It is expected that my memory is increasingly unreliable. Huge swathes of my past have gone forever but then occasionally little vignettes recur. A happy memory is offered up that I am grateful to be reminded of. A recent example involves the Banana Cabaret, a long-standing comedy club in a huge South London boozer called…
Whether we like it or not, we all have an ego. With ego comes pride and pride is something to be we mindful of. It is a deadly sin, after all. I am regularly asked about pride. “You must be soooo proud of your son” …and usually most in reference to one son in particular….
It happens every year and it starts around May/June time and every year it puts a dent in my mood. It begins with an email from my accountants requesting my year-end financial records: my income, outgoings, invoices, receipts, bank statements and anything else that exposes my lack of organisational skills… This is an Email that…
There are many things considered essential for life or a successful life at least. Good health might head up this list, which the majority of people are lucky enough to enjoy and yet so many of us take it for granted or else squander it with bad choices. On a more granular level, oxygen comes…
It is said that mimicry is the highest form of flattery – unless it happens to be identity theft that is, as has happened to me recently but has only just come to light – a combination of the thief’s cunning and the hectic lives of the Hollands. As a family, we are well used…
The health benefits of dog ownership are well known, companionship being the front runner of a very long and therapeutic list of benefits. Dogs are fiercely loyal. They offer undiluted affection. They are dependable and consistent. Dogs can be cuddled. They are warm. Unable to use toilets, dogs need to be walked, thereby the human…
The affectionate phrase, “the doctor will see you now” is under some pressure with doctors taking their services on-line to protect themselves from Covid and I expect with repercussions for many years to come. Because I am in good health and I see my doctor very rarely, this decision has not troubled me. However, I…
We are familiar with adrenalin junkies. We see them online doing very stupid things. Feats that normal people marvel and laugh at in equal measure. People leaping between buildings or base jumping or diving off cliffs… And as compelling as these feats are, I always fret because having survived, they are likely to seek out…
Of course I knew this day was coming. After all it does come every year and at around this time. And yet, as happens when the clocks move backwards or forwards it still took me unawares this year. It’s a sad day I suppose – it marks the passing of another year and the beginning…
Regular readers will know that I am prone to embellishments and particularly when it comes to fellow show biz ‘stars’ who I have worked with down the years. There’s my brush with Anne Hathaway or my fortuitous liaison with a certain Janet Jackson without which my eldest son might never have happened and I would…
