Hit & Run

The Rev William A. Spooner, warden of New College

Hit & Run: Best job in the world?

In the "My Oxford" column of the new Oxford Today magazine, Ian Hislop is asked if he'd like to be a student again. "Oh yes," he replies, "and I've a major fantasy that, somewhere, there [is] a college so desperate that they will ask me to be Master." As job applications go, this has a touchingly scattergun quality: any college will do, as long as I get to be Master. It's a fantasy shared by many: a job combining the roles of academic, diplomat, upholder of tradition, guardian of protocol, sports cheerleader, party-giver, gourmand, gossip, wine-tippler and amateur fundraiser.

Inside Hit & Run

Hit & Run: Snotty nose, cashmere leggings

Wednesday, 4 November 2009

They look good on the uber-trendy child models in the ad campaign, and you know they'd look good on your offspring, too.

Team Obama - Too much of a good thing?

Tuesday, 3 November 2009

In case you didn't find time between your roast and the X Factor results show to read the 7,500-word dissection of the Obamas' marriage in The New York Times Magazine, one of the more revealing passages tells how the First Couple wasn't always so appealing.

Hit & Run: Find a branch near you

Wednesday, 28 October 2009

The Met Office has declared that this autumn is officially an Indian summer, predicting balmy temperatures of 21C in the South-east and Midlands tomorrow. What better way to celebrate the arrival of "summer" – and save some money during half-term – than with some leaf peeping?

Hit & Run: A paw carbon rating

Tuesday, 27 October 2009

Forget scratched furniture and suspicious patches on the living room carpet – your pet suddenly has a lot to answer for: the planet's environmental future no less.

Hit & Run: A Marr, superstar?

Thursday, 22 October 2009

According to the advertisements for his latest book, The Making of Modern Britain, Andrew Marr is "Britain's favourite broadcaster". Marr may indeed be the favourite broadcaster of Britain's media and middle classes, though messrs Paxman, Dimbleby or Davies – Evan, not Alan – might have something to say about it. Surely, however, the BBC's former political editor can't lay serious claim to the title of most popular man on the box when the two big programmes he presents go out at 9am on a Sunday (The Andrew Marr Show, BBC1), when nobody but the cabinet minister being interviewed and a couple of their aides is even awake; and 9am on a Monday (Start the Week, Radio 4), when most of us are out of earshot on a tube somewhere, glazedly wondering where the weekend went.

Hit & Run: When divas join forces

Wednesday, 21 October 2009

Not since Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson teamed up for "I Know Him So Well" has the diva community been so excited. The news that Beyonc� and Lady Gaga are teaming up on a secret project will no doubt have their respective fans squirming in their chairs – with anticipation, that is, not because their bodysuits are chafing. Beyonc�, credited with one of the catchiest songs and most-copied dance routines of the past year with her hit "Single Ladies", has a repertoire that extends across soul, gospel, R'n'B and disco, not to mention crunk. Gaga, meanwhile, has a great wardrobe team and a vocoder.

Hit & Run: A model makeover?

Thursday, 15 October 2009

If you need a photo taking, where do you go? Mario Testino is busy, passport booths make everyone look like a government anti-crack campaign, and Snappy Snaps can be a bit harsh. My friend went recently, and when she suggested that the results weren’t exactly Holbeinesque, the ‘artiste’ responsible replied sullenly that “the camera never lies”. Then there’s the average makeover studio, where subjects submit to transvestite make-up and a tight perm before being photographed sitting backwards on a chair.