Earlier this summer, for many reasons, I cancelled my subscriptions to all the sports channels. The most important of these many reasons was time: I didn’t want to spend untold hours watching live cricket in daylight hours or baseball late into the night just because I could. Our main justification for subscribing to sports channels… Continue reading Sports Channels and Smoking, an Analogy
Every now and then I read about a number that seems significant and think that I should write about it, a “Number of the week” piece to sit alongside the 200+ “Word of the week” posts that you can find elsewhere on this Blog. I see that I have never done so. This is my… Continue reading Number of the week: 15.5
Here’s a list of the songs that I performed in public for the first time during August 2025. Each month I aim to play at least one new song from each of the following repertoires: Songs that reached #1 in the UK. Songs that reached #1 somewhere else. Songs that have not reached #1 anywhere.… Continue reading Repertoire: Songs debuted in August 2025
As mentioned in this piece from April (“A long overdue catch-up (April 2025)”) I have drafted thousands of words in recent months that have not yet appeared anywhere on this site. In November 2024 I drafted a few hundred words that were never finalized, about artists who have had at least one UK #1. Nothing… Continue reading Jane Morgan RIP and the oldest living artist with a UK #1
I first went to Spain in 1981. I have visited the country dozens of times. I have eaten unknown kilos of paella and other rice dishes. Even so, I had never heard of “soccarat” until this year. Not for the first time with new words and concepts, it came up in a quiz. Here is… Continue reading Word of the week: socarrat
Here’s a list of the songs that I performed in public for the first time during July 2025. Each month I aim to play at least one new song from each of the following repertoires: Songs that reached #1 in the UK. Songs that reached #1 somewhere else. Songs that have not reached #1 anywhere.… Continue reading Repertoire: Songs debuted in July 2025
Here’s a question from a pub quiz I hosted last week. “Since the Premier League started in 1992 how many teams have won the competition only once?” Even if you know nothing about football you could guess a number. If you have been following football for the last 33 years you might have worked out… Continue reading The Fibonacci Sequence and Premier League winners
Here’s a list of the songs that I performed in public for the first time during June 2025. Each month I aim to play at least one new song from each of the following repertoires: Songs that reached #1 in the UK. Songs that reached #1 somewhere else. Songs that have not reached #1 anywhere.… Continue reading Repertoire: Songs debuted in June 2025
Here’s a list of the songs that I performed in public for the first time during May 2025. Each month I aim to play at least one new song from each of the following repertoires: Songs that reached #1 in the UK. Songs that reached #1 somewhere else. Songs that have not reached #1 anywhere.… Continue reading Repertoire: Songs debuted in May 2025
Here’s a list of the songs that I performed in public for the first time during April 2025. Each month I aim to play at least one new song from each of the following repertoires: Songs that reached #1 in the UK. Songs that reached #1 somewhere else. Songs that have not reached #1 anywhere.… Continue reading Repertoire: Songs debuted in April 2025
The Compartments 