We got married in a simple ceremony at the local Town Hall yesterday. Everything went very smoothly apart from a slight hitch with the music. Booking involved choosing music from a drop down list, or suggesting your own and saying how you would supply it. We assumed this meant the venue had a set of tunes which it had licensed and at the required points would play 6, 10 and 12 or whatever those selections were.

This turned out not to be the case. Whatever the music it had to be supplied, along with a means of playing it. A Bluetooth speaker was rustled up, a network connection obtained on my phone (the registrar didn’t know the wifi password) and things went ahead more or less as planned. It was always going to be a relaxed occasion, but I can imagine that at a larger affair that had been months in the planning this could have led to great stress. The registrar has taken the comments on board and said that she has already reported to the County Council that the instructions aren’t clear enough.

Anyway, we had intended to enter to Pachabel’s Canon in D, sign to the » Continue Reading.

It’s a time of year when those of us lucky enough can unwind and reflect on the 12 months (almost) gone by, so how was 2025? I hope it has treated you kindly, but let us know the milestones, both high and low, that you’re happy to share with us. Best wishes to all for the year to come.

I’m struggling to process the appalling news about Rob Reiner and his wife. When someone whose work has given me so much pleasure dies my usual reaction is to dig out some of that work and enjoy it again. When the circumstances are as they appear to be that doesn’t seem right, and I’m not even sure I could enjoy it until at least some time has passed. What horrific news to wake up to.

I was talking to a work colleague the other day and he told me how pressure his son, currently revising for his GCSE mock exams, is under. Far more than I ever experienced for my O levels at my bog standard 1980s comp.

In addition, he, the son, is constantly being told he has to decide what career path he wants to follow and to target his efforts accordingly. That struck me as bizarre on two grounds – first, we are always being told that young people today will typically ‘build portfolio careers’ (jargon for insecure employment), and second, I’m 58 and have no idea what I ‘want to do’. I’ve quite enjoyed most of what I have done but they have always been jobs I have fallen into rather than worked towards.

What did you want to be when you were a child? I have vague memories of wanting to be a policeman or fireman when I was primary age, something that seemed heroic and came with an impressive uniform. Either that or a dolphin. By secondary school I think I had an aspiration towards architecture, but my technical skills wouldn’t have been up to it. Instead I just » Continue Reading.

It’s John Lewis Christmas ad season, for those who celebrate, and this year’s features a dad who’s thoughtful son buys him a 12” vinyl dance track which transports said dad back to his pre-parenthood clubbing days. He loses himself in the music and memories before thoughts of his son bring him back to the present day for a warm embrace.

I hadn’t given any thought to Ultravox! (exclamation mark faithfully observed) for years until John Foxx was on Adam Buxton’s podcast. The choice of guest came as a slight surprise, but makes sense when I think about Buckles’ self-made jingles, and they clearly share a lot of musical background based on the ramble-chat.

Ultravox! were one of the key bands of my mid teens. I was a few years too young to follow the John Foxx era in real time, and this was in the early 80s. So I headed for the depthless Amazon Music catalogue and fired up an ‘Island years’ compilation. It was decades since I had heard these songs, but as I sang along in my head, and occasionally out loud, I was word perfect on My Sex, The Wild, The Beautiful and the Damned, and nailed » Continue Reading.

It seems that from today we can no longer use Imgur in the UK. I have no idea if I used a VPN to post an Imgur link whether it would show for other UK users.

Any substitutes we could use?

https://help.imgur.com/hc/en-us/articles/41592665292443-Imgur-access-in-the-United-Kingdom

I’m instinctively against the idea on non-specific libertarian grounds. The inclusion of a proposal for ID cards in the manifesto was the reason I didn’t vote for Labour in the 2010 General Election (if might not have swayed me if it wasn’t, at least then, a seat with a blue rosette nailed to it). Smartphones and the huge amount of data which I glibly give away these days mean that I can hardly complain about access to my information now.

I suppose my concern is mission creep. I’m sure we’ve all noticed how young adults are routinely challenged for ID when buying alcohol, and hence have been made to get used to the idea, but the only times I ever have to prove my identity is when using an airport or, more recently, to vote in person. What other reasons might I have to carry ID for which I currently don’t? Or is that paranoia?

It is being sold as a measure against illegal immigration and hence, I assume, a way of striking back against the Farage. I can’t see it doing that though. The whole point of the shadow economy is that it operates in an unregulated way and » Continue Reading.

Going through some old photos I found this one I took at Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence. The church is famous for the Brancacci Chapel but this is one of the neighbouring chambers. It claims to be a C14/15 monk, but anyone with eyes can plainly see that its is a depiction of Richard Thompson from around 1990.

Any more depictions of rock’n’rollers from centuries before they were born?

View post on imgur.com

If I told you that you needed to hear Sue Pollard belting out Back in the USSR to put a spring in your step today you might think I was taking the mick, but, not, really – look.

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A British man is on a driving holiday in the USA. He’s great enthusiast for Native American history so he’s visiting battle sites and so on. He stops in rural Nevada to fill up with petrol and grab a coffee and gets chatting to a local who tells him about a remarkable wise man who lives on a nearby reservation. ‘This man’s incredible – like a one man Wikipedia. Ask him anything and he’ll reel off a string of facts about it.’

Of course, the tourist has to go and see this man, and when he reaches the reservation he’s ushered into a teepee where there sits an old, very dignified man with a deeply lined face and a piercing gaze. The old man raises his hand, ‘How’. ‘How’, replies the visitor, and the old man says, ‘What will you ask me about?’

Thinking of something the wise man couldn’t possibly know he says, ‘What do you know about Leyton Orient?’ Without missing a beat, the old man replies, ‘Leyton Orient football club in Leyton area of Waltham Forest, London, England. Established in 1880s as Glyn Cricket Club, change name to Orient Football Club soon after, then Leyton Orient after » Continue Reading.

I’ve had a heavy cold for the last couple of days and my ideal Thursday evening would be a hot bath, perhaps with a toddy, then bed by half past nine. The Smashing Pumpkins have other ideas. They’re playing an open air gig in the park at the end of the road, the closer speaker stack is about 300m from the bedroom window, and the curfew is half past ten.

I can’t claim to be familiar with the music of ver Pumps, as I’m sure no one calls them, but I dare say I’ll be a lot more familiar with it after tonight. When I went for a lunchtime walk I saw a bloke near my house in hi-vis gear, with a mic pointing towards the park to measure noise levels reaching the residential area. If it gets too rowdy I may have to nip out in my dressing gown and slippers and tap him on the shoulder.

This is just the first of a series of gigs in the park we have to look forward to, to be followed by Busted, Craig David, UB40, Tom Jones, James, Texas and Madness, so it’s not all bad news. I might » Continue Reading.

The latest Word in Your Ear banter between Hepworth and Ellen contains a theory with which I must take issue, and once it’s not one of David’s. As so often the podcast starts with a Stackwadyy game. The next paragraph will give away the answer so look away if you’re playing at home.

The challenge is to identify what piece of band merchandise, in the tradition of Joy Division oven gloves, from a given list is the ringer. The answer turns out to be Pet Shop Boys designer salt and pepper grinders.

Mark chastises himself for making the solution, which David failed to get, too obvious because the market wouldn’t exist as ‘no one uses salt and pepper any more’ (‘That’s true, that’s true’, David interjects). ‘You used to lay the table’, Mark goes on to explain as if revealing the wisdom of the ancients, ‘And put out the salt and pepper.’

Has seasoning food at the table really gone the way of the 8 track and Betamax?

A while ago I spilled my woes about the trouble I was having buying my house. That finally worked out, but I’m still having trouble selling my flat. Long story short – the freeholder has gone AWOL and without the details of his legal representative my buyer’s lender is refusing to release her mortgage. So …

If I can’t sell it (for now), and I’m not living in it the options are to leave it empty or rent it so at least I’m getting some income from it. It’s new territory for me and I never wanted to be a landlord. If that’s the way it has to be I intend to use an agency and be as hands off as possible, even though that will mean I see less of the rental income.

I’m sure there are more experienced heads than mine on here. Any tips of what to do or avoid?

I have attended 5 gigs in March, a lot for me but one was rearranged from November and last night’s was a spur of the moment decision after we decided to have a night away. I may write more about the shows if I do a write up for my activity in March (quick capsule review – they varied from very good to excellent) but what I want to mention here is encores or the lack of them.   1)      Honeyfeet, The Jago in Dalston. There are no wings at the venue so bands go through the audience to the stage. Reasonably enough Rionagh Connolly explained that they weren’t going to, and described the encore ritual as ‘a bit disingenuous’. 2)      The Churchfitters, Colchester Arts Centre. They did go offstage and come back to play another song, a heartfelt tribute to the late founder of the band. 3)      Peat and Diesel, the 100 Club, Oxford Street – see the situation at The Jago. ‘Just pretend we did it’. 4)      Katherine Priddy, Colchester Arts Centre. Despite the same wings the Churchfitters used, ‘We’re going to play another two songs anyway so you can stamp and shout for more if that’s a » Continue Reading.