Nineteen years ago today my wife and I were on honeymoon, taking it easy by the swimming pool in a converted farmhouse in Tuscany. The previous evening we had dinner in Florence, about an hour’s drive away, one of the most enjoyable meals we have ever shared. It was at an unpretentious family-run restaurant. When… Continue reading “No decaf. No cappuccino. No cream. Only raspberries!”
On this date in 1972 US athlete Dave Wottle won the 800m final at the Munich Olympics. I remember it well. It was the first Olympic year when I knew what was happening. I had been looking forward to the athletics events all summer but we missed some of them. We were on holiday in… Continue reading Olympic memories: Munich 1972, Wottle with the throttle
Like many people, I buy the daily paper far less often than I used to. Sales of most UK titles have halved in the last 10 years, a decline that cannot be attributed to mortality rates alone. I get The Guardian on Fridays and Saturdays, and hardly ever get a Sunday paper. I am back… Continue reading “Bar snack? (9)” and why I no longer do cryptic crosswords
Last night Bayern Munich beat Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final to win the trophy for the sixth time. As I wrote on the eve of the match, here, it was only the second time that a German team had taken on a French team in the final, and once again it was the… Continue reading Champions League finals and first-time losers
Tomorrow night, Sunday 23 August, many weeks later than usual, the final of the Champions League takes place. Bayern Munich will take on Paris Saint-German in Portugal for Europe’s premier club trophy. It will be the second time that a German team has played a French team in the final. The last time was in… Continue reading Champions League finals and teams from Spain, England and Italy (“The Big Three”)
The current UK #1 is “Head & Heart” by Joel Corry featuring MNEK, enjoying its fourth week at the top of the charts. I hadn’t heard it until a week ago, when I used this YouTube clip to check it out. Since then I have also heard it on BBC Radio 2 and have realized… Continue reading More Pop Trivia: a few updates prompted by “Head & Heart”, the current UK #1
Live sport has been back on our TV screens for many weeks now. Before that, for over two months at the height of lockdown here in the UK, there was no top-level sporting action available. I even cancelled my subscription sports channels, a rare display of proactive behaviour, as I noted in this piece in March.… Continue reading Word of the week: Ronnie!
Last Saturday evening I watched the 1977 film “The Spy Who Loved Me”, Roger Moore’s third outing as James Bond. ITV have been showing Bond movies at weekends throughout this summer. I have caught an hour or more of several of these screenings but had not watched any of them all the way through. I… Continue reading Drinking with Bryan Marshall
This time last year, while on holiday in Spain, I was bitten repeatedly by insects. It prompted this piece (Holiday notes: sun, sea, sand, and insect bites) which includes some photos showing the after-effects of insect bites on my skin. It came with a warning, in case you are squeamish about such things. I have,… Continue reading Insect bites (August 2020 update)
If things had gone to plan (and that phrase must have been uttered billions of times in the last five months) we would now be enjoying the Summer Olympics from Tokyo. Like most sporting events in this year of COVID-19 it has been postponed, in this case to July and August 2021. In place of… Continue reading Olympic memories: London 2012 and London 1948, the closest any of my family has come to taking part
The Compartments 