In London recently to visit my past. The milestones, places and venues which feature prominently in my unusual story called Eclipsed. I began in North London at the Hen and Chickens theatre – a 60 seater where I did my very first one-man show – quaking in my boots with nerves which I assured myself…
Who doesn’t enjoy a really big poo? Truly – a clear out of the bowels is one of life’s great victories, only marginally eclipsed by a clear-out of the house. And this being a time of annual renewal, many of us will have completed a decluttering catharsis between Christmas and New Year. Of our homes…
Regrets in life are quite normal but we should keep in mind that they’re rarely fruitful. You know the kind of thinking… I wish I’d done this or If only I hadn’t done that. Clearly it is better to live in the present and to affect our future rather than dwelling on what went before….
Just like sun tans, holiday romances and/or friendships rarely endure. They’re usually things of their time and place and they can’t easily be replicated or prolonged. Although not always, as happened to us some 18 years ago on a disappointingly cold all-inclusive holiday in Turkey when we encountered a couple with four very young children…
The stress of going away. We’ve all been there. A unique feeling of general anxiety and occasional terror. Passports, turning the oven off, enough pairs of underpants, deodorant, water-proofs? Do you think it will rain? We’re going to Scotland. It could be cold… Sun cream? Like most people, our trip is the first in two…
My latest venture to arrest the career oblivion visited on me by lockdown is to create an audio version of my book, Eclipsed. The story of how my eldest son out-gunned my best efforts in show-business before his teenage years. He is Tom Holland, the actor best known nowadays as the latest incarnation of Spider-Man….
Us human beings – we like to big ourselves up. We embellish our roles in life and exaggerate our achievements to curry influence and gain respect. But very few people have genuinely important jobs. I mean jobs that really matter. When Nikki had an ectopic pregnancy, she was rushed in to an emergency procedure. When…
To Oxford this week, the city of spires and steeples, quadrangles and gowns, bicycles and Dons. The oldest university town in the English speaking world, founded in 1069. The university where 28 UK Prime Ministers cut their teeth and 72 Nobel prize winners learnt their onions. A city of world renown academia and a perfect…
Doing numerous radio interviews for Takes on Life, presenters off-air have been careful to enquire if it’s agreeable to make mention of my progeny and in particular my first born. I am approving of their etiquette and manners and I quickly assure them that is absolutely fine. Hell, had ‘Tom’ not happened, it is unlikely…
Finally, an upside of Covid 19 with Sam returning home because the world famous Gleneagles resort has been shut until February 2021. Waiting for him at Gatwick airport this week I felt ambivalent. Excited of course to see my Sam but saddened to experience a once bustling airport now so deserted and desolate; a metaphor…
