Today is Friday 13th. Mind how you go, especially if you believe that unlucky things happen on days like this. If you do attach significance to this date, you may be relieved to find that it is the only time in 2021 that Friday will fall on the 13th day of the month. Next year it will also happen just once, in May. Last year it happened twice, as it… Continue reading Reflections on Friday 13th
Congratulations to all the A-Level students who have collectively earned a record-breaking set of results this week. Commiserations to those who did not achieve what they wanted. And a big “Do me a favour, mate” to all the clowns who emerge at this time of year to tell us that things were much harder when they were at school,… Continue reading 2 ‘A’s and a ‘B’
The Tokyo Olympics finished yesterday. We had got used to the Olympic Breakfast programme every morning on BBC1, catching up on the overnight action, and we’ll miss it. The show usually involved news of gold medals for Team GB, right up to yesterday morning when Jason Kenny (Keirin, cycling) and Lauren Price (boxing) completed the medal tally to leave GB fourth… Continue reading Word of the week: Sayonara
Regular readers of this Blog will know that there are two sports teams that I follow more keenly than any others: Leeds United (English football) and Kilkenny (All-Ireland hurling), known by supporters and non-supporters alike as The Cats. Over the course of 10 seasons, beginning in 2006, Kilkenny won 8 All-Ireland titles, an unprecedented run… Continue reading Kilkenny lose to Cork, just like the old days
Ever since my family acquired a radio-cassette recorder in the mid-1970s I have been in the habit of recording radio shows. I acquired a VCR in the mid-1980s and since then I have also recorded thousands of hours of TV programmes. I have spent too much of my time doing this, and have recorded too… Continue reading The man who recorded too much
Last month, sorting through a large plastic storage box full of cards, invitations, old paperwork and newspapers from significant dates, I found this: It’s a notebook dating back to 1947 containing my father’s handwritten records of his athletics achievements: distances and times in the events he competed in at various meetings all over Ireland. He… Continue reading My family’s 74-year span of athletics times
“I want to be a tomato.” Does this phrase mean anything to you? If not, how about saying it with the voice of a child, sounding really miserable, about to burst into tears? If it rings any bells, then you probably remember an advert for Prudential financial services from the late 1980s. I have been… Continue reading “I want to be a tomato”
It took nearly four years, but last month I finally tasted my first negroni, the cocktail that featured in the Weekend magazine in Saturday’s edition of The Guardian. It was described as “a serious drink for serious times … the cocktail for 2021”. For connoisseurs, it was probably the cocktail for several years ago. My brother was telling me about… Continue reading Word of the week: negroni
Rest in peace Amy Winehouse. As you probably know, she died 10 years ago yesterday, Saturday 23 July 2011, aged 27. The anniversary has been marked by a documentary featuring new interviews with her parents, and plenty of tributes which continue throughout this weekend. I remember the day of her death well. That night I played… Continue reading And just like that, they were gone: Amy Winehouse, a short-lived band, the 12 Bar Club
Anyone who has spent time here in London will know that the city’s public transport system is divided into Zones. Zone 1 is central London, covering the area bounded by the Circle Line and a little bit beyond. Or rather the Circle Line as it was until the beginning of this century, when, as its… Continue reading No free parking in Zones 1, 2 or 3
The Compartments 