Curly's Capers

Danny Baker is a true pollyanna. Leaving school without a piece of paper, he strolled into journalism and the music press and then onto to television and radio work. Events happened around him and consequently work fell into place. He has always spent his money, constantly straining the overdraft limit. He lives life ' at the large ' as they say. Typical of the man, he says: ' You know that cancer thing I got, well you won't read about it until Volume 3 !. "  This review concerns Volume 2: In this book, you will discover how, he bought his first house , ( nobody in our family ever had one of those!)  largely by knowing the Late Kenneth Williams. He had at that time, only  £90 in the bank but managed to swing  a 100% mortgage on his Victorian residence. Why the ' Rag and Bone Man ' hated the council block of flats where Danny and wife Wendy first lived and why Mel Brooks, virtually throw himself at Danny's feet. This book is just crammed full...

Welcome to Kingston upon Thames., a 4G town.  We are ten miles from the the throbbing metropolis that is the hub transport point of Charing Cross . Saxon Kings were anointed here in this Royal Borough of Kingston.  We are 10 metres above sea level in this town of 43,000 cheerful souls.  And now;  here we are walking the busy streets, watching the proletariat  busy driving their new 'Beemers ' and ' Mercs', as they scurry from appointment to appointment. They are happy living in their central postcode KT1; whilst those unfortunates, who live beyond the pale, north of the railway station in KT2 run two year,  or even  older motor vehicles. Their faces are deeply lined with worry.  Modern Kingstonians  have no real memory of history. They have heard from their grandparents about the horrors of the three day working week and only dimly remember the time when there were no credit cards. How could you survive when you had to wait while you sa...

" What Ho,      Thought I'd bring you tinternet peoples a brief update.  I managed to secure tickets for the first day's Test Match against those Aussie Chappies taking place in Cardiff on Wednesday. Baxter got two for us which cost a princely sum of £119 each. Rather steep what. That chap Foster, whoever he may be, has expensive tastes. I must say it will fell a deuce odd to be watching England play Australia, whilst in the Principality; But as the Memsahib blithely remarked, money talks loudly in  sport these days. I decided to take Baxter to the match, as I'm afraid he still suffers from worries north of the border. He refuses to believe that Motherwell beat his beloved Rangers  6- 1 on aggregate in the play -off to enter the top tier and also the dismal failings of the National rugby club. Admittedly he cheered up slightly when the Scots Nats won so many seats in parliament; but he  feels now that Mr. ...

Joe Abercrombie Joe Abercrombie is one of my favourite authors. He writes grit and gritty stories containing memorable characters; usually scarred and often with a disability/  loss of limb; who battle across war torn medieval land and seascapes wielding blades and weapons of various types. There is a touch of 'Catch 22" about his books; in that the lower order men join bands or groups or even the army, fighting for causes, they  don't understand to capture ground they know will be lost again; all because their jobs call for it. Meanwhile at senior level the shifting power game continues. I like the fact that Joe writes in short chapters, each with a title. I don't know about you, but I like to finish my read at the end of a chapter. It puts the book to rest and readies me for the next instalment . On a minor point Joe uses his own font style for chapter headings, which I find appealing. His dialogue is pithy, often coarse, but always entertaini...