Musical Shares

The phrase on many people’s lips this week might have been, who would do that? None more so perhaps, than on those of M People. The Manchester band members were reported to be livid when they heard their 90’s banger, Movin’ on Up, used as Liz Truss’ walk on number for her conference speech.  Allegedly…

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Shire madness

It’s been a bit of a week one way and another.  Starting with the good news: Coffee is officially good for you. A couple of cups a day will keep the cardiovascular surgeon away, apparently. Coffey on the other hand, is proving to be quite bad for one’s health. The last blog referred to the Health…

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Therese are a few of my favourite things

Johnny Mercer – that’s the American lyricist as opposed to The Rt Hon MP for Plymouth – is responsible for some of the world’s best known hits; Moon River, Days of Wine and Roses and Autumn Leaves among them.He’s also credited with dismissing somebody else’s work with the pithy riposte, “I could eat alphabet soup and…

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The Beginning of the End?

Guardian sketch writer, John Crace, is extremely annoying – on a number of counts. It’s not enough that he is a brilliant writer, with a fabulous turn of phrase and a seemingly bottomless well of bons mots. He’s also very funny in a drole, observational sort of way. And, he has thousands of Twitter followers. All…

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Rubbish idea

Photo by zibik on Unsplash

Photo by zibik on Unsplash Have you ever had shocking jolt, suddenly realising that last night, along with the remnants of the chicken casserole, you threw away your headphones, glasses or even your wedding ring? Try £150m. In what must be one of the most personally frustrating endeavours in the history of humanity, the man who accidentally threw away…

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Offside?

It’s been quite a good week for women. Conversely, it hasn’t been a particularly edifying one for men. Dominating the news this week – and likely to for weeks to come – is the grisly business of the televised Conservative Party leadership contest. A man is pitted against a woman, with every poll suggesting the woman…

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Just 4 U

It has been something of an anxiety-inducing week for those of us who live with dyscalculia. Numbers have been bandied around willy-nilly and most of them, frankly, have been baffling. It all started with Nasa. The most powerful telescope ever to have been launched into space has released images of far-flung galaxies as they were…

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Game, set and talking balls

“Cliché-ridden, cosy and smacks of complacency”. No, not another Insight blog but the unusually forthright prose from former Olympian and thoughtful writer, Matthew Syed in this week’s Times. The object of his ire is the BBC’s TV coverage of Wimbledon. “From commentators talking over rallies to banal banter, the Corporation’s approach to one of its sporting jewels feels…

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