Another year with some great music, but yet another year where skinny white boys with guitars were eclipsed by a more diverse range of musicians, working across genres, crossing jazz, soul, hip hop and funk. La Chica La Lobo La Lobo was a mini album from French-Venezuelan singer La Chica, with great pop tunes matched… Read More Music of the Year | 2021

It’s not a sprint it’s a marathon

The influence of the pandemic still seems to hang over everything. I struggled with novels, and most of my favourite reads this year were collections of short stories, which could be read and returned to. I think that the mental impact of Covid will take a long time to be fully understood. These are in… Read More Books of the year | 2021

Surely all the Quality Street has been eaten by now?

In no particular order Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)  Directed by Questlove from a Tribe Called Quest this is a documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival which celebrated Black history, culture, music, and fashion over 6 weeks- sometimes called the “Black Woodstock”. It is the greatest concert movie I… Read More Film and TV of the year | 2021

Todays quiz is through the chicane and into Gambon

Surely you’ve eaten all the left over Turkey by now?

And as we approach the half way point the top of the leader board is still to close to call….

In 1987 New York, was in the middle of the AIDS epidemic. Public Authorities were largely hostile to the gay community, and drugs companies were more concerned with profit than public health – Wellcome initially priced the first AIDs drug AZT at $10,000 per patient per year. The response to this indifference was the launch… Read More Reasons to be cheerful | Pharmaceutical industry