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First Day World Test championships/Australia v. South Africa

I was in two minds whether to use my ticket for the ICC WORLD TEST FINAL contested between South Africa and Australia. I have had a recent run of bereavements and I thought the event might conflict with a funeral. In such situations (of losing a close friend) I follow the advice of the American [...]

June 12, 2025 // 0 Comments

A la Colthard/Cannizzaro House Wimbledon

The main assets of Cannizaro House are its gardens and the white palladian villa. Its location is on the west side of Wimbledon Common within walking distance of the buzzy village. Wimbledon’s (District Line) Tube station takes you into central London and its rail station is one stop away [...]

June 10, 2025 // 0 Comments

The Barber of Seville (Glyndebourne)

This was an excellent production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia Rossini’s great opera buffa (comic opera), based upon the play by Pierre Beaumarchais. The story is of the triumph of true love: that of Count Almaviva (Jonah Hoskins) and Rosina (Cecilia Molinari), the ward of Dr. Bartolo who also [...]

May 28, 2025 // 0 Comments

Two American songbook concerts (BBC 4)

Last night I watched a recording of an Ethel Merman concert that she gave years ago and another on BBC 4 of  Kiri Te Kanawa, Jeremy Irons and Warren Mitchell singing songs from My Fair Lady. I guess this original Albert Hall concert would have taken place some thirty years ago. The problem is [...]

May 26, 2025 // 0 Comments

Private versus Public ownership

If you are looking for justification for the benefits of private entrepreneurship versus public ownership, you need look no further than the beach at West Wittering. I bought a beach hut there three years ago, against much advice. Polly my P/A – so astute in property matters – observed [...]

May 3, 2025 // 0 Comments

The Great Escape

A Bank Holiday would not be one without showing The Great Escape (1963) and – sure enough – Film 4 showed it on a cold Easter Monday. The previous day I had watched another team movie – Ocean’s Eleven (2001) – but it compared unfavourably. The Great Escape has the [...]

April 23, 2025 // 0 Comments

Sussex v Somerset

Sussex’s first home game v Somerset had been long in the diary. We had made a more than creditable start with a draw at Warwickshire – a Test ground side – and accordingly more affluent than Sussex. Edgbaston is as much a conference venue as a cricket ground, hosting numerous [...]

April 12, 2025 // 0 Comments

Personal attendance versus watching on TV: the debate continues …

Having spent my normal weekend sports-watching on TV I am going to add two critical logs to this fiery debate, namely adverts and pundits. Like many, I suspect the ad break in sports coverage is an opportunity to visit the loo, fetch a beer or a cuppa and do chores. Yet if you stay by the TV you [...]

April 1, 2025 // 0 Comments

The Tanner Report : Fulham 2 Spurs 0

The back stories to a dull game – the type you tend to get on an early Sunday kick off at 1-30 – were more interesting than the game itself. Fulham and Spurs’ best option for European competition is the Cup. Fulham might qualify if there are 8 European places in the Premiership but [...]

March 18, 2025 // 0 Comments

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