Tired traditions

Aaaaaaaargh – sprouts! Now I love Christmas as much as the next hyper-active 10-year-old but just keep me away from those small, sour, green beasts of doom. Then there is turkey, that most tasteless of meat, and all the thoughtless, tacky, useless presents (admittedly mainly from me).

Ugly is as ugly looks?

My walk to work takes me through Elephant & Castle in south London – it’s lively but it certainly isn’t pretty… as you can see from this photo.

On Saturday’s World Today we’ll be talking about the “uglification” of our towns and cities… new housing developments are quick and cheap to build… but critics say they also LOOK cheap and nasty!

Living it up

Do you love where you live?  Some like their home towns spotless, with neat tree-lined streets, sophisticated restaurants and orderly traffic; others can’t bear the tedium of tidiness and crave a little madness in their lives.

A list of the best cities in the world to live in is about to be published by Monocle magazine.

I’ve seen the list, and without giving the game away — the results are to be announced on Sunday — I reckon they’re a bit tame. But then my choice in urban environments has always been a little unusual.

The Sound of Silence

Mike here – I edit The World Today at weekends and this is my first time on the blog – hello! Have a look at this great article by novelist Susan Hill about silence. She thinks we’re afraid of it. Are you?