Pop Master, BBC Radio 2’s mid-morning quiz, is the most listened-to slot on UK radio. I have mentioned that fact before on this Blog, many times, but always qualified it with the phrase “outside of breakfast shows”. The generally-quoted number of daily listeners up till now has been 7.5m but according to Scott Mills, when… Continue reading Pop Master: Let down by Question 10 (20 examples)
Here’s a question from Radio 2’s mid-morning quiz Pop Master from last week: In 1984 the song Feels Like Heaven became the only Top 40 hit for which group? The answer didn’t come to me in time, though I’m sure that there have been times when it would have, not least in 1984 itself. You… Continue reading A Confusion of 80s Bands
Do you remember the concept of “Googlewhacking”? It was described on Dave Gorman’s website as “what happens when two words are entered in to Google and it comes back with one and only one hit.” I wrote about it in this piece in 2017, and included a link to Gorman’s site. Click on the link… Continue reading “Blogwhacking”
Last month I posted two pieces about me and my son both testing positive for Covid, five days apart. We have recovered, as far as we can tell. Our symptoms were mild. Time will tell if we have lasting effects from the infection, but so far so good. Until two days ago, my wife and… Continue reading It was only a matter of time
The posts on this Blog relating to ITV quiz show “Tenable” have received nearly one million views. Most of these posts contain the correct answers to the lists of 10 items that contestants name to build up, and then win, a jackpot. There have been repeats and the odd Celebrity Special over the last eight… Continue reading Trivia in 10s: “World” #1s and LAND-less countries
Last month, in this piece, I wrote enthusiastically about playing football again with a bunch of guys who are mostly my age. After a break for Christmas and New Year the Friday night fixtures are back on, but after self-isolating for 10 days with Covid during that time I am even less match-fit than before.… Continue reading Memories of football in Hyde Park
Two days ago, on the Feast of Epiphany, I took down all the Christmas decorations before noon. I always do this. It’s a habit, or a superstition, that my mother taught me. I don’t know what would happen if I behaved differently. As with all superstitions, I don’t plan to tempt fate and find out.… Continue reading My Christmas Tree superstition
Picture, if you will, someone writing hundreds of words which omit one specific letter. The missing letter is one of the five vowels, so the writer must choose his or her words with extreme precision. It is difficult enough to do this for five sentences, but whole books exist which use this device from beginning… Continue reading Word of the week: lipogram
Following on from last Friday’s piece, about contracting Covid despite being triple jabbed and super-cautious, I have tested positive again this morning. It’s a whole week since I first saw what a positive test looks like, but now I am not alone. My son tested positive two days ago, on Monday morning. This means that he is on Day… Continue reading And then there were two
Well, I wasn’t expecting this. Despite having three doses of Covid vaccine in the last 9 months, and acting with great caution over the last year and more, I have tested positive for Coronavirus. Three Lateral Flow tests all revealed both red lines, something we had not seen in nearly 9 months of taking tests… Continue reading Triple-jabbed, super-cautious, positive
The Compartments 