Last July, in this piece (“A funeral changes everything”), I wrote the following: I have been on a mission to see live music, and play live music, as much as possible, in memory of the woman whose funeral prompted that first evening in a new venue [a pub in Harlesden where the reception took place]… Continue reading Reflections on my 100 most recent live performances
In 2019 and 2020 I wrote regular pieces about the progress of Leeds United, the football club that I have supported since childhood. Most of these pieces featured screenshots taken from the BBC website of the top teams in the Championship, the second tier in English football. Leeds were finally promoted from that division to… Continue reading 2 points per game (2024)
Following on from this introductory piece, here is another “oven-ready quiz round”, with the same theme as this earlier round. Another 10 words from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet You know about the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, the words that are used to represent the 26 letters of the English alphabet. It starts with Alpha for A,… Continue reading Oven-ready quiz rounds: Another 10 words from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet
A tale of two priests. The things that you say and do, and the responses that you get. [There are 1350 words in this piece.] Do you feel, generally, that you can predict the kind of response that you will get to the things that you say and do? Or is there usually a level… Continue reading “He’s got a lot to say for himself, hasn’t he?”
The current UK #1 is “Texas Hold ‘Em” by Beyoncé. It is coming to the end of its fourth week at the top. In an hour or two we’ll know if it has made it to a fifth week. Its predecessor, “Stick Season” by Noah Kahan, spent 7 weeks at #1, the first new chart-topper… Continue reading UK #1 Trivia, March 2024: Beyoncé and Noah Kahan
Following on from this introductory piece, here is another “oven-ready quiz round”. 10 words from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet You know about the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, the words that are used to represent the 26 letters of the English alphabet. It starts with Alpha for A, Bravo for B, Charlie for C and so on.… Continue reading Oven-ready quiz rounds: 10 words from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet
Following on from this introductory piece, here is another “oven-ready quiz round”. 21st Century England footballers and their debuts Here is a list of 12 England international footballers who all played for the national team in the 21st century. They all won at least 50 caps. The question for each footballer is: Did he make… Continue reading Oven-ready quiz rounds: 21st Century England footballers and their debuts
Following on from this introductory piece, here is another “oven-ready quiz round”. 10 questions with alliterative answers The answers to the following questions are people or characters with alliterative names: in each case the first name and surname both begin with the same letter. 1 Which composer and songwriter, who died in 2023, wrote hits… Continue reading Oven-ready quiz rounds: 10 questions with alliterative answers
Following on from this introductory piece, here is another “oven-ready quiz round”. UK #1s: The title is not in the lyrics (15 questions) The following list shows the names of 15 artists and the year in which they had a UK #1. In each case the exact title of the song that reached #1 is… Continue reading Oven-ready quiz rounds: UK #1s: The title is not in the lyrics (15 questions)
Back in 2019 I noted, in this piece, that I am not much good at medical chat. My memory is fine when it comes to things like biographical detail and conversation recall but medical information rarely stays in my mind for long. It might be a good thing. As that earlier piece noted: “Maybe it’s… Continue reading Word of the week: Hyperplasia
The Compartments 