A most enjoyable evening last night presenting on cricket and law (based on my book Court and Bowled). Best of all was the very knowledgeable audience including this presentable chap! amzn.eu/d/6lQJWUO
Tom Lehrer has died, aged 97. A genius. Genuinely original entertainer (and mathematician). A haughty and humourless critic of his once conceded “Mr Lehrer plays the piano acceptably well.”
youtu.be/U2cfju6GTNs?...
Further to my post the other day, I remembered I had the following letter in The Times earlier this year, though since the time of Denning (and at least in part due to his son, an eminent academic chemist), I’m trusting Magdalen at least are free of this sort of Bullingdonesque oiks …
For years there was a satirical column in the UK which used to feature the Bradford City Tramways and Fine Arts Committee, but that was at least supposed to be a joke ...
Appalling news: three cricket clubs suspended, thanks to Danbury Parish Council. The latter need to read read Miller v Jackson (shameless plug: tinyurl.com/8a6e5kta): tinyurl.com/mwc8nkv3 @wgrumblepants.bsky.social
Mind you this, rather scurrilous piece suggests they should have looked among alumni to the likes of the scrupulous Denning or even priggish bores like Bridey to run the place (Bertie would have tried to dodge any appointment to responsibility anyway) www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v3...
Fair points. Denning prob suppressed his accent a bit in the 20s/30s. Some say he deliberately affected it later in life, though I’ve heard a recording from 1967 when he def has it (perhaps mildly softer than the later recordings). Suspect Bridey more bluntly snobbish than the more genial Bertie.
Bertie & Bridey were a similar social class so more natural colleagues, though Bridey doesn’t like alcohol so not really much in common (Sebastian & Bertie would have been a dangerous combination…) Denning more like Bridey as long as religion doesn’t come up …
Reading (or revisiting) Brideshead Revisited, it’s stated the Earl (Bridey) went to Magdalen, Oxford, circa 1918-20, meaning he’d have been a contemporary of Lord Denning, & possibly Bertie Wooster (also Magdalen, time vague). I wonder how they’d have got on @dinahrose.bsky.social?
Great memories Rumbles, the only sad thing being how many have left us, including some much too early. I still remember the shock of hearing about Bearders.
In 1926 the most famous example of it would have been Charlie Chaplin.
In 1945 a returning serviceman withdrew his application to Oxford when they said there'd be an entrance exam, telling them his service made him above exams. 'News of Hitler's war has reached Oxford' they assured him. A sliding doors moment: he relented, & later became a v successful legal author.
Lord Denning appeared in numerous important cases and was promoted to the bench during wartime, as well as serving as a gvt legal adviser (in which he advised inter alia on detention under Reg 18B, without regret at the time or after).
Fascinating case, and a reminder that the legal system rightly tried its best to keep going during wartime. Another landmark case was Learie Constantine suing a hotel for excluding him unjustly (racist US servicemen) under old common law rules re innkeepers - heard by the HC in a bomb proof shelter.
The word 'symposium' comes from a Greek term for a drinking party, should you be looking for a truthful excuse to knock off early.
At least it's dead. My cat known as The Murderess for her prolific hunting skills once got annoyed with me ignoring her, so put a half-dead pigeon at my feet. No ignoring that ...
A relief when I first read this as, not being versed in C15 Canticles, I associate the phrase 'Nunc Dimittis' with a typically macabre Roald Dahl story ...
Two favourite OC roles: the evil stepmother in Fleabag (the exhibition scene was just far too familiar for those of us who've attended such events) and Susan in The House of Milton Jones. The only regrettable thing about her present status is she is unlikely to do roles like the latter again.
Michael Holding called him fearless, which is high praise indeed. Famously poured ITB back into his bottle when Botham was trying to throw his weight around.
Richard Briers later said he disliked Tom as he was completely selfish, obsessed with his own ideas/schemes/gimmicks, and never treated Barbara. I haven't watched it in years, though I did work with a Margot Leadbetter clone, which was as much fun as it sounds ...
Holocaust Memorial Day.
Never forget.
This arrived in the post today. I thought one article might appeal to the cricketing cognoscenti here. @wgrumblepants.bsky.social
Congratulations- I believe this elevates you to the rank of Master of Tsundoku 📕 📕-one of my own proud achievements 🙂
Happy birthday to the actor & playwright Arnold Ridley, a man with a remarkable war record, as discussed in my book Noble Savages (tinyurl.com/mjm8re4p), even if he was better known as Godfrey from Dad's Army (of which one of the most moving episodes concerned Godfrey's Great War experiences).
On another occasion Lucy told Snoopy in her inimitably bullying manner that he might think dogs were smart, but scientists had proved pigs were the most intelligent domesticated animals. Snoopy riposted "If they're so smart, then why are they pigs?"
Very good of you to admit to this. I think everyone is at least tempted by confirmation bias, hence the importance of peer review and reading outside one's echo chamber. The grievance studies affair & the Sokal hoax show the dangers of failing to do so.
Always striking to see how slight DGB was. Many great batters have been short (a personal trainer once explained to me there are various advantages it brings) but he also seems so slight, yet he clearly had great stamina as well as his unmatched concentration.
Personal choice I suppose, I've met some planning barristers who love their work. Used to drive me mad reading about the fifth time a tribunal/court had to determine whether a sign on a carpark in London was the wrong height etc.
Indeed, and they are riotously entertaining compared with the average judicial review, which I loathed in my law reporting days.