Here’s a conversational game that I have been playing since I was a teenager. Maybe you do something similar. You ask a question, the answer you receive sounds like it might be an insult, and you act offended and say, “Alright, I was only asking …” For example, you might be struggling to remember the… Continue reading “Alright, I was only asking …”
Following on from our Christmas Eve viewing (“Casablanca”) we settled down on New Year’s Eve to watch another film that won the Oscar for Best Picture: “Rocky”. My wife is a big fan of the “Rocky” movies but the only ones we had watched together were 21st century additions to the franchise, “Rocky Balboa” and… Continue reading Word of the week: Rocky
My 14 year old daughter suggested that we watch a film on Christmas Eve. Much of our TV viewing involves live sport, quiz shows and “Strictly Come Dancing”, and series like “Friends”, “Big Bang Theory” and “Modern Family” on Netflix, but over the years we have made an effort to watch films on Christmas Eve… Continue reading Word of the week: Casablanca
Back in 2018, in this piece, I recorded my satisfaction at the state of my children’s teeth, and my own. I have a wide selection of fillings (white at the front, amalgam at the back), and crowns on many of my molars. They regularly need some kind of treatment, but I had gone 30 months… Continue reading Still all clear at the dentist
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
