Martinis and the Romance of Outdoor Dining
She was waiting for me at the bar. Leather trousers. Long boots. Perfectly coiffed. Hairdressers and nail salons opened ...
The Super Model and the Flying Coffin
She was a woman of a certain age. Attractive, but with history. I poured her another martini and lit her cigarette. Meet ...
Merry Christmas – Carpe the Hell out of this Diem!
We’ve spend the best part of 2020 worrying about the health of our older relatives, the futures of our children, the wel ...
Christmas Cocktails 2020
There were many occasions to drink in 2020 - since there really was little else to do. Here are the cocktails I am mixi ...
Living Without Regrets
The enforced isolation of the last few months has been a time for taking stock. Our relationships, the nature of work, ...
It’s really not that bad
The youth was about 14 or 15. My age. He was running for his life. Naked, except for the torn remnants of a sarong held ...
My Life in Lockdowns
I was playing outside our home in Sri Lanka when the military Jeep roared up. There was a bullet hole in the windscreen ...
Coronavirus Diaries
A couple of chaps were driving around on a Sunday evening looking for toilet paper - they were planning on cornering the ...
Travel in the Age of Coronavirus
It was only a few weeks ago, but it seemed like we were living in a different age. My local grocery store had ample sto ...
Tales of Africa – Mermaids and Elephant Poo Gin
As regular readers know, I spend the month of January in South Africa escaping the worst of the northern hemisphere wint ...
Merry Christmas from Martini Mandate!
My Christmas story begins in a small town in Pennsylvania. A group of men gather at the local playhouse late on Christm ...
The Most Beautiful City in the World
Barely ten minutes after landing at Marco Polo airport in Venice, I was swinging my bag onto a wooden hulled speedboat p ...