Category Archives: Too cool

Happy birthday, Brian May!

Posted on 19 July, 2021 by jb

Brian May, Eddie van Halen, Alan Gratzer (REO Speedwagon), Phil Chen, Fred Mandel (sessionista), Roger Taylor(Queen). But if you really want to enjoy yourselves, have a listen to the full recording from the beginning. Group of high class musicians noodling … Continue reading →

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My elderly Cousin Ruth reckons….

Posted on 8 June, 2019 by jb

….that you can tell a good restaurant if it provides fish knives pour le poisson. (She’s been known to fire off  incendiary missives of heavy duty bolleauxing to places that slip up that atomise restaurant manages in milliseconds….) So she’d … Continue reading →

Posted in Too cool, Yum | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The face slap, the pelvic thrust, …

Posted on 30 January, 2019 by jb

Or: In praise of the backing vocalist We all know Merry Clayton’s “Gimme shelter” story from 20 Feet From Stardom Then somehow you stumble over Boz Scaggs reviving “Lido Shuffle” back in 2004 at the Great American Music Hall and … Continue reading →

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Jack

Posted on 24 September, 2018 by jb

A couple of years back, I visited Jack Bremner, my French teacher at Westlake Boys High School in Auckland from the early 1960s in Dunedin where he moved as Rector of Kings High School in the mid 1960s. It was … Continue reading →

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Henry. Or Henri…?

Posted on 9 July, 2017 by jb

Some young friends (who I like heaps, btw) had a baby a while back, named him Henry. Bought him a little something (as one does) but thought that – seeing that everyone deserves their own playlist – I could perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in Mixtape, Music, Too cool, Too good to miss | 2 Comments

The nylon- haired tosser…..

Posted on 13 December, 2015 by jb

  

Posted in Too cool, Too good to miss | 3 Comments

Finest Kind

Posted on 4 November, 2015 by jb

I raided my stock of American (New England, actually) IPAs the other day and shared them with friends Maria and Ute. Who had never tasted anything like them, given that  German mainstream beers use EXACTLY the same ingredients and – … Continue reading →

Posted in Too cool, Too good to miss, Yum | 1 Comment

Bloody hell……

Posted on 1 October, 2015 by jb
Posted in Bloody hell, Too cool, Too good to miss | 2 Comments

If Smartphones Were Designed Like Power Tools

Posted on 25 September, 2015 by jb

As I’ve said time and again, I hate that talented smartphone designers produce beautiful glass rectangles that we have to bury inside bulky protective cases, obscuring the design details they slaved over. I’d much rather the protection was built in … Continue reading →

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Juliette

Posted on 1 September, 2015 by jb

Met a young mum in the check-out line at Hannafords in York. Got chatting and got introduced to 2 month old Juliette. “Oh” I said “Little Feat sang “Juliette” back in the 70s” “Really?” she said “Little Feet?” “With an … Continue reading →

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