What should we talk about today?
The world according to Kirkey
My first recollection of the term ‘bully’ was from the pages of The Dandy, my must-read childhood comic. “Bully Beef and Chips,” created by Jimmy Hughes, first appeared in 1967 and reflected the story of two boys in seemingly constant conflict – the aggressor, a pudding basin haired brute called Bully Beef, and the victim, … Read more
Who hasn’t, at some time in their lives, contemplated immortality? Fiction is littered with such characters – Count Dracula, Dr Who, The Highlander, to name but a few – so I guess this question has fascinated many authors too. According to the peer reviewed ‘Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy’, “Immortality is the indefinite continuation of a … Read more
Rubbing shoulders with the British Royal family should have been more than sufficient reason to act with a degree of decorum. After all, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, were only a stone’s throw away. I was at Royal Ascot, in my best suit, shirt and tie looking, if I do … Read more
“Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” As these magical words, uttered by Romeo, swirled around the intimate auditorium of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, on the banks of the River Thames, my mind wandered – to broccoli. The reason this unassuming vegetable dominated my thoughts … Read more
I recently linked my in-car audio system to Spotify. How rock n’ roll am I? I often create my own montage of hits whilst thumping the steering wheel and singing aloud, or just humming when I don’t know the words. I’ll even fess up to getting a few lyrics totally wrong, although to be fair … Read more
I hadn’t seen Aunty Joyce for what seemed like an eternity. We had never been that close. I only ever saw her at the big-ticket family events – births, weddings, and funerals. I became aware that her health was failing when my mum updated me on a series of phone calls with Uncle Ronnie, informing … Read more
What seems a lifetime ago, aged sixteen, I was at college trying to figure out life, the universe, and what lay ahead. Cocooned with my college chums, often in the refectory smoking Gauloises cigarettes supplied by the rich Persian students, I realised that most of us didn’t have a clue what we wanted to become, … Read more
According to Ian Dury in his 1977 hit, co-written with Chaz Jankel, ‘Sex and drugs and rock and roll is all my brain and body need. Sex and drugs and rock and roll are very good indeed’. If I were being picky, I would add good food, some cash in my skyrocket and a nice … Read more
The older I get, the crankier and more miserable I appear to become. I would like to be able to put this down to old age, yet the reality is that I have sometimes allowed my mindset to perpetuate this notion, since not everyone I know of a similar age is necessarily so. COVID-19 has … Read more
