Archive
Adios
Big hole in the world this morning, with the passing of a good friend, and proper gent. RIP Dilwyn.
Am I allowed?
Confession. I can’t stand Mary Berry. Is that permissible?
Borders?
I’m watching the Indian Premier League and seeing ads for Indian satellite TV receivable in Britain. In which case, why can’t British programming be received in European countries?
Crime Files
Scene of the Crime – Quintin Jardine | Crime Files
— Read on crimefiles.co.uk/blog/2018/05/scene-of-the-crime-quintin-jardine/
Riesgo
If I ran a multi-million pound business that traded exclusively in England, and sought to maintain the goodwill of the customer base and the media, would I appoint a chief operating officer whose command of the language was limited at best? No, I don’t think I would.
HND
A very good friend of ours needs a hug just now. We’re sending ours, maybe you could do the same. The destination doesn’t matter, just take my word for it and send.
Fulfilled
Promise kept: in my Bluetooth bubble I listened to ‘Desire’ all the way through. Eight stories and a love song. Anyone who can’t understand the link between Bob Dylan and the Nobel Prize might want to take a listen.
I think back to 1976 before it was released in the UK. Someone gave John Peel an advance copy. He played it all the way through and then he played it again. Next night he did the same.
Public spirited
Nothing to do with profit, of course.
Faraway eyes
I was involved earlier today in a discussion surrounding a piece in the Guardian by a columnist who took it upon himself to rate, bottom to top, all of The Rolling Stones’ studio albums. It seems that its editor thinks that such acts of self-indulgence sell newspapers: and she’s right for here I am writing about it.
Needless to say I don’t agree with Alexis Petridis’ ranking, but that’s not unexpected. Nor is it unreasonable, since he wasn’t born when the earliest of them were released and can have no first hand knowledge of their social impact at the time, which was considerable and should be part of such a judgement, IMO.
When I was 17, early 60s, a guy I knew was lifted at a Stones gig in a hotel in Hamilton (really). The police turned up mob handed and laid into everyone at the first sign of over exuberance, including my classmate who was doing no more than waiting to collect his sister. That’s how they were viewed in those days, and so a simple listing of their edited work is banal without a parallel study of their life and times.
The Guardian’s is banal also because it trots out the old ‘world’s greatest rock and roll band’ label. Most famous, yes, but greatest, how could they be, particularly when that is the assessment of a study that excludes their live work?
The best live music experience I’ve ever had, recorded or witnessed, involved Bruce and the E Street Band performing Racing in the Streets in St James Park, 30 something years ago. They’ll have had better nights and they’ll have had worse, but then I thought they were gods.
In my library I have five live versions of ‘Rain King’, a Counting Crows anthem, them being among my favourite bands and Adam Duritz being among my favourite writers. Each one is different and each one I like, most of all the most recent, when Adam really loses it. Which is the greatest of the five? You tell me.
My point? That my opinion is of no less or greater value than yours, or than that of the guy in the Guardian. My resentment? That he gets paid for expressing his.
Now I am off to listen to Dylan’s ‘Desire’. The greatest studio album ever made? I think so.
Memories
Watching the tv adaptation of A Very English Scandal brought back to mind two slogans that a chum of mine devised but never as the nerve to use.
One was ‘I’ll be buggered if I’ll vote Liberal’ and the other was ‘Vote Liberal or we’ll shoot your dog.’
For younger readers who don’t get the latter, keep watching.
Luna-cy
Today I kept my promise to myself and retreated within my Bluetooth bubble to listen to Van Morrison and his live version of Astral Weeks.
I didn’t get to the end of the first track. There was a great line years back about a Stevie Nicks album being ‘digitally remumbled’, and that’s how it was with Sir Van. Couldn’t make out a bloody word.
Instead I did what I should have done in the first place and spent a happy 47 minutes cocooned with Moondance.
Trump’s God
‘… and may God be with the National Rifle Association.’
Starry
It’s 50 years since Van Morrison recorded Astral Weeks. I am marking the milestone by playing it all the way through.
It crept out rather than being released: no singles were ever issued. It took time, and the blessing of John Peel, the Pope of modern music, but now it’s seen as the most significant work of a long career.
Eileen hates it so I have retreated within the bubble of my Bluetooth headset. When it’s done, I may play the much more recent live version.
It makes me feel as old as Sir Van, as in fact I am.
Cleft stick
Re my earlier post drawing attention to the First Minister’s high profile endorsement of Jamie Oliver.
His Italian Restaurant chain is current running a promo: ‘Pasta and Prosecco, only £9.95.’ Cut price booze? How does that square with Holyrood’s minimum unit pricing for alcohol?
Domino’s a villain for making pizza affordable for kids, but it’s okay for Jamie to lure their parents through the door with promises of bargain fizz?
Duplicity
This is the same guy who’s persuaded Queen Nicola to ban two for one pizza deals. (Aye, right!) I don’t see any value for money offers on his website. But I do see loads of expensive pizzas. So what is his ‘healthy option’ campaign other than a bid to win custom for his own chain by undermining the competition.
I’ll take Gullane Superfry and the Main Course over this duplicitous twat eight days a week. Piss off, Jamie.
As for Herself, childhood obesity is a problem but it won’t be solved by association with cheap stunts.
Nor will it be solved by diktat. What’s next? Will John Swinney’s Named Person be given power to oversee the family menu? Don’t laugh: it’s conceivable.
Jamie’s Italian features fantastic, rustic dishes, using recipes that Jamie loves! Jamie’s Italian was inspired by Italy & its traditions & values
— Read on www.jamieoliver.com/italian/
Preposterous
White House Blames Deadly Gaza Violence On Hamas ‘Propaganda’ | HuffPost
— Read on m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5afa854ae4b09a94524b958c
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