Over the weekend, I was sad to read of the passing of Chas & Dave pianist Chas Hodges. Hodges, one half of the London pair who in the 1980’s taught us when it comes to a vacation, “You can keep the Costa Brava, I tell you mate I’d rava have a day darn Margate wiv all me family.” Not forgetting also educating their discerning listeners that when diminutive Tottenham Hotspurs […]
I had another trip over to my son’s new home today. Painting, grass cutting and out of tune singing to 1980’s hits the top of my agenda. If not singing along to music on Pulse 80’s FM, I tend to hum the base line of the 30+ year old refrain. The humming solution ordinarily manifesting itself when confronting lyrics I don’t know. To my mind, a far more apt substitute […]
If only I were a rich man! – A sentiment subscribed to by those who feel there’s happy every afters in that there pretty green. A misguided idea believing being well off is the route to a trouble-free existence; a catalyst to a utopian place where misery and anxiety dare not darken it’s door. There is a saying that “I’d rather be poor in a mansion, than skint in a […]
As I flounder in search of inspiration for today’s literary topic, my eyes are drawn to the globe perched among the shelves of my dining room bookcase. The area of the sphere in my immediate vision the multitude South Pacific islands east of Australia. Tuvulu, Kiribati, Vanuatu and Tokelau just four of the hundreds of islands residing in that area of the world attracting my unreliable sight organs. Four names […]
There was a boy A very strange enchanted boy They say he wandered very far Very far Over land and sea A little shy And sad of eye But very wise Very wise was he Then one day A magic day he passed my way And while he spoke of many things Fools and kings This he said to me The greatest thing You’ll ever learn Is to love And […]
I recently watched a few earlier episodes of TV drama The Sopranos. A series that, despite it’s final episode being over ten years old, maintains a lofty perch on the Gary Strachan shelves of sanctuary. You may wonder what the heck the Gary Strachan shelves of sanctuary represent. As I’ve just making up the term, I certainly do!…… That being said, I’ll try to ‘wing it’ with an explanation of […]
Yesterday, the grounds of Belvoir Castle proved to be convivial venue hosts for Mrs S and my evening entertainment. No relation to the late Record Breakers TV presenter Roy Castle, the Leicestershire fortification provided an imposing backdrop for buoyant open air concert goers. These revellers partying to disco tunes of yore, performed by wandering balladeer Nile Rodgers and his band Chic. Last night’s ‘intruders’ of the land at the base […]
