As I noted in this piece from last December, in my teenage years I often had front row seats for gigs at the Hammersmith Odeon. By the age of 15 I had moved on to smaller venues and venues without seating, from tiny pubs and clubs to places like the Lyceum and the Roundhouse. The… Continue reading Sharing a drink with Ozzy Osbourne
The word “mole” has been on my mind for a while. I have a large, dark mole on my back, about 4” (10cm) above my beltline. It gets very itchy. I first showed it to my GP in 1997 and every few years since then have had it checked out. Four different general practitioners have… Continue reading Word of the week: mole
Pop Master, the pop quiz that takes place every weekday on Ken Bruce’s BBC Radio 2 show at 10.30am, is the most listened-to slot on UK radio, apart from breakfast shows. Every Monday to Friday around 7.5 million people tune in, as I noted here, in my original Menu Item about Trivia. I catch up… Continue reading 100 Rounds of Pop Master
Over the years I have told many of the stories and memories that appear on this Blog over and over again. That’s one reason for posting them. If I have told the same story 20 times I might as well make a definitive record of it here, though that might not stop me from telling… Continue reading The best footballer I have ever seen
Conjunctivitis, also known as pinkeye, or pink eye, is an “inflammation of the conjunctiva”. The conjunctiva is “the mucous membrane that lines the exposed portion of the eyeball and inner surface of the eyelids”. Dictionary.com just told me this, in the definitions here and here. I am currently recovering from conjunctivitis, the second time in… Continue reading Word of the week: conjunctivitis
One of my favourite sights is rays of sunshine breaking through clouds. You see it surprisingly rarely, even though we have cloud and sunshine most days in the UK. The effect is copied in iconic buildings like St Peter’s Basilica in Rome and Grand Central Station New York. You can see beams of light work… Continue reading Rays of sunshine
How much does an apple weigh? How wide is a typical family car (not an SUV or a campervan)? How far is 100 metres, and how fast can you run it? These are the kind of things that children should know (or at least have an idea of) by a certain age, preferably around the… Continue reading Weights and Measures
The word exobrain has been playing on my mind for many years now. I wasn’t sure how many years until trying to work out where, exactly, I first came across it. I thought it was in this Oliver Burkeman piece in which he confesses that he is “obsessed with index cards”. He writes about many… Continue reading Word of the week: exobrain
Last week I wrote about home videos and time spent making digital copies of cherished recordings using our last working video player. While the VCR was set up I also took a look at some of the other old tapes that I’ve kept. In recent years I have recycled or thrown away thousands of videos.… Continue reading Robert Bresson, films on video, and pinball in the movies
Can you picture a guillotine? I’m talking here about the device used for executions, especially during the French Revolution: a tall wooden frame, a heavy block with a sharp, angled blade, dropped from a great height to behead the prisoner below, their neck secured in wooden stocks. On Saturday morning I caught about 20 minutes… Continue reading Word of the week: guillotine
The Compartments 