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
On our walk along the river last month we stopped for drinks and crisps (or potato chips as the Americans call them) at the Sun Inn by Barnes Pond. While distributing the three packets of crisps between the four of us I asked the following trivial question, which had never crossed my mind before: “If… Continue reading One flavour of crisps
Last month, as part of her homework, my 9-year-old daughter had to research palm oil. Among other things she had to check foodstuffs at home to see which of them included it as an ingredient. I have been checking ingredient lists for decades but the prevalence of palm oil had passed me by. When did… Continue reading Palm Oil
Back in the 1980s a school-friend made a comment about TV dramas that still holds true much of the time. When food is introduced in a scene there is a strong chance that one of the characters will throw it at another. Similarly in many movies food can’t be allowed just to sit there: one… Continue reading Food in the movies
For two or three years now the supermarket chain Waitrose has had a reward scheme (the “myWaitrose” card) that offers card-holders a free coffee and a free newspaper every day as long as you spend £5 in the store. (The minimum spend is £5 Monday to Friday, £10 at weekends.) That minimum spend of £5… Continue reading Things that really are free
Another Bank Holiday weekend, another trip to visit friends outside London. We rarely make trips outside the M25 area and when we do we have a good time. For various reasons our seating arrangements on long car journeys, for at least part of the trip, are as follows: my wife drives, our 11 year old… Continue reading Travel sickness
We have a new PC, for general home use. It has Windows 10 and Office 2016 and works fine. I also have a Windows 10 phone and am happy enough with it, though (as I wrote last month, in my Farewell to WhatsApp) it feels like I am currently supporting the underdog. As I wrote… Continue reading Windows 10 and Never 10
Here in West London there is a pleasant walk you can take along the river, mostly avoiding road traffic. It includes Hammersmith Bridge, the towpath on the south side of the river, Barnes High Street, Barnes railway bridge, Dukes Meadows on the north side, Chiswick Mall, The Mall Hammersmith and the traffic-free route through Furnival… Continue reading A walk along the river
Another Friday night, another friend’s band, another pub in Camden Town. The pub serves Guinness, lager, pale ale and no bitter. This seems to be the way now. Many pubs here in London serve a variety of pale ales and IPA (India Pale Ale) and few if any brands of bitter. In the half-light of… Continue reading “And I’ve been on the pale ale”
On Friday 13th it feels appropriate to write about funerals and obituaries. The first funeral I went to was over 35 years ago, for the father of a family we knew from primary school. He had died at the age of 41, less than 18 months after a massive heart attack. (Around that time we… Continue reading The funeral code
The Compartments 