• Larry the Cat — providing stability at 10 Downing Street since 2011!
    October 26, 2022

    Larry the Cat — providing stability at 10 Downing Street since 2011!

    Despite the recent instability at the most famous address this side of 221B Baker Street, there has been one constant at 10 Downing Street since 2011. Serving as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom at 10 Downing Street, the residence and home office of Britain’s prime minister, Larry the Cat was appointed in 2011 and finds himself now serving his fourth PM in the last decade (3rd in the last 45 days!). Larry has outlasted prime ministers David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and, as of this past week, the six-week tenure of Liz Truss.

    Read more
  • ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ sadly plays out in real life for Queensland homeowner
    October 25, 2022

    ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ sadly plays out in real life for Queensland homeowner

    When the greatness of Douglas Adams initially created Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in 1978 as a BBC Radio4 comedy science fiction, even he couldn’t have imagined that art would imitate real-life almost 44 years later in 2022. While it’s not the Earth that is being destroyed by a Vogon constructor fleet, Queensland homeowner Anil Konda certainly understood how Arthur Dent must have felt recently.

    Read more
  • Remembering Ian ‘Spats’ Picken, Chef extraordinaire
    October 11, 2022

    Remembering Ian ‘Spats’ Picken, Chef extraordinaire

    There’s a simultaneous joy and danger to cleaning out drawers and files as, good or bad, you never know what you might run across. In this case, it was pure joy to stumble onto a memory from our time attending the annual BBC Showcase in Brighton from the mid-90s to the mid-2000s. Each year, 500 […]

    Read more
  • ‘Wolf Hall’ sequel to continue as memorial to author, Dame Hilary Mantel
    September 26, 2022

    ‘Wolf Hall’ sequel to continue as memorial to author, Dame Hilary Mantel

    Two-time Booker Prize-winning author, Hilary Mantel, passed away Thursday at the all-too-young age of 70. At the time of her death, Mantel was consulting on the television adaptation of her most recent 2020 novel, “The Mirror and the Light”, which was the conclusion to her critically acclaimed Tudor trilogy. The writer’s first two books in the […]

    Read more
  • Remembering Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II — 8 September 2022
    September 9, 2022

    Remembering Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II — 8 September 2022

    Given the sad and devastating news that came from Buckinham Castle yesterday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s passing at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, much of Planet Earth was fixated much of the day on the extensive coverage from the UK from the BBC, ITV and a host of other media outlets. This announcement came […]

    Read more
  • A 2022 Labor Day salute to the employees of Grace Brothers Department Store!
    September 5, 2022

    A 2022 Labor Day salute to the employees of Grace Brothers Department Store!

    In the United States, Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement, dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country. We simply can’t let the long weekend pass by without paying tribute to some of the hardest working friends across the pond…the staff of the ladies’ and gentlemen’s clothing departments of Grace Brothers Department Store.

    Read more
  • Capping off the KERA British Telly Tour with a trip to ‘Dibley’ and Bletchley Park!
    September 4, 2022

    Capping off the KERA British Telly Tour with a trip to ‘Dibley’ and Bletchley Park!

    Taking absolutely nothing away from our stops earlier in the week touring filming locations for Downton Abbey (Highclere Castle), Poldark (Chavenage House), Midsomer Murders (Dorchester-on-Thames), Inspector Morse/Lewis/Endeavour (Oxfordshire) and Agatha Raisin (Biddestone), the final day of the KERA British Telly Tour before returning to London may have been the best of all with a stop in Turville, yet another picturesque small English village (thankfully, no murders have occured there to my knowledge) for a behind-the-scenes look at the Vicar of Dibley and then on to Bletchley Park (Bletchley Circle) for a glimpse at the brilliant work that came out of the minds of the roughly 9000 men and women that worked tirelessly to end World War II .

    Read more