Last month, through a family connection, my son and I were invited to a “Strictly Come Dancing” Live show at the O2 Arena. We were in a corporate box usually reserved for client entertainment, but for various reasons there were no clients being entertained at this particular weekend matinee. The other attendees in the box… Continue reading The price of things: Coca-Cola at £15 a pint
Wednesday is my day for choosing a new Album of the week. This new habit was prompted by the example of the current Master of Jesus College Cambridge, Sonita Alleyne, as noted in this piece from last month. Sometimes, with a new habit, or any change in behaviour, you can over-plan how you want it… Continue reading Album of the week: #4 “Rockferry” (Duffy)
For at least 20 years Monday has been Quiz Night. Since the start of this century, when there were far fewer quiz shows on TV than there are now, “University Challenge” on BBC2 was one weekly show that I never missed, either live or recorded. The recordings were always on video. There was no iPlayer,… Continue reading Monday Night really is Quiz Night
Over the weekend Watford beat Liverpool 3-0 in the Premier League. It lifted them out of the relegation places, to the undoubted delight of their fans. Liverpool remain 22 points clear at the top of the table, still on course for their first league title for 30 years. In a preview on Saturday one of… Continue reading Word of the week: Invincible
Following on from three previous pieces (listed below) here’s another set of photos showing what remains after a pint of beer and a packet of crisps have been dealt with. They were taken at various bars in London. The concept of “The 4-Ring Man” was originally covered in this piece from 2018. As before, many… Continue reading The 4-Ring Man, in pictures (Part 4, Dec 2019–Feb 2020)
Recently I finished reading Susan Hill’s “Howards End is on the landing”, her memoir about “a year-long voyage through her books, in order to get to know her own collection again”. I started it in April 2017, and quoted from it at the time in this piece about typefaces, serifs and readability. I put the… Continue reading FAC OR REJECT
Before you read on, be aware that this piece contains many rude words, or rather the same curse word repeated many times in different forms. If you are sensitive to such things, or are under 13, please stop reading now. If not, continue to the next paragraph, after these photos of the CD cover and… Continue reading Album of the week: #3 “Norman … Rockwell!” (Lana del Rey) [contains rude words]
Here’s a picture of Connector, a childhood toy that we were given back in the 1960s. As I recall, it was a joint present for my brother and me. Our birthdays are two days apart, so bigger gifts like this were usually given jointly rather than to one or other of us. As the box… Continue reading Word of the week: Connector
For over two months now, since mid-December, a pattern has emerged in the Championship, the second tier of English football. In general, the team starting the weekend in third place has been unable to win. There have been two exceptions to this, but the trend has been pronounced enough for commentators to call it a… Continue reading The curse of third place
Today is a day full of zero’s and two’s: 20-02-2020. At 8:02pm tonight the date and time will read 20:20 20-02-2020. 18 years ago today we had the same collection of digits in a different order, and at 8:02pm the date and time read 20:02 20-02-2002. The significance of this, and we were aware of… Continue reading It was 18 years ago today (20:02 20-02-2002)
The Compartments 