mostly david ephgrave

It may be a symptom of feeling a little rundown and sorry for myself, but listening to a random Oasis song this morning surprised me by hitting me right in the heart. The song was 'Don't Go Away' from their overblown 1997 album, 'Be Here Now'. I don't even know why it entered my head as it wasn't a big hit and, if anything, comes across as a little generic. But, for whatever reason, I requested it via everyone's favourite spy-in-the-room, Alexa, and, within minutes, I was blubbing like a Daily Express reader who's just seen a photo of Princess Di. Or George Osborne at Thatcher's funeral.  Okay, I may be exaggerating, but it moved me, even though it was probably the germs talking. Oasis are an odd band for me as there was a time when I was really liked them. They appeared on the scene when I was a guitarist in a group at school and somehow made being in a rock band seem viable again. But my love for their music faded quickly, and now, most of thei...

My favourite zoological attraction of all time, after much whittling down, is the Princess Diana Memorial Reptile House. It opened at Shepreth Wildlife Park less than a month after Diana’s untimely death. There couldn’t be a more fitting tribute. Some might argue that the zoo were keen to latch onto a trend, or were swept up by the nation’s collective grief, but not me. I think it’s what she would have wanted. If I have one criticism about the Princess Diana Memorial Reptile House, it’s that none of the exhibits bear relation to the name. By rights, it should be chock-a-block with cold-blooded animals recreating key moments in Ms Spencer’s life: a komodo dragon with its head at a jaunty angle à la her Panorama interview; an iguana dressed as Dodi Fayed; a snapping turtle with animatronic eyebrows, kept in a tank with a miniature piano, while 'Candle in the Wind 1997' plays on constant loop.  Whoever pitched the Princess Diana Memoria...