Luke McKernan

Arnold Böcklin, ‘Die Toteninsel’, third version (1883), via Wikipedia There is a rocky islet with tall cliffs on either side, surrounded by unknown waters.

Cover of the programme of Bob Dylan’s 1978 UK concerts The first time I queued to buy a ticket for a Bob Dylan concert it took fifteen hours; the last time I did so it took fifteen seconds.

To lose one database is a misfortune; to lose four feels like a conspiracy.

The missing piece In Citizen Kane (USA 1941) there is a key sequence in which newspaper baron Charles Foster Kane (played by Orson Welles) and his would-be opera singer wife Susan (played by Dorothy Comingore) are alone in a vast room in Xanadu, Kane’s mo…

Dane John It’s time for another day in Canterbury.

Charles Urban (with silk hat on the desk) One of the few sage pieces of advice that I have been able to offer to others is, when giving a talk, to make sure you know how many words get spoken in a minute.

Staff of the National Film Archive c.1980, Don Swift top row, far left It is sad to hear of the recent death of Don Swift, former cataloguer at the National Film Archive, as the BFI National Archive was known in his time.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in Way Out West (1937) Scrolling through a social media channel, as one does when the mind is at its idlest, I saw a familiar film clip, posted with the intention of making us happy.

Blue globe thistles (Lullingstone world garden) I’m ending the year, as I traditionally do, with some of my favourite photographs from that year.

Normally at this time of year I would produce a series of blog posts on my cultural adventures over the past year, typically a post on favourite music, one on books, one on films, one on art exhibitions visited, and one on photographs I have taken over the