There are years when I go to plenty of gigs, at least one per month. Some years, like last year, I go to hardly any. In 2017 there were planned shows that had sold out before I could get tickets, like Tony Visconti and the remaining Spider from Mars playing the whole of the Ziggy… Continue reading Andy White, and “50 quid man”
I didn’t get enough sleep last night. Like many other sports fans here in the UK I stayed up late to watch the Superbowl, Philadelphia Eagles winning their first title against defending champions the New England Patriots. Unlike most other sports fans I hadn’t planned to spend the early hours of Monday morning this way,… Continue reading Word of the week: Superbowl
The FA Cup 4th Round takes place this weekend. For the first time in all the years that my wife and I have been together neither of us is interested. Her team (Arsenal) and mine (Leeds United) were both knocked out three weekends ago in the 3rd Round, by teams from lower leagues (Nottingham Forest… Continue reading When your team is knocked out of the FA Cup
You are probably familiar with “Vogue”, Madonna’s worldwide hit from 1990. If not, here’s the official video from YouTube, which shows the accompanying dance moves. Vogue, as a verb, is defined by the Oxford Dictionaries website as, “Dance to music in such a way as to imitate the characteristic poses struck by a model on… Continue reading Word of the week: Vogue
A sketch in the CBBC show “Horrible Histories” has provided us with a new catchphrase over the last 12 months. It’s a reworking of the phrase that most of us first heard in childhood, “easy peasy, lemon squeezy”. The sketch is titled “Francisco Pizarro’s Very Rough Guide 1526” and involves two Spanish Conquistadores, Pedro and… Continue reading “Easy peasy, squeeze the lemon”
Happy New Year to you. You probably spent New Year’s Day rather differently from the four of us here. For most of the day our TV was tuned in to a station called Challenge (46 on our multi-channel box) which was showing old editions of the ITV quiz show “The Chase”. The days either side… Continue reading 12 hours of “The Chase”
Well, that didn’t last long, did it? In November I wrote this piece in anticipation of this winter’s Ashes series, planning my sleep patterns and my mornings to keep up with sporting events in Australia. Less than a week ago, as we approached the halfway point of the five Test Matches, I wrote this piece… Continue reading Final Ashes update
Following on from last month’s musings about The Ashes (which you can read here) we are now around the halfway point in this sporting series. If you have no interest in sport in general, or cricket in particular, you can stop reading now. Otherwise you will find a further 1200 words in the paragraphs that… Continue reading Ashes update: the halfway point
The Ashes begin tonight. If those words mean nothing to you, let me try to explain. The England cricket team begin their series of five Test Matches against Australia, in Australia, at midnight tonight. The trophy that they are contesting is called The Ashes, also known as the urn. The first game is in Brisbane.… Continue reading The Ashes Conundrum
At some point in the last 40 years the Casualty departments in UK hospitals were renamed as Accident and Emergency (or A&E). In the US A&E is known as ER (the Emergency Room). “Casualty” is a BBC1 series set in a hospital, broadcast on Saturday nights after “Strictly Come Dancing”. I have never seen a… Continue reading Urgent Care
The Compartments 