3 d. ago Yes, I have just done a naked forward roll. But there was a good reason | Adrian Chiles

There I was, lying in bed and worrying I’d lost a basic life skill. Can you blame me for putting it to the test?When I was in the first year at middle school, in Miss Hale’s class, my parents returned from a parents’ evening looking disappointed. My nine-year-old self picked up on this. It wasn’t my schoolwork: that was OK. It was that the teacher had revealed that in PE I was the only one in the class who couldn’t do a forward roll.This was true. It wasn’t that I was physically incapable – I was in the school football team and, without wishing to boast, probably the ninth-quickest runner. I just had this mental block. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The idea of the world momentarily going upside down was too much for me. The prospect of such disorientation was unbearable. If only Miss Hale had taken me to one side and said: “Look, you’re overthinking this – and, believe you me, if you let it, overthinking will blight your life.” But she didn’t, because teachers didn’t talk like t...

Events

4 d. ago What do young people really think about us oldies? I asked a few | Adrian Chiles

Why is the moral panic only ever about younger generations? It’s time we heard what confuses or worries them about usEvery generation looks at the next generation, and the one after that, with bafflement and concern. There’s probably a name for this phenomenon. That’s not to say we (the olds) aren’t right to be more worried than ever about what they (the young) are up to. There’s a lot for us to be worried about and confused about in equal measure. The TV drama Adolescence got at this. Even having had its emojis and red pills – and emojis of red pills – patiently explained to me, I remain concerned and confused. Mainly confused. It’s all decidedly mysterious – and not in a good, exciting way.This intergenerational bewilderment seems only to work in one direction: down, rather than up. We flail around trying to make sense of what’s going on with the young. If you are young, this is relevant to you, too, because you will soon be feeling like this about those coming up behind you. What...

Events

1 week ago I trust Which? to help me choose a washing machine. But I have my own views on kitchen roll and toilet paper | Adrian Chiles

I’m in awe of the organisation’s rigorous approach to product testing. That doesn’t mean I need it for everythingI don’t buy much of any value without consulting Which?. I choose to believe that Which? – wow, that question mark is annoying when you’re trying to write about Which? – is different. I choose to believe that Which? has the resources to test things properly and honestly. Yes, you can click through to places where you can buy the recommended item, but to that I turn a blind eye. I have to. Having spent so much on Which?’s say-so, I can’t face the possibility that I’ve been too trusting.I’ve only recently discovered that it’s not just big, pricey things, such as washing machines and headphones, that Which? spends its time assessing. I recently chanced upon its review of kitchen rolls. Before I knew what I was doing, I’d clicked through to buy several rolls of the Costco Kirkland Signature kitchen roll towel, which seems like too many words for something so mundane. I must c...

Politics

1 week ago I found the world’s worst bread recipe – and I love it | Adrian Chiles

It tastes a bit weird, but it’s 288 times quicker to make than a loaf of sourdoughI don’t like offering advice unless it’s in a field in which I consider myself an expert, and there are precious few of them. I can give you comprehensive guidance on where to park, eat and drink near West Brom’s ground – Stoney Lane and the Soho Tavern, if you’re interested. I’m also good on choosing urinals for domestic use – get one with a lid. But other than that, in the expertise department I’m a bit short. So I try to stay in my lane, because there will always be plenty of people who know much more than me about the matter at hand.Recipes are a good example. The Guardian alone has dozens of great cookery writers, so how dare I muster the temerity to throw a little something of my own in the pot? The temptation is great, as I forever yearn to be asked how I’ve made something. If I cook something that seems to be going down well, I ache for my victim to ask if I would mind sharing the recipe. Shoul...

Politics

2 w. ago BBC star has meltdown over scatter cushions declaring he wants to 'torch them all'

Adrian Chiles highlights how Brits are split on extra pillows dumped on beds as a decorative, rather than practical, feature that have become increasingly trendy in recent years

Politics

2 w. ago Scatter cushions and bedspreads – can someone explain to me what they’re for? | Adrian Chiles

Every night I hurl them off the bed. Every morning they are replaced. Off, on, off, on, for ever. Serving no purpose whatsoever. Scatter cushions and bedspreads. Why? What for? If it wasn’t for the waste and environmental impact, I’d make a huge pile and torch them all. You’d see the fire from the moon. Alternatively, pick them apart and make something useful out of them. I’d collect them by means of a national scatter cushion and bedspread amnesty. Post them to a facility and leave the rest to me.Let’s take bedspreads first. Big, heavy, useless. Especially the one on the bed at my mum’s house. I can’t always summon the strength to drag it off the bed and leave it in a heap on the floor. If I do, along with leaving no floor space for anything else, this earns me a fierce bollocking. I am commanded to heave it out of the bedroom and hang it on the bannister, which creaks beneath its formidable weight. Then, when my stay is over, I have to wrangle the bedspread back on to the bed, as ...

Politics

2 w. ago Neighbours actor Ian Smith ‘defying the odds’ after terminal cancer diagnosis

He previously revealed that he has a rare form of lung cancer,

Culture

3 w. ago Daybreak is a magical time in a big city, no matter how tired you are | Adrian Chiles

London, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham – I have favourite early-morning memories from each of themI’ve had enough of city living. London has been my home on and off since I came to university in 1986. I’m tired of it. But there’s one bit I still love. That’s when I find myself right bang in the middle of town early in the morning. I feel the same way about all the other cities in which I ply my trade: Birmingham, Cardiff and Manchester, mainly. At about 6am, all cities have a similar character.I write this in a cafe on Old Compton Street in Soho, in central London, at 6.30am. Here more than anywhere, it feels as though you’re in the eye of a storm. There aren’t many people about because the people, millions of them, are all jammed up on the roads and crammed on to public transport, getting in each other’s way, trying to get here. So for another hour or so we have it to ourselves. “We” being the early starters and a few late finishers. Continue reading...

Politics