Author Archives: John S

About John S

I'm blogging about the things I love outside work: music, sport, culture, London, with some photos to illustrate aspects of our wonderful city. And anything else that I happen to think is worth writing about!

“Chasing Trane” – the life and music of John Coltrane

Posted on August 20, 2017

Last week I went to the ICA Cinema to see John Scheinfeld’s “Chasing Trane”, a new documentary about the great jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. For me, the greatest of the sax players, the man who took the instrument to the … Continue reading →

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Laura Gibson at Oslo, Hackney, 16 August 2017

Posted on August 17, 2017

  On Wednesday I went to see Laura Gibson at the Oslo, Hackney. A great place for a show. A good space upstairs and an excellent bar downstairs, which serves one of my favourite IPAs, Beavertown Gamma Ray. I first … Continue reading →

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A few days at the Edinburgh Festival, August 2017

Posted on August 14, 2017

My wife, Kath,  and I have just spent a few days at Edinburgh Festival. It’s the first time I’ve been to the festival since 1981, when I went up for a week and slept on a friend’s floor, while going … Continue reading →

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Some poems – “Growin’ Up – Snapshots/fragments”

Posted on August 8, 2017

So, this is a new venture for me. Poems. The poems here are snapshots and fragments of memories from the first 25 years of my life. Some of the memories may be faulty, but they are moments which resurface from … Continue reading →

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Sportsthoughts (160) – Premier League predictions for 2017-18

Posted on August 6, 2017

Time for the most fruitless exercise of the year – predicting the outcome of this season’s Premier League! Always fun though. All starts again, absurdly, on a Friday –  11 August. Arsenal v Leicester. Same time as the World Athletic … Continue reading →

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Have you Heard? – (83) Catherine McGrath

Posted on August 5, 2017

Catherine McGrath is a young country singer from Northern Ireland, now based in London. I first came across her at this year’s Latitude. She was first on the Alcove stage at 2pm on the Friday. I liked what the blurb … Continue reading →

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Sportsthoughts (159) – An encounter with Ron “Chopper” Harris

Posted on August 3, 2017

Last night, I and two old friends – Tony and Jon (he who is Dood) – had the pleasure of an evening at Stamford Bridge, sampling the delights of the food and wine that will be on offer to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Sportsthoughts | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments