My friend Steve came to visit last weekend. He’s been living in the Congo for years and speaks French really well. Me… comme ci, comme ça. So when, after Sunday’s lunch, he broke into song, I wasn’t sure I’d heard properly, for as best I could tell it went: I have eaten well / I …
Author Archives: Pete
Top Jimmy
1968: the assassinations of MLK and RFK, riots, the My Lai Massacre, the Tet Offensive, famine in Biafra, the invasion of Czechoslovakia, the founding of the Khmer Rouge, four submarines mysteriously lost with all hands… And then, on Christmas Eve, William Anders snapped this photo. As a telegram to his crewmate put it: “Thank you …
One Hundred One Score and One
This year is resolved to not go quietly; nor shall I thusly see it out. I’m going to make some Charles Mingus Eggnog. If delivery would cause no more than (my) moderate inconvenience, let me know and I’ll bring a cup of cheer. Pending any being left. Either way, I leave you with the wisdom …
Sunshine Supermen
A few days ago an RAF fighter plane crashed after takeoff from an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean. It may have been because of a lens cap. The pilot is safe, but, if they do payroll deductions, his checking account is not. F-35s ain’t cheap. *** There’s a BBC series from 1981 called Fighter Pilot. …
Thanksgiving
When I get home from school I empty my pockets of the day’s accumulation: notes, paper clips, pens, etc. Sometimes I think about an interview I read with the drummer of the Rolling Stones. It was a questionnaire-type thing, a mix of serious and silly questions. One was “What do you have in your pockets?” …
Home Run / Home Free
…see, the premise is that Wiffle Ball Tony is like George Bush, you invite him to the party because you know he’s the guy who’s going to start the Wiffle Ball game. People generally like him and when he shows up everyone’s like, “Yeah, Wiffle Ball Tony’s here! It is so on!” And then one …
Boogie Wonderland
Maria Mendiola, who has died aged 69, was one half of Baccara, whose Eurodisco anthem Yes Sir, I Can Boogie reached No 1 in the UK in 1977 and is claimed to be the best-selling single ever by a female duo; latterly, it had been adopted by the Scotland football team as their unofficial song …
Summer Slide
Maybe it’s the weather or it’s something like that, but I’m done here for a while. In the meantime: 1. Vita Breva Every day I post an obituary worth reading at @passed_present. Check it out. As spake Ian Dury, “There ain’t half been some clever [folks].” 2. Ars Longa Good heavens, your walls. …