It seems very odd today to be doing a post all about celebrating the end of a week, when in fact I have been on annual leave for most of it, and am only in work for one day today - so this feels more like a Monday!
However, traditions are traditions after all...
...so how about some Earth, Wind and Fire to put some sparkle in our step? That'll do nicely.
Thank Disco It's Friday!
Have a good weekend, all!
It's another snippets post, dear reader:
Nymphomaniac news: Letty Lynton, a scandalous Joan Crawford film about sex and murder that - thanks to a long-standing lawsuit - was pulled from cinemas and has remained unseen for ninety years, is finally getting shown, thanks to the great lady's grandson. The Art Deco settings and outfits by Adrian [as per "that dress" above] alone would make it worth a watch!
[click any pic to embiggen]
And the weather? It's been threatening to rain all day, but that never happened. I'm back in work for the day tomorrow, and it looks better (sigh) - but then, so does the weekend!
New research has found making a train journey in Britain can be survived and even enjoyed if the passenger has drunk enough.
A study of the UK’s trains, from rural routes to commuter trains, shows that once eight or more units of alcohol have been consumed it becomes a magical ride of stimulating new destinations, mysterious announcements and meetings with strangers.
Professor Henry Brubaker, of the Institute for Studies, said: “There’s nothing wrong with our overpriced, antiquated rail network that can’t be fixed by the warm fuzziness of aluminium-wrapped alcohol.
“Once lightly pissed, being in a long box fired randomly across the countryside becomes a mellow experience. Your slumped face can vibrate against the windows in a happy haze, just as the Victorians intended when they built them whacked-out on laudanum.
“Stations drift past cheerfully. The couple you’re unwillingly sharing a table with become fascinating. Even the toilets are fine when you’re urinating as freely and erratically as all their previous users.
“Whether the night train to Aberdeen, the 4.35pm to Didcot Parkway or a 6.30am commuter train into Liverpool Street, it’s just like mother said: booze is best.”
Market analyst Helen Archer said: “I drank a bottle of prosecco on the way to work in Leeds and woke up in Llanelli. So same as normal, but with prosecco.”
Of course.
Another busy day spent in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers! I finally tackled one of those jobs that is easily "put off" - the accumulation of clag at the end of my back passage [oo-er, Missus!]: a load of gravel on the floor where over-wintering pots had been blown over, the old compost bin that has needed emptying for ages [since next door's drain collapsed a while ago and all their "grey water" flooded the area, killing any chance of us using any of the bin's contents as they were contaminated], lumps of moss from the roof, and the carpet of leaves from the weeping fig houseplants we left out all winter - and I pruned them; they're still alive!
That was knackering, but at least now we have a new clear space to put up some more greenhouse staging shelves as a home for more plants (and more storage space, to boot)! I also embarked on the process of planning the window-boxes that will accommodate most of the recently-acquired annuals, and moved on some more things that were out-growing their pots, before the skies started to turn ominously dark and I finally packed it in for the day.
Meanwhile...
Sharing the day with such luminaries as Sir John Gielgud, Julie Christie, Rod Steiger, Peter Capaldi, Ritchie Blackmore, Gerry Anderson, Robert Carlyle, John Sergeant, Gina McKee, Erich von Däniken, Loretta Lynn, Adrien Brody, Robert Doisneau, Chris Langham, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Bobbi Brown, and - erm - "Papa Doc" Duvalier...
...it's the 75th birthday today of Sir Andrew's "talented younger sibling", Mr Julian Lloyd-Webber!
It's about time we brought some class into proceedings here at Dolores Delargo Towers:
Yes, British readers will recognise it - it was the theme to the classic arts television series The South Bank Show.
So, I'm back from my jolly jaunt to Essex, doing a Grand Tour of the myriad wonderful garden centres in that county, thanks to Baby Steve and Houseboy Alex. The extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers are going to be even fuller as a result - YAY! [And I have spent most of today out there, dodging the downpours, sorting stuff out and potting things up in preparation.]
But what did I miss while I was away?
So let us pay the great lady due tribute:
Here she is, dubbing for the magnificently camp "Helen" (Helen Jairag Richardson) - a megastar in Indian musical cinema in the 1960s:
...and here, dubbing for Reena Roy:
And finally - recognising the fact that even though I am on leave (almost) all this week, it is Tacky Music Monday - here's the lady herself, aged 79, with a tongue-in-cheek take on an old Usha Uthup number [from the only Bollywood film in which Rex Harrison and Vera Miles ever appeared, Shalimar]...
Sublime.
RIP, Asha Bhosle (born Ashalata Dinanath Mangeshkar, 8th September 1933 – 12th April 2026)
Have a good week, dear reader.
FOOTNOTE:
Of course, I could not let any such tribute pass without playing this famous paean to her!
I'm heading off to leafy Essex today, for my annual pilgrimage to visit Baby Steve and Houseboy Alex - and to visit as many garden centres as is humanly possible over one weekend, in the expectation of bringing back a load of new goodies for the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers. As per the forecast, the lovely warmth of midweek has evaporated away, and it's all back to normal temperatures for this time of year [dammit!], but that won't stop us!
Meanwhile, even though I am off, it is still the end of another (albeit short, thanks to Easter) week - and I have something suitably "plant-themed" to get the party started. Thank Disco Northern Soul [and vocalist Colin Young's performing trousers] It's Friday!
Have a good one, dear reader!
"Normal" service may resume on Monday...
Among a huge list of fellow celebrants today, including Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Sir Robert Helpmann, Tom Lehrer, Valerie Singleton, Hugh Hefner, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Hannah Gordon, Paul Robeson, Hugh Gaitskell, Patty Pravo, Marty Krofft, Charles Baudelaire, Marc Jacobs, Seve Ballesteros, Michael Learned, Dennis Quaid, Carl Perkins, Nigel Slater, Jacques Villeneuve, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Cynthia Nixon, John Hammond, Kristen Stewart, Sir Bernard Jenkin and - erm - the crazy Lil Nas X...
...I have chosen to focus in on just one of those "birthday boys and girls" - that paragon of late 90s "manufactured pop", Miss Rachel Stevens!
She was, of course, a key founder-member of that archetypal "bubblegum" band S-Club 7 - among whose output was this mega-hit, a staple at every one of our parties:
She also branched out into more "grown-up" music as a solo artist, with a modicum of success. This Richard X-produced number was one of her best [it sounds a bit like Goldfrapp, which is no bad thing in my book!]:
Heavens! That song was twenty-two years ago - and S-Club's is 26 years old! Where does the time go..?
Many happy returns, Rachel Lauren Stevens (born 9th April 1978)
