Can you tell me a joke? Any joke will do, childish or adult, long or short. I have met many people who say that they can’t, they can’t remember a single joke, yet they must have heard hundreds or even thousands of them in their lifetimes. Most of us have. My children (currently aged 9… Continue reading Jokes and lyrics
In March I read Patti Smith’s “Just Kids”, her memoir mainly about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe. When she first met him, on her arrival in New York City, she was looking for some friends who had moved on. He was lying on a bed, she told him of her plight and “he rose in… Continue reading Huaraches and Bobby Pins
“It was the 3rd of June / Another sleepy, dusty Delta day”. Those are the first words of Bobbie Gentry’s US #1 “Ode to Billy Joe”, a song that always comes to mind on this date, along with the memory that this is the day I passed my driving test in 1987. If you’re unfamiliar… Continue reading Songs that feature dates
Many years ago a family friend, still in her 20s at the time, was bemoaning the behaviour of younger people and said, “Robbie Williams is so right: youth is wasted on the young”. I wasn’t aware that Robbie Williams had said it, or sung it, but had heard the quote. I thought that Oscar Wilde… Continue reading Quotes: The wisdom of Robbie Williams, or is it Oscar Wilde?
Earworm. I first came across the word in this Guardian article, over ten years ago. At the time Kylie’s “Can’t get you out of my head” was listed as the #1 earworm, and it might still be top now. My current earworm is the Queen song “Keep yourself alive” (even more than “Starman”, which I… Continue reading Earworms and “Keep yourself alive”
I first came across this word last year in an Oliver Burkeman article, “How to find time to read”, well worth reading. Like chairdrobe it pretty much explains itself: a list expanded into an article. I’m surprised that it’s taken me until my 40th post to this site to link to one of his articles.… Continue reading Word of the week: listicle
“Delilah”. You know the song, probably from Tom Jones’s version. You might recall the Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s recording from 1975 as well (it was mentioned in a question on Ken Bruce’s Pop Master quiz this morning). There’s a recording on YouTube here in case you need to refresh your memory. Literal versus Inferential I… Continue reading At the end of the song “Delilah” is she alive or dead?
A car trip in the 1980s, a university friend driving me and another friend of his to a lunch party somewhere outside London. I had met the other chap, Richard, a few times, but didn’t know him well. The car radio was on, playing golden oldies. It might well have been Alan Freeman’s “Pick of… Continue reading “Do you know the words to every pop song?”
The older I get the more I realize that there is very little Universal Knowledge. There are so many things (cultural references, song lyrics, basic facts) that I can safely assume my immediate family and oldest friends will recognize but outside of these groups I am constantly surprised by the things that people have never… Continue reading Universal Knowledge: “Make it easy on yourself”
The Compartments 