Author Archives: Dreamaticus

Barber Bruce Forsyth (Rousse)

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Bruce Forsyth ran into the room brandishing a pair of barber’s scissors. “Would you mind washing your hair in another bathroom love?” he asked. “I’ve got a client in for a hair cut.” I said that would be fine, picked … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1970s, barber, bathroom, buffet, catchphrase, client, conveyor belt, cut, hair, room, run, scissors, shout, table, wash | Leave a comment

Kidnapped by acrobats (Rousse)

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Dreamaticus

DT, TPR, LA and I met in a crowded bar. DT’s orange messenger-style handbag slipped off the back of the chair onto the floor and I stretched down to pick it up for her. It was at that moment that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged acrobat, acrobats, audience, back, bag, bar, beg, chair, conference, dirty, exercise, feet, floor, gloves, handbag, hillside, invisible. performance, invite, kidnap, mask, messenger, moneky, newspaper, professional, release, remember, rocky, rubber, running, scruffy, sleep, spectator, steep, talent, throw, tough, training, tricks, twon, wall | Leave a comment

Christmas plans 2014 (Rousse)

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Dreamaticus

It was Christmas Eve and all that I had bought for the next day’s celebrations was a frozen turkey. There wasn’t a single carrot or brussel sprout in the house. Tesco would be heaving, and I doubted that the little … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 2014, brussel, carrot, celebrations, Christmas, Christmas Eve, foot, frozen, galley, house, Kenton Close, kitchen, leg, market, meal, parents, plans, road, sprout, Stockton-on-Tees, surface, tarmac, Tesco, turkey | Leave a comment

Brilliance and sweeties at a Nordic lecture (Rousse)

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Dreamaticus

I didn’t recognised the speaker when she took the stage. “Who’s that?” I asked GW. “MH” she replied. “We all used to be terrified of her brilliance, but now we’re quite used to her”. I settled into my seat to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged academics, auditorium, brilliance, candy, colleague, lecture, Nordic, seat, speaker, stage, sweeties, sweets | Leave a comment

A record deal with Simon Cowell (Rousse)

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Simon Cowell was much shorter than I could have possibly imagined. I tried not to stare at his stumpy little legs when he waddled over to join us. For the sake of my niece’s singing career however, I really needed … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged career, contract, deal, label, legs, little, news, niece, record, recording, short, signing, Simon Cowell, singing, stumpy | Leave a comment

German treasure trove reveals its secrets (Rousse)

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Dreamaticus

TPR was the jumping champion. He was the first person who had ever managed to leap from a standing start at the bottom of the pit on to the turf above. Everyone had said that it was impossible, yet my … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bull, chains, champion, chest, children, contents, farmer, forget, German, gold, helmet, helmets, hero, husband, jewels, jump, kitchen, lid, pile, pit, room, secret, secrets, teacher, TPR, treasure, trove, turf, Viking, work, yard | Leave a comment

Boris Johnson’s PhD (Rousse)

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Boris Johnson’s PhD thesis was so ancient that the yellowing paper cracked as you turned the pages. Presented in two battered cream-cloth bound volumes, the content was somewhat disappointing. I’d hoped that it would come in useful as I did … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged authority, Boris, Boris Johnson, cloth, company, contact, crack, cream, dissertation, doctoral, doctorate, expedition, fishing, industry, Johnson, Linlithgow, pages, paper, PhD, spy, study, Sun Microsystems, text, thesis, uni, volume, volumes, work, yellow | Leave a comment

Tickled by a ghost at a high school reunion (Rousse)

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Dreamaticus

I was incredibly excited that 23rd August had come round so quickly. Whatever happened to all those weeks since the reunion plans were fixed in May? I walked into the school hall and the first people I saw were LA … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged August, boy, boys, bruises, bus, comprehensive, daughter, dead, death, die, father, fun, ghost, girls, graduate, hair, hall, high, jeans, man, message, nephew, plans, Princes Street, red, reunion, school, sister, tale, tickle, uncle | Leave a comment

How to avoid predatory women (Rousse)

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Dreamaticus

The holiday was full of surprises: A walk along the cliffs above the beautiful beaches of the Isle of Lewis A huge dinner at the guest house with DE A dash through a deserted Waverley Station with JM A tea … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged beach. beaches, blonde, bottle, cliff, cliffs, demonstration, dinner, female, females, glass, guest house, holiday, Isle of Lewis, job, lay-by, mercy, minibus, minimum wage, partcipant, picnic, poor, predator, predators, predatory, single, station, taste, tea, waterlilies, waterlily, Waverley, white, wine, woman, women | Leave a comment

Running a successful antiques business (Rousse)

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Dreamaticus

BM and RG’s sidewalk antique stall was such a success that I was seriously considering setting up one of my own on the pavement right next to theirs.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged antiques, antqiue, business, pavement, run, sidewalk, success, successful | Leave a comment