http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=James+Brooks Business Management James Brooks Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=710533&ca=Business+Management Any new owner of a small local business will quickly realise that there are many more things to worry about than simply providing the product or service for which the business exists. When you have sole responsibility for everything from product development, purchasing, sales, staff management and f... Business Management James Brooks Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=661733&ca=Business+Management Most small businesses succeed or fail on their abilities across a wide spectrum of skills, not just the product or service they specialise in providing. Unlike their larger counterparts, smaller businesses have to rely largely on their own in-house knowledge in many areas and for owner-operator comp... Culture James Brooks Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=1107242&ca=Culture Tweed. It’s impossible to say the word without perfect elocution and slightly raised eyebrows. It’s a material that instantly makes you think of days out shooting grouse, riding a horse, hacking away with a golf club (in the days before bad taste became de rigueur) or being worn by a nineteenth-cent... Culture James Brooks Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=1107266&ca=Culture Even someone who knows hardly anything about the 1940s will probably know that roughly half of it was taken up with the Second World War and that the other half was a time of austerity and continued rationing, but also a time of hope. The fashion of the time reflected both of these phenomena – mater... Recreation James Brooks Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=565016&ca=Recreation Why have your yacht delivered by crew? Surely it’s easier, quicker and more reliable to put her on a ship? Many new yacht owners will ask themselves exactly that question. Well here are some things to consider. When you talk to any experienced yacht delivery company and listen to the reasons they of... Medicines and Remedies James Brooks Sun, 07 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=933535&ca=Medicines+and+Remedies When we need cracks in our walls filled, we might call a plasterer or just nip to the DIY store and try it ourselves. But the outside-to-in approach wouldn’t work with the wrinkles and folds in our skin, for a multitude of potentially ghastly reasons. When we need a little filling in our skin, we ne... Culture James Brooks Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=893182&ca=Culture We’re all familiar with the narrative of denim, of how it became the clothing of choice of the workforce who made an industrialised nation of the USA in a couple of generations. We’re also familiar with the way denim jeans became an item of fashion, rebellion and rock’n’roll garb that has remained w... Culture James Brooks Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=893196&ca=Culture It’s a strange name, petticoat. If you knew no better (for example if you were brought up in a colony populated solely by males) you might even think it’s something worn on the top half of the body like other coats. But the word coat used to have a much more general meaning, namely clothing or cover... Food and Drinks James Brooks Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=849760&ca=Food+and+Drinks Coffee machines come in all shapes and sizes. From small stove-top devices like the classic Italian mocha pot to fully automated bean-to-cup machines that seem to be able to make any type of coffee-based drink at the touch of a button. Not so long ago the highest aspirations anyone in the UK had for... Culture James Brooks Mon, 30 May 2011 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=836679&ca=Culture Try and look at a picture of a Hawaiian shirt without the opening strains of "Surfin’ USA" twanging into your mind. Or maybe, depending on your mood, the image might throw up something mellower, "California Girls" or "God Only Knows". Yes, the Californians of the 60s and 70s sure knew how to pull of...