This time last year we were regular viewers of the US sitcom “Friends”, 25 years after it was first broadcast. I wrote about it from time to time, first of all here, and later in pieces like this one about the word “Hibachi”. While we were working through all 10 series, I noticed that many… Continue reading The 10 Oscar-winning “Friends” actors
Earlier this month, in this piece, I mentioned Sonita Alleyne, the new Master of Jesus College Cambridge. She had appeared on BBC Radio 4’s “Desert Island Discs” and, as that earlier piece noted, she is the first head of an Oxbridge college (as far as I know) who was born after me. Her musical choices… Continue reading Album of the week: #1 “Pin-ups” (David Bowie)
Here are the questions and answers for the current series of ITV quiz show “Tenable”, episodes broadcast between Monday 10 and Friday 14 February 2020, Series 4 Episodes 56-60 (S4Ep56, S4Ep57 and so on). The format here is the same as in earlier pieces such as this one from last week: a list of the… Continue reading “Tenable” questions, week ending 14 February 2020 (Series 4, Episodes 56-60)
Later tonight in Los Angeles the latest set of Academy Award winners will be announced. It will be the early hours of Monday morning here in the UK, and I will be asleep. The films that win over the next few hours were all released in 2019. As I wrote in this piece two years… Continue reading Up to date with Oscar winners, for a few more hours at least
Ever since I was a child, people have been commenting on how young certain groups of people are, or how young they look. It started with observations about policemen, and possibly a single comedian on TV asking, “Have you noticed how young policemen look these days?” It became a cliché: policemen look younger than they… Continue reading Observations on specific groups of people, and how young they look
Here are the questions and answers for the current series of ITV quiz show “Tenable”, episodes broadcast between Monday 3 and Friday 7 February 2020, Series 4 Episodes 51-55 (S4Ep51, S4Ep52 and so on). The format here is the same as in earlier pieces such as this one from last week: a list of the… Continue reading “Tenable” questions, week ending 7 February 2020 (Series 4, Episodes 51-55)
Another month begins, and once again Leeds United are top of the Championship, the second tier of English football. For the seventh month in a row on this Blog, here is a screenshot taken from the BBC website to confirm this. As noted often on these pages I have followed the team since childhood. I… Continue reading Turning points
Here are the questions and answers for the current series of ITV quiz show “Tenable”, episodes broadcast between Monday 27 and Friday 31 January 2020, Series 4 Episodes 46-50 (S4Ep46, S4Ep50 and so on). The format here is the same as in earlier pieces such as this one from last week: a list of the… Continue reading “Tenable” questions, week ending 31 January 2020 (Series 4, Episodes 46-50)
As you may have noticed, eSwatini is the new name for the African nation previously known as Swaziland. This BBC Country Profile tells us that it is one of the world’s few remaining absolute monarchies, and that the change of name was announced by its king, Mswati III, in 2018, “a move critics said was… Continue reading Word of the week: eSwatini
Here are the questions and answers for the current series of ITV quiz show “Tenable”, episodes broadcast between Monday 20 and Friday 24 January 2020, Series 4 Episodes 41-45 (S4Ep41, S4Ep42 and so on). The format here is the same as in earlier pieces such as this one from last week: a list of the… Continue reading “Tenable” questions, week ending 24 January 2020 (Series 4, Episodes 41-45)
The Compartments 