Recently I finished reading Susan Hill’s “Howards End is on the landing”, her memoir about “a year-long voyage through her books, in order to get to know her own collection again”. I started it in April 2017, and quoted from it at the time in this piece about typefaces, serifs and readability. I put the… Continue reading FAC OR REJECT
Before you read on, be aware that this piece contains many rude words, or rather the same curse word repeated many times in different forms. If you are sensitive to such things, or are under 13, please stop reading now. If not, continue to the next paragraph, after these photos of the CD cover and… Continue reading Album of the week: #3 “Norman … Rockwell!” (Lana del Rey) [contains rude words]
Here’s a picture of Connector, a childhood toy that we were given back in the 1960s. As I recall, it was a joint present for my brother and me. Our birthdays are two days apart, so bigger gifts like this were usually given jointly rather than to one or other of us. As the box… Continue reading Word of the week: Connector
For over two months now, since mid-December, a pattern has emerged in the Championship, the second tier of English football. In general, the team starting the weekend in third place has been unable to win. There have been two exceptions to this, but the trend has been pronounced enough for commentators to call it a… Continue reading The curse of third place
Today is a day full of zero’s and two’s: 20-02-2020. At 8:02pm tonight the date and time will read 20:20 20-02-2020. 18 years ago today we had the same collection of digits in a different order, and at 8:02pm the date and time read 20:02 20-02-2002. The significance of this, and we were aware of… Continue reading It was 18 years ago today (20:02 20-02-2002)
As mentioned in this piece last week I have decided to follow the example of the new Master of Jesus College Cambridge and select an Album of the Week. I started with “Pin-Ups” by David Bowie and have followed it with “entertainment!” by Gang of Four. It was their first album, released on EMI here… Continue reading Album of the week: #2 “entertainment!” (Gang of Four)
This time last year we were regular viewers of the US sitcom “Friends”, 25 years after it was first broadcast. I wrote about it from time to time, first of all here, and later in pieces like this one about the word “Hibachi”. While we were working through all 10 series, I noticed that many… Continue reading The 10 Oscar-winning “Friends” actors
Earlier this month, in this piece, I mentioned Sonita Alleyne, the new Master of Jesus College Cambridge. She had appeared on BBC Radio 4’s “Desert Island Discs” and, as that earlier piece noted, she is the first head of an Oxbridge college (as far as I know) who was born after me. Her musical choices… Continue reading Album of the week: #1 “Pin-ups” (David Bowie)
Here are the questions and answers for the current series of ITV quiz show “Tenable”, episodes broadcast between Monday 10 and Friday 14 February 2020, Series 4 Episodes 56-60 (S4Ep56, S4Ep57 and so on). The format here is the same as in earlier pieces such as this one from last week: a list of the… Continue reading “Tenable” questions, week ending 14 February 2020 (Series 4, Episodes 56-60)
Later tonight in Los Angeles the latest set of Academy Award winners will be announced. It will be the early hours of Monday morning here in the UK, and I will be asleep. The films that win over the next few hours were all released in 2019. As I wrote in this piece two years… Continue reading Up to date with Oscar winners, for a few more hours at least
The Compartments 