Happy Birthday Myrtle….

Happy Birthday Myrtle XXX 🥳 🎂 🎉 

85 years young!

Love and Other Acts of Violence @ Donmar Warehouse...

Last week Stuart and I went to see Cordelia Lynn’s new play Love and Other Acts of Violence at the Donmar Warehouse in London's glitzy Covent Garden.

Starting out as a two-hander on a bare stage with no scenery the play tells the story of the rise of Nazi Germany through the prism of an educated pair who are falling in love as around them the world turns to chaos.

She (Abigail Weinstock) is a young Jewish physicist initially in denial of what is happening around them - despite her grandmother's similar experiences in the past - and he (Richard Katz) is a left-wing poet ready to protest as each little freedom is taken away. They find it ironic and almost funny. They don't quite believe it - at first.

Their relationship is fractious, passionate, and very real. But as society splinters around them, the couple's struggle to survive erupts into violence both within their home and beyond.

Jarringly, the action then suddenly changes and jumps into the past - to the previously hinted at grandmother's own experiences of antisemitism. A full set descends onto the stage from above and a full cast of characters play out an horrific scene of family home invasion and bloody murder. It's a shocking watch.

Elayce Ismail directs the cast of Weinstock and Katz. All are excellent.

The night starts as a subversive and intimate love story about inheritance and the cycles of politics and history. But it soon descends into a very real story of just fucking horrible being Jewish must have been not only during the Nazi rise to power but for years and years before. Chilling.

Long(ish) Covid?

4 months since Covid but I dont know if I have some mild form of “long covid” or not but my sense of taste hasn't really returned and I am getting really tired in the afternoons and sleep much longer at night than even I did.  Hopefully it's just post-viral fatigue and will gradually go.

Metro…

Has anyone lost their Metro? Just found one on the train.

I Love The NHS….

On Sunday morning I was still coughing badly. 7 days now. But as it was a Sunday, what to do? So I called the local pharmacy at 10am and they put me onto iHub - the Islington out of hours GP service. iHub were fab, a GP called me straight back and said I needed some cough mixture (how 1970s!) and some antibiotics and he was sending an E-prescription to my local pharmacy (via The Spine) as we spoke and if I pop down there right now I can pick both meds up. 

He paused and then said, “Whatsmore, I can see you have just celebrated turning 60 so it will all be free of charge for you today! Call me later if you feel any worse”

I do love our NHS. 

I was ill, it was out of hours yet… -> free consultation and free meds in minutes.

White Noise @_bridgetheatre - Be entertained, be challenged and, yes, be made to feel uncomfortable. Go see. Review ->>>

Last night Stuart and I went to see Suzan-Lori Parks's provocative, soul-searching, free-floating play about race; White Noise at The Bridge Theatre in London's glitzy London Bridge Quarter.

The venue sent us a content guidance before we went. Please note this play contains:
- Depictions of slavery and racial violence
- Discussions of racism and racial injustice
- Multiple gunshots
- Strobe lighting and haze throughout

They got that right!

Parks introduces us to four thirty-somethings; Leo (Ken Nwosu), Misha (Faith Omole), Ralph (James Corrigan) and Dawn (Helena Wilson) who have been inseparable since college. They were even in a band together.

We like these people. They are nice. A sort of Millennial Friends with lots of joking around. Making their way together in the Big City, they are what Americans call 'liberal', open-minded and socially aware. Misha is building her brand by live-streaming her broadly satirical one-woman talk show, "Ask a Black.”; Ralph is waiting for tenure at his university, and as a lawyer, Dawn spends her days fighting for social justice. Leo would be a talented visual artist – if only he could sleep. As best friends and lovers, confident in their woke-ness, their connection with each other is stronger than anything else – until, that is, Leo is assaulted by the police in a racially motivated incident. Shaken to the core, he brings to the close-knit group an extreme proposition.

Theatre goers wary of spoilers should look away now. ***Spoilers ahead!***

Consumed by anger with the racist police, Leo directs his rage at Ralph, challenging his white friend to pay off Leo’s student loans to rent him as his personal slave for 40 days. Leo jokes, at least as a slave he'll feel protected by his master. He says he feels like a slave sometimes anyway. And it might just help him understand his roots better and maybe even cure his insomnia.

Leo's three friends initially are appalled. But he gradually talks them round. Eventually they agree. Ralf will be Leo's master for 40 days. They all sign a contract.

Things starts off all very light-heartedly. Lots of knowing, post-modern play-acting. Although we as the audience squirm, the characters seem to be having fun with it.

However, the friends soon sink deeper and deeper into their master/slave roles. As a joke Ralf gets Leo to wear an antique slave collar — heavy, metal, aged, ugly, hurtful. It is genuinely shocking to watch.

Predictably relationships sour. As time goes by, the joking turns to awkwardness. The awkwardness to resentment. The resentment to anger. The anger to hate. The hate to violence. Yoda said it best.

At the end the woman behind us was calling out to the actors in fear, “Nooo!” The lady opposite us had her hands in front of her face.

Directed by Polly Findlay the play with its close relationships and casual couplings feels natural and unforced. But it's the content had us on the edges of our seats throughout despite its 160 mins running time. Frank discussions about race from all perspectives can and should make you feel uncomfortable. And Parks pulls no punches.

So, if you want to be entertained, to be challenged and, yes, to feel uncomfortable I don't think there is a better more vital place to go at the moment than The Bridge Theatre.

Wake Up Call…

I asked the receptionist at my hotel if I could get a wake-up call.

They said "Your best years are slipping away from you. You drink too much. What are you doing with your life?" 

The Midnight Bell @ Sadler’s Wells Theatre...

Last night Stuart and I went to see Matthew Bourne’s new dance show The Midnight Bell at The Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London's glitzy Islington.

Exploring the seedy under-belly of 1930s London life where ordinary people emerge from cheap boarding houses nightly to pour out their passions, hopes and dreams in the pubs and bars of fog-bound Soho and Fitzrovia, The Midnight Bell is a dark, fluid and compelling show. The wonderful use of music from the period and the amazing dancers make it all look so effortless.

The Midnight Bell is based on the novels of Patrick Hamilton, author of Hangover Square and 20,000 Streets Under the Sky, as well as the plays Rope and Gas Light (which both famously became films). Disfigured in a car accident, Hamilton spend years drinking in Soho pubs and obsessed with a young sex worker, a storyline mirrored in the book that gave Bourne’s show its title. His books tell stories borne out of years of social interactions with the working man and woman at his favourite location - the London Pub.

Ten dancers. Five couples. All looking for love. "The relationships don’t all turn out well but it’s a world that’s believable," says Bourne. Regret, fumbling, and a hint of mystery. We loved it.

Two to Skaro, please….

Brighton 0-0 Arsenal... Away Day fun.

We had a lovely away on Saturday by the seaside watching Arsenal take on Brighton. Sadly not a brilliant result but we had a fun time.

No Time to Die : a 3* Bond - Spoiler free comments ...

The good stuff...

Lots of call backs to previous Bond films

Lots of twists

Q is now a major character

Good actors in it

It's good to have Bond films back (i.e. action, car chases, shooting)

The bad stuff...

Way, way too long (it could have lost an hour and been better for that)

The plot was lame / confusing

The script was tepid

The jokes didn't land

The baddie wasn't 'bad' enough - and there were too many of them

Bourne and Mission Impossible films do it all so much better these days

Dan Craig looks his age

Twice I actually said to myself "what the fuck!" at some stupid plot point

It's a sort of mid-range Bond film in the Pierce Brosnan era.

Nothing like as good as Skyfall (high watermark Craig era).

 

Every Private Eye cover since 1961...

Private Eye started a few weeks after I was born. Take a look at every Private Eye cover since 1961. 

http://www.private-eye.co.uk/covers.php?showme=1325

The Prince of Egypt @ Dominion Theatre... Lovely lighting.

Last night Elliot, Jonathan, Darce, Steve, and I went to see The Prince of Egypt at Dominion Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

Lovely lighting.

'Nuff said.



Ok, Ok, a bit more.

The Prince of Egypt is based upon the 1998 animated musical drama film produced by DreamWorks. The story is the biblical tale of Moses (Luke Brady) and Rameses (Liam Tamne), the Egyptian plagues, how the Jews were led out of Egypt through the Red Sea. The telling of the tale was naff though. The main leads sang well but the staging was a bit 'Eurovision Half-time Act'. The bikini-clad dancers were very 1980s, the acting a bit 'end of term school play', and the songs forgettable. Jesus Christ Superstar it ain't.

Nice to see the boys though.

Britain On Film...

Lots of Britain On Film clips. Zoom in to your favourite part of the UK. Or search by subject. Hours of fun.

https://player.bfi.org.uk/britain-on-film/map 

60th Birthday Surprises: Sunday afternoon: 3-1 win at the North London Derby...

Sunday started off with a spontaneous rendition of Happy Birthday to You when I arrived at Block 6 at the Emirates Stadium and then concluded with 3-1 win at the North London Derby. Perfect day.

60th Birthday Surprises: Saturday...

On Saturday we had a birthday lunch with the boys at Granary Square which turned into a hedonistic all-dayer and ended up with dancing until 2am. #favouriteshirts

60th Birthday Surprises: Friday night...

On Friday night my beloved Stuart sprang an early surprise family birthday soirée for me when I got home from work. The pork pie cake was a real treat!

Anything Goes @ Barbican Theatre...

The other week Stuart and I went to see Anything Goes at the Barbican Theatre in London's glitzy Barbican Centre.

Featuring music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Guy Bolton and PG Wodehouse, Anything Goes is set aboard an ocean liner crossing the Atlantic from New York to London. Much nonsense happens aboard but it's not the plot we were there to see; it was the breath-taking musical numbers.

If you like your musical theatre pre-Golden Age (and we do) then this is the show for you. It was a toe-tapping, jazz-handed, tap dancing tour de force. We laughed, we clapped, we sung along.

The 15-minute end of act one finale with the whole cast tap-dancing like crazy to Anything Goes is one of the most wonderful things I have seen on stage in many a year. Wow! Just 'wow'!

Director-cum-choreographer Kathleen Marshall delivers big time.

But the night doesn't just go to Ms Marshall, but also to Sutton Foster, who reprises her Broadway role as nightclub singer Reno Sweeney 10 years after winning the Leading Actress in a Musical Tony for her performance. We were on our feet.

Go see.

60+ Oyster Photocard…

One small benefit of turning 60 later this coming weekend is the 60+ Oyster Photocard*. Whatsmore I got mine a few days early. So that's free travel on public transport in London until I get the Freedom Pass in 7 years time. Yay! 60 is the new 59!

 

"If you're 60 or over and live in a London borough, you can get free travel on our transport services with an Oyster photocard.

Free travel on bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, TfL Rail and most National Rail services in London afrev 9:30am. You can travel free on TfL services from 09:00 weekdays and anytime at weekends and on bank holidays."

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/60-plus-oyster-photocard

 

*The 60+ Oyster Photocard was first created in late 2012 by Boris Johnson when he was London mayor to keep his grey vote onside.

 

Indecent @ Menier Chocolate Factory...

Last Friday night Stuart and I went to see Paula Vogel’s queer play Indecent at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London's glitzy London Bridge Quarter.

Deftly directed by Rebecca Taichman, Indecent is a heady mix of theatre, music (a small live klezmer band), and singing and an eloquent yet poignant love letter to Yiddish Theatre in general. It explores censorship, sexuality, and a divided community surrounding Sholem Asch's (in)famous play 'God of Vengeance'.

The crux of the early part of Indecent is censorship and how Jews might criticise themselves without ‘fuelling the fire of anti-Semitism’. Of course, the holocaust looms large over the play, but how could it not when making a play about Jewish lesbians in Poland in the nineteen twenties and thirties.

Indecent follows the story of the debut performance of ‘God of Vengeance’ and the theatre troupe’s travels across Europe and then to America. Controversy is never far away, which when produced on Broadway in 1923 caused the cast of the original production to be arrested on the grounds of obscenity. Is it a seminal work of Jewish culture or an act of traitorous libel?

Whatever your view of ‘God of Vengeance’, Indecent is a beautiful play, about a play, and it certainly resonates for now.

Rockets and Blue Lights @ Dorfman Theatre...

Last week Stuart and I went to see Winsome Pinnock’s play Rockets and Blue Lights at the Dorfman Theatre on London's glitzy South Bank.

Directed by Miranda Cromwell, a radical retelling of the horrors of black British history, the play is packed with stories jumping as it does from the present day to the past and back again.

The present-day features actors rehearsing a film called The Ghost Ship about the Zong massacre of enslaved Africans in 1781. The past revolves around a family that has lived through slavery into abolition.

Back in the past again we see JMW Turner paint his The Slave Ship as well has a present meditation on that very painting - an atrocity hidden in plain sight.

There is an avalanche of plotlines, and ideas; detailed stories, and stories about stories. The slave trade, its abolition, debates on the politics of storytelling, the injustice of underrepresentation, Turner’s life, his politics, and remembering – or sometimes forgetting – black trauma in the present day.

It's a swirling haunting play made all the more important by the Black creatives who tell their own stories without deferring to a white gaze.

We loved it.

Cloudbusting @ Islington Assembly Hall...

Last Saturday night Dawn, Francesca, Joanna, Charlotte, Stuart and I went to see Cloudbusting at the Islington Assembly Hall.

Performing the entire Kate Bush album Never Forever (40th anniversary delayed by a year due to Covid) along with another bunch of hits, rarities and fan favourites - it was another great spine-tingling show from Cloudbusting.

Open House Architectural Tour: Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art...

Last Sunday afternoon Stuart and I took a look around the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art in London's glitzy Islington.

The tour was guided and free, being part of the annual Open House Architectural series. The house was beautiful and there were some interesting pieces but perhaps not quite the must-see pull of say John Soane's.

Fever Pitch @TheHopeTheatre : Great show. Great performances. Go see! @JackTrueman14 @SorchaCorcoran1 @KennedyBloomer

Last night Elliot, Jonathan, Darce, Steve, George, and I went to see Fever Pitch at The Hope Theatre in London's glitzy Islington.

"When you’re in love nothing else matters. You become obsessed. But it can get pretty tricky if that obsessive love is directed towards eleven men wearing the same shirt and running around like idiots for ninety minutes every Saturday."

Based the Nick Hornby book of the same name the play is an exhilarating, moving and brutally funny look at that obsessive love of football that will appeal to all football fans - and all football haters - alike!

Fever Pitch charts over two decades of 'Nick' and his total and utter passion for Arsenal Football Club; what it means to be a fanatic, what that passion means for everyone in our lives who isn't, the exhilaration, the all-encompassing moments of joys, and the totally debilitating and soul-destroying lows.

Nick is played by recent graduate Jack Trueman, making his stage debut, and he exhibits moments of pure brilliance; he is funny, compelling and very, very watchable.

The rest of the cast Ashley Gerlach, Gabrielle MacPherson, and Louise Hoare are equally excellent. Transforming as they do from friend, to family member, to girlfriend, to commentator, to opposition fan, to schoolkid... the list is endless. And they do it all with such speed and utter ease. They are an ensemble that bring the show to life.

The Hope Theatre is a relatively small space and it has been transformed cleverly with fake turf on the floor, bench seating that changes from a bed to a podium with ease, and various pictures and signs from Arsenal adoring the walls. The set design by Sorcha Corcoran is fabulous. Nick Hornby writing helps the tight space too as it is intimate, funny and very strong, and adapted here by Joel Samuels, it does a great job of turning this small room into an almost immersive piece of theatre.

Standing just few feet from you, you as an audience member get lost in the passion with which these characters speak about the football club they love. It is totally infectious.

The play doesn't shy away from the problems football faces either; not least the aggression that is all too common in football fans, the sexism towards female fans, and about the racism players face that has plagued the game for decades. This adds a layer of depth to a piece that on the surface could solely be seen as a love letter to Arsenal.

The director is Kennedy Bloomer whose tenure at the Hope Theatre was interrupted by the pandemic, making this her first and last production at the venue.

Go see.

But don't just take my word for it. Fever Pitch has been nominated for three OFFIEs (Off West End Awards)

Lead Performance: Jack Trueman @JackTrueman14
Set Design: Sorcha Corcoran @SorchaCorcoran1
Director: Kennedy Bloomer @KennedyBloomer

Closes 25th Sept.

Quiz Night (Answers)...

Here are the answers to last week's quiz night.

How did you do?

In the News

1. Rapper Drake released a new album last week, Certified Lover Boy, which british artist designed the album artwork? Damien Hurst
2. Which band have announced a new album after 40 years as well as plans to perform at concerts where they will appear via avatars? Abba
3. The era of leaded petrol is officially over, but who was the last country to stop pumping? Algeria
4. The 80 million pound renovation to big ben is almost finished, the clock face has had a spruce up to which new colour? Blue
5. After a successful campaign at the paralympics how many medals did Team GB win overall? 124 (41 golds)

World

1. Today marks 199 years of independence from Portugal for which country? Brazil
2. Which is the largest island in the Mediterranean? Sicily
3. Which Premiership football team plays its home games in Gunnersbury? Brentford
4. Which Norwegian town hosted the 1994 winter olympics? Lillehammer
5. Which US city was artist Andy Warhol born in? Pittsburgh

Food and Drink

1. What style of beer takes its names from a town in the Bohemia region of the Czech Republic? Pilsner
2. What name is given to the Italian pastry that consists of tube shaped shells of fried pastry dough filled with a sweet, creamy filling that usually consists of ricotta? Cannoli
3. GSM is an abbreviation given for the classic 3 grape blend in Southern French wine culture. Which grape variety is represented by S? Syrah
4. Which Asian seafood restaurant, located on the corner of Mayfair’s Berkeley Square houses the world’s largest Japanese whiskey collection? Sexy Fish
5. Perigord is a variety of what? Truffle

Connections

1. Name the German singer who appeared on 4 tracks of The Velvet Underground’s debut album. Nico (Rio)
2. Guano is an effective fertiliser produced from the accumulated excrement of seabirds and which other animals? Bats (Baby Driver)
3. Which word precedes the word Swing to denote a musical genre that blends vintage swing sounds with modern house music? Electro (The Amazing Spiderman 2)
4. “Georgia on my Mind” was a 1960 Billboard number one for which artist? Ray Charles (Ray)
5. Complete the title of the 1969 Lee Scratch Perry and The Upsetters sophomore album. Return Of….BLANK? Django (Django Unchained)

Movie Characters voiced or played by Jamie Foxx

Sequence Round:

1. Chelsea 0…..Everton 53…..Man Utd 28….Inter Milan 47….Chelsea BLANK - 1 (League goals scored by Romelu Lukaku at various clubs he has played for)
2. Team...Side….Scan….BLANK - Day (Or anything that can have the letter D in front) (A-Team, B-Side, C Scan, D Day).
3. N: Lagos….B: Mumbai….H: BLANK - Los Angeles (Nollywood - Lagos, Bollywood - Mumbai, Hollywood - Los Angeles) The nicknames for various film industry locations
4. 83.7 million - Addison Rae….108.9 million - Khabane Lame….123.6 million - BLANK - Charlie D’Amelio (Top 3 Tik Tok users in terms of followers)
5. Ammunition 10%....Pope 25%....Scooter 29%....Option BLANK - 33.3% (the percentage of each word made up of the letter O)

Science, Tech & Nature

1. What name is given to a male rabbit? Buck
2. What name is given to water that occurs in a natural environment with higher salt levels than freshwater but less than sea water? Brackish Water
3. A Hazmat suit gets its name from the combination of which 2 words? Hazardous Materials
4. What is the name of the stocks and shares Reddit community that played a major role in the Game Stop short squeeze earlier this year? Wall Street Bets
5. 3, S, X and Y are models of car produced by which manufacturer? Tesla

The Arts and Culture

1. In Texas hip hop culture, Purple Drank is a recreational drug consisting of which prescription medicine? Cough Syrup (Codeine also accepted)
2. Which British author released The Comfort Book earlier this year? Matt Haig
3. The Warehouse Project is a seasonal series of club nights that takes place in which UK city? Manchester
4. Pamela Anderson’s first 2 husbands were rock musicians - Can you name them? Tommy Lee / Kid Rock
5. Today marks the 91st birthday of American musician Sonny Rollins. What instrument is he best known for? Saxophone

Intro’s round

1. The Tide is High - Blondie (atomic kitten)
2. Tragedy - Steps (Bee Gees)
3. Spirit in the sky - Gareth Gates
4. Baby Come Back - Pato Banton - (Equals)
5. I’ll be missing you - Puff Daddy, Faith Evans - (The Police)

Theme: All have entered the charts more than once, from different artists - covers

Quiz Night @HighburyL Great fun. How did we do? We came fourth! And can you guess which famous historical event we recreated in Playdoh? #QuizTeam #PubQuiz

Last Tuesday night Jane, Sara, Stuart and I entered Liz's amazing monthly quiz at Highbury Library in London's glitzy Islington.

This was our first time back in a while and we were determined to not embarrass ourselves.

We changed our team name once again - this time to ABBA-tars.

Liz was calling out the questions as usual and Andrew back spinning the tunes. It was great fun.

There were loads of inventive rounds involving eating, making stuff and guessing the intro. We downed quite a few beers, Jane bought us some pepperoni pizza (food that didn't really do us any favours in the taste round) and had a rare old time.

But how did we do? Well, we came fourth out of ten teams! 28 points. The winners got 39 points - and the £94 jackpot. Not too shabby.

Here are the questions. See how you do? If you think you can beat us (you know you can!) - come next month! Booking essential!

Oh, and what is the weird picture to the left? There was a Playdoh round. Can you guess which historical event we recreated?

Taste Test: Pringles!
1.American Hot dog
2.Bacon mac and cheese
3.Extra hot BBQ
--------------------------------

In the News

1. Rapper Drake released a new album last week, Certified Lover Boy, which british artist designed the album artwork?

2. Which band have announced a new album after 40 years as well as plans to perform at concerts where they will appear via avatars?

3. The era of leaded petrol is officially over, but who was the last country to stop pumping?

4. The 80 million pound renovation to big ben is almost finished, the clock face has had a spruce up to which new colour?

5. After a successful campaign at the paralympics how many medals did Team GB win overall?


World

1. Today marks 199 years of independence from Portugal for which country?

2. Which is the largest island in the Mediterranean?

3. Which Premiership football team plays its home games in Gunnersbury?

4. Which Norwegian town hosted the 1994 winter olympics?

5. Which US city was artist Andy Warhol born in?


Food and Drink

1. What style of beer takes its names from a town in the Bohemia region of the Czech Republic?

2. What name is given to the Italian pastry that consists of tube shaped shells of fried pastry dough filled with a sweet, creamy filling that usually consists of ricotta?

3. GSM is an abbreviation given for the classic 3 grape blend in Southern French wine culture. Which grape variety is represented by S?

4. Which Asian seafood restaurant, located on the corner of Mayfair’s Berkeley Square houses the world’s largest Japanese whiskey collection?

5. Perigord is a variety of what?


Connections

1. Name the German singer who appeared on 4 tracks of The Velvet Underground’s debut album.

2. Guano is an effective fertiliser produced from the accumulated excrement of seabirds and which other animals?

3. Which word precedes the word Swing to denote a musical genre that blends vintage swing sounds with modern house music?

4. “Georgia on my Mind” was a 1960 Billboard number one for which artist?

5. Complete the title of the 1969 Lee Scratch Perry and The Upsetters sophomore album. Return Of….BLANK?

What is the connection to all the answers in this round?

---------------------------------

Play Doh Round - (see above)

---------------------------------


Sequence Round (fill in the BLANK:

1. Chelsea 0…..Everton 53…..Man Utd 28….Inter Milan 47….Chelsea BLANK

2. Team...Side….Scan….BLANK

3. N: Lagos….B: Mumbai….H: BLANK

4. 83.7 million - Addison Rae….108.9 million - Khabane Lame….123.6 million - BLANK

5. Ammunition 10%....Pope 25%....Scooter 29%....Option BLANK


Science, Tech & Nature

1. What name is given to a male rabbit?

2. What name is given to water that occurs in a natural environment with higher salt levels than freshwater but less than sea water?

3. A Hazmat suit gets its name from the combination of which 2 words?

4. What is the name of the stocks and shares Reddit community that played a major role in the Game Stop short squeeze earlier this year?

5. 3, S, X and Y are models of car produced by which manufacturer?


The Arts and Culture

1. In Texas hip hop culture, Purple Drank is a recreational drug consisting of which prescription medicine?

2. Which British author released The Comfort Book earlier this year?

3. The Warehouse Project is a seasonal series of club nights that takes place in which UK city?

4. Pamela Anderson’s first 2 husbands were rock musicians - Can you name them?

5. Today marks the 91st birthday of American musician Sonny Rollins. What instrument is he best known for?


Intro’s round

1. The Tide is High - Blondie

2. Tragedy - Steps

3. Spirit in the Sky - Garth Gates

4. Baby Come Back - Pato Banton

5. I’ll be Missing You - Puff Daddy, Faith Evans

What's the theme?

Arsenal 1 -0 Norwich...

Great day at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. 4 games, 1 goal, a much needed win! Then a few beers before, during, and afterwards with the boys.

Welwyn Sloes... foraged, washed, stalks removed, green ones set aside to ripen, black ones in boxes to freeze. #sloegin #familyfun

Went sloe foraging with the family last Sunday in glitzy Welwyn march.

8 kgs washed, stalks removed, green ones set aside to ripen, black ones in boxes to freeze. Then they get added to the gin to infuse for 3 months. Yum.