Giovanni Morelli on the importance of having a keen nose when tasting wine and why the world’s best wine tasters insure their noses for outrageous sums of money It is interesting to speculate on what makes one have an opinion or a taste. From the point of view of wine-tasting, we are bound by two [...]
Last time, I left you with the promise that I was going to reveal a little Scottish secret. I suppose I have to be true to my word and follow through – although part of me is saying that I should selfishly keep it to myself. But a promise is a promise. On my most [...]
Dr Patrick Rowan on a 19th-century doctor who is thought to have killed over 200 victims in all manner of grisly ways before hanging for his crimes, aged just 36. Dr Harold Shipman’s murders created widespread shock when they were discovered but, in Chicago in the 19th century, Dr H.H. Holmes was responsible for as [...]
Dr John Wallace looks at the background to the epic film Doctor Zhivago, which was adapted from the eponymous book about the surgeon and poet, written by banned Russian writer Boris Pasternak. Told in flashback by Alec Guinness, the intimate yet epic film Doctor Zhivago tells the story of surgeon-writer Yuri Zhivago, played by Omar [...]
Conor White takes a look at the current market situation and concludes that things might even get worse before we see sustainable recovery. It has been a very disappointing start to 2008 in financial markets and certainly a lot worse than we expected. The initial cause of our recent problems, what has been termed the [...]
In Bruges is an awful film, not in the way Armageddon or Independence Day were awful, but subtly awful, like the way it goes when you see a beautiful woman from a long way off, but when you meet her she is a homeless man begging for money. In other words, it’s not unwatchable; it’s [...]
Berna Cox finds her sea legs on a recent trip to Scotland and finds that a ‘little white lie’ can sometimes work for the greater good. My grandmother, bless her, was a great woman for sayings. She had one to fit every situation. But, what fascinated me was how these wise adages often contradicted each [...]
Mary Anne Kenny on the life of Victorian surgeon Dr James Barry who, for 46 years, hid the fact that he was actually the daughter of a Cork grocer. If the saying is true that ‘the best man for the job is a woman’, then perhaps Hillary Clinton might learn something from Margaret Ann Bulkley, [...]
John Wallace looks at the careers of Wicklow-based actor, Daniel Day-Lewis and his Irish father, the Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis One of the most dedicated actors of his generation, Daniel Day-Lewis totally immerses himself in his carefully-chosen film roles. He is difficult to satisfy artistically and he continues to confront the rules of Hollywood. De [...]
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