Checking your facts

One of the downsides of freelancing is the lack of office banter and the instant wisdom that journalist colleagues can offer when you are unsure of something. Of course, in this fabulous digital age, you can always "Google". But as we know the internet is a minefield of dodgy facts and American misspellings. I once worked with a journalist in Manchester who was, reassuringly, a stickler for accuracy. But age, memory loss, a less eclectic worldly wisdom or a combination of all three led him to ask questions, sometimes almost rhetorically, or make statements which used to make me laugh. I began to note them down. Infuriatingly, I missplaced the document. But today, while clearing several years of detritus from my office, I found it. See what you think. What's that big circle for in the middle of a football pitch? Bobby Ball...is he part of a comedy duo? The BBC radio programme Start the Week...is it on a Monday? The Olympics, they're every five years aren't they? I'm writing about that famous cricketer W.G.Wells When Nat Lofthouse was dubbed the Lion of Vienna who were England playing? This actor Michael Douglas...is he local? What's a Mexican wave? What's the word for one of those stories that we keep all to ourselves and no one else has got? John Lennon...didn't he write most of the Beatles' songs? Dunlop, they make tyres don't they? Screaming Lord Sutch, what was his real surname? Have you heard of a television company called CNN? And my personal favourite... The Sooty Museum...is that something to do with Indian burial rituals?