The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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Any love for the Brothers Comatose?

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I’ve become keen on small bluegrass/not quite bluegrass bands – couple of guitars, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, bass, invariably a gorgeous Eartrumpet mike. Stumbled on these guys doing an absolutely beautiful cover of Harvest Moon – so simple, so musical, and very cool. They are all about covers, but they seem to smash them all out of the park every time.

The two brothers are the core of the group, and there seems to be a shifting group of people who pop in and out. A. J. Lee has a band called Blue Summit – they do a hilarious shitkicking cover of I’m a Believer.

Bring Out Your Ear-worms – a thread for sado-masochists

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We all like a good ear-worm, don’t we chums? This is my current one, it goes round and round in my head, particularly when I wake up in the small hours and am trying to get back to sleep. Drives me nuts, so I thought I’d share the pain.

So the story goes its author, piper Gordon Duncan, woke up one morning with the tune in his head after a heavy night on the sauce. He tried it out on his friends, none of whom recognised it, so he decided he must have written it in his sleep. Bit like Macca and Scrambled Eggs, I guess.

When our little band plays it at our care home gigs, the old folk tend to go into a trance – those who aren’t already asleep, that is. We go into a bit of a trance too.

Any other earworms?

More Mackenzie Crook loveliness

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I was alerted to this lovely little book by a post on social media – it completely passed me by when it was published in 2024.

This inspiration was a book Mackenzie’s father was given when he was a child, If Jesus Came to My House. The young Mackenzie was entranced by the possibilities of the book: imagine if ghosts you admired could come to your house and spend time with you!

MC was only 3 when Nick Drake died, and only discovered his music 20 years later. The nagging wish that they’d known each other stayed with him, and the result is this book, The beautiful illustrations are by Crook: Nick Drake has a halo, like an angel, and MC has an excellent eye for pre-war houses (even Fairport puts in an appearance). The text is a series of simple, touching verses.

Some samples: ‘If Nick Drake came to my house and knocked upon the door I’m sure I’d been more happy than I’ve ever been before.’

‘I’d let him read my poems and he wouldn’t laugh or sneer I’d tell him how his music helped me through a troubled year.’

‘And when at last the bus turned up » Continue Reading.

RIP Tom Robbins

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Obituary

Haven’t given him any thought for years. But back in the 70s he was the mutt’s nuts, with cult books like Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and Another Roadside Attraction. ‘…the perfect accompaniment to acid trips, Grateful Dead shows and weekend yoga retreats…’ as the NYT says. Or you could just read them, like I did.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/09/obituaries/tom-robbins-dead.html

Your food hacks please…

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I’ve just had beans on toast for supper. And…? I hear you cry. Well…

I gently sautéed some shallots until they were caramelised and added them to the beans (English recipe it said on the tin…?), then put hefty dollops of Laoganma chilli crisp on top. The result was exceptional, and is now a signature dish.

Any others to share?

Football – I have questions

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They’re beginning to build up. I still don’t know why a SHOT is now a HIT or a SAVE is now a STOP. Or why someone suddenly decided ‘assist’ should be a substitute for the perfectly adequate ‘made a goal’. One too many syllables perhaps?

I have a new one. Why has somebody decided that Manchester City footballers should wear shorts designed to look as though their braces are hanging round their arse? This is the sort of urgent question Baddiel and Skinner might once have answered. Failing them…