From 2013. I’m not a poet – and boy, do I know it. Haiku: On the gift of poesy I always wantedTo write a haiku…Oh wait,I think I just have. (That’s enough poetry – Ed.) Fandango’s Flashback Friday 19 June 2026
If my contribution to SLS last week was pretty mainstream (and none the worse for that), this one’s a bit out there. The theme for this week is dependence and/or trustworthiness. I dismissed the idea of ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’, good song though it is, because the first thing that came into my…
Something beginning with K perhaps?… Artichoke A following wind. Brass A pair of highly polished peaches. Criteria Sticker required to access low emission zones in France. Doppelganger A double agent who has infiltrated both the Crips and the Bloods. Effervescent The smell of a bubble bath. Frugal A female fruitarian. Gossamer Someone who goes to…
From 2014, another example of a grammar pedant at work… Laying Down The Law You may have seen that the State opening of Parliament took place last week. This is when Her Majesty blocks the traffic in central London to go to the House of Lords and deliver ‘the Queen’s Speech’. This homily – not written…
The first Sunday of the month, so it’s time to find something by an artiste with a June birthday. As ever, there’s no shortage of possibilities, but I didn’t have to look very far this time. It just had to be Macca: Paul McCartney, born on 14 June 1942 – in Liverpool, of course. But…
Are you pulling my leg? Again? What is the difference between Biweekly and a fortnight? Another two biweeklies. How much oil would your lantern need to last a fortnight? But I don’t need a lantern… If you spent a fortnight in Paris, what would you see? A big dent in your bank balance. What’s the…
From 2014, a musing on parental responsibility… No, I will NOT act my age ‘Granpa, do you miss being a kid?’ Not the sort of question you expect to come, à propos of nothing, from a seven year old tucking enthusiastically into his breakfast. Nonetheless, a fair enough one, and deserving of a measured response. ‘Well no,…
Don’t believe a word of it… What is a tandem? When you forget to put Factor 50 on the soles of your feet. What is a periwinkle? That’s private. What’s the difference between a pitcher and a ewer? Ewers don’t play baseball. Who was Penelope Pitstop? Token eye candy from Formula 1 TV coverage in…
“When faced with confrontation do you head for the hills or walk straight in? Was there ever a time you wished you’d had the opposite reaction?” This is only tangentially about confrontation (it’s only a prompt,though, isn’t it?), but today I’m going to tell you about the time I heckled Led Zeppelin. Bet that got your…
“They’re a band beyond description” When I saw that this week’s SLS prompt was about expressing appreciation for music, singing and radio, there were three obvious songs that sprang to mind: Abba’s ‘Thank You For The Music’, Barry Manilow’s ‘I Write The Songs’ and ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by Buggles. Perhaps too obvious though.…
Not so much fibs as truths that dare not speak their name…(I have a pathological hatred of business meetings, if you hadn’t guessed already). What is a board room? A place where you are guaranteed to be bored. Who usually has the chair? A person – almost certainly male – who has somehow got himself…
From 2013, why you should never talk to me about the ‘romance’ of travel… Go forth and worry Whoever first said that ‘travelling is better than arriving’ was probably being dragged to Tyburn to meet a masked man with a disembowelling knife and a mean streak. Or on the final approach to Heathrow in the…
The theme of telephones or, more broadly, communications has come around again for Sing Lyric Sunday this week. Of course there is a huge catalogue of songs on this topic and I’ve already harvested some of the low-hanging fruit, such as Blondie’s ‘Hanging On The Telephone’ and Chuck Berry’s ‘The Promised Land’, but it’s a…
Nahhh….. Biblioklept Someone who plagiarises the Old Testament Acnestis A pimply youth. Wrest pin A badge sported by fans of WWE. Agelast A grumpy old man. Peristeronic When only one of the speakers of your stereo system is working. Limerence Displaying a deep respect for citrus fruit. Sonder Pointing out the location of something in…
From 2014. Who would you most like to have round for dinner? The Luggage “The interview: Interview your favourite fictional character.” When I first saw this latest of WordPress’ ‘365 Days of Writing Prompts’ looming on the horizon, I must say that it sounded quite interesting. After all, in the sixty-odd summers that I’ve been shuffling…
the only deadhead in the hameau 