Category: Uncategorized
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First of all, apologies to subscribers and readers for the gap between blog entries. I suppose I could attribute the delay to the holiday season or a packed schedule in early January. The truth is, I penned this text last summer and was loathe at first to open up fully. However, who knows, it may…
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Watching Elvis Costello and the Attractions at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1977 was no doubt one of the highlights of the period, going to the concert together with John and Chris. As well as the concert, we would hang out at each other’s places during holidays, play tennis where they both always won, or table…
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Harold Wilson resigned in early 1976, to be replaced by James Callaghan who would lead the Labour Party into the 1979 general election. Meanwhile the following year ushered in the Silver Jubilee, technological change, with the emergence of personal computing, in particular Apple (I work on iMacs to this day), as well as the launch…
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The launch of Top of the Pops was a key event for many young people in 1964. It also coincided with the election of the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, which ushered in a period of low unemployment and prosperity, albeit at the same time as a balance of payments crisis. Known as the…
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I have to apologise again as my story will have to wait a little longer. I realised recently after chats with friends (the outstanding confidence coach and special needs teacher Russell Edwards, for one – https://www.russellrkedwards.com) that I should say more about my mum, and in passing my dad. Notwithstanding the health issues that mum…
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I was going to start on my story, but then realised that there is still a way to go with my dad. On honeymoon my dad discovered that my mum had some health issues that her parents had opted not to disclose. However, this did not make him love her any less or seek a…
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So World War II ends in 1945, with the United Kingdom allegedly one of the victors. However, it didn’t feel like that to the returning soldiers or the population back home. Wars are expensive. The country was effectively bankrupt at the time. They also tend to have a detrimental impact on society, especially in case…
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In the late 1930s, tensions had been growing internationally. After Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of the German Reich (otherwise known as Nazi Germany) in 1933 and assumed definitive control domestically, he turned his gaze further afield. The annexation of Austria in the Anschluss of 1938 and Sudetland in Czechoslovakia was followed shortly afterwards by…
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A short introduction. My name is Basil. I am a professional translator from Russian into English. However, as artificial intelligence and the continuing war between Russia and Ukraine are having a deleterious impact on both revenue and emotions, I have decided to deploy the extra time available to start a blog about my parents, the…
Autobiographical 