This piece from last week, by Sirena Bergman in The Independent, begins, “Ten years ago I’d never heard the term ‘gaslighting’.” She discusses it in the context of a recent news story regarding two contestants on the most-watched show on UK television, “Strictly Come Dancing”, as you can see by following the link above. The… Continue reading Word of the week: gaslighting
For the sixth weekend running I have made a note of the questions and answers from the previous week’s episodes of ITV quiz show “Tenable”. For weeks 1 to 5 click on any of the following links: Week 1 questions (3-7 September) Week 2 questions (10-14 September) Week 3 questions (17-21 September) Week 4 questions… Continue reading “Tenable” questions, week ending 12 October 2018
According to this piece in yesterday’s Guardian, “The stricken cakes and café chain Patisserie Valerie is teetering close to collapse after admitting it needed ‘an immediate injection of capital’ to survive.” My immediate thought was that, at the prices they charge, any customer buying half-a-dozen pastries and a couple of large hot chocolates would inject… Continue reading Patisserie Valerie
The Hopper Fare was introduced here in London back in 2016. It allowed you to make two bus journeys for the price of one, as long as the second journey started within an hour of the first. This was a simple, easily understood change to the fares system. It saved people money. From what I… Continue reading Word of the week: Hopper
For the fifth weekend running I have made a note of the questions and answers from the previous week’s episodes of ITV quiz show “Tenable”. For weeks 1 to 4 click on any of the following links: Week 1 questions (3-7 September) Week 2 questions (10-14 September) Week 3 questions (17-21 September) Week 4 questions… Continue reading “Tenable” questions, week ending 5 October 2018
In 2011 BBC4 started to screen repeats of the old BBC1 music show “Top of the Pops”. On Friday 1 April that year they showed the episode that was first broadcast exactly 35 years earlier. Brotherhood of Man were at #1 with “Save your kisses for me”. As the year progressed they continued to show… Continue reading 10 years of “Top of the Pops”
You know how to use a pencil. Most of the pencils that you have encountered were probably HB. They are most common type. You probably also know that the H and B indicate, respectively Hard and Black. 4H indicates a much harder drawing implement than HB (and it’s lighter in shade), and 4B is much… Continue reading 2B
For the fourth weekend running I have made a note of the questions and answers from the previous week’s episodes of ITV quiz show “Tenable”. For weeks 1 to 3 click on any of the following links: Week 1 questions (3-7 September) Week 2 questions (10-14 September) Week 3 questions (17-21 September)Sno The format here… Continue reading “Tenable” questions, week ending 28 September 2018
On this date in 1971 the UK #1 was “Hey girl, don’t bother me” by the Tams. Treat yourself to this performance of a great chart-topper. Rod Stewart was at #2 with “Maggie May”, listed in some charts as a double A side with “Reason to Believe”, another pair of great songs. Here’s the classic… Continue reading “It’s late September, and …”
The website for BBC Radio 4’s “Desert Island Discs” has changed. Back in 2016 I referred to “the indispensable ‘Desert Island Discs’ archive” in this piece and included a link to it. That link no longer works. It used to direct you to a page where you could search through every episode of the show… Continue reading “Desert Island Discs” and an unwanted technical change
The Compartments 