How do you spell words like minimize, maximize and theorize? Do you spell them with a “z” or with an “s” (minimise, maximise, theorise)? I’m a “z” man, not an “s” man, and have been for over 30 years. Back in the 1980s someone in publishing explained to me that “z” was closer to the… Continue reading “-ize” and “-ization” or “-ise” and “-isation”
We might finally be moving on, saying goodbye to the dance school that my children have attended at various times for the last eight years. Let’s see, is there anything here that could lead you to connect my words to the institution in question? I don’t think so. I have no intention of revealing the… Continue reading “You’ve let yourself down”
Last week the Guardian ran an excellent series of articles, like this one, about plastic bottles. The numbers are staggering. As a species we currently produce a million plastic bottles a minute, heading towards 500 billion a year. I am part of the problem. Please accept my apologies. Recently I wrote about drinking from the… Continue reading Tap water and bottled water
Liam Gallagher is back. His new single, “Wall of Glass” (check out the official video here), has been all over the radio, or at least the radio stations I listen to, and he gave a compelling performance at Glastonbury. I watched it from the comfort of my living-room early one Sunday morning after a later-than-planned… Continue reading Word of the week: paraphernalia
It feels like Trivia has been on my mind for much of the last six months so I am surprised to find that there was no Trivia Round-up in May to accompany those for February, March and April. As those earlier pieces noted, quiz shows and game shows form a significant amount of the TV… Continue reading A trivia round-up for June 2017
As I noted in this piece from last December, in my teenage years I often had front row seats for gigs at the Hammersmith Odeon. By the age of 15 I had moved on to smaller venues and venues without seating, from tiny pubs and clubs to places like the Lyceum and the Roundhouse. The… Continue reading Sharing a drink with Ozzy Osbourne
The word “mole” has been on my mind for a while. I have a large, dark mole on my back, about 4” (10cm) above my beltline. It gets very itchy. I first showed it to my GP in 1997 and every few years since then have had it checked out. Four different general practitioners have… Continue reading Word of the week: mole
Pop Master, the pop quiz that takes place every weekday on Ken Bruce’s BBC Radio 2 show at 10.30am, is the most listened-to slot on UK radio, apart from breakfast shows. Every Monday to Friday around 7.5 million people tune in, as I noted here, in my original Menu Item about Trivia. I catch up… Continue reading 100 Rounds of Pop Master
Over the years I have told many of the stories and memories that appear on this Blog over and over again. That’s one reason for posting them. If I have told the same story 20 times I might as well make a definitive record of it here, though that might not stop me from telling… Continue reading The best footballer I have ever seen
Conjunctivitis, also known as pinkeye, or pink eye, is an “inflammation of the conjunctiva”. The conjunctiva is “the mucous membrane that lines the exposed portion of the eyeball and inner surface of the eyelids”. Dictionary.com just told me this, in the definitions here and here. I am currently recovering from conjunctivitis, the second time in… Continue reading Word of the week: conjunctivitis
