Taylor Swift in 2020

Two extraordinary records from a year that was anything but ordinary: Taylor Swift's 'Folklore' and 'Evermore'. In a year that forced all of us to do things differently, here is some of what Taylor did. I don't feel like going into the meanings that these songs may have. You've got the internet for that. And … Sigue leyendo Taylor Swift in 2020

Ain’t that enough?

https://youtu.be/jdeqYx-9-AQ Teenage Fanclub's song 'Ain't That Enough' is wondrous, fabulous, marvellous and tremendous. '-ous' adjectives are all about something possessing or being full of something. The sound it makes is a simple /əs/. The sound that Teenage Fanclub make is simply glorious. Enough said*. 'Ain't' is a non-standard (so not to be used in writing, … Sigue leyendo Ain’t that enough?

An Accumulation of Strangeness

I'd really like to believe that many of the strange but charming nouns of assemblage (aka specific group nouns or collective nouns) that exist were the result of drunken mischief at the end of a lexicographers' Christmas party. Or something like that. How else could you explain the fact that if you came across a … Sigue leyendo An Accumulation of Strangeness

Two Fingers: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and other tales of defiance

I'll never forget the first time I read 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'. It was very early in the morning and I was rather hungover, lying on the floor of a cold but otherwise welcoming house in Dublin. The pages of the book (my own copy, pictured above) were fragile even then. Almost … Sigue leyendo Two Fingers: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and other tales of defiance

The Secret Life of Plants

Big news! Ivan the alocasia has grown a new leaf. Here he is posing with the fascinating and somewhat controversial book The Secret Life of Plants. The book has been criticized for supposedly propagating pseudoscience...Ivan has yet to comment. We're also fans of Stevie Wonder's 1979 record Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. Naturally. … Sigue leyendo The Secret Life of Plants

From Glasgow to New Jersey via Las Vegas – accents, crows and the mafia.

Scotland's an amazing place and I love it for many reasons. The breathtaking landscapes, the multitudes of brilliant bands, the smell of the distilleries,.........and, and, and the accents!! Yes! There's real personality and spirit in the way people speak up there. My rather ordinary southern English accent pales into insignificance when surrounded by these folk. … Sigue leyendo From Glasgow to New Jersey via Las Vegas – accents, crows and the mafia.