You are probably familiar with the three main definitions of the word “whitewash”. As listed on the Cambridge Dictionary website they are: “a white liquid that is a mixture of lime or powdered chalk and water, used for making walls or ceilings white”; “an attempt to stop people finding out the true facts about a… Continue reading Word of the week: whitewash
What’s your favourite biscuit? You may recall that this question got Gordon Brown into a bit of trouble when he was UK prime minister. I couldn’t remember the details and have looked them up so that you don’t have to. It was late 2009 and the question was one of many asked on mumsnet, the… Continue reading Word of the week: biscuit
Have you noticed how frequently characters in films and on TV open and close their laptops? Often, if someone is working away and is interrupted by another character, however briefly, they simply close up their computer. They don’t save their work, they don’t have to deal with any prompts onscreen, they simply flip the screen… Continue reading Flipping laptops
Diligent readers of this Blog will know that yesterday, 21 September, was my birthday. In this piece from 2017 I listed a dozen or more people who were also born on that date. You can add Joe “PE with Joe” Wicks to the list. He was born in 1986. In terms of star sign and… Continue reading “It never rains on my birthday”
As noted from time to time on this Blog, our TV viewing as a family consists mainly of sport, quiz shows and comedy series. Last week, although it was the week the children went back to school, at least two of us watched every minute of the latest series of “Who wants to be a… Continue reading “Modern Family”, and reflections on sitcoms
Like many people, I buy the daily paper far less often than I used to. Sales of most UK titles have halved in the last 10 years, a decline that cannot be attributed to mortality rates alone. I buy The Guardian on Fridays and Saturdays, and no longer buy a Sunday paper. I am back… Continue reading “Bar snack? (9)” and why I no longer do cryptic crosswords
Live sport has been back on our TV screens for many weeks now. Before that, for over two months at the height of lockdown here in the UK, there was no top-level sporting action available. I even cancelled my subscription sports channels, a rare display of proactive behaviour, as I noted in this piece in March.… Continue reading Word of the week: Ronnie!
Last Saturday evening I watched the 1977 film “The Spy Who Loved Me”, Roger Moore’s third outing as James Bond. ITV have been showing Bond movies at weekends throughout this summer. I have caught an hour or more of several of these screenings but had not watched any of them all the way through. I… Continue reading Drinking with Bryan Marshall
This time last year, while on holiday in Spain, I was bitten repeatedly by insects. It prompted this piece (Holiday notes: sun, sea, sand, and insect bites) which includes some photos showing the after-effects of insect bites on my skin. It came with a warning, in case you are squeamish about such things. I have,… Continue reading Insect bites (August 2020 update)
If you watch TV regularly, you are probably familiar with “Gogglebox”, a show that was first broadcast here in the UK in 2013. It has become a recent addition to our family viewing thanks to a series of celebrity editions that have just finished airing on Channel 4 on Friday nights. The original version of… Continue reading Word of the week: “Gogglebox”
