17 April 2009

Cynical ? I was One Of Them

We were all sitting there last Saturday munching our way through two megas and a normale (two huge pizzas and a big one) which had been delivered so we could relax and watch the Doctor Who Easter special. We had some guests in and we all jockied for seats on the sofa so we could eat, drink and watch the telly.

Doctor Who was ok(ish) and as we were discussing the merits of the programme, the automatic viewing system switched over to Britain’s Got Talent (BGT), a talent show where acts of any description can take to the stage and generally embarrass themselves, as well as those watching!

There was something else on another channel which I wanted to watch but as usual, I was outvoted so I had to sit there and watch the biggest load of old tosh imaginable.

There was the guy blowing up a hot water bottle until it burst. Some school kid dancers and acrobats.  A stripper! A guy pulling a car with his ears, and then a group of black guys whose dance routine was actually quite good. And then came the Scottish auditions and Susan Boyle.

Susan had an unruly mop of darkish hair which had probably never seen a brush and most certainly  had never seen the inside of a hair salon, and you just thought that if the cameras had been unkind to her, they would have shown her moustache and the hairs sticking out of her chin. Then she spoke – she was from the corridor linking Glasgow and Edinburgh, a place called Blackburn, West Lothian, which gave her an accent most people, thankfully, were able to understand, but inevitably, she spoke very quickly and had that gallus confidence most Scottish people possess, even if they’ve got absolutely nothing to be confident about.

As she wandered tentatively onto the stage, you just felt that here was yet another Scottish embarrassment coming up. You know the scene – you’re at a wedding, or some social event and some old bat gets up thinking she can sing and everybody heads for the bar, or the toilets, or their cars.

When being questioned by Simon Cowell prior to her performance, she did not instil any confidence whatsoever. She had trouble explaining where she was from and as the cameras panned around the auditorium, people had their hands over their mouths to try and stifle the laughs. Even the judging panel looked as if they were ready to cut short her performance, as they can by simply pressing the three ‘red cross’ buttons.

The music started. She was to sing a song from Les Miserables, the long running London musical. There was a pause as the first few chords played and then she opened her mouth and started to sing …….. and it was amazing.

Everybody was completely stunned. The audience started to remove their hands from their faces and started to clap and cheer. The judging panel sat with their mouths open and when she hit a series of high notes, the audience, as one, rose to their feet and cheered her to the rafters. It was the most unlikely triumph.

Needless to say, Susan Boyle has been compared to a previous winner, Paul Potts, who also looked like he’d been dragged through a muddy field before appearing on BGT and who is now making millions singing the same sort of songs which Susan performs.

Now normally, a BGT appearance goes little further than some of the UK tabloids, but Susan Boyle’s performance, as of this morning, had had more than 20 million hits on You Tube. Demi Moore has professed to being brought to tears by Susan’s performance, as I have. I’ve watched it several times and now it’s a worldwide hit on the internet. Watch it at the link below.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Stop press - the Scottish media have found the one and only previous recording of Susan Boyle singing. Have a listen.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2009/04/16/exclusive-susan-boyle-s-first-ever-song-release-revealed-listen-to-it-here-86908-21283564/

16 April 2009

People Power






Every now and again there are a set of circumstances which combine over a relatively short period to prove that ‘people power’ is alive and well and fulfilling its obligations to sort out the crap which is central government and the police.

Now I’m no commie, and I thank my lucky stars that the UK  has a democratic system whereby virtually anything these two establishments do is considered, judged and commented on by the people. And long may it be so.

Neither am I anti-police, but policing has now become so political in the UK that the boundaries between Westminster and the Chief Constables, and in particular Scotland Yard, have become blurred to the extent that sometimes I think that the politicians are policing and the police are playing at politics. Would any of us be surprised if the Head of Scotland Yard turned up at 10 Downing Street one day and arrested the Prime Minister for claiming a season ticket at Raith Rovers on his expenses? No I thought not. Nor are we surprised when one of the Police elite is found to be wanting and the politicians pile onto him as a way of deflecting attention from themselves. But none of this would happen without some member of the public somewhere finding out about these little transgressions and blowing the whistle. Look at what has happened in the last couple of weeks to prove that ‘people power’ is alive and well.

Bob Quick, Britain’s anti-terror chief was the guy who decided to be a political star and, overriding all parliamentary convention, stormed into Westminster without a warrant and searched the Conservative Damian Green’s office and arrested him, raiding his home and offices with some 23 policemen, and causing his family, and parliamentary colleagues to think that a new gunpowder plot was in the offing and Green was the ringleader.

Now, forgetting about the convention and long historical precedent that this is not supposed to happen in Parliament, it was clear that Quick had decided to become a political star using Scotland Yard’s close ties with New Labour to try and curry favour with his paymasters. As it turned out, Damian Green has never been charged with anything and Quick was passed over for the Commissioner’s job recently, so normality and a sense of reason prevailed.

It was therefore nothing of a surprise, to me at least, when Quick was effectively sacked last week. He had arrived at Downing Street to brief the Prime Minister on the latest terror plot and naively had his papers showing. These were duly photographed by the press and within minutes were on the internet. The exposure of the papers which appeared to show who was involved and where and when they were to be arrested, caused an anti-terror operation to be brought forward, but only by 24 hours. The ‘political establishment’ then started a concerted effort to have him removed – and it worked. Within 24 hours he was history.

Now for what it’s worth, I don’t think Quick should have been forced to resign. I’d rather have Quick running anti-terror ops than some new guy who knows nothing about it, but when you get involved in politics, it’s like playing with sharks. Occasionally you will be bitten and shark bites are usually fatal!

And as a linked aside, wasn’t it fortuitous that a member of the public, an American no less, took a video of the police manhandling Ian Tomlinson, just before he died at the G20 protests. Without that video, Ian Tomlinson’s post mortem would have been carefully ‘managed’, he’d have been buried and nothing more would have been heard about it. Thanks to that video, the police officer involved has been suspended and an inquiry is underway.

Next we have Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary and by a delicious twist of fate, Bob Quick’s boss. Poor Jacqui has had a torrid couple of weeks. Somebody doesn’t like her and keeps leaking things to the press. But astonishingly, she’s survived – so far.

Now her problems are more to do with ‘business politics’ rather than pure party-based politics. She suddenly turns up as Home Secretary having had no track-record, and of course the civil servants hate that. She’s probably quite a strong, logical character, not having been moulded over years by the political system and, in my opinion, she’s actually done quite a good job, which has confounded her critics. She’s not attractive but she has something which many men find strangely appealing. All in all, her enemies within the system are probably just jealous, hence the leaking of the information that her husband watched porno films on the TV and then claimed for them in their parliamentary expenses. And just when that furore was dying down, the leaking of information that she actually claimed 88p for a bath plug!     

Embarrassment sure. Resigning material – surely not? But the ‘establishment’ is at work on Jacqui Smith and I’m sure there’s more to come. See the latest little dig at her with a blue plaque (picture at top) placed on her sister’s house wall. What a hoot!

And finally, Damian McBride.  Who’s he when he’s at home? I didn’t know either but he turns out to be Gordon Brown’s most trusted adviser. The backroom guy responsible for helping Brown get where he is and who keeps him on track with what’s going on, with whom and by whom, and who is charged with making Brown electable for a 2nd term, which is probably the most futile job in history!

Anyway, Gordon Brown famously said upon achieving his dream of getting his big feet over the step of 10 Downing Street, that there would be ‘no spin’ in his premiership. No dirty politics. He was a ‘son of the manse’ and we could trust him. Bollocks and so it has been proved.

Last week, some salacious e-mails about George Osborne (Shadow Chancellor) and David Cameron (Leader of the Opposition) were doing the rounds between Brown’s ‘trusted advisers’. These were penned by Damian McBride and were being sent by him to those plotting Brown’s re-election. Thing is, they reached a political blogger called ‘Guido Fawkes’ (his name is not an accident) and then all hell was let loose. Within 24 hours McBride was a gonner and the debate now is - did Brown know?

Guido, having obtained copies of the e-mails, deliberately issued them this Easter weekend when he knew the political landscape would be quiet – for maximum effect. Power to the people indeed!

15 April 2009

I Didn’t Move 1000 Miles South For This

So there I was last Saturday, sitting looking out of the lounge windows and bemoaning the weather. It was the start of the Easter weekend and the sky was cloudy, with rain threatening. We’d been to our friend Wendy’s, to ‘celebrate’ the finishing of her swimming pool and if that sounds a bit poncy, the real reason was to surprise Antonio, the guy who built Wendy’s pool (and our house and a friend’s house), with an impromptu little buffet lunch. We stood there eating our paté and our Pringles and drinking our champagne, and we were all looking at the blackening sky, expecting it to rain at any moment. We’d all been ‘prepped’ about what to grab from the table if the skies opened but the weather held and the lunch continued, albeit with conversations being a bit stilted as skyward glances were made.

I left early on my scooter as my hay fever was killing me and headed home across the valley. There had been a few comments at Wendy’s that maybe I should have kept my crash helmet on as it might have alleviated my watery eyes and runny nose, but how would I have eaten and drank?

When I got home, which was only ten minutes away, I decided that I would need to stay inside for the rest of the day so I fired up the PC and read the newspapers online. One of the first articles I saw was one about the, ‘UK being Drenched over Easter’, and suddenly I felt a little better. I’m pretty selfish that way. If we don’t have good weather, why should the UK not suffer also?

I switched to the sports section and noticed that there was a football game on the telly and switched it on – Liverpool vs Blackburn Rovers. The ground was positively bathed in sunshine! And it was Liverpool. It was in the North!

I watched the game for about 30 minutes but the sunshine was getting on my nerves. There were people with no shirts on for goodness sake and kids clothed only in t-shirts. It was all too much for me. I switched it off.

It was now approaching 3pm UK time so I fired up the PC again to see if I could get the Glasgow Rangers game against Motherwell on the web. Celtic had drawn earlier in the day so a win would put my beloved team right on their coat tails. After a few bad links, I managed to find a site showing the game and waited for it to stop ‘buffering’. The game came on and the ground was ….. absolutely bathed in sunshine. In Glasgow! In fact the sun was so bright that the camera had difficulty following the ball as it moved from the bright side of the park into the shadows cast by the stands.

This made me even more depressed. Glasgow was in bright sunshine and here on the ‘wonderful’ Cote d’Azur, it was cloudy and cold. This is not what I moved 1000 miles south for!

As I sat in front of a large log fire wondering if it would rain and I would have to go outside and cover up the logs which were only just drying out after last week’s rain, Rangers scored goal after goal and suddenly my mood lightened. Things weren’t so bad after all. As they say, ‘every cloud has a blue lining’.

And for all you footie fans who don’t know how to get football on the PC – try the following link. Once you choose the ‘Sports’ option, you have to keep trying the various sites until you pick up a game.

 http://www.justin.tv/sportsmmans

14 April 2009

Easter (Pâcques) Sunday in Vence

J and the kids went off to church on Sunday and that gave me the opportunity to pop into Vence, our local town, to get J her Easter pressies. She’d been dropping hints all week that she’d got Easter eggs for us all and reminisced about when we were together in London and I would hide her eggs in the house and then say ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ as she tried to find them. All this verbal posturing was meant to remind me that Easter Sunday was approaching and that I’d better get my act together and make sure she was not left wanting when the Easter goodies were being handed out!

As I approached the town, it was as if it was a Saturday. Cars were everywhere, the pavement cafés were overflowing and there was a farmer’s market in the town square. As I headed to the flower shop, hoping it would be open, I noticed that all the food and drink shops were open and there were queues snaking out of their doors in every case.

When I got to the flower shop I had to queue there also. People were buying virtually every flower and plant on display but the staff, although incredibly busy were still putting gift ribbons on all the bouquets. On my way back to the square, the bread shops were similarly busy as were the delis and wine shops but the biggest queues were to be found at the patisseries where gateaux galore adorned the windows – but not for long. It became obvious to me that Easter is a day for visiting family and friends in France and the chocolatiers, patisseries and delis make sure they don’t arrive empty handed.

I couldn’t see any chocolate eggs for sale so I got the next best thing – a dressed lobster! One of the Easter traditions in France is the chocolate fish – yup – you heard correctly – the chocolate fish, but I couldn’t see any of those either, probably because I couldn’t get near enough the windows to see if any were on display so I just went into a deli and got a dressed lobster. I’m sure J will enjoy that more than an egg! I mean eggs are so predictable!

As I walked back to my scooter, I was stopped in my tracks by some Gendarmes who were clearing the way for a troupe of people playing what looked like ancient instruments. They were followed by women and girls dressed like Pilgrims (you know – the Pilgrim Fathers sort of thing) and finally there were a couple of really old guys carrying muskets. As they passed me, I noticed both of them cocking their weapons. I thought it was just them playing to the crowd which had gathered, but then, ‘BOOM’, both of them fired into the air. The noise was deafening and quite a few of the crowd were startled. So was I, but only because I thought of this happening in the UK and the fact that if these old guys had let their weapons off there, they’d be in the clink by now facing a 27 day terrorism detention order.

Vive la France!

 

13 April 2009

Happy Easter

Happy Easter or Joyeuse Pâcques as they say here. Have a great holiday and I hope you all find loads of Easter eggs.

Blog will be back tomorrow, with the week’s postings promising a dose of political nastiness (ooooh), some French life (aaaah) and a bit more on the depressing weather we’re having (yuck). 

Today the kids are going to the funfair to wreck the dodgem cars and J and I will go off for lunch somewhere.

Whatever you’re doing, have fun and enjoy the day.