The Accidental Diplomat: An Ordinary Bloke With An Extraordinary Life
I don’t read as much non-fiction as I should. After all, as we are constantly reminded, the truth is often much stranger than it’s made up counterpart and therefore, in theory at least, much more interesting. This is certainly true of Paul Knott’s “The Accidental Diplomat”, part travelogue part memoir of his career in the Foreign Office, spanning twenty years and seven countries with an attendant cast of gun toting pensioners, drunken MP’s, KGB spies and Eastern European Michael Jackson Tribute Acts.
The Beginner’s Guide To Taking Drugs At Football
Skinning up is certainly one way of making a terrible 0-0 draw more interesting, but how does acid go down at the match?
Taking Prisoners’ Books Away Denies Them The Opportunity To Rehabilitate
The government’s decision to stop prisoners receiving books is a predictably short-sighted and counter-productive one, but what do they care when it’s within their interests for prisoners to return to jail?
All’s Fair In Hull And War: Childhood Memories Of Northern Waltzers
Hull has been awarded the Capital of Culture for 2017. Here’s one very big reason to god visit, the magical Hull Fair…
Me, Bukowski And The Indignity Of Work
As a child, the adult world of work loomed heavily on the horizon. Luckily I found Charles Bukowski to read when I got home from the days hawking spuds and selling puppets…
Here Comes Daddy Reggae
I am a firm believer that your children’s musical tastes should not be left to chance. When it comes to moulding the pop kids of today into the up-standing rock n roll citizens of tomorrow, the responsible parent’s watchwords should be education, education, education.
Superscreen: The Best Radio Commercial Ever
When the gaffer of Superscreen was unhappy with a radio jingle script, he wrote it himself and locked the staff in the office until midnight…
GERREMONSIDE! When Rugby League Was The King Of Sports
We look back at a time when Rugby League was king. A very different game played by a very different breed of player. Not men who followed macrobiotic diets or dabbed on moisturiser, these were men who supped pints and smoked tabs. Welcome to real rugby.
The Gargoyles Eddie Smith On Poetry, Ambition And The AA
Eddie Smith, Hull based Poet And frontman of The Gargoyles talks about his life and times to mark the release of his new album, ‘On The Beach’.
Russ Litten: 50 Songs I Love
The Fall, Toots & Maytals, Shack, The Supremes and more feature in this barnstorming list of floor fillers and head shrinkers…
Swear Down: One Murder, Two Confessions - Exclusive Extract
Check out this extract from my second novel and win one of five copies while you’re at it…
Sleep Paralysis: I Wouldn’t Wish It On My Worst Enemy
Ever had sleep paralysis? Imagine awaking to a strong sense of a ‘presence’, pressure on your chest, intense fear and hallucinations, but being incapable of moving a muscle. I’ve had two unhealthy doses and just writing this is making me break out into a sweat.
The La’s: The Band I Had Waited All My Life To Hear
One Easter Bank Holiday Monday about twenty two years ago me and my pal were on the piss down Beverley Road after a horse we had backed had romped home at not inconsiderable odds.
The Last of the Hunters
He’d only intended to go for a piss. But now Jack Nelson was spread-eagled on the deck of the St Arcadius, smashed under the steering quadrant by a heavy wave of water that had crashed over the side, his barely shaved fifteen year old face inches away from being chewed off by grinding gears.
Mendicant Bookworks And The Rebirth Of The Short Story
How a small, US-based publisher is bucking the commercial trend, selling gritty masterpieces for 99 cents a pop.
RIP Bill Tarmey: An Ode To Jack Duckworth
He was Coronation Street’s finest loafer, a scallywag hell bent on evading work, snatching a crafty fag and forever hiding from Vera…
The Pen is Mightier Than the Guitar
“I can make it longer if you like the style
I can change it round and I wanna be a paperback writer”
How ‘Scream If You Want To Go Faster’ Made It From The Taxi To The Till
Scream If You Want To Go Faster, now included in Read Regional 2012, started life as a late night anecdote from a taxi driver in Hull…
Does The Devil Really Have All The Best Tunes?
Satan may have some top stars on his side such as Mick Jagger and Pete Doherty but the legions of ‘good’ in music aren’t quite as uncool as you might think. Step forward Reverend Al Green and Mr Van Morrison…
Straight Outta Crompton: The Wheeltappers And Shunters Social Club
The Wheel Tappers and Social Shunters club isn’t a real club, but, if it was, it would probably be the best club in the world.
Happy Mondays Reform: A Poetic Appreciation Of Shaun William Ryder
The Happy Mondays frontman may be chiefly known for the drugs and soundbites but his lyrics contained pure poetic genius on a par with the classics. Hallelujah for the Bard of Salford…
Jahna Ranks: Angel of the Seychelles
Like Van Morrison sharing a spliff with Candi Staton, Jahna Ranks brings achingly beautiful pop into the dancehall.
Blowback: Guns, Drugs And Contract Killers In Leeds 6
Set in and around Leeds’ petty criminal underclass, the tense and hectic “Blowback” is the latest novel by Sabotage Times’ scribe John Lake…
The Doors: The Seedier Side Of The Sixties Dream
Jim Morrison and The Doors produced genuinely thrilling rock ‘n’ roll lighting a fire under the happy clappy sixties Summer Of Love.
Little Roy And The Reggae Reinvention Of Nirvana
‘Battle For Seattle’ is the inspired album of Nirvana cover versions from veteran Jamaican recording artist, Little Roy. Here’s why it’s a must have.
Jack Kerouac: The World’s First Rock N’ Roll Star
Forget Elvis Presley, Jack Kerouac was the world’s first rock n roll star. Obsessed with fast cars, sexual abandon and wild music, he was a weaver of dreams and imagination, an inspiration for a generation.
The Surliness of the Short Distance Runner
I have recently taken to running round the park of a morning. Well, I say “running”, it’s probably more accurately described as staggering forwards like a dray horse that’s just been hit by a tranquilizer dart alternated with short bursts of good old fashioned walking.
Exclusive Extract: Scream If You Want To Go Faster
Hull Fair, October 2007. A city still drowning in the aftermath of summer floodwater prepares to wave farewell to Europe’s biggest travelling carnival. As the big wheel turns, 10 characters are brought together in a single weekend in the rain soaked city…
I Have A Crush On The Go! Team
Like being hit round the back of the head with a day-glo baton, The Go! Team have announced the imminent arrival of a new album “Rolling Blackouts” and I, for one, am dizzy with anticipation.
Football: A Soap Opera For Blokes
Our lass has always maintained football is a soap opera for blokes, and the last few weeks has only confirmed this. By the time Saturday came round I’d had a belly full of football, and that was before a ball had been kicked.
The Apprentice 2010: Week 2 Chucky Escapes the Axe
Glued to The Apprentice? We are. It’s quite difficult to get so many idiots in one room, well done to whoever cast it. This week the Exorcist era Linda Blair look-a-like loses control.
Between Froggit & Greengrass
Best known for gurning buffoon Selwyn Froggit and lovable oaf Greengrass, Bill Maynard struck gold as ‘The Gaffer’.
Seven Wonders of the World
The seven best Stevie Wonder songs - and there’s not a Paul McCartney duet in sight.