It can be difficult keeping your career on track when you move abroad. Case in point: Mark Walker. Back in Britain, he worked as a director on well-known TV series like Holby City and The Bill. Now he reviews films for InOut. While fellow reviewer, Arun Sharma is a well-respected documentarist.
But while their careers behind the camera are still very much ongoing, spare a thought for Jim Lind, the previewer of the Reptile and Terrarium Fair. Back in Britain, he was a leading authority on the subject – The Sun newspaper once even called him a “snake expert”. Now he delivers (or should that be de-slivers) our newspaper.
The problem is that Denmark, unlike many other European countries, actually has restrictions on looking after venomous and large snakes – so there’s little demand for Lind’s expertise (learn more at www.petsnakes.co.uk), even if is only to get a sound-bite when something’s gone horribly wrong.
Lind has some real horror stories about pet-owners in Britain. Like the woman in Glasgow he mentions in his preview, who kept a Burmese python that ended up eating her dog. According to Lind, it transpired the woman was taking the snake for ‘crawlies’. She’d take it to a park and set it loose on a tree for half an hour, and then call it when it was time for its tea – a Korean takeaway if it was lucky. “Snakes don’t have ears,” Lind says sagely.
Which is handy to know if you’re screaming your last ever breath – almost as good as the tips in this week’s Select Shopping, which tackles the world of jumpers.
Like the way socks have their own Bermuda Triangle, it’s always irritated me how in autumn I can feel too warm in my jumper, only to remove it and find that I am too cold, with no other alternatives available. No wonder the Americans call them sweaters.
Elsewhere this week, MIX previews the best movies at this year’s LGBT film festival, and Books Corner looks at this year’s shortlist for the Booker Prize.
At least authorship is one career that shouldn’t be too affected by moving to Denmark, unless of course you specialise in writing about idiots who keep dangerous snakes.
