Much like watching It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story, Tuna Christmas or, as evidenced by a recent admission, Die Hard, one of my annual Christmas traditions is to listen to John Cleese’s adaptation of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas from podcast No. 28. Never mind that there have been endless readings over the years by the likes […]
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A big TOH to Reid Robinson, Tellyspotting’s intrepid reporter in Richardson, TX who reminded me of one of music’s most controversial moments which occurred at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall in 1966. A heckler branded one of the greatest songwriters of all-time, “Judas” for going electric during a set thus ‘betraying his folk roots’. Reid pointed me in the direction of one Robert Allen Zimmerman and how, over a half century later, he answered one of life’s most sought-after musical questions.
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One of the all-time greats celebrated another trip around the Sun recently. William Frances (a.k.a. Bill) Nighy turned 73 on December 12. From Love Actually to Pirates of the Carribean to Pirate Radio to Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz to State of Play and the Johnny Worricker trilogy of Page Eight, Turks & Caicos and Salting the Battlefield, Bill Nighy can do no wrong in […]
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While snow this time of year is an extraordinarily magical thing, especially in London, it can wreak havoc on commuters trying to get from one place to the next. As you can imagine, the London Underground is no exception. Morning and evening rush hour travellers in London can be a bit moody especially when countless […]
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Trader Vic’s, the classic Polynesian-themed tiki bar that has served London for over 60 years from the basement of the London Hilton hotel on Park Lane will close its doors on or before 31 December. While there are only a handful of Trader Vic’ses left around the globe, the closing of the London camp classic of […]
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Having celebrated its’ 80th birthday on 29 January, 2022, BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs is perhaps the coolest show on the planet, which premiered on BBC radio in 1942. Created by Roy Plomley, the format is about as simple as you can get. A guest ‘castaway’ is invited to choose the eight records they […]
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Now that Thanksgiving is in our collective rearview mirror, it’s time (and, ok) to focus our attention on the forthcoming December holiday season. While thoughts of holidays past rank high on most everyone’s list as to what causes them to look forward to this time of year, there is a desire on the part of […]
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In addition to stopping for a moment to be eternally thankful for family, friends, avid and first-time Tellyspotting readers, good health and our cat, MiniBoots, no Thanksgiving would be complete without recognizing the contributions made by two classic British series in not only setting me on a lifelong desire of wanting to consume all things British when […]
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If you find yourself in London during the holidays, here are a couple off-the-beaten path places to check out that you just, quite frankly, don’t find on a regular basis when traveling to another city. Given the potential of you never know what you will find around the corner, this is why London is a […]
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There’s something about walking into, I don’t know, any store right before Halloween and seeing Christmas decorations already up where you don’t look up to the sky and quietly say, “Really, can you not wait until at least Thanksgiving or, if you must, make it after Halloween?” That said, I can’t wait every year until […]
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