There’s a documentary available on the BBC iPlayer now (and for another 27 days) about the gig that took place 40 years ago today in Manchester, the first Sex Pistols appearance in that city, at the Lesser Free Trade Hall. It’s called “One Night in Manchester: The Gig That Changed Music Forever”. Peter Hook, Jordan… Continue reading Punk and Prog
“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
The first post on this Blog, about “Smart Thinking” and “Self Help” sections at my local bookshop, appeared exactly 6 months ago today, on 2 December 2015. In the intervening 183 days 198 items have appeared on these pages, most of them Blog Posts (181, including this one), the rest tucked away in the Menus… Continue reading Reviewing the first six months of “The Compartments”
“It was 49 years ago today … Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play”. The Beatles album “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (Universal Knowledge for most English-speakers over 35) was released on 1 June 1967. I don’t remember it myself but I do remember the ITV documentary that was aired on 1 June 1987,… Continue reading “It was 49 years ago today …”
“Coincidence Corner” is my light-hearted description for what has become a monthly look at the themes, stories or references that recur if you keep your eyes and ears open, no matter what you read, watch or listen to. They’re not really coincidences, though some people might see them that way, and they’re based on what… Continue reading May’s “Coincidence Corner”
“Blended” has been used for many years to describe an approach to learning that incorporates instructor-led teaching and instruction through other media (online or, historically, other digital resources like DVDs and CD-ROMs). The instructor-led part of the process works best for me: I prefer to be taught things by people rather than through some digital… Continue reading Word of the week: blended
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
Like many people of my generation I followed the charts (“the pop charts”, as we didn’t call them) as a child, as a teenager, and into my 20s. We listened to the Top 20 rundown on a Sunday evening, we watched “Top of the Pops” every Thursday, and over the years, whenever they changed the… Continue reading The Best Top 3 Ever
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
In every previous month so far this year there have been songs stuck in my head, Earworms, as noted in articles in January, February, March and April. There have been no involuntary snatches of tunes coming to mind with great force this month. The closest has been, of all things, “Super Trouper” by Abba. I… Continue reading No Earworms in May
The Compartments 