In 2018, I wrote an essay about England’s men’s football team and their performances at the 2018 World Cup in which they reached the semi-finals and lost to Croatia on penalties. Among my usual long-winded, drawn out set of wholly unrelated digressions, I wrote at length – for a change – about the statistics of…
My Nonny’s Dead. Tolerable Folk Music Part 3: Anne Briggs.
In my house, Anne Briggs is the aural equivalent of Marmite. Which, in itself, is unusual because mostly, even though the three of us currently living here have differing tastes in music with some overlap, mostly we’re not inclined to get too uppity about each others’ tastes that don’t tally with our own. Well, that’s…
Hey Nonny! Bagpuss and Learning Through Playing Together. Tolerable Folk Music, part 2.
In the first (oddly popular) part of this little series I mentioned that I’d been into folk music from being a little kid up to the age of about nine or ten, then I wasn’t into it until I was in my early thirties. What I didn’t really go into was why, either in terms…
Hey Nonny! Flaxen Haired, Lamenting Women Are Alright By Me. Tolerable Folk Music, part 1: Introduction, Shirley Collins and Davy Graham.
Folk Roots – New Routes: Shirley Collins and Davy Graham. I’ve written about my on-off relationship with Folk Music before and how I liked it, then didn’t, then did again. The last “did again” phase has been ongoing for maybe fourteen or fifteen years, which isn’t quite as long as the preceding “off” phase, which…
The Ultimate Battle of The Titans – David Bowie vs. Peter Noone. Sort of, but not really.
As is often the case, I didn’t actually mean to write about what I ended up writing about. I meant to write about Baroque ‘n’ Roll again, but instead I ended up getting bogged down about Peter Noone out of Herman’s Hermits, David Bowie, Nietzsche, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and Sandie Shaw. I feel that I ought…
This Be The Curse. Or, We (Don’t) Mean It, Maaaan.
First things first: I’ve realised that my waffling has been getting worse, not better. When I first pressed what WordPress laughingly call the “publish” button, it was about 12,000 words long. About “normal” for me these days. And I got sick of reading it. As it was about my big deal, I thought I’d have a…
Pus In Cahoots. Or, Dominic Cummings’s Career as The Back End of A Pantomime Horse.
“Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.“ Otto Von Bismarck. “He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.“ Sun Tzu. “The minimax: choose a strategy that minimises the possible maximum loss.” John Von Neumann on Game Theory. “Never interrupt…
Crabs & Dogs. First They Came For The Socialists… Or, How Labour Lost The Election. Brexit, Corbynism and Political (In)Correctness.
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— …
The Phenomenon of Donovan: Part 2 – Psychedelic Flower Child. Or, Gentle As Anything.
“I opened the door to the psychedelic revolution.” Donovan. In 1965, Donovan had exploded onto the music scene, and not just in Britain either. Catch The Wind, his debut single reached number 4 in Britain and number 23 on the Billboard charts in America. He was 18 years old. His first two albums and the…
The Phenomenon of Donovan: Part 1 – Introduction and Acoustic Troubadour.
“Bob Dylan is the poor man’s Donovan.” John Peel. “I’ll never forget hearing Donovan say “wanker” backstage at the Albert Hall about somebody. I mean, I was absolutely…I almost dropped to my knees…it was like being punched in the face. A terrible, upsetting shock.” John Peel. “If I can wend my way through the flowers…
