Things to Play With

It’s not unusual for families to have furniture that has been handed on through the generations.

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Categorised as Family

Here’s the News

“Now here’s the man for whom the news wouldn’t be the news without the news, Heeeere’s Dicky.” (Dan Rowan in Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In)

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Categorised as Technology

Bohemian Birthday

On this day in 1824 Bedřich Smetana was born. To mark the bicentenary of his birth he was the subject of Composer of the Week on BBC Radio 3.

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Categorised as Literature

A Miracle in Covent Garden

In January we needed to pick a lunch venue before a matinee of The Motive and the Cue at the Noël Coward Theatre on St Martin’s Lane.

Ithaka

“A service of thanksgiving for the life of King Constantine of the Hellenes was held on Tuesday February 27, 2024, at 11am in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.” (The Times)

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Categorised as Poetry

In a Lonely Place

Well done if you know who Margaret Millar, Vera Caspary, Elisabeth Sanxay Holding, Olive Higgins Prouty and Dorothy B Hughes are; some of the names are deliciously improbable.

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Categorised as Literature

Berlin Embassy

Say “William Russell” and I would think of the initially slightly disreputable Irishman who made his name reporting for The Times in Crimea. He was described as “a vulgar low Irishman, sings a good song, drinks anyone’s brandy and water and smokes as many cigars as a Jolly Good Fellow. He is just the sort… Continue reading Berlin Embassy

A Pro-Cathedral

A “pro-cathedral” is a church with cathedral status though not being the main cathedral. St Paul’s is one of three cathedrals of the Anglican Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe; the others being in Gibraltar and Brussels.