I’ve never seen Back to the Future.

I only realised today, when I saw this poster, that the name of the band ‘McFly’ is a Back to the Future reference

I particularly enjoyed

• the detail about the Broad Majestic Shannon from Shane’s sister

• Bob Geldof initially dismissing the Pogues as “paddy-whackery”

• the bloke from the Wire on The Body of An American

BBC - Archive on 4 - Shane Macgowan - The Old Main Drag

To Trowbridge by train today.

In quick succession you go past the White Horse at Westbury, as in Ravilious' painting, and Dilton Marsh, of John Betjeman’s poem

There isn’t a porter. The platform is made of sleepers.

The guard of the last train puts out the light

And high over lorries and cattle the Halt unwinking

Waits through the Wiltshire night.

David Squires on … the Fifa Man’s plan to make Saudi dreams come true

Happy Cyber-men Day to all who are celebrating it today

Good news …well, good news for old folks who like to plod around like me, anyway

“There’s a far lower association of knee pain in runners in their older years compared with those who don’t run,”

Is it true that … running destroys your knees? - The Guardian

I would very much like to do a Desi Pub Tour of the UK

Jay Rayner on restaurants - Desi Yew Tree, Wolverhampton: ‘Part of the brilliance of Desi pub culture’

Thoughts on the Chelsea match this afternoon

• lovely to see a bit of proper ice-cold Cole Palmer magic again

• Caicedo man of the match imho

• great tackle by Cucarellla for the first goal

• indirect free kicks in the box seem really tough to score from

• the Arsenal are ahead of us in the League on alphabet. We need to change our name to AFC Chelsea ⚽

in honour of the season

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Il est ne le Devin enfant

As people who’ve followed me on various social media are probably sick of hearing, the first record I ever owned was Blue is the Colour by the Chelsea football team

#TodayILearned that the song was written by Daniel Boone and Rod McQueen , who also wrote this

Daniel Boone - Beautiful Sunday

⚽ #ChelseaFC #cfc

I found out today that one of my favourite songs, I Say A Little Prayer is a song about Vietnam.

Growing up in England, this maybe never would have occurred to me

BBC Soul Music - I Say a Little Prayer for You

#TodayILearned

<img src=“https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/139254/2024/screenshot-20241129-2037172.png" width=“600” height=“478” alt=“A colorful illustration featuring a person with flowing, multicolored hair wearing headphones, along with the text “BBC Soul Music” and a description of a series about music with emotional impact.">

I really like SSMS as a query tool, but i found it much easier to pronounce ‘Toad’

I’ve never been able to imagine Cary Grant speaking in a Bristol accent

(For those outside the UK, think of Speak Like a Pirate Day…..but all the time.)

Cary Grant’s humble Bristol roots honoured with blue plaque

According to the Times, Kemi Badenoch has appointed 20 whips to look after her 121 MPs

According to Google, the DFe says that it’s good to have 1 adult for every 6 to 10 kids on a primary school trip…so Kemi is at the top end of that

#TodayILearned that Mike Batt wrote 3 hit singles about Julianne White, who is now his wife

• A Winter’s Tale by David Essex,

• Please Don’t Fall In Love by Cliff Richard, and

• I Feel Like Buddy Holly but Alvin Stardust

(via this month’s Record Collector mag)

My most un-English opinion is this.

I find the Shipping Forecast really boring

<img src=“https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/139254/2024/p0byxvv7-2962213519.jpg" width=“600” height=“337” alt=“A container ship is sailing on the ocean with the text “BBC Shipping Forecast” and graphic elements surrounding it.">

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all who are celebrating it today

I don’t really see much of the Great British Bake Off

I’m sad when it ends though…just the thought of nice people doing nice things in a nice tent, and in nicer weather than we’re currently experiencing - I find it all very cheering

I’ve never thought much about the folk song ‘Ilkley Moor Baht ‘at’ before Paul Sinha mentioned it on his radio show.

I think the only bit in the words below that really needs explanation is ‘baht at’ means ‘without a hat’ ….but there is a full translation on Wikipedia

ON ILKLEY MOOR BAHT ‘AT

Wheear ‘as ta bin sin ah saw thee,

On Ilkla Moor baht ‘at?!

Tha’s been a cooartin’ Mary Jane|

Tha’s bahn t’catch thi deeath o’cowd

Then we shall ha’ to bury thee

Then t’worms ’ll cum and eat thee oop

Then ducks ’ll cum and eat oop t’worms

Then we shall go an’ ate oop ducks

Then we shall all ‘ave etten thee

That’s wheer we get us oahn back

Lauren Laverne is the host of the Radio 4 show Desert Island Discs.

She used to be in a band, called Kenickie

I’m kind of sad that, so far, nobody has ever picked a Kenickie song as one of their eight discs

<img src=“https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/139254/2024/s-l400.jpg" width=“392” height=“400” alt=“Four illustrated people are driving a car on an album cover with the title “Kenickie In Your Car."">

The job title ‘Platform Engineer’ sounds to me like I’m working on an oil rig

Like many English blokes of a certain age, I’m fascinated by Winston Churchill…so this looks great - the Imperial War Museum has an exhibition of Churchill cartoons

We shall satirise him on the beaches… Churchill through the eyes of cartoonists

Podcasts and radio shows I’ve enjoyed recently

The Political Party Show 203 - Margaret Beckett

In The Road to Surrender, Evan Thomas examines the closing months of WWII, exploring the motivations of key U.S. leaders, and of Japanese commanders and diplomats. - Fresh Air

Radio 4 - Soul Music - Ghost Town

Living through the Troubles History Extra podcast ·

The Last Bus Home Hancock’s Half HourSeries 6 Episode 3 of 14

Political Party - Philip Hammond

Episode 153 : Lloyd Bradley on Black London + Tina Turner + Steve Barrow audio - Rock’s Back Pages

Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen -Soul Music - BBC

Desert Island Discs - Peter Hennessy

Nick Heyward reboots ‘the fragrance of rock’ - Word in Your Ear

Caesar is assassinated - You are there -

There’s a list going back years here: mattypenny.micro.blog/podcast-e…

This is the first in what might possibly be a continuing series of songs I’ve discovered in the last couple of weeks

The Lady Loves Me (from the MGM movie soundtrack "Viva Las Vegas") - Ann-Margret,Elvis Presley - I'd either never heard this song, or forgotten it. It's a duet from Viva last Vegas...but don't let that put you off!

You might like this if you like 'Jackson', or 'Did you Evah?'

In the Ghetto - Susan Cadogan - This is lovely - a reggae cover of a Bee Gees song.

You might like this if you like Lovers Rock, or the popp-ier end of reggae in general

Ali Baba - The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra - This is a modern version of a fantastic song by John Holt. I think Lee Thompson is one of Madness, but I may be wrong. It's different enough from the original to be worth listening to. The LP is named 'The Benevolence Of Sister Mary Ignatius'. Sister Mary is worth looking up, if you are interested in Jamaican music.

You might like this if you like 2 Tone, or Desmond Dekker

Midnight Stroll - The Revels - This was on a Halloween compilation, but I'm going to be listening to it all year round. Spotify features an LP cover showing five white blokes, but Wikipedia shows five African Americans from Philadelphia.

You might like this if you like Songs the Cramps Taught Us, or the Coasters

Ringo - Lorne Greene - I've been listening to a few of these sort of 'cowboy songs'. Lorne Greene was in Bonanza.

You might like this if you like 16 Tons, Camouflage, Ghost Riders in the Sky

I like the Scottish ‘outwith’, which I think is ‘outside’ in the sense of ‘outwith the realms of possibility’