Here are 10 quiz questions based on the lyrics of UK #1 hits, in order of when they reached #1. If you know which afternoon was never ending in “Lady Madonna”, how old Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) was when he died, or what Craig David and his lady did on Sunday, you’ll… Continue reading 10 questions about UK #1s: the answers are in the lyrics
Last December I wrote this piece about playing football again, on Friday nights. I am happy to report that my run of games has continued and it’s all hugely enjoyable. I missed a few games for various reasons, including Covid and a thigh injury, but the latter coincided with some social events that meant I… Continue reading Wednesday Night Football
Hypermiling: that’s the word I was looking for. I read something about it at least 10 years ago, some print article on a motoring page about maximizing your miles per gallon. I wouldn’t know where to look for it now. This recent piece on the Guardian website by Sam Wollaston reminded me of the word… Continue reading Word of the week: Hypermiling
You might have heard the old joke about a man walking into a chip shop and ordering two portions of cod and chips in the usual way: “Cod and chips twice, please”. The man behind the counter says, “All right mate, I heard you the first time”. This joke came to mind recently while taking… Continue reading Battersea Power Station Station
Along with at least 8 million other people I continue to follow Pop Master, the mid-morning quiz on BBC Radio 2. It has been the subject of many pieces on this Blog, most recently this summary from week ending 8 April 2022. Currently I make a note of the following: my score, the bonus questions,… Continue reading Pop Master Summary w/e Fri 15 April 2022
Along with at least 8 million other people I continue to follow Pop Master, the mid-morning quiz on BBC Radio 2. It has been the subject of many pieces on this Blog, most recently this piece from January. Currently I make a note of the following: my score, the bonus questions, any questions I have… Continue reading Pop Master Summary w/e Fri 8 April 2022
Around a year ago I wrote a couple of pieces about UK cities, prompted by quiz questions from the preceding weeks. The first of these pieces, here, listed the cities in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and included mnemonics that help me to remember them: “I gasped” for the 7 cities in Scotland, “Bland” for… Continue reading The 70th UK City, the 52nd in England
Regular readers will know that I post from time to time about music trivia, including songs that were “Stuck at 2”. These are the songs that almost made it to #1 in the UK chart but were kept off by another release. There are full listings, right up to the current year, on the Trivia… Continue reading Stuck at 2: Elvis and the Beatles
Spring in the air in West London. The trees are loaded with blossom. Cherry pink and apple blossom white. It’s a familiar sight. The local cherry trees bloom at different times. In the roads near ours there has been plenty of blossom for the last two weeks. A mile away, on the well-known road leading… Continue reading The Blossom is Buzzing
Last autumn I wrote about the Scottish musician Colin Tully, whose death was reported in the Guardian’s “Other Lives” pages. I quoted the online description of this section of the paper: “Obituaries pages traditionally describe and celebrate the lives of the great and good, the famous and infamous. There is another type of life that… Continue reading “A drugs bust ended his career as the furry Wellington” [Robin Le Mesurier RIP]
The Compartments 