2008 has marked the 30th anniversary of the publication of Edward Said's Orientalism, an historic critique of academic notions of Orient and Occident, and what it means to be Eastern or Western.

I’ve always been rubbish at acting. Not that I’ve ever really tried, but Year 8 drama lessons were enough for me to know it wasn’t my strong point.

Money, money, money. Oh how I miss you.

No one in their right mind would deny that while at university, you’re likely to be bored out of your mind – not once, but dozens of times - by people who have spent the previous few months findin

In a speech to the Hansard society last week, Hazel Blears took the opportunity to lecture the audience about the source of what she termed a "dangerous corrosion in our political culture, on a scale much more profound than previous ages". What was she referring to? The role of billionaire donors in politics? The lack of real choice offered to voters today? Her own party's erosion of civil liberties?

Of course not.

Welcome to The Shirk, a new column dedicated to the the trivial, the frivolous, and the insignificant.