Tony Curtis 1925-2010

Very sad to hear of the death of one of my childhood heroes, Tony Curtis, at the age of 85. A handsome, rugged and stylish man, he was a surprisingly versatile actor in his younger days. He received an Oscar nomination for his performance as John ‘Joker’ Jackson in 1959’s The Defiant Ones, starring alongside Sidney […]

Ham roll with the changes?

How did I miss this? Have Ham Sandwich have done a ‘Sugababes’ and changed their entire line-up? This photo beside the review of their new album White Fox in this morning’s Metro Herald is the first I’ve heard of it. Either that, or it’s the first published result of a wacky new Hot Press photoshoot, where Podge and […]

No mo’ Haribo woe

Much to the delight of my children, I recently stumbled upon the existence of vegetarian Haribo. They’re rather good too, coming in a mix of Strawberry shape/flavour, Cola Bottles and Lemon Starfish. Jellies have always been a source of woe for my veggie kids; they love the bright colours and aromas but they also have […]

Gothic

O would some Power the gift to give us To see ourselves as others see us! It would from many a blunder free us, And foolish notion: What airs in dress and gait would leave us, And even devotion! Robert Burns

Arthur and the nights around the pub table

A doffed hat and little bow to Irish Times’ reader Michael McEvaney, who had this excellent letter published in today’s paper: Madam, – Happy Arthur’s Day, our annual celebration of Guinness’s stranglehold on the Irish brewing industry for the past 50 years or more, a stranglehold that means Ireland is the only beer-drinking country in […]

Conspicuous Consumers: Sue Lawley

You know how record shop staff are: bored, indifferent, clockwatching, hate dealing with enquiries or, indeed, any member of the general public. Well, having celebrities stroll into your shop is easily the highlight of any day/week/ month/ year. Incredibly famous people have to go to the shops too! And so it was one day in late 1994 when I was […]

It’s still all pious in the sky

Judge not… The Pope’s visit to Scotland brought my general confusion about my religious beliefs to the surface again. What do I believe? It’s always been a succession of tolerance and intolerance for religion, and nothing I can do or think seems to flatten it out. I’m like Spooky Mulder, I Want To Believe. But […]

Comedy nightmares

I dreamed that the population was divided into two distinct camps: those who willfully provide Michael McIntyre with a lucrative career, and those who want to continually whack the unfunny, jelly-bellied, smug, self-satisfied, pompous, middle-class, gibbering oaf in the face with a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan. We won the ensuing battle, of course, then we […]

Mind the step…

Have you seen this print ad? It’s for a well-known ‘value’ furniture store who probably thought it’d be really cute to advertise its stair carpet and underlay service with a sleeping toddler, presumably to show you just how snug it would be. Unfortunately, it only looks as if the child has slipped down the stairs and ended up […]

Those albums I’ll always go back to…

This started life as another one of those silly Facebook distractions but then turned out to be a far more pleasant excursion that I’d first imagine. The basic rule was to write down 15 albums that always stick with you and share them with 15 friends whose 15 albums you’d like to see too. I automatically picked from […]