Peter Rhodes on swords, ploughshares, drones and how the internet reveals our true ages
In an age when drones are associated with mayhem, misery and blazing tower blocks in Ukraine, isn't it impressive and life-affirming to see these graceful little devices being used for nothing more hostile than delivering the mail to the remote Scottish islands of Graemsay and Hoy? Beating swords into ploughshares was never this elegant.
Anton du Beke who has spoken frankly about being stabbed by his alcoholic father when he was 13, has always struck me as one of the good guys. He comes across not only as a dazzlingly gifted dancer but as a self-made man who has risen from humble and troubled beginnings into the firmament of glitterball stars by hard work and personality.
I recall doing some online research into his career when he first popped up in Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, to find much speculation about his age. Back then he was famously vague on the subject and his fans' guesstimates varied from 20-something to 40-something. But as his fame grew and social media appeared, the speculation was quickly silenced. Du Beke was actually 38 in 2004 which makes him 57 now.
The internet is the deathbed of age-creativity. Gone are the days when agents and publicists to the stars could trim a few years off their clients' age in order to extend their shelf life. Social media ended all that by empowering ordinary people to point out that they were in the same school, and the same class, as the big star. So how can the big star be 27 when the rest of Form 4B are 49?
The BBC has apologised for a news report describing the Dambusters raid as “infamous.” Turns out someone in the Beeb doesn't know the difference between famous and infamous. Other oft-confused words include: accept / except, full/ fulsome, reign / rein and, of course, TV Licence / daylight robbery.
Fascinating item in the Guardian on the sort of customers that restaurateurs despise. In response, one reader tells how, after a meal in an Indian restaurant, a sweet old lady emerged from the kitchen and told him he was the nicest customer they'd ever had. Apparently it was his complimentary nan.
