Author Archives: odeboyz

It’s always interesting to read the first of a series of books. Why has this character become captivating? Why do the reading public want more of it? It’s difficult to know and indeed if one did know then the recipe … Continue reading →

“Check-ups are, in my experience, a grave mistake; all they do is allow the quack of your choice to tell you that you have some sort of complaint that you were far happier not knowing about.” John Mortimer, Rumpole and … Continue reading →

Background Corporal punishment in British schools wasn’t regarded as ‘assault’ until the late 1970s when political and social momentum built up against it. Two Scottish parents supported their children’s refusal to be beaten with a tawse. The case finally reached … Continue reading →

They empower it to change itself! The light bulb is not burnt out, it’s just differently lit. They set up a team to write a paper on coping with darkness.

I never imagined I’d warmly recommend a Slovak novel but here we are. The storyline relates to the break-up of communist east European countries in the late 1980s and the emergence of gangster-capitalism. As British people know full well the … Continue reading →

Time traveller: What year is it? FBI Agent: 1963 Time traveller: Before or after JFK was… FBI Agent: Before

A doctor and lawyer were chatting at a party. The doctor was constantly interrupted by people describing ailments and asking for free medical advice. After an hour, the exasperated doctor asked the lawyer, “What do you do to stop people … Continue reading →

Gordon Brown introduced the Winter Fuel Allowance to solve the problem of seasonal heating costs. He was heavily influenced by the winter of 1996-7. In those winter months there were 49,000 excess deaths. The allowance cost £2 billion in 2019 … Continue reading →