Joe Biden is the 46th President of the United States. I have waited until now, two days after his inauguration, to write these words although he was declared the winner of the US Presidential Election by most media organizations over two months ago. He is the sixth Democrat to hold the office of President in my lifetime. There have also been six Republican Presidents in that time. … Continue reading Presidential calculations: dates and ages
The town of Crawley, in West Sussex, has been in the news over the last few days. Their local football club, Crawley Town FC, hosted Leeds United in the FA Cup Third Round yesterday and won comfortably, 3-0. Leeds are three divisions and 62 league places above yesterday’s opponents, but it didn’t look that way,… Continue reading Word of the week: Crawley
Here’s a conversational game that I have been playing since I was a teenager. Maybe you do something similar. You ask a question, the answer you receive sounds like it might be an insult, and you act offended and say, “Alright, I was only asking …” For example, you might be struggling to remember the… Continue reading “Alright, I was only asking …”
Following on from our Christmas Eve viewing (“Casablanca”) we settled down on New Year’s Eve to watch another film that won the Oscar for Best Picture: “Rocky”. My wife is a big fan of the “Rocky” movies but the only ones we had watched together were 21st century additions to the franchise, “Rocky Balboa” and… Continue reading Word of the week: Rocky
Happy New Year to you. Last month, in this piece, I wrote about Mariah Carey rewriting UK chart history when her seasonal hit “All I Want For Christmas Is You” reached #1, 26 years after its original release. It had previously reached #2 on four separate occasions, a unique feat for any song. As noted… Continue reading Stuck at 2: now Wham! rewrite chart history
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
