Keep on moving up that mountaintop

Happy 40th birthday today to one of my fave artists of recent times - Miss Jessie Ware!

She's one of those home-grown British artists who is critically lauded, brings crowds in to her live concerts, and is generally well-liked - but has never been a huge chart presence [not that what passes for "the charts" these days is actually meaningful in any particular way, as it counts shit like TikTok and Spotify "hits" as a gauge of success, rather than physical sales]. She's more "Paloma Faith" than "Little Mix", in effect.

I love her. Her vocals are good, her music is cheerful and catchy, and she looks like she knows how to have fun! And we like fun:

Jessie Ware - Spotlight

Jessie Ware & Róisín Murphy - Freak Me Now

Jessie Ware - Free Yourself

Jessie Ware - Pearls

Kylie Minogue and Jessie Ware - Kiss of Life

Brilliant, one and all!

Many happy returns, Jessica Lois "Jessie" Ware (born 15 October 1984)

The Star of the Show

Yep. Monday again.

And so, the joys of another working week begin...

Just as well we have the - ahem - glories of vintage Spanish cinema on this Tacky Music Monday to cheer us up, by way of a wake-up call!

Gracita Morales - Soy La Vedette

Bewildering, to say the least.

Have a good week, folks...

["Soy la Vedette" roughly translates as "I am the star" in a combination of Spanish and French]

Bossa Nova Owls

This has turned out to be very lazy weekend indeed. The weather's been a bit too murky for me to raise much enthusiasm for pottering in the garden, and basically I've just been monging around the house, listening to the radio, and recharging my batteries.

Time, methinks, for some "Sunday Music" to suit the mood, courtesy once more of our house band here at Dolores Delargo Towers...

Postmodern Jukebox ft. Sara Niemietz - Fireflies (Owl City Bossa Nova Jazz style cover)

Love it!

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[Apparently, the original song was at #1 in the UK Charts for three weeks in 2010. Never heard it before in my life!]

Thought for the Day

This current "me-me-me" generation wasn't the first to create a weird "identity", it seems...

I can't imagine this chap demanding his own bloody flag, either!

There's always something there

Whew. The weekend's almost here! The skies are blue again (even if it's cold). Much to celebrate...

...so let's take a moment to enjoy those fabulous balls we used to hold - and Thank Disco Tin Tin It's Friday!

Tin Tin Out feat. Espiritu - Always Something There To Remind Me

Have a great weekend, dear reader!

Rafa, Kylie, racoons and the Nottingham heatwave

Many happy returns to David Lee Roth of Van Halen, who is (gulp!) 70 years old today! Time's a terrible thing...

I know you love them as much as I do, dear reader, so it's another "snippets" post today:

• Oops! news: A glitch in the BBC weather app caused a bit of a stir when it forecast that London was set to experience winds of more than 13,000mph on Thursday while Nottingham would have overnight temperatures of 404C!
• Word games news: Our darling Princess Kylie is a fan of Scrabble and crosswords, apparently.
• Happy World Porridge Day! I haven't eaten the stuff for years. It's not the sort of dish I'd immediately rush to if I was hungry, to be honest. Not while pain au chocolat exists.

• Sports totty news: Legendary Spanish tennis champion Rafel Nadal has announced his retirement - at the age of 38!
• Don't feed the vermin news: A huge troupe of raccoons is holding a woman hostage in Washington State in the USA.
• And finally: Also celebrating a milestone birthday is the very lovely and supremely-talented Miss Sarah Lancashire (formerly best known as "Raquel Wolstenhulme" in Coronation Street, latterly famous for the award-winning gritty crime drama Happy Valley), who is 60 today. We actually saw her on stage in the much-underappreciated musical Betty Blue Eyes way back in 2011, and so, by way of a tribute - this:

Sarah Lancashire - Nobody

Faboo!

PS And the [actual] weather? Definitely autumnal.

Knuckle down and eat shit

Boss asking 'Where do you see yourself in five years?' hoping to hear 'doing more work for less money'

A boss is hoping that his employee’s five year plan aligns with his own vision of an increased workload for decreased compensation.

Managing director Norman Steele is working on his team’s personal development plans and would like to see them be realistic and embrace a future of doing the work of three people for the pay of one.

He said: “I’ve had enough dreamers through these doors with their ‘I’d like to be head of department’ when there’s no budget for that.

“So we’ll have no ‘ready to take on a leadership role’ or ‘develop skills that align with our corporate mission’. We need them to knuckle down and eat shit for the foreseeable.

“It would be music to my ears if Ellie’s vision of the future was taking a pay cut, working through lunch every day, and picking up Sandra’s duties when she goes on maternity leave. That’s what I look for in an employee.

“If she’s ready to piss away the next half-decade in a dead-end job while ignoring the symptoms of burnout, I’m here for her. We’ll draw up a roadmap and hit those goals together. Failing that we’ll lose her in the restructure and hire a younger, cheaper drone.”

Ellie Shaw said: “I’m drowning in work, hate my colleagues and I’m struggling to pay rent. But five years of job security? Where do I sign?”

The Daily Mash

Of course.