http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/?service=Rss http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-baying-for-blood-as-credit-punch-hits-1825986.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-baying-for-blood-as-credit-punch-hits-1825986.html ]]> <p>My birthday seems to come around every year. I never get a break. This week, I awoke to my 27th in so many years with some trepidation. There were rumours in the house of some "great" surprise present. I hate surprise presents. The later I get into my twenties, the more I realise that I need to control the choice of present as they more than often disappoint. I went downstairs for breakfast to find a huge parcel, the size of a person, standing in the living room. Had my wife finally cracked and kidnapped somebody for my delectation? I hoped she had chosen well. I ripped open the wrapping paper to find... a punching bag and a pair of boxing gloves. It was a superb present but, for some reason, the manufacturers had forgotten to put a photograph of Louis Walsh on it so I had to do a makeshift one from the newspaper.</p> Dom Joly Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-follow-the-luvvies-ndash-iraq-will-soon-be-hot-1825381.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-follow-the-luvvies-ndash-iraq-will-soon-be-hot-1825381.html <p>Back to Notting Hill to meet somebody for lunch. This is no longer the place I used to live in. Bits of Portobello Road look like they've been lifted straight off the set for Friends and never been updated. </p> Dom Joly Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-you-can-bet-everyone-else-is-a-winner-1821309.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-you-can-bet-everyone-else-is-a-winner-1821309.html ]]> <p>Living near Cheltenham as I do, there is never a shortage of invites to the races. I've been quite a few times and I'm only just starting to realise why it is not for me. It's not that I am an ignoramus of the sport – I even have a close relative who breeds racehorses. As a kid on expeditions deep into the Syrian Desert, we'd drive up the highest sand dune to try and get the BBC World Service coverage of the Grand National. </p> Dom Joly Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-one-snip-lots-of-smiles-ndash-and-a-big-cry-for-help-1820855.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-one-snip-lots-of-smiles-ndash-and-a-big-cry-for-help-1820855.html <p>It's only gone and happened again. I pop out for an evening in London and wham – the vet's snippers strike again. I meet Stacey for lunch at our beloved eaterie, Made By Bob in Cirencester. Lunch is friendly and happy – and then she hits me with the sucker punch.</p> Dom Joly Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-where-exactly-is-the-fun-in-a-funrun-1817322.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-where-exactly-is-the-fun-in-a-funrun-1817322.html ]]> <p>I was getting on to a plane from Heathrow bound for Milan and it seemed to be packed with very gaunt, tired-looking Italian women in tracksuits. For a while I couldn't work it out. Was this the return leg of a particularly strenuous weekend Anglo-Italian yoga break in the Lake District? Maybe it was just an away-day flight taking members of the "very thin and ill-looking Italian club" for a trip around London. I was very curious so I did my usual and eavesdropped. </p> Dom Joly Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-one-fivecourse-dinner-and-im-running-on-empty-1816840.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-one-fivecourse-dinner-and-im-running-on-empty-1816840.html <p>To Milan, for a curious challenge in which I attempt to drive a Volvo all the way back to Marlow on a single tank of diesel. It is all very Top Gear, on a far smaller budget – just me, the comedian Rufus Hound and a South African cameraman who has never been to Europe before. There was a little pre-chat from some technical boffin who went on about torque and revs and stuff that I'm not much interested in. "How fast can we go and still potentially make it?" I asked him. "If you keep it at a steady 70 you should be all right," was his reply. This came as a relief, as I'd had a sneaking suspicion that it was going to have to be something like 42mph. </p> Dom Joly Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-faster-higher-longer-total-olympics-1813244.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-faster-higher-longer-total-olympics-1813244.html ]]> <p>It just goes to show that you should never judge a book by the cover. There was I thinking that Andre Agassi was an uberdull, born-again Christian tennis player and that his book would be the very same. Then I find out that he's of Iranian/Assyrian (whatever that might be) descent, gives large donations to the Democratic Party and that his middle name is Kirk... this changed everything. </p> Dom Joly Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-gardening-and-yoga-ndash-the-grave-is-surely-looming-1812763.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-gardening-and-yoga-ndash-the-grave-is-surely-looming-1812763.html <p>Why is it that when you get older you have to start doing all the stupid things that you used to laugh at when you were younger? I've lost count of the things that I swore I'd never do that now form part of my daily routine. I now make weird disapproving noises to myself whenever I spot a chavvy-looking youth wandering past me on the pavement. When said youth turns back towards me and sticks a horrid little knife up to my face I find myself meekly handing over whatever gadget I've just bought. Buzzing from the adrenalin of this experience I drive home at over 30 miles an hour and decide to do some gardening to clear my head. </p> Dom Joly Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-to-be-precise-this-is-legalised-joyriding-1809478.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-to-be-precise-this-is-legalised-joyriding-1809478.html ]]> <p>I was in Cardiff for the weekend to do some filming around the World Rally Championship. Now, if I'm honest, before I went I knew very little about the world of rally. But now... well... I'm a veritable font of information. </p> Dom Joly Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000