20 years ago today Diana Princess of Wales died, after a car-crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris. Dodi Fayed, her boyfriend at the time, and Henri Paul, the driver of the limousine they were travelling in, pursued by photographers, also died. You probably knew that already. The newspapers and TV schedules have… Continue reading The night Diana died
In two earlier pieces this month I have mentioned members of my family remembering things differently from how I remember them. My brother has no memory of watching the 1987 movie “Black Widow”, which starred Debra Winger and Theresa Russell and featured the line “I can’t believe you’re buying this”. My father put down the… Continue reading Pepsi, Coke and faulty memories
33 years ago this week, back in 1984, “Careless Whisper” by George Michael was #1 in the UK Charts. The chart featured in Paul Gambaccini’s “Pick of the Pops” on BBC Radio 2 last Saturday. You probably know the song already. It contains the lines, “I’m never gonna dance again / Guilty feet have got… Continue reading Guilty Feet
Does anyone remember a 1987 film called “Black Widow”? It starred Debra Winger and Theresa Russell and was directed by Bob Rafelson, as you can see here on this IMDB page. There’s certainly one person who saw it back then and has no memory of it: my brother. We were discussing it earlier this month… Continue reading “I can’t believe you’re buying this”
My cousin Eamonn is a great joke-teller. He also knows the words to hundreds of songs. My brother shares these traits. As I have noted more than once, starting with this piece, there seems to be a link between people’s ability to tell jokes and their ability to remember the lyrics to songs. Many years… Continue reading A numerical joke, and its relevance here
Is “prancer” a word? It sounds like a word, meaning “one who prances”, but it’s not recognized by any of the three word processing Apps I use most days: Word 2011 for the Mac, Word 2010 for Windows on my netbook or Word 2016 on my Windows Phone. The first two Apps automatically correct the… Continue reading Word of the week: prancer
Last night my son and I returned to the UK from our holiday in Spain. We landed at Southend Airport, or “London Southend Airport” as it is called. Like any airport within an hour of one of the capital’s mainline stations it has added the word London to its name. It took us an hour… Continue reading Holiday notes: London Southend Airport
On Boxing Day last year (or St Stephen’s Day, the name more commonly used in Ireland) my brother, my 12-year-old son and I undertook a pub crawl in our corner of West London. Friends joined us for parts of our journey and the whole afternoon was described in this piece from the time. The event… Continue reading Holiday notes: a Spanish pub crawl, of sorts
Somebody I know has a most irritating habit. He pretends to mishear things for comic effect. I say “comic effect” but the things he says are never funny. That’s why it’s an irritating habit. Here’s an example. We’re watching a football match on TV and an 18 year old comes on as a substitute. I… Continue reading “A Gerbil?”
The derivation of the word “quiz” is uncertain. The Oxford Dictionaries definition notes that it is “sometimes said to have been invented by a Dublin theatre proprietor who, having made a bet that a nonsense word could be made known within 48 hours throughout the city, and that the public would give it a meaning,… Continue reading Word of the week: quiz
The Compartments 