Author Archives: odeboyz

The Two Obadiah’s

Posted on December 17, 2018 by odeboyz

When just a boy, I asked Dad What’s the oldest song you know? He pulled the music stool out And while playing he began to sing. It turns out that when Dad was a boy He asked his own Grandad … Continue reading →

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Why posh boys and girls run the Arts

Posted on December 13, 2018 by odeboyz

Not long ago, my wife, a composer, asked me if I would ever advise a student from a low-income family to pursue a career in the arts. “What do you mean? Of course.” “Really?” “If that’s what they wanted to … Continue reading →

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The defeat of cholera

Posted on December 13, 2018 by odeboyz

New epidemic diseases are always terrifying.1 Cholera arrived in Britain in 1832 when Britain didn’t have a medical-scientific infrastructure to cope. Favoured explanations for cholera were Miasma, (roughly, ‘bad air’), moral turpitude and God’s anger. Victorian Britain’s rationalists looked for … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, housing, Politics, statistics, Technology | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Two priests on holiday in Hawaii

Posted on December 10, 2018 by odeboyz

Two priests went to Hawaii on vacation without worrying about stereotypes. When they landed they bought shorts, shirts, sandals, sunglasses, etc. so they’d fit in. An attractive holiday maker, dressed in a bikini, said ‘Good Morning, Father. Good Morning, Father,’ … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Sven Hassel ~ The Commissar (Translator Tim Bowie)

Posted on December 10, 2018 by odeboyz

Sven Hassell is very controversial in Denmark where his ‘fact based semi-autobiographical’ novels have been scrutinised and found to be (astonishingly!) fiction. The style Hassel writes in does lead the reader to believe that there is an underlying truth hard … Continue reading →

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The Drug Culture

Posted on December 6, 2018 by odeboyz

Ray H

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Russian police for hire

Posted on December 6, 2018 by odeboyz

…in modern Russia it is sometimes difficult even to know if you are working for the gangsters. The assassination of organised-crime boss Vasily Naumov in 1997 came as a particular embarrassment to the St Petersburg police when it emerged that … Continue reading →

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Hackney DLO

Posted on December 5, 2018 by odeboyz

In 1965 I was employed by the Hackney Direct Labour Organisation (DLO). I enjoyed being one of their plumbers. It wasn’t a prestigious position but aged twenty one I only wanted a steady reliable income. The talk in the building … Continue reading →

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Retirement

Posted on December 3, 2018 by odeboyz

Barbara (anxious colleague): Do you think that you’ll by OK when you retire? Joan: Oh yes. I’ve been reading about life without work and it’s lovely. Barbara: What have you been reading? Joan: Jane Austen Chris

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Film Review: The Girl in the Spider’s Web (Claire Foy)

Posted on December 3, 2018 by odeboyz

There’s nothing so attractive to Hollywood as a money-making franchise. The Scandi-noir novels about the idiot savant Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) has definitely come of age. Their version has all the tropes deemed necessary for a serious money-making film. The … Continue reading →

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