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Nine reasons why coffee can benefit your health

October 5th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

I drink a lot of coffee so I was interested to see this analysis of the health benefits of the drink. Cheers, mate!

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A review of “The Experiment: Georgia’s Forgotten Revolution 1918-1921” by Eric Lee

October 4th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

So many events in history are said to be unknown or forgotten, or at least under-researched and/or under-appreciated, and for me at least this Georgian revolution was one of them. But no more, thanks to this well-researched and lucidly written book by Lee, an American now living in Britain who has wanted to write this […]

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A review of the new movie “Kingsman: The Golden Circle”

October 3rd, 2017 by Roger Darlington

The first outing for Kingsman, “The Secret Service” in 2015, was so successful that two years later it’s back, even more star-stunned and even more outrageous but just as action-packed and entertainingly over-the-top. Taron Egerton as Eggsy Unwin is growing into the role and Colin Firth and Mark Strong are back (even though the former’s […]

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Do some religions have a higher birth rate than others — and how does this affect global population growth?

October 2nd, 2017 by Roger Darlington

This TED lecture is fascinating and only 13 minutes:

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A review of the recent film “Patriots Day”

October 1st, 2017 by Roger Darlington

The day is 15 April 2013; the place is Boston; the occasion is the annual marathon. As we all know, two radicalised Chechen immigrants, Dzhokhar (Alex Wolff) and Tamerlan Tsarnaev (Themo Melikidze), set off two bombs which killed three people and injured several hundred others, including 16 who lost limbs. This film is a very […]

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