Gaelic Games (hurling and Gaelic football) are mentioned most years somewhere on this Blog. These words are drafted in West London but they relate to sport in Ireland. Last July, in this piece, I wrote about Kilkenny’s defeat to Limerick in the All-Ireland hurling final. Kilkenny, my father’s county, has been the most successful hurling… Continue reading A Strange Gaelic Season (July 2024)
The words “heart” and “apart” are often used as rhymes, in song lyrics and in poetry. Shakespeare used this rhyme. So have Bob Dylan, Hal David and Dorothy Fields, so there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s got form, you know. But, as I have noted previously, in this Menu Item, and in this piece from… Continue reading The lyricist who never rhymed “heart” and “apart”, or so I thought
As noted in this earlier piece, I have finally acquired a pair of reading glasses, after years of compensating for my gradually deteriorating eyesight with the aid of magnifying glasses. It has not prompted a reading binge, but it has made it easier to do the puzzles in the weekend paper, as I expected. An… Continue reading Digging out my old music books
I graduated from my university of choice just over 40 years ago, on Friday 29 June 1984. The following weekend my brother got married, in Spain. You can find a few details about the latter event, with a mention of my graduation, in this piece (“The best hour’s sleep I ever had”). My university of… Continue reading “The happiest day of my life”
Here’s a list of the songs that I performed in public for the first time during June 2024. Each month I aim to play at least one new song from each of the following repertoires: Songs that reached #1 in the UK. Songs that reached #1 somewhere else. Songs that have not reached #1 anywhere.… Continue reading Repertoire: Songs debuted in June 2024
I have finally acquired a pair of reading glasses. I should probably have got them at least a decade ago. I have been using magnifying glasses since 2008. I bought them initially for the only things that I had difficulty reading: “sell by” and “best before” dates on food packets. I always kept at least… Continue reading Reading glasses
A few months ago a friend invited me to a show at the Albert Hall. He and I worked together on a project over 25 years ago and have stayed in touch, but have not worked together since 1999. His current employers have a box at the venue. He doesn’t entertain corporate clients in the… Continue reading A box at the Albert Hall, 2024
I return to the subject of money and football. I outlined some milestones in this piece from 2022. It was mainly about Kylian Mbappé, a player you will probably have heard of even if you do not follow football closely. He won the World Cup with France in 2018 and is about to join Real… Continue reading £40m for 48 minutes of football
If you follow tennis at all you will know that Carlos Alcaraz is a 21-year-old professional tennis player from Spain. You might have seen him win the French Open yesterday, beating Alexander Zverev over five sets to become the first player to win his first three Grand Slam tournaments on different surfaces. The French Open… Continue reading Word of the week: Alcaraz
I have been meaning to follow up on earlier pieces about the price of beer. In 2018, in this piece, I recorded a few milestones from over 40 years of drinking in pubs here in London. The price of a pint had not yet reached £6. In this 2022 Post I noted that we had… Continue reading The £7 Pint
The Compartments 