On the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The Victoria and Albert Museum doesn’t expect many visits from the Star.
I’m not sure why this is true, given that its sumptuous cafe – there are glittering chandeliers, high ceilings, domes, columns, impressive interior tiles on the walls and the floors and the ceiling, as well as stained glass windows – was full of families [...]

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On giant shagging bunny rabbits.

You really should have been paying more attention, but when someone said, ‘Proms‘, you said ‘How high?’ without really enquiring too much further into the matter.
You did manage to glean that it was a Purcell concert, but you failed even to find out what was being played.
Which was probably a good thing. You have recently [...]

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On Eurovision 2009.

About halfway through the results marathon for the Eurovision contest, Graham Norton, the UK’s new host for the event after Terry Wogan flounced off the show in disgust at the way that in 2008 the UK had come bottom again whilst the Eastern Europeans (and Finland) were having a run of good luck, mistily declared [...]

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On bathtime gurgles.

So as well as sellotape and oneof the six rattley shapes that fit into the shape sorter, the other thing that makes the Star giggle is when you sing to the him after his bath.
Not just any song. You and B have been doing spirited renditions of the Russian version of the smash hit toddler [...]

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On the Royal Academy.

You are finding that certain things strike you in an entirely, and usually unanticipated light, now you have a child in tow.
Take the early darkening evenings, for example. You used to quite enjoy this. Coming home in the dark, twinkly lights, a chill in the air. It all gave you an excuse to eat hearty [...]

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On The Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay.

In case the gentle reader has not been convinced of William ‘Topaz’ McGonagall’s value by your mere words alone here is a little taster from this website dedicated to his works. Please note the sense of foreboding in the penultimate verse and then have a treat by reading the follow up.
BEAUTIFUL Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay [...]

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On discoveries.

You are not in the least Scottish.
This has always been a source of faint irritation because you are able to conjure up in almost equal amounts a Welsh background, an Irish one, a Northern English past, a Southern English birthplace and a strong connection to the Channel Islands out of France. So to miss out on being [...]

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On Prom 41.

Last night you went to half a Prom.
It all started quite auspiciously. You both set off in good time, even allowing for side trips to that endlessly fascinating retail emporium, Boots the Chemists, and so you arrived a good 45 minutes before the start.
 At which point you realised that you had picked a popular Prom.
Now [...]

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On being in Oz, Toto.

So there you and B are, sitting on a bench eating grapes and a pork pie, admiring the view of large tombstones which populate the square you are in, and basking in the unexpected sunshine.
Suddenly you become aware that the young lady next to you has not only come prepared with cutlery and a china plate [...]

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On deja vu.

You’ve missed rather a lot of rehearsals for your latest choral extravaganza, so the full glory of the Bach and Vivaldi Glorias you are planning to inflict on the public have only now started bursting in upon you.
It was all the little black notes in the Bach that were immediately worrying. So little and so black [...]

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