Tag Archives: news

A visit to the Manchester United and BBC comb factory (Belle)

Posted on July 2, 2020 by Dreamaticus

I was guest of honour on a tour of the comb factory. Away from the production lines the offices doubled as BBC newsrooms while the glass windows looked out over the Old Trafford pitch. They showed me a video of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Angela Rippon, BBC, comb, Ken Dodd, Manchester United, musical instrument, news, newsroom, nit comb, Noel Coward, Old Trafford, tongue twister | Leave a comment

Three fakes: news, Northern Lights, and a female impersonator (Rousse)

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Dreamaticus

The desperation of the journalist was obvious when he started asking VAE and her sister to provide expert comment on every single topic to be covered in the radio news broadcast. In an attempt to fool his audience, he changed … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged audience, bikini, botanic, broadcast, drag, fake, female, fool, garden, impersonator, kaftan, news, nightfall, Northern Lights, show, sister, spectacle, tourist, TPR | Leave a comment

An ancestor in oil (Rousse)

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Dreamaticus

The famous art critic presented a slide of an eighteenth century oil painting of a lady in a posh dress and hat. As soon as he revealed her her name, I was convinced that she was one of my ancestors. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ancestor, art, care, century, critic, dress, eighteenth, glare, hat, lady, man, name, news, oil, painting, picture, posh, whisper | Leave a comment

Late news of an elopement (Rousse)

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Dreamaticus

A was in town with fiancée number 4. With a claim that they were eloping, they announced that their wedding was on Thursday. HW was agog as she admired the engagement ring, but she would have known all about A’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged agog, elopement, engagment, Facebook, fiancée, news, ring, romance, Thursday, wedding | Leave a comment

Over body-confidence, laundry robbers, the Northumbrian pipes, and a man in white bow ties (Rousse)

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Dreamaticus

Early one morning, before the shops opened, my sister S, my mother and I ran along the Ullapool esplanade. At the far end we stepped on the scales. My sister weighed in at 11 stone five, over two stone heavier … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged appointment, black, body, body confidence, bow, business men, cinema, class, comic, connection, countryside, dress, enormous, esplanade, face, film, hat, hide-out, hoop, knickers, laundry, lime green, lipstick, massive, mother, multimedia, news, Northumbrian pipes, performance, pride, robber, screening, sequin, shirt, sick, sister, sparkle, story, tie, torso, Ullapool, unhealthy, university, weight, white | Leave a comment

Gaydar malfunction (Rousse)

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Dreamaticus

PD misunderstood something I said. In all innocence, he passed this ‘information’ on to WB. Before I had a chance to stop her, WB had shared the news with NP. We had no idea how far it spread after this. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged come out, coming out, gay, gaydar, homosexual, malfunction, news, party, travels | Leave a comment

Husband confesses affairs, then leaves (Rousse)

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Dreamaticus

There was very little room in our crammed dormitory. My own bed was second from the window, next to that of JM. JG and NF were at the other end of the room, by the door. Between us were four … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged affair, bed, Christmas, class, complex, confess, departure, door, dormitory, errant, family, husband, leave, love, Nantes, news, stranger, timetable, TPR, window | Leave a comment

Sharing a cabin with Dermot Murnaghan (Rousse)

Posted on November 5, 2017 by Dreamaticus

I sat next to television news presenter Dermot Murnaghan in the passenger cabin of the tiny plane. Keen not to embarrass him by making it obvious that I recognised him, I engaged him in conversation about Scottish stereotypes (e.g. short, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged air steward, broadcaster, cabin, change, companion, Dermot Murnaghan, flight, ginger, journalist, men, move, news, passenger, plane, presenter, relief, Scottish, seat, short, stereotypes, stocky, travel | Leave a comment

The girl is mine by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson: a third singer revealed (Rousse)

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Dreamaticus

Sir Paul McCartney was with us on the day that we set off for lunch at a new restaurant that RG had recently opened in the south west of Scotland. It only served food at lunchtime, yet the reviews were … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cliff, cliff-top, companion, food, girl, hide, lunch, Michael Jackson, mine, news, party, Paul McCartney, record, restaurant, review, Scotland, sea, singer, Sir Paul McCartney, The girl is mine, third, view | Leave a comment

Imprisoned by the Taliban (Rousse)

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Dreamaticus

The pilot instructed the air stewards to set the alarm, and explain its function to the passengers. My response to the news that we were under attack was to send a farewell text to my parents – just in case. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged air, aircraft, alarm, armed, attack, board, chain, couple, danger, extreme, family, farewell, field, function, green, hanger, jet, kill, member, men, military, news, nose-dive, padlock, parents, passenger, pilot, plane, prison, prisoner, response, shadow, steward, Taliban, text | Leave a comment