The weekend’s sport: an Italian defeat in a final, an England win, and my choice of beer

July 12, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

Over the weekend here in London, there was victory for the England international team and an Italian defeat in a final. Unfortunately for all of us who wanted England to win the rescheduled Euro 2020 football tournament, the Italian defeat came in a tennis final (Matteo Berrettini lost to Novak Djokovic in the men’s singles… Continue reading The weekend’s sport: an Italian defeat in a final, an England win, and my choice of beer

Memories · Sport

The final we wanted, exactly 31 years later

July 8, 2021July 10, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

If you are old enough, and into your football, you will remember the 1990 World Cup, hosted by Italy. The first World Cup I was old enough to follow was Mexico 1970, still the best football tournament I can remember. 20 years later “Italia Noventa” came close to matching it. There was so much to… Continue reading The final we wanted, exactly 31 years later

Catchphrases · Home life · Notes from West London

Green Bananas

July 6, 2021July 8, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

Last autumn, in among the millions of words written and broadcast after the US Presidential Election, there was a quote about green bananas. I searched for it a week or two later but couldn’t find it. Now, several months after the event, I have tried again and found it on this Newsweek page from 7… Continue reading Green Bananas

Language · On the box · Word of the week

Word of the week: The C Word

July 5, 2021July 5, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

This piece is about the 4-letter word that begins with “C” and rhymes with “hunt”. In the thousand or so pieces published so far on this Blog I have referred to this word a few times but never spelt it out, and will not do so here. Over the last ten days I have watched… Continue reading Word of the week: The C Word

Sport

Henderson and the Harrys

July 4, 2021July 4, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

A sporting Saturday. You may recall “Harry and the Hendersons”, a 1987 film released here in the UK as “Bigfoot and the Hendersons”. I recall both titles but never saw the film or its TV spin-off. Last night England beat Ukraine in the quarter-final of the European Football Championship. The competition was due to take… Continue reading Henderson and the Harrys

Health · Home life

Outweighed by my children

June 30, 2021July 5, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

Early in 2018 I posted this piece about body weight. It recorded the fluctuations in my own weight using three different measurements (stones, pounds, kilos) and noted how I lost a couple of stone in 2012, by swimming most days and eating less. Apart from the year up to summer 2013 I have generally been… Continue reading Outweighed by my children

Notes from West London

They really can’t get the parts

June 25, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

I drive a French car. I have always driven French cars. So did my mother. Back in the 1970s, before I was old enough to drive, she bought her first car from the long-gone Fred Guy garage in King Street Hammersmith. It was a two-year-old Renault 6, which was replaced by a new Renault 6… Continue reading They really can’t get the parts

Home life · Memories · Notes from West London

The new Sunday evening routine

June 20, 2021August 19, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

How are your Sunday evenings? Is there a routine built around returning to school or work the following morning? Does the TV schedule play a significant part in your Sunday nights? In our household, there are two series that take up our time on Sunday evenings: the “Strictly Come Dancing” results show during the autumn, right through to… Continue reading The new Sunday evening routine

Notes from West London · Reading

Vegans and Oxbridge Graduates

June 17, 2021July 14, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

Here’s the first part of my favourite joke from recent years: “Why did the vegan cross the road?” I was asked this by a very polite, well-brought up woman in her 30s, who I have known since she was 3. Immediately after asking me the question she looked worried and said, “Oh, you’re not a vegan are you?”, as… Continue reading Vegans and Oxbridge Graduates

At the movies · Lyrics · Word of the week

Word of the week: crucify

June 14, 2021July 8, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

These “Word of the week” pieces have become rather less frequent in recent months, for no particular reason. I have drafted several posts without finalizing them, but there are still over 170 finished pieces (and over 100,000 words of text) dotted throughout this site about words that have been in the news or come to… Continue reading Word of the week: crucify

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The Blog of SJ Reilly, Author of "1000 Memories" twitter.com/reillysj

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