A friend was telling me a joke: “This bloke walks into a pub,” he began, but to be honest I zoned out almost immediately. All I could think was, well – who is this bloke? Have I ever met him? What’s he like? I’m guessing, by the time he spends at the pub, that (more...)

This has been a month of disappointments in a televisual sense, as I caught up with three remakes from my viewing youth, only to discover that time and technology alone are no guarantee of improvement over the original. First example was Magnum PI, the reboot of which I discovered quite by accident (more...)

MakeUK, the rebranded EEF and vocal supporter of the UK’s manufacturing sector, has published a new fact card providing details of the industry’s health – and very interesting reading it makes, too. Produced in association with Santander Corporate and Commercial, it highlights a (more...)

Every February, Tonbridge hosts the UK’s largest second-hand and vintage hi-fi event, AudioJumble, which I attend religiously each year. Not to buy, necessarily, but often merely to peruse a veritable museum of classic audio equipment. In fact, it’s even better than a museum because at (more...)

With Mrs Simms being away for a few days, I’ve been left to fend for myself. For the most part this has been okay, thanks to some forward planning – which essentially meant politely asking the gastronomically adept Mrs Simms to prepare a few meals in advance, which I could then reheat at (more...)

So what have we learned from the publication by the Government of the draft withdrawal document? Two key things I think. First, that the terms of the withdrawal aren’t great – more on that later. Second – and in fact this has a great bearing on the first point – that this is (more...)

As a self-confessed and unashamed Trekkie, having watched every TV series and movie many times over, I’ll freely admit that I can probably be a bit of a bore on the subject. I eagerly anticipate and enjoy all the new output on the big screen, as well as the recently released Star Trek (more...)

Taking advantage of the pleasant summer weather, Mrs Simms and I wandered into town this week for an enjoyable evening out, deciding on a whim that it was the perfect day for a meal at our local Italian. Perusing the menu, the bottle of chilled white wine and the king prawns in garlic starter more (more...)

Probably my favourite band over the last 30 years has been Crowded House. In lead singer and principal song writer Neil Finn, the Crowdies have a front man who at one turn can take you on a journey of emotional self discovery, and at another can simply extract the last possible ounce of pop from a (more...)

100 years ago the first fighter plane used by the new Royal Air Force was the legendary Sopwith Camel. It could climb at a rate of nearly six metres per second, was armed with machine guns and had a maximum speed of a little over 100mph. The Eurofighter Typhoon on the other hand, which is set to (more...)