lintonchiswick.org

Kevin Spacey wants what screenwriters want...

... this. More here.

Knock Chinese badminton, and get censored

Allowing surfers free and unfettered access to stories about Britain's declining economy, the extravagance of our expenses-happy politicians and our luxury car brand fire sales is one thing; the real test will come when the BBC dares question the ethics of Chinese badminton.

For The First Post, here.

A Dutch photographer on Europe, fresh food and real riches

Blogger Jörg Colberg interviews Dutch photographer Bert Teunissen and finds him in robust mood. The interview's interesting, touching on European cultural identity and definitions of poverty. There are photographs, too.

Israel "Cachoa" Lopez dies

Sad news for fans of Latin music.

On street photography, and street suspicion

For the Times, I talked to British street photographer Matt Stuart, curator Sophie Howarth and American street photography giant Jeff Mermelstein, about a campaign - by the Metropolitan Police - to point the finger of suspicion at people, outside, with cameras.

Now, a new poster campaign by the Metropolitan Police is inviting Londoners to call a hotline if they don't like the look of a photographer. “Thousands of people take photos every day,” runs the text. “What if one of them seems odd?” The poster states that terrorists use cameras for surveillance. Life with a camera might be about to turn tougher.

Read the story (and look at the great slideshow) here.

On John Coltrane and "spiritual jazz"

Nice timing. Jazz on 3 (BBC Radio 3, tonight, 23.30) will include my short feature about "spiritual jazz". The idea was inspired by a new compilation, the intention to define what we mean when we talk about jazz and a spiritual content. Not easy. But it brought up some interesting concepts, and provided me with the opportunity to chat with saxophonists Christophe de Bezenac and Paul Dunmall, and (one of my favourite drummers) Franklin Kiermyer. More here. I'll post a Listen Again link when it's available.

[UPDATE - here's a link to the show, available until Friday March 28]

MindMentor, the Internet psychbot

For The First Post.

On the Catch-22 that is the property market

Why are we so bad at this?

How have we managed to manoeuvre ourselves into an economic Catch-22, in which the giant price-drop necessary to guarantee affordable homes for our children will mean our own economic ruin when we reach pension age?

For Citywire, here.