A few people I know are regular users of Duolingo, an App designed to help you to learn new languages. It is described on the Duolingo website as “The world’s best way to learn a language”. The App keeps a record of users’ “streaks”, how many consecutive days they complete at least one lesson. I… Continue reading Word of the week: Streak
Since September I have been hosting quiz nights on Sundays at a local pub, as explained in this piece. Here’s a record of the 10 rounds of questions for the quiz on Sunday 24 November 2024. Round 1: General Knowledge What is the capital city of Venezuela? Which former Labour MP and Deputy Prime Minister died… Continue reading A Quiz from Sunday 24 November 2024
There are three phrases that people use on quiz shows frequently. They all prompt me to shout, or at least mutter, at the TV. The first is, “I wouldn’t have got that in a million years”. I always point out that a million years is a really long time. If you uttered every combination of… Continue reading “Never in a million years”
Since September I have been hosting quiz nights on Sundays at a local pub, as explained in this piece. Here’s a record of the 10 rounds of questions for the quiz on Sunday 17 November 2024. Round 1: General Knowledge What is the capital city of Azerbaijan? Who is the current Chancellor of Germany? Who… Continue reading A Quiz from Sunday 17 November 2024
In the late 1980s, when I was still in my 20s, my listening habits changed. My radio station of choice for most of my life had been BBC Radio 1. In the 1970s we switched from there to the newly created Capital Radio from time to time but Radio 1 was the default station on… Continue reading Capital Gold in the late 1980s
As explained in this piece from September, I have been asked to host a Sunday night quiz at a local pub. Here’s a record of the 10 rounds of questions for the quiz on Sunday 3 November 2024. Round 1: General Knowledge What is the capital city of Bosnia? In UK Politics, who is the… Continue reading A Quiz from Sunday 3 November 2024
My daughter turned 18 last month. I mentioned it in this piece about Berlin. When my son turned 18 two years ago we took a symbolic trip to a nearby pub for him to buy a pint of beer for the first time. It was a pint of London Pride, for me. He had lemonade.… Continue reading Buying your dad a pint for the first time
As explained in this piece from last month, I have been asked to host a Sunday night quiz at a local pub. Here’s a record of the 10 rounds of questions for the quiz on Sunday 27 October 2024. Round 1: General Knowledge What is the capital city of Moldova? Since November 2023 Christopher Luxon… Continue reading A Quiz from Sunday 27 October 2024
As explained in this piece from last month, I have been asked to host a Sunday night quiz at a local pub. Here’s a record of the 50 questions for the quiz on Sunday 20 October 2024. Round 1: General Knowledge What is the capital city of North Korea? Name either of the two candidates… Continue reading A Quiz from Sunday 20 October 2024
Over the years, most recently in this piece from September 2020 (updated in February 2021), I have written about the visitors that this Blog has attracted from faraway countries. In 2020 this site had been viewed at least once by people in 48 of the world’s 50 most populous countries. The exceptions were Iran (18th… Continue reading More about visitors from faraway countries (Iran, Yemen …)
The Compartments 