In the first decade of this century I met many people who would say, of themselves, “I’m a very spiritual person”. They would emphasize the word “spiritual”. Often I would ask such people if they practised any specific religion but the answer was always no. They didn’t need to. They were very spiritual, you know.… Continue reading Word of the week: spiritual
Here’s something I’ve noticed over the last 10 years at swimming pools here in West London. The older a man is, the skimpier his swimwear. The size of a man’s swimming trunks (for want of a better description) is inversely proportional to the age of the man. I noticed it when I was a member of a… Continue reading Inversely Proportional: male swimwear and the age of the swimmer
Most people of my age and background will recognize the word Telecaster as a guitar model, a solid-body electric guitar made by US manufacturer Fender. People with an interest in the mechanics of electric guitars will know many of the things that I have just learnt from reading this Wikipedia page, although I already knew… Continue reading Word of the week: Telecaster
Last year I wrote a couple of pieces about trophy-winning football teams and the colours they play in. The first piece was posted towards the end of the domestic season here in England, and the second was just after the finals of the European competitions. There were two main observations. First, teams in blue were… Continue reading Blue is the colour, again, and Red trumps White
Today, 40 days after Easter Sunday, is the Feast of the Ascension. For the first time in over a decade the Catholic Church here in the UK is celebrating the Feast on the day itself, Thursday. In recent years the Ascension has been celebrated the following weekend, on the 7th Sunday of Easter. Some years,… Continue reading Easter Dividends
For several months during this football season I have been reflecting regularly on the progress of Leeds United FC, the team that I have supported since childhood. The most recent of these pieces is here, and it contains links to every other Leeds-related post since December 2018. Today, Bank Holiday Monday, was the final day… Continue reading Word of the week: play-offs
Here are the questions and answers from the second “All Stars” edition of ITV quiz show “Tenable”, first shown on Sunday 12 May 2019. Team name: The Junglist Massive, captained by Tony Blackburn. Here are the team members, all of whom appeared in “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me out of Here”, along with the charities they were playing for: Martin Roberts, the Martin Roberts Foundation: “… trying to raise enough… Continue reading “Tenable” All Stars Episode 2 questions and answers [The Junglist Massive]
As noted in this piece from last month, we continue to watch repeats of the US sitcom “Friends” most weekdays. We record the two episodes that are broadcast from 4pm on Channel 5 and my wife, daughter and I watch them at some point in the evening. Occasionally my son joins us for the odd… Continue reading Word of the week: spackle
In January 2016, a few weeks after this Blog was set up, I wrote this piece, “You always have time to pee”. It brought together two things (a story that was in the news and a personal memory) to illustrate what we have tried to teach our children throughout their young lives: there is always… Continue reading “You always have time to pee” revisited
Here are the questions and answers from the first “All Stars” edition of ITV quiz show “Tenable”, first shown on Sunday 5 May 2019. Team name: The Medal Heads, captained by Iwan Thomas, a very personable team of sporting medal winners. Here are the team members, along with the charities they were playing for: Tessa… Continue reading “Tenable” All Stars Episode 1 questions and answers [The Medal Heads]
The Compartments 