Uncle Jack A few years back, I had the good fortune to get to know my wife’s great-uncle, Jack. We would see him whenever we went to visit her family in California. Jack was well into his 80s and he lived in a little studio apartment that stood over the garage of the family’s beach house.… Read More Lola Jacuzzi and life’s whirlpool of regret
It’s a Wonderful Life. Elf. Miracle on 34th Street. Die Hard. They’re all classic Christmas movies, but that last one seems to give some people trouble. Not everyone recognises Die Hard as an actual Christmas film. If you Google the phrase “Christmas movies” you’ll see Die Hard on pretty much any list that comes up.… Read More Yes, Die Hard *IS* a Christmas movie. Here’s proof:
It wasn’t too long ago that there was a lot of online chatter among conservative American evangelicals about how they believed that President Barack Obama was the anti-Christ – the personification of the devil on earth. If you don’t recall, or you’d like a sampling to remind you that this really was a thing, have… Read More Uncovering the anti-Christ. Yes, really. I’ve figured it out.
I first heard of Johnny Goobello one evening many years ago, when I was around 17 years old – at a birthday celebration for my father. Everyone was there that night – siblings, cousins, aunts, great aunts, great cousins, our family priest. Everybody. The cake came out and the room was buzzing, with everyone saying… Read More The ballad of Johnny Goobello
Every day, I walk our nine year old daughter to school. It’s a 15 minute walk, which gives us a nice amount of time to talk. I take advantage of the opportunity to teach her about an aspect of the world – a different topic every day. I call it Dadsplaining. The way I see… Read More Dadsplaining: I explain the world to my kid (Boris Johnson edition)
Recently, the day after the London Bridge terrorist attack, feeling depressed and under siege (I live in London, not far away from the incident) I posted a note to a friend on Facebook about how it’s important not to change our way of life in response to horrors like this – to not give in… Read More Some advice on not being a social media asshole after a terrorist attack
Our home is haunted. I’m not even joking. Last night at 3.30 in the morning I was awoken from a deep sleep by a very loud, continuous noise coming from somewhere nearby. At first I thought I might be dreaming but my wife was awake as well and she seemed just as confused as me.… Read More Haunted!
I miss Leo Sayer. Do you remember Leo? He was a pop star in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with a string of number one hits in the UK and the USA. Songs like You make me feel like dancing and More than I can say. He was one of the biggest music stars in… Read More Bring back ugly pop stars!