Word of the week

Word of the week: Fiacre

Tomorrow, 30 August, is the Feast of St Fiacre, a 7th century Irish saint. I am drafting these words in a hotel room in Kilkenny, before we relocate to Dublin for the next part of our Irish holiday. Fiacre is celebrated here this time of year at a place known as St Fiacre’s Well, a… Continue reading Word of the week: Fiacre

Home life · In the news · On the box

“Contains some outdated humour”

As a family we have started to watch “3rd Rock from the Sun” on More4, Channel 4’s free streaming service. It calls itself “the world’s biggest free streaming service”. I caught most episodes of this US sitcom when they were first broadcast, from 1996 onwards, and again on one of the comedy channels from around… Continue reading “Contains some outdated humour”

Lyrics · Memories · Notes from West London · On my radio

“Live my days, instead of counting my years”

Earlier this month, 1966 was one of the featured years on an edition of BBC Radio 2’s “Pick of the Pops”. I’ll be specific: it was on Saturday 6 August, and the broadcast is available, here, until 6 September 2022. It’s well worth a listen. There are many highlights, including #1s by Small Faces (“All… Continue reading “Live my days, instead of counting my years”

Home life · Notes from West London · Trivia

“The family that quizzes together …”

You may have heard the old expression, “The family that prays together stays together”. I had never heard of it when I came across this alternative take, the tagline to Roger Corman’s 1970 movie “Bloody Mama”: “The family that slays together stays together”. It was the kind of low-budget cult classic that played regularly at… Continue reading “The family that quizzes together …”