Up the Back Passage

13th March 2021 Court jesters popular in the middle ages, and not just in Britain, but across the world. They entertained, joked and juggled and occasionally over stepped the mark in a Ben Elton type manner by insulating high powered individuals a little too frequently. I suppose I've taken on a little of the jester … Continue reading 35. Court Jester

19th Jan 2020 23:50 Good, Bad. Ying, Yang. Ups, Downs. Rollercoaster. Describe it how you want. My last update covered the spread to other areas and increasing size of the cancer in existing areas. Not dealing with the liver spots had been my concern while other areas had been showing stability. So before Christmas I … Continue reading 34. 52 not out

13th Dec 2020 This time of year, without Covid, there would be a lot of British teens and adults getting pissed. I've probably been spending too much time recently watching American car programmes. It's taken its toll. Clare caught me referring to hoods, and fenders and trunks. Of course Pissed in America means Pissed Off … Continue reading 33 Pissed

11 Oct 2020 Sunday We all know the Hokey Cokey, we've all done the accompanying dance, usually drunk, otherwise why would you? It's no surprise that it's an old English folk song, but it seems to have travelled the world and morphed along the way. Extracts of several versions are below, by published date. 1826 … Continue reading 32. Hokey Cokey

30th May 2020 Papyrus is a plant that in ancient Egypt was used for many purposes - the most recognised as a material on which to write. Over 5000 years ago it was used to document the comings and goings of life. Recently, the Diary of Merer was discovered, the papyrus records of a few … Continue reading 31. Paper

10th April 2020 As you rejoin us for the Heasman Steeplechase, we are already well underway, a quick recap over the last few fences. Pulmonary Embolism dropped away after Recovering Breath gained ground. Helped no doubt by the trainer, Blood Thinner, who recently switched from injections to tablets.Cardiac Arrest had made promising ground, cantering away … Continue reading 30. Grand National

25 Feb 2020 - Tuesday The Tianmen Mountain Road, Hunan, China. It has some of the most crazy twists on any road in the world. It is 11km long with 99 bends rising over 1200m. The World Wingsuit League held the first and second World Wingsuit Championships in Tianmen, but then a competitor died. So … Continue reading 29. Twists

23 Jan 2020 - Thursday I have a set day for my chemo. Every other Thursday. Each time there's a set of drugs taken by mouth and by infusion. The nurse sets me in front of the TV set. A nice lady comes in from the kitchen with the set menu. Trouble is I've been … Continue reading 28. Set

5th Jan - Sunday Fermented drinks have been consumed for over 10,000 years. Distillation of alcohol has been around for nearly 2000 years. For some years I even made wine from the vine in our garden. The children trod the grapes initially and later I bought a fruit press. I could only make 3 or … Continue reading 27. Alcohol

Friday 20th December Yesterday was pivotal for me. I found out my where I am, I found out where I should be headed. So while others around the world celebrated catching up with old friends or headed to drunken office Christmas parties, a new selection of drugs conspired to empty my body from both ends … Continue reading 26. Decisions