Christopher John Myers

David Starkey hasn’t had a good year so far – first the TV historian gets monstered for calling a pupil ‘fat’ on Jamie Oliver’s Dream School experiment Channel 4 and then he’s called a racist for observing that ‘gangsta’ culture is having a pernicious effect on Britain’s youngsters, youtube.com Let’s look at the facts.   First the pupil was fat (sorry) and, secondly, you’d have to have been living on the moon if you thought that a ‘culture’ that glorified guns, drugs, misogyny, in-your-face wealth, a perverted view of ‘respect’ and easy money was anything but pernicious. Apologies about the fat pupil comment by the way – but was it really worth such a fuss as self-styled down-with-the-kids head John ‘Chirpy Cockney Dabbs’ d'Abbro made it out to be?   ‘Dabbs’ lost a lot of his cred (in my view) when he said that Starkey’s comment ‘summed up everything he went into teaching to fight’ … or some similar right-on comment. Anyway, was Starkey being racist with his comment abou...

Aaargh - we have a new record for Photoshopped models!  The Daily Telegraph magazine featured this monster - who I estimate is about 9 foot tall.  The dress hides any Photoshopped legs, so we don't get a sense of (dis)proportion, but she's still a record-breaker. What do you think?

The older I get the more obits I read … and the more humble I get.   And Cecil ‘Cec’ Thompson’s obit in July is humbling in shedloads. Cec grew up in a series of orphanages as the son of a white mother and a Trinidadian father, who died before he was born.   He left school at 14 to work as a labourer … and through his own extraordinary inner reserves of talent and character became an international rugby player and went on to build successful careers in business and as a highly-respected teacher . He overcame race and class barriers.   There’s no better illustration of this than the 1950s newspaper headline from when he was selected for Great Britain side and the British Empire XIII- Hunslet's darkie one of Britain 's heroes .   Amazingly he was nicknamed – affectionately – ‘darkie’ for much of his career. Tributes to Cec are all over the media, but this full obituary in the Daily Telegraph is the best and most detailed.   Read on and be humbled! www.tele...

Given that smoking is a death sentence, and very, very sad, it’s amazing that so many talented people do it.   Are they mad?  Do they really think it looks cool, 1930's style? I read Adele’s comments about smoking – sounded like a silly schoolgirl.   How could she risk her talent like that? Even ‘fit’ actors like Brad Pitt are addicted! And so are: Lilly Allen, Martin Sheen, Pete Docherty (of course), Kate Moss (of course), Diego Maradonna, Jonathan Ross, Billie Piper, Jack Nicholson, Jude Law, Colin Farrell, Robbie Williams, Sienna Miller, Denise van Outen, Rachel Stevens, Simon Cowell, Joss Stone, Charlotte Church, Kate Winslet, Catherine Zeta Jones, Kate Beckinsale, Orlando Bloom, Jeremy Clarkson and James May, Liam Gallagher. Are they all sponsored?  Or what? Seems the tobacco industry’s clever PR work is working.    To read their latest tricks, check out this link - http://www.cigarettesflavours.com/ We need to be aware.   But how t...

R&B fans are in for a rare treat on Friday 22 nd July when instrumental band ‘Time is Tight’ return to the Rayon d’Or, Airport House on the Purley Way in Croydon.. It’s a rare treat as the band’s appearances are infrequent … and consequently very much sought-after.   All the more reason, then, to get down to the Rayon d’Or and find out why people are saying that Time is Tight is the South East’s most talented and creative R&B band. But Time is Tight’s rarity is nothing to do with a shortage of booking requests … it’s a reflection of the demands of the band members’ second careers and heavy business commitments. One of the biggest commitments is keyboard player Giles Holland’s ‘other’ full-time job … as top ranked violinist Vanessa Mae’s personal assistant.   It means global jet-setting, often at short notice. The band members all met up through connections with St Barnabas Church in Higher Drive, Purley where Giles is a regular organist and band conductor – ...

Motor Cycle News (MCN) published an 'exclusive', with a 'spy shot',  about the forthcoming Triumph Trophy 1200 today, 29 June 2011. Predictably they got all excited about styling, but missed the big news - the bike is genuinely all-new and has a shaft drive, something its predecessor lacked.  There's only one Triumph with a shaft at the moment, the minority interest Rocket Three 2.3 litre triple. I couldn't resist pointing this slack reporting out in a readers' letter, see below. Let's see if they publish it!! Sir, Oh how could you miss it?   Your spy shot of Triumph’s new Trophy 1200 (29 June) clearly shows shaft drive ... but your reporter missed it!   Instead we had to read ‘sensational’ guff about silver-painted frame and the fact that the ‘twin round’ headlights are ‘unlikely to be the finished article’. The shaft drive is the big news for Triumph – an omission up to now that has been a major drawback for a bike with touring pretensions. I ...

My local council – Croydon – is planning to scrap weekly refuse collections. They want to collect refuse fortnightly and food waste only once a week. I think this is a disgrace and I’m amazed that the councillor responsible, Cllr Phil Thomas, told the Croydon Advertiser (10 June, 2011) that he hadn’t had a single complaint about his plans! Well, now’s the time for all borough residents to rectify the situation and tell him that scrapping weekly bin collections is not on!   I’ve included his email address below.   You may also care to copy your protest to the council’s mobile ‘phone text (SMS) contact service that’s normally meant to handle failed collections.   How apt, if this change goes ahead. My suggested text: Dear Cllr Thomas, I am asking you to scrap your plans for fortnightly refuse collections.   Can you imagine how a Council Taxpayer living in a terrace house with limited storage space will cope? Can you imagine the stink of two-week-old rubbish, such ...