A rare thing this week when some work comes in. Not a gig as such but definitely work and very welcome it is too. Maybe not financially worth it but for my sense of self. It requires a car journey which I relish. I even hope that that Plod (cops, for my US readers) might…
This week I am driving my car (legally) with my wife, Nikki and Tessa on our way for a walk. Tessa is not a third person (illegal) but our dog. I only add this for any debut readers this week and the same reasoning applies to the words, ‘my wife’. I am driving within the…
You will understand why I did it though? Imagine the scene. I am sixteen years old, waiting to see a man who is not keen to see me. Mr McMahon. A man with a big responsibility. A maths tutor, handsomely paid by my parents and charged with getting me a maths O level. Two fails…
I note that Tom has a splurge of publicity of late with the impending release of his new movie Cherry and including a front cover for Esquire and looking suitably sultry. More on Esquire to conclude – the word I mean and not the magazine. I’m not much of a reader of such mags and…
An exciting start to my year and a need perhaps to recalibrate my career, my accomplishments and my place in the world. Because it turns out that I am in fact, a legend. Who knew? Not me and it seems not my son either when Daniel Kaluuya made the surprise announcement during an actor to…
A friend of mine asked me to watch a film he has a distant hand in getting off the ground and immediately, I am keen to help. Sure, why not? “Great. It’s called Totally FKT. It’s about two blokes running.” Oh, er… Two blokes running, you say. Even in lockdown with no gigs and in-terminal…
Which of us doesn’t wish to be regarded as cool? To be considered chic and hip. From our school days onwards, we are aware of social hierarchies and where we sit. Being cool is mostly associated with being young and might explain why people are afraid of growing old and why plastic surgeons are even…
Recently I have written a few obituaries or tributes to men who have had a large bearing on my life. And so it is this week with the passing of Michael Apted, the director of P’Tang Yang Kipperbang, a TV film that I starred in. Well, starred in? What I mean is, appeared in. I…
The Holland family are back to full strength over Christmas with Tom and Harry back from the States and Sam back from Gleneagles. And due to various circumstances, all back to their parents’ house. The Old Folks Home as they might call it. Like an old school Christmas then and great fun but for the…
There is a romantic notion of being a writer. Something magical. Only an imagination required and how bountiful it can be. The sales and acclaim. Book tours and readings. Adaptations, premieres… And the process of writing itself; so noble and dignified. A room with a view for the creative juices. A house by the ocean…
