Nostalgia…

I just came across a battered old diary I kept back in 1983 when I was all of 12 years old. The handwriting is almost undecipherable and the diary smells strongly of mould. Out of curiosity, I looked up what I was doing on this day 25 years ago and read this:
***
“Went for a walk [...]

Evil And Eviller

Earlier today I received a phone call from an automated voice telling me I was liable for a free loan or compensation or lottery winnings or somesuch rubbish. It told me that if I pressed the number five on my handset I could hear all about it. Annoyed at being bothered, I hung up. The [...]

A Peak Into The Past

Some of you – say, those who’ve known me since 1990 – may already know that I’m a massive fan of Twin Peaks. And I mean MASSIVE. Twin Peaks changed my life, in more or less the same way that Buffy changed my life almost a decade later. (For the curious: I went to a [...]

George Clooney, In A Nutshell

I’ve just read this interview with George Clooney on The New Yorker’s website and, while I have issues with the piece being written in a rather jarring past tense that bumps you out of the interview time and again, it does contain this wonderful statement:
Clooney is America’s national flirt, a pitchman on talk shows [...]

Technological Marvels

When I joined SFX way back in 2000, one of the first things I did in my new role as their Staff Writer was to buy one of those newfangled DVD player thingamajigs.
It was obvious after only a few days on the magazine that videos were on their way out and DVDs were the way [...]

He’s Henry The Eighth, He Is, He Is…

Biddy came to stay with me last weekend and we paid a visit to Hampton Court, which is only 11 minutes away from my house by car unless there’s a rugby match on at Twickenham Stadium, which there was, or you get lost, which we did. Oh well.
The former abode of King Henry VIII was [...]

Fish-slapping Fun

I finished Michael Palin’s book last night. At around midnight my neighbours might have heard me howling with laughter at this diary entry:
[There's a] very angry, abusive letter to The Times [today] from a man called Allott in Finchley, who clearly doesn’t like Life of Brian, but admits he hasn’t seen it. It is proposed [...]

Trouser Pythons

I’ve spent a lot of time this week reading Michael Palin: Diaries 1969-79 – The Python Years. It’s a book that’s not only humungous (I only trust myself to read it in bed, never daring to take it outdoors for fear of dropping it on a small child and squashing them flat), but also beautifully [...]

Top Of My Pops

It was snowing when I woke up this morning. The snow didn’t last, but it looked pretty for a few hours, which is really all I ever want from snow: to look pretty. Thank you for fulfilling your purpose, oh frozen flakes of ice.
Last night was a terrific night of telly, not just because Doctor [...]

Funniest TV Clip Ever?

Oh, and once you’ve watched it, click on this link here and sign the petition to get Stephen Fry knighted. Go on, I’ve done it (and got an email from 10 Downing Street in return)!