Articles
Game of Kings
Chess is much more than the idle and anti-social hobby of intellectuals. It teaches its players how best to play the great game of life.
In Praise of Difficulty
What has the cult of convenience made of modern man? A discussion on the importance of obstacles, impediments and challenges in life.
The New Conformity
We drive the same cars, we work the same jobs, we wear the same T-shirts, we hold the same opinions. A call to revolt against this age of bland uniformity.
The Tyranny of Potential
Living with one eye expectant on the future is a perfect recipe for unhappiness. What if we imagined potential not as some future goal but a rich, joyful life lived presently?
Musings from the Front 9
What if golf was more than an idle pursuit of the retired and well heeled? It is the game for all those who wish to live the examined life.
Philosophical Ridings
Motorcycling has a lot more to offer than empty thrill seeking or manly posturing. The motorcyclist is the quintessential expression of the freedom seeker and the risk taker.
Till Dinner do us Part
The dinner party must be revived. It’s here that we pause the noise of everyday life, and briefly glimpse the stuff that makes life worth living.
Manners Maketh Man
To be well mannered is an act of defiance against the self-obsessed, mean, ring-tone culture of today. Let us sail away from rudeness and towards a new era of propriety.
Modern Art and Man’s Search for Meaning
Modern art is the ultimate mirror of our times, and it is here we really see what is happening to man and society.
The Case for Fiction
Kick back against boxset bingeing and social media surfing, and pick up a novel. To enjoy fiction is to come to terms with yourself and the world in strikingly meaningful ways.
Take Courage
How relevant is courage in a Western world of plenty? Courage is the indispensable weapon on the war against fear. It is the great vaccine for apathetic lives lived without risk.
The Age of Narcissus
The odious arms of narcissism have spread to almost every aspect of today’s culture. Why is this a problem and how is it to be remedied?
Death on My Mind
Death: the Great Schism, the Great Insult, the Great Enemy. What can we gain from living with mortality in mind?
Banish the Manacles of Consumerism
Consumerism as modern man’s new secular idol. A discussion of its potent, and subversive, power in the West.
T. E. Lawrence: Hero for our Times
Heroes will always be relevant. Not because they’re perfect, but because they expand our sense of possibility.
On Beauty
Let beauty be the lens through which you see the world. Beauty is a potent antidote to suffering, and what truly makes life worth living.
Modern Architecture and the End of Civilisation
Just why is modern architecture so painfully dull? A call to arms for all those who want to be emotionally uplifted by our buildings.
In Postcards Veritas
Lessons from the lost art of sending a postcard. Forfeiting postcards is to forego an intimate, thoughtful gesture of friendship.
Analogue Not Digital
What lies behind the resurgence of vinyl, film photography and paper books? Analogue celebrates imperfect and tangible reality in ways that the digital cannot.
In Praise of Suits
The value of the suit in the age of ‘business casual’. Classic, timeless and classy, the suit is the outfit of choice of the independent man of respect.
The Revenge of The Pipe
If smoking has any future at all, it lies in moderate pipe smoking. Unlike cigarettes nicotine fuelled addiction, pipe smoking is a philosophy on life. One that puts a serene two fingers up to a world that’s lost its head.
On Hobbies
The simple joy of pursuing Hobbies. They turn man from passive consumer to independent creator; from idle lay about to creative prodigy.
On Antiques
Ray Bradbury said that, ‘life is trying things to see if they work’. Antiques are proven to have worked, they still do today.
The Furnace of Affliction
How can we find meaning through trial and tribulation? Better to be moulded and transformed by the flames of affliction, than to bury your head in the sand.
On Solitude
How might we turn solitude to our gain in this time of quarantine? Time alone in ones thoughts is not only profoundly healing, it is to be free and to live to yourself.
On Solitude and Creativity
A discussion of Orwell, Kafka, Nietzsche and Picasso, who utilised solitude to turn blank canvases and empty pages into painterly and literary masterpieces.
On Nature and Poetry
Though poetry ‘makes nothing happen’, it provides a much needed insight into the power of natural world. Nature can teach, discipline, console and inspire the human heart.