Dom's Thoughts

On Dad, then?

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With Tom and Harry home from Cleveland and the Holland’s back to full strength, a recent evening was a simple affair and yet one for my fatherhood diary. Not that it will endure for very long, I suspect. Not if first steps, words or even my boys births are anything to go by as my advancing years wreaks havoc with my memory. And not such a momentous night anyway. Not a meal out for us all to a favourite eatery or a trip to the theatre. It wasn’t even all of us; just Tom, Harry, Sam and I and down to our local pub for a few beers.

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Dom's Thoughts

New Years Reading…

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Practise makes perfect – or so the adage goes.

‘Perfect’ being relative of course and depending on myriad factors including ability and talents. The awkward upshot of this being that some people’s ‘perfect’ is better than others. More perfect, I suppose. Which is awkward but a fact of life and why we venerate certain people and not everyone.Golf is a useful way to contextualise this. The hardest game of all – and famously associated with a quote…“the harder I practise, the luckier I get.”

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Dom's Thoughts

Breaking the internet… (slowly)

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Rare for me to write a second blog of the week but when something so momentous occurs…

This week, almost on a whim, Sam and I sat down and finally knocked off our first podcast. Just us two, rambling on about our year past – typically interrupted by Nikki (twice) crashing in to the room she has every right to crash in to, and so my reaction was probably misplaced and then another interruption but this time very welcome when Tom happened to FaceTime from the States – not to speak with me but because he wanted to see Tessa. Charming.

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Dom's Thoughts

New York, New York…

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A poignant week for me just gone with my youngest celebrating his 15th birthday. Blimey and who knew? Nothing particularly revelatory at how Paddy’s life has flashed by – which of course applies to my life also (and yours) and perhaps then time to reflect and take stock on all things in my life.

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Dom's Thoughts

It’s good to be wrong…

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We live in increasingly tense and fractious times with heightened levels of anxiety. Regular readers of this blog will be aware that I know nothing. That I am frequently wrong but often with happy consequences, for instance, Tom confounding all of my predications on his chances in the world of show-biz. An attritional business in…

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Dom's Thoughts

There are no short straws…

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In 2010, I visited New York with Tom because he had been cast in a film called, The Impossible – and the story of Eclipsed was already fully formed in my mind whatever happened to my eldest son from here-on-in. As well as meeting the director and his co-stars, Ewan MacGregor and Naomi Watts (I…

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Dom's Thoughts

I am Spartacus…

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At Heathrow with Sam and Harry – on our way to Atlanta to surprise Tom… Amidst all the announcements we are familiar with, suddenly I hear my name. I wait for a moment, all my senses attuned now and then I hear it again. “Would Mr Dominic Holland make his way to Gate…” Quickly I…

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Dom's Thoughts

Surprise…

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Surprises run long and deep in the Holland family. Tom becoming Spider-Man and indeed a movie star will probably remain the biggest surprise of all – eclipsing even the surprise of my own failing to reach the dizzy heights… I must write this in to a story one day! But on a smaller scale too,…

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Dom's Thoughts

Humbled again…

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This year is my 25th anniversary – of when I started to play golf – and despite huge effort and much anguish, I remain hopeless. It is also our 25th wedding anniversary which means that Nikki has witnessed this entire sporting debacle. Over the years, she has seen how excited I am heading for the…

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