Over the last couple of years I have caught up regularly with a handful of guys I was at school with over 50 years ago. There have been meals out, nights on the beer, weekly games of football. Some of my old classmates have come to see my monthly live performances at a local pub.… Continue reading Unfriending Dead People
Last month I posted this piece about the dozen Oscar-winners that I have seen perform on stage (11 in London, one in Stratford-on-Avon). To jog my memory before drafting it I “spent a few hours … going through all the theatre programmes that I have collected over the last 50 years”. I then put the… Continue reading 50 years’ worth of theatre programmes
During the Christmas holidays, prompted by nothing in particular, I was thinking of three productions of “Richard II” that I have seen here in London over the last 20 years, and the actors who played the title role. The first production, at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2003, starred Mark Rylance. The second, in 2005, featured Kevin… Continue reading 11 Oscar winners on the London stage, and one in Stratford-on-Avon
The postman always rings twice. Over the last 18 months or so I have posted occasional reports about the state of our car, which was due to turn 15 later this year. There was a 13-week stretch waiting for parts in the summer of 2021. We had a loan car with its new car smell… Continue reading Bad Timing Belt
To some extent this Blog acts like a diary. It’s not a diary that’s updated every day, but the date of each post is relevant. Sometimes I “back-fill” pieces days, or even months, after the event. I am doing it now, posting this piece for Christmas Day 2022 several weeks into 2023. I do the… Continue reading Here we go again (Covid Round 2), and diaries
Sawdust and black pudding. No, not a new dietary regime, but the subjects of a couple of stories that my father told me. There are stories that we heard and repeated often as a family. Not just things that happened to us, which we had our own memories of, but things we had been told… Continue reading Sawdust and Black Pudding
I offer a simple piece of dietary advice to anyone whose circumstances allow them to follow it: mix your grains. Or, more accurately, mix the carbohydrates in your diet so that you are not eating the same grain or starchy vegetable more than two meals running. If you have no choice regarding grains and starchy… Continue reading A Farewell to Oatiflakes
Almost exactly a year ago, in this piece, I wrote about playing football with people my own age again for the first time in over a decade. I am happy to report that this is still a regular part of my week. I have played something close to 5-a-side football at least once every month… Continue reading A year’s worth of 5-a-side
Now that I’ve fessed up about celebrating my 60th birthday recently (Dead at 59, another list) let me tell you the best thing about reaching this milestone: free public transport. Age-related benefits are not cast in stone. Pensionable ages have changed in ways that I have not really kept up with. Most of my friends… Continue reading Word of the week: Twirly
I have been deliberately vague on this Blog about many things and very specific about others. My birthday, for example, is something I have mentioned many times (21 September) but I have not been specific in any post about the year I was born. It’s not a secret. I have simply chosen to leave some… Continue reading Dead at 59, another list
