Ever been heckled by sheep? Well, I have. Round here is mainly sheep country. It’s pretty much entirely agricultural and although there are arable crops and other livestock, there are more sheep than anything else. That means that the bleating of ovines is part of the soundtrack of daily life. Usually, I find this rather…
While we’re on the subject of la rentrée, it might be worth pointing out that it’s not just the government, schools and social clubs that are starting up again after the summer. The chasse is back in town (well, the countryside hopefully). In case you don’t know, the chasse is the hunt and it’s a…
It’s all over. And that’s official. Summer, that is. In France. At the beginning of September, the summer holidays are officially over. The schools go back, government ministers and civil servants return to their desks, even the social clubs start up again after their two-month hiatus. And there’s currently a heatwave. As I write, the…
“If you get confused just listen to the music play” Jim’s left it to us to choose this week. I thought of quite a few, but when I searched my back catalogue of previous contributions I discovered that I’d already used most of them. Unaccountably though, not this one, which contains probably my most favourite…
Most people with even a passing acquaintance with France will know the French word for ‘hello’: ‘bonjour’ (literally ‘good day’). However, maybe not so many will be aware of how crucial an element of social intercourse that simple word really is. Fail to preface any and every interlocution with a friendly ‘bonjour’ and you will…
This week, Jim is seeking songs recorded at the famous Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama. As he notes, there are certainly plenty to chose from. However, I had already made my own choice before I finished reading Jim’s post last week, when he indicated that he was going to write about Bob Dylan’s ‘Gotta Serve…
This week, Jim is looking for one of Rolling Stone’s Top 500 songs ‘of all time’. I used the most recent iteration of this long-established list, so there are a number of songs by more modern artists – ones which are certainly well past my sell-by date. Apart from these young(ish) whippersnappers, most of the…
This week, Jim’s theme for Song Lyric Sunday is artistes who haven’t been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but who we think should have been. Naturally, the first thing I did, in a process of elimination. was to check out who was actually already in there. Pretty much all of the…
This week for Song Lyric Sunday, Jim is looking for a song by an artiste inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There’s no question that Pink Floyd deserve their place in that pantheon and this is a lovely, often overlooked, song from the 1970 album ‘Atom Heart Mother’. If I were a…
This week’s theme for Song Lyric Sunday is – perhaps a little morbidly – something that you would like to be played at your own funeral. That isn’t to say that I haven’t thought about it occasionally (who among us has not?, as Anthony Trollope might have put it.). However, it’s a bit tricky as…
the only deadhead in the hameau 