Simon Barnes is the multi-award-winning chief sportswriter at The Times and an author of 15 books including The Meaning of Sport en-uk Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:37:29 GMT Copyright 2007 Times Newspapers Ltd. custserv@timesonline.co.uk http://www.timesonline.co.uk Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:17:53 GMT Newspapers 144 21 http://www.timesonline.co.uk http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,116979,00.gif Simon Barnes Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT 2009-07-10T09:26:33Z This column is normally in favour of keeping birds alive, but just for a change, let’s celebrate killing them. The house crow has just been eradicated from the Socotra archipelago in Yemen — hurrah! No more crows; all gone, defunct, wiped out. Hurray for all those dead birds! Simon Barnes Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT 2009-07-03T07:54:04Z Two or three months ago, as regular readers of this space will remember, I was out in the jungles of India saving the elephants with the World Land Trust. And at the end, I was having a beer with Vivek Menon, CEO of the Wildlife Trust of India, and a great elephant man. Simon Barnes Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:00:40 GMT 2009-06-26T09:26:34Z My body is in London SW19, a-covering the tennis for this newspaper, but my heart’s in the Highlands a-chasing the deer. In the gaps between matches and writing, I have found myself cornering my Scottish colleagues and telling them loudly how wonderful their country is. I get a lot of agreement. Simon Barnes Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT 2009-06-26T05:49:45Z There really is nothing quite like the astonished joy that you experience — that no human being can help experiencing — at the sight of a dolphin. To feel that piercing thrill at a merry party of dolphins is an ineluctable aspect of the human condition. Simon Barnes Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:00:47 GMT 2009-06-19T08:11:32Z The sky is not just the space above our heads. It’s home. If not for us, then for many. In the warmer months, the sky above this country is alive: a staggering and complex community of beings. For the forces of life, the sky is just one more opportunity, and when life sees an opportunity, life doesn’t hang about.