Skip to main content

Out in the Wilderness.

From my personal political standpoint, today was a very depressing day. 

I got home from packing up Mostly Comedy late last night, shattered by the events of the day; so much so that I barely remember writing my blog, as I was falling asleep as I did it. Literally; I woke up on my sofa at 5am, with my cat on my lap and a crick in my neck - but no sooner had I checked the BBC News website and seen the lay of the land Re. the Referendum than I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep easily. The political landscape had changed in a day; the deal that was struck six years before my birth was unravelling: Britain was about to leave the EU. 

I watched Tuesday's BBC Referendum debate with irritation. Were we not supposed to notice the Leave campaign's decision to use the soundbite "take back control" in answer to very question?; a statement that's as vacuous as it's lacking in substance or meaning. Were we meant to be oblivious to the thin veneer between Boris Johnson's assertion that leaving the EU would make us safer and more prosperous, and his being motivated by personal political ambition? Did I have to harbour the same skewed take on immigration that much of tabloid press had been spoon-feeding us for years? Apparently yes.

I'm embarrassed by what the rest of Europe (implying we'll still be a part of it) must think of us. I'm frustrated by how the vote seems to have been loosely split between the older generation wanting out and the younger one wanting in, when it's the latter who'll be lumbered with it for longer. I don't like to start the day confronted with Farage's bullfrog-like face gurning with glee at how narrow-minded and small the UK will now be. Jobs will be lost and ties will be cut, with Scotland and Northern Ireland possibly wanting to jump ship. At least Brussels won't be able to restrict our bananas; will anyone still ship us bananas?

Popular posts from this blog

'...I'm Gonna Look at You 'til My Eyes Go Blind."

Over the past week or two, I’ve been on a bit of a Sheryl Crow kick, largely thanks to rediscovering her cover of one of my most-liked Bob Dylan songs. She has one of my favourite female voices, yet despite this, I only own one CD and that’s just a single (her '97 release ‘Hard to Make a Stand’); on that basis, you can only imagine how much of her back catalogue I’d own if I hated her (it would fall into minus-figures). Dylan, conversely, takes up more of my collection than anyone else, save The Beatles and Paul McCartney’s solo work. He’s one of those artists who, when you get him, you really get him - and once I’d tuned into his style as a student, I'd time and again be blown away by his lyrics; he’ll have more jaw-dropping imagery in one track than other people fit in a whole career. These days, I mostly listen to music in the morning when getting ready, and more often than not, this will consist of a suggested YouTube playlist when I’m in the bath, r...

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...

Not The Bayeux One.

The Carole King album Tapestry has been my 'getting-ready-in-the-morning' soundtrack for the past few weeks.  It's been a favourite album ever since I was a student, which makes for a pleasantly gentle way to usher in the start of a day. I've always been a fan of a well-crafted song, which is something of a Carole King hallmark, ever since she started writing with her first husband in the early Sixties. Tapestry may be an unimaginative choice for a favourite LP, as it suggests I haven't delved that far into her career, but it's still an undoubted classic; anything with '(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman', 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?' and 'You've Got A Friend' on it can't really fail; if nothing else, it proves she likes writing songs with long titles.  Next month, she's set to perform the album live in its entirety for the first time at a gig in Hyde Park, which I would have loved to have gone to, if it weren...