Author Archives: j futrell

Marley and me.

Posted on March 19, 2024 by j futrell

I never met Bob Marley, which isn’t such a ridiculous admission given I was the deputy editor of a music paper called Echoes (formerly Black) that among championing a variety of rhythm driven music fancied itself a ‘Burning Spear’ head … Continue reading →

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in praise of geography teachers

Posted on February 6, 2024 by j futrell

  What is it with corduroy? Why after over 100 years since emerging as the worker’s ‘poor man’s velvet’ is it still so contentious? Is it in or is it out? Is it cool or is it beyond naff? Is … Continue reading →

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Families – who needs ’em?

Posted on January 8, 2024 by j futrell

You know that feeling, when you think you’ve heard it all and then…you realise you haven’t got anywhere close. I had such an experience the other morning on a chill Harlyn Beach having been introduced to a woman in a … Continue reading →

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another one bites the dust

Posted on December 15, 2023 by j futrell

There aren’t many trips to the local supermarket when I want no need to sit down but today was one such a day. I had popped in for a couple of essentials for a trip away, toothpaste and dark tan … Continue reading →

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an end to paper!

Posted on October 11, 2023 by j futrell

After my experiences this year I have come to realise that frankly I can’t afford to go paper free. Like the next man or woman I care about the planet so much so that I am mulling over electric cars … Continue reading →

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The case for porkies – Harlyn House

Posted on August 2, 2023 by j futrell

  I knew I was going to like this place the second I heard Little Feat’s Dixie Chicken coming over the tannoy; one of several notable firsts at The Pig. That’s not entirely true because I knew I was going … Continue reading →

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It’s Good To Talk

Posted on July 12, 2023 by j futrell

The terrifying, if inevitable revelation that money expert Martin Lewis has been doppelganged, an online artificial intelligence (AI) likeness designed to defraud the millions of us who trust the media’s most respected economic adviser, was a wake up call to … Continue reading →

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In The Darkness Of The Road – Hearts Aglow

Posted on March 29, 2023 by j futrell

  One of my pleasures this past winter has been following twilight A roads with a sliver of magenta in the distant west and Weyes Blood (pronounced Wise Blood) sweeping aside all but the silent ocean, barren headlands and growing … Continue reading →

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Endelienta – Amen to that

Posted on October 17, 2022 by j futrell

Times are definitely changing. Take a recent music concert in which I was expected to say, after a brief initiatory prayer, ‘amen’.  The fact that I was in a church may have had something to do with the religious angle … Continue reading →

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Dirty Work

Posted on September 20, 2022 by j futrell

I am proud to announce that I have achieved another personal best: wearing the same shirt daily for nine days without washing, largely unstained and all but odourless. Previously I’d regularly managed four and half weekdays only changing into something … Continue reading →

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