Going back to the future

A new radio station has been brought to my attention with the appropriate name of Magic. (105.5 FM if you’re curious). For septuagenarians and others, the music has a magic quality; it’s the sounds we grew up with. The music is melodic, the words have a clarity not evident in much of today’s popular music and the lyrics generally talk of love between members of the opposite sex or other interesting themes like tips on playing poker (Kenny...

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Are we missing the boat?

News, either via newspaper or television, is just a form of entertainment. Advertisers throng around it to get their own messages across and we blindly follow. A few short weeks ago the news seem to consist almost entirely of incredibly distressing images of the exodus of refugees fleeing war-torn Middle Eastern countries looking for a better life in the more prosperous European Union nations.No doubt the evacuation continues apace, but...

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The pitfalls of liquidity

When I was a youngster my father used to give me advice about the perils of drinking. Not to totally warn me off the demon drink; but “Stick to beer” he used to say. I noted, somewhat sardonically, that despite this homily he did enjoy the occasional whisky himself. He warned me off spirits, but kept his greatest dehortation for the imbibing of wine. “People who drink wine,” he opined “Were destined to become alcoholics.” To emphasise...

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Taking care of business

Lots of new words and phrases continually enter the lexicon. “Going forward” springs to mind, now in prolific use instead of saying “in future” like we used to. The Prime Minister is fond of saying “at the end of the day” and its usage is now widespread. “At this point in time” entered the glossary many years ago and is still heard regularly, but is merely an affectatious way of saying “now.” A new word we will have to come to grips with...

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