Of all the lines in all the movies that I watched with my father, this is probably the one that he repeated most often: “Get this boy a bib”. There were plenty of lines that he quoted from dozens of films (“The Godfather” series, those starring Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry, westerns like “The Magnificent… Continue reading “Get this boy a bib”
My 14 year old daughter suggested that we watch a film on Christmas Eve. Much of our TV viewing involves live sport, quiz shows and “Strictly Come Dancing”, and series like “Friends”, “Big Bang Theory” and “Modern Family” on Netflix, but over the years we have made an effort to watch films on Christmas Eve… Continue reading Word of the week: Casablanca
Last Sunday night Lewis Hamilton won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award for the second time, a deserved winner after his record-breaking season in Formula 1. The Sports Personality of the Year (or SPOTY, as I shall call it from now on) has been awarded annually since 1954, when athlete Christopher Chataway was the first winner. The first SPOTY… Continue reading SPOTY research
How is your knowledge of Irish geography? If you have never visited the island of Ireland it may be rather hazy. This earlier piece, prompted by the All-Ireland Hurling Final between Limerick and Waterford, reflects on how I got to know my way around the place, on childhood holidays and then as an adult. I have spent time in 23 of the… Continue reading More about Irish counties (“It’s a long way to Tipperary…”)
Yesterday, in the All-Ireland Hurling Final, Limerick beat Waterford comfortably to win their second title in three years. It was the first time in its history that the final has been played in December. It was also the first time that these two counties, from the province of Munster, had met in the final. Waterford last won… Continue reading Word of the week: Waterford
“Stuck at 2” has been a regular theme on this Blog, with articles and lists about the songs and artists that made it to #2 in the UK chart but didn’t make it to #1. There are links to all of these pieces here, on the Trivia Menu. In 2019 Mariah Carey made chart history… Continue reading Stuck at 2: Mariah Carey changes everything
Over the last week there has been much debate here in the UK about the meaning of the phrase “a substantial meal”. A second period of lockdown in England (during which most people seemed to go about their day-to-day business much as before) has been followed by a return to a system of “tiers” that… Continue reading Word of the week: substantial
Usually at this stage of the sporting season my attention is focussed on just one of the teams I favour: Leeds United, who have returned to the top division of English football after 16 seasons in lower divisions. The All-Ireland finals in Gaelic sports (hurling and Gaelic football) are usually in September. Even when there… Continue reading Kilkenny, Leeds, Dublin (2020)
The Compartments 