Bare Cheek: What was that?

Can’t remember the name of a book, film, piece of music or thing? Mike Hunter is the man with
the answers…

Dear Mike,
The book I am thinking of is a classic of English literature, a work of satirical genius in which a ship’s surgeon travels to several unlikely lands, encountering a land of tiny people, a race of giants, a tribe of immortals and a country of talking horses – not to mention a flying island. I’m pretty sure it was written in the eighteenth century, has been filmed several times, and that a bowdlerised version has been a nursery favourite for hundreds of years. Any ideas? I’d love to give it a read.
Thank you,
Malcolm Baswell, Hove

Dear Malcolm,
I’ve found your answer, and I’ve been “Swift” about it too. Your own knowledge may be Lilliputian, but don’t worry,
my own is positively Brobdingnagian! Yes, the classic of English literature of which you speak is, without doubt, The Diary Of A Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith.
Mike X

WHAT WE USED TO SAY

An occasional series in which we struggle to remember the original, simple and once common terms that have been abandoned in favour of overblown abominations.

WHAT WE SAY NOW: “In addition to…”

Very much of the “As-I-was-proceeding-in-a-westerly-direction” style befitting a music hall comedy policeman, this swollen ornament is now common usage.

E.g.“In addition to being a sex pest, I am also a war criminal.”

WHAT WE USED TO SAY:
“Besides, as well as…”

FIRST TRY THE LYRICS

A fascinating insight into the creative process as we examine the original drafts of those famous songs that didn’t get it quite right the first time:

I’M HENERY THE EIGHTH, I AM
By Fred Murray and R. P. Weston

I’m Henry VIII, I am
Henry VIII I am, I am.
Hampton Court is where
I made my home,
Had six wives and broke
away from Rome….

TEN THINGS YOU’LL BE ABLE TO SEE FROM THE TOP OF THE i360 TOWER…

1. Roof of Churchill Square shopping centre.

2. Roof of New England House.

3. Businessman watching porn in the Holiday Inn.

4. Someone dumping a fridge on Shoreham beach.

5. Roof of the Brighton Centre.

6. Somebody on the eighth storey of Embassy Court having a fag on the balcony.

7. Roof of Theatre Royal Brighton.

8. Roof of Brighton General Hospital.

9. Roof of King Alfred Leisure Centre.

10. Expanse of empty sea.

In & Out

In
• Bum bags
• Tench
• Liquorice torpedoes
• The Irish Free State
• Tony Jacklin

Out
• Hal Hartley
• Gudgeon
• T.J. Hooker
• Paul Squires
• Stays

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