Of Chekov, diadems, miniatures, old boozers and Kermit

RIP Walter Koenig, aka "Chekov" in the original Star Trek.

It's another snippets post, dear reader:

• They're barely even cities, let alone cultured, news: Four of the UK's shabbiest towns, Blackpool, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Wrexham, have been shortlisted for the "UK City of Culture" competition. I've been to three of these places, and no amount of local theatrical or multicultural events, musicians, poets, performance artists, singers, or dancers would tempt me to go back to any of 'em.

[click any pic to embiggen]

• Diamonds are forever news: The first exhibition ever to explore 500 years of British royal jewellery will open at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace next summer. Royal Jewellery: From Coronations to Keepsakes will bring together more than 300 pieces of jewellery from the 16th century to the present day, around two thirds on display for the first time - including King George IV's Diamond Diadem [pictured above] - and will run from 25th June 2027 to 19th March 2028.

• It's a small world news: According to the publicity "sheep dung, snails and mouse brains are all beautiful … if you look closely enough. This artwork could be a newly discovered planet or an abstract piece by Stanley Donwood for Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool, but the truth is tinier: it is the tip of a ballpoint pen, a winning entry from the Nikon Small World photography competition".
• Calling "time, gentlemen, please" for the last 629 years news: Historic England - the official Government heritage body - has named the George Inn in the village of Norton St Philip near Bath as the oldest pub in England, in continuous use as an inn since the late 14th century. Take that, Wetherspoons!
• And finally: We missed celebrating - gulp! - fifty years last month since the launch of one of the most memorable TV series of all time... The Muppet Show!

The Muppet Show theme

And the weather? Stormy and horrid.

There's an oh such a hungry yearning burning inside of me

Monday again.

Aaaargh! Reality kicks in...

...as we gird our loins for the return to the madness, so it falls to a British icon of days gone by to give us a much-needed wake-up call.

Sixty years ago, the lovely Miss Alma Cogan departed for Fabulon, far too soon (aged just 34!). Had she not been taken so soon, who knows in what musical direction she could have gone [heaven knows, she left us quite a legacy!] - but, needless to say this alone will suffice for a Tacky Music Monday:

Alma Cogan - Night And Day (1960)

Have a good week, dear reader.

No, no, no

It is (remarkably) the 20th anniversary on Tuesday of the album that launched a (doomed) legend upon an unsuspecting world - Back to Black by Amy Winehouse!

Everyone knows the songs - but in case you need a "refresher", here's Mr Scott Bradlee of our "house band" Postmodern Jukebox fame, with this medley:

An Amy Winehouse Piano Tribute - Back to Black album medley

However, not many people realise that one of her most famous songs was a cover*:

Noel Coward - Rehab

Ha, ha!

[*not really]

Je avais un residence; je habiter la, a la south of France

Happy 90th birthday [gulp] today to Mr William George Perks - better known, of course as Bill Wyman, long-serving member of the Rolling Stones.

Apparently when Brian Jones, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were trying to recruit a bassist, they decided on Bill mainly because he had a spare guitar amplifier and always had cigarettes, as well as owning a bass guitar that he had built himself... Still, he stayed with them for the next 31 years, so something clicked!

The Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (But I Like It)

Of course, Bill always had side-projects with other blues players, but briefly struck out on his own - and this cult hit from 1981 was the result:

Bill Wyman - (Si Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star

Love it or hate it, once it's in your head, it's a difficult one to shift..!

There's nothin' to it, just say you wanna do it

Another weekend slithers its way into view - and it's time to plan the party...

It was Mr George Mcrae's birthday earlier this week, so it would be remiss of me not to revisit this favourite slice of madness - as "the Founding Father of Disco" struggles manfully against the background of coked-up dancers ("camel toes", "moose knuckles", the lot) to bring us his most famous hit...

...Thank Disco It's Friday!

George McCrae - Rock Your Baby

Have a great weekend, dear reader! Please try and dodge the torrential rains of Storm Austen, if you can...

What We Do in the Shadows

Benoît Prévot (b. 1968)

Of diamonds, cult cinema, Punk, Pooh, priest, sailors and a diva duet

It's another snippets post, dear reader:

• A girl's queen's best friend news: The utterly gorgeous nine-carat Grand Condé Pink Diamond [pictured above] - a rare survivor from the former French ruling dynasty the House of Bourbon - has gone on display in the Château de Chantilly, north of Paris, for the first time since it was stolen a century ago. The gem was recovered soon afterwards - when a chambermaid at the thieves' getaway hotel bit into an apple, in the core of which the diamond was hidden! - but a replica has been on display ever since. It would match some of my outfits perfectly...
• Sing-a-long-a-salvation news: The cult favourite Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square - the West End's home of art-house and cult films, as well as sing-a-long versions of The Sound of Music and The Rocky Horror Picture Show - has been saved from closure and redevelopment by its landlord after a two-year campaign that included a 170,000-strong petition, massive publicity, and a listing by Westminster Council, culminating in a new 25-year lease. Let's do The Time Warp again, indeed!
• 'You have to destroy in order to create' news: A new exhibition coming to our beloved V&A Museum next year is Punk to Pop: Celebrating the creative explosion across music and fashion from 1972–85. From its promo material, it is described as "Bringing together around 300 objects, the show follows this trajectory from the confrontational aesthetics of punk's earliest years through to the polished, technologically-driven pop image-making that followed, tracing continuities as well as ruptures between the two moments." We'll be the judge of that... The exhibition opens on 13th March 2027.

• A Silly (very) Old Bear news: That worldwide favourite children's character Winnie The Pooh celebrated his centenary (of the first publication of AA Milne's book) this month. Tributes on offer include a series of themed programmes broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the inevitable official merchandise - and a set of Royal Mail stamps. Scrub all thoughts of "licking pooh" from your filthy minds, immediately!
• Judgement day? news: A Catholic priest was killed when a wooden crucifix fell on him during livestreamed mass in Ecuador. Ironically, his theme was a reflection on the fleeting nature of human life.

• And finally: Happy Trafalgar Day! Our Patron Saints Mitzi and Ethel know the perfect song to lead the celebrations...

Ethel Merman and Mitzi Gaynor - A Sailor's Not a Sailor (Till a Sailor's Been Tattooed)

And the weather? It absolutely pissed it down all day here. Yuk.