A-A-A-A-A-A-A...

The Bugal, audio newspaper for a visual world!

Hello, Bugalers!

And welcome to the year 2023,

The Year that I predicted would happen as long ago as 2018

It's always nice to be proof right, every now and again

I am Andy Zoltzman and we are back

... after somewhat extended, two month hiatus

Back in November, my father died after a prolonged battering by Parkinson's and dementia culminating in an epic

reassuringly peaceful 10-day snooze as he in modern Poland transitioned into a new post-existence phase of his personal journey

as any of you have lost someone to dementia will know it is a strange

gradual bereavement rather than a binary state of alive and not alive and

alongside the finality of the end of that process the move from suffering to not suffering is a relief and mercy

So I would like to dedicate this first bugle since he made that move to my father

He loved sports. He really loved puns

He ate more bacon than his widely considered optimal in traditional Jewish

And as a sculptor for most of his working life he didn't have a real job

So it should be clear to you bugle listeners that he has been a significant influence on me in many ways

Now also since then I spent a month in Pakistan being escorted by very friendly if

Extremely machine gun wielding armed guards to and from cricket grounds

To watch England achieve one of their finest test series victory. So that certainly helped now joining me for the first bugle of

2023 were kicking off the air with the dream team we have Miss Kumar and Alice Fraser happy new year to both of you

...