General ignorance… Which is the highest ever grossing show on Broadway? Probably the one with ‘Climb Every Mountain’ in it. How many times has Rafa Nadal won the French Open? Is this something to do with tennis? I don’t do tennis. Who played the Young Victoria? Prince Albert. Who sang the 1957 original of ‘That’ll…
Back in September 2015, when I was still hankering to provide regular satirical (but affectionate) commentaries on local life. I produced this news update… What you may have missed Newer members of the growing expat community here in Faire-Le-Dodo (87) may have been nonplussed by the strange state of suspended animation that our commune appears…
Now, I have a bit of a pedantic problem with this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, where we are asked to showcase a ‘philosophical’ song. Some readers may be aware that I actually have a university degree in Philosophy, albeit from over 50 years ago. Although that’s not so long that I still didn’t automatically respond…
Another slice of bah humbug from 2014… Well, here we are at the end of August and self-doubt may be starting to creep into WordPress’ ‘365 Days of Writing Prompts’: “Are writing prompts a useful exercise, or do you find them to be too limiting and/or hokey?” Yes, I do find writing prompts useful as a supplement to…
I don’t belieeeve it! Why did the chicken cross the road? To see if the egg was already there. Why are eggs oval in shape? Better to ask why ovals are egg-shaped. Who said Humpty Dumpty was an egg? That’s fake news, so probably Truth Social. What is fumigate? A political scandal involving a smoking…
From this week in 2013, a piece about the gift of giving – or, more accurately, the giving of gifts. As time goes by We were mulling over recently what present to buy for our daughter’s eighth wedding anniversary. Seeking inspiration, not to mention enlightenment and authoritative knowledge, naturally we looked online. At anniversariesbyyear.com (yes…
I don’t believe a word of it….and nor should you. What is a saga? Too long: bored now. What is a synopsis? Too short: already bored… What is a dialect Yew wha? What is a goblin? I thought this was a family show. What is a pinstripe? Outdated uniform of 80s investment bankers (guilty as…
Say what now? What is an ingot? Bed, board and stabling for up to ten horses. What is a pekinese? A quadripedal spoilt brat. Probably. What is gumbo? Hmmmm. Afraid I’m stuck on this one. What is crème fraiche? Sounds like some of that foreign muck. What is a patisserie? An Irish daytime TV soap…
From August 2014, on the art of masterly inactivity. I can’t help it, I’m an analyst “Procrastination. What have you been putting off doing? Why?” We’ve talked about this before on this blog, albeit from a different perspective. So you could consider this as an update. A belated one, obviously. If – no, let’s be fair, when – I’m…
General knowledge ignorance….. Which monarch famously said: “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king” Queen Anne – the one who had to be buried in a square coffin. What is the rarest blood type in humans? Vampire – because there’s…
the only deadhead in the hameau 