Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year 2014
"Well written, funny and wistful" - Paul Linford; "He is indeed the Lib Dem blogfather" - Stephen Tall
"Jonathan Calder holds his end up well in the competitive world of the blogosphere" - New Statesman
"A prominent Liberal Democrat blogger" - BBC Radio 4 Today; "One of my favourite blogs" - Stumbling
and Mumbling; "Charming and younger than I expected" - Wartime Housewife
Friday, August 28, 2026
Sky Sports faces down Pakistan authorities over Michael Atherton's interview with Imran Khan's sons
Sunday, June 01, 2025
Sachal Studios: Take Five
I heard this on Radio 6 during the week.
An old NPR article tells the story of Sachal Studios. Lahore, where its players come from, once had a thriving film industry - Lollywood - and many musicians made a good living from it.
Then, amid a period of religious conservatism, the film studios closed down, leaving the musicians without any work.
But they found a saviour:
Izzat Majeed made his money overseas, in finance. But he was born in Lahore in 1950, remembers Lollywood's heyday and greatly admires its musicians.
"It was a brotherhood of great musicians," Majeed says. "I call them great because they are great and they lost it. They lost the avenue. They lost the money. They lost the creativity."
Majeed decided to rekindle that creativity by building a new studio complex in Lahore - and reuniting these men to form the Sachal Studios Orchestra.