“Glee”, “Strictly” and chart data

February 11, 2021August 18, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

Our listening habits have remained the same for many years. Our DAB Digital Radio is set to BBC Radio 2 most of the time. Occasionally it will be retuned to Radio 4 for “Desert Island Discs” or to 5 Live Sports Extra for some cricket commentary, but we return it to Preset 2 immediately afterwards. Much of Radio 2’s programming consists of old hits. Every Saturday afternoon “Pick of the Pops” features the charts from… Continue reading “Glee”, “Strictly” and chart data

Home life · Notes from West London

500 games of pool

February 6, 2021February 11, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

Back in November, in this piece about the word “whitewash”, I wrote about the pool table that we bought for my son’s 16th birthday. I set it up that evening and we have played at least three games on it every day since then. Most days we play at least six games, and sometimes (at weekends, or in the Christmas holidays) we… Continue reading 500 games of pool

At the movies · Home life · Memories

An afternoon with Ingrid Bergman

February 2, 2021June 18, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

Most Saturday afternoons the BBC2 schedule includes a movie and a show called “Talking Pictures” that features interview clips with the director or star of the film. Yesterday the subject was Ingrid Bergman, a true Hollywood star. After a screening of “Joan of Arc” (1948, directed by Victor Fleming), “Talking Pictures” included interviews with Ms Bergman from 1971, 1973 and 1980. The interviewer in the 1971… Continue reading An afternoon with Ingrid Bergman

Home life · In the news · Music · Notes from West London

“Blue Monday” and the Henry Fern Collection

January 18, 2021February 4, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

Today is known by some as Blue Monday. This piece in The Scotsman describes as “the most depressing day of the year”, for the following reasons: “It’s the day when the financial pressure of the Christmas just passed hangs over us most, the weather is at its worst, and the extra pounds we’ve acquired over the holiday… Continue reading “Blue Monday” and the Henry Fern Collection

Catchphrases · Home life

“Alright, I was only asking …”

January 6, 2021April 9, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

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 …”

At the movies · Home life · Memories · Word of the week

Word of the week: Rocky

January 4, 2021January 5, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

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

At the movies · Home life · Word of the week

Word of the week: Casablanca

December 28, 2020January 4, 2021 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

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

Health · Home life

Still all clear at the dentist

November 26, 2020December 3, 2020 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

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

Home life · Word of the week

Word of the week: whitewash

November 16, 2020November 23, 2020 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

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

Home life · Word of the week

Word of the week: biscuit

October 19, 2020November 2, 2020 thecompartmentsLeave a comment

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

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The Compartments

The Blog of SJ Reilly, Author of "1000 Memories" twitter.com/reillysj

Category: Home life