Mine’s A Galaxy[…]

TINY TIM – “(Ever Since You Told Me That You Loved Me) I’m A Nut” (aka PopNose10): A track from Tiny Tim’s biggest hit album, God Bless Tiny Tim. Whether it’s representative of this novelty-act-cum-cult-figure I do[…]

Karmic payback for my not-listening-to-radio comments: the Gods of Pop have decreed that my new office will have the radio on all day. Hurrah! But wait – the station of choice so far has been XFM, which is so far confirming my every lapsed-fan&[…]

PUBS WE DREAMTPart #1 in a never-ending series of series which rarely progress beyond Part #1
It was more a bar than a pub, and more a student-type bar than a ahem actual real bar: ie tatty, with unfeasibly low tables and v.cheap metal-frame easy cha[…]

DEAD MAN’S CHESS: or
Three Questions abt Treasure Island
#1: When is it set? JimH is famously coy (“I take up my pen in the year of grace 17__” only gives a clue abt when he WROTE it) but there are clues. i. The King is a George =[…]

Stop this madness: can all readers of FT visiting record shops this week please hide these objects behind, oh, a Hilary Duff single or something?
RELATED NEWS: Choose wisely British public.[…]

Amory (Mississippi) Railroad Festival, April 15th-18th
1. Barbecue sandwich, Working for my Lord Ministries: well-smoked meat pre-mixed with too much store-bought sauce. Not enough slaw.
2. Chicken fillet plate, First United Methodist: Terrible chic[…]

Private Life Of A Masterpiece
I was delighted to see that this BBC2 show on April 17th was to focus on the Hokusai print generally known as The Great Wave: it’s among my favourite works by one of my favourite artists, but also because I have a […]

Outlaws by George V. Higgins
I’ve read negative reviews at times of books that seem to swing into entirely different directions towards the end, as if it’s a failure of the book, but it’s something I like. Aristotle’s unities […]

POPTIMISM SPECIAL EDITION: Unedited notes on Top Of The Pops, BBC1, 7.30PM, 16th April 2004.
Joe – trad loverman stuff, looks quite saturnine, R&B always a bit hampered by the live thing, cold brit fish like me want to hear the drum sounds[…]