It's another snippets post, dear reader...
- Dance with the Devil news: Poor Prince William had to put on his best statesmanly grimace for a meeting with President-elect Trump in Paris to discuss "the special relationship" between the UK and the US.
- Auntie Beeb does it again news: In another in a long line of "let's really piss our loyal audience off" moves [see also Paul O'Grady and Clare Teal], one of our favourite broadcasters, host of Radio 3's In Tune for 27 years Sean Rafferty has been unceremoneously
replacedaxed! We are so pissed off. Again.Mind you, the "send-off" on his last show on Friday was a remarkably emotional show of support - as the "great and the good" of the classical world and beyond turned up to play and sing music, and make toasts all dedicated to him, including Ailish Tynan, Marcus Farnsworth, Nicky Spence, Barokksolistene, Anna Tilbrook, Dame Sarah Connolly, Angela Hewitt, Elena Urioste, Tom Poster, Guy Johnston, fellow Radio 3 presenter Tom Service, and none other than Dame Joanna Lumley!
- It'll still be dry as fuck news: Xmas turkeys are on sale in Holland Park in London [Eddie and Patsy's neighbourhood], ranging from £81.13 for a 6lb bird to a whopping £363.38 for a 28-pounder! I think we'll stick to pork. Or duck. Or anything that tastes nicer than turkey.
- Pity she's a whore news: Remarkably, an archaic police power - the issue of a "prostitute's caution", that, unlike any other similar sanction, remains on record for life - is still being exercised in the UK today! No wonder the girls are angry about it.
- There's expensive shoes, and then there's bloody expensive shoes: Those ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland that went to auction with a pre-sale estimate of £4 million? Ah, yes. They sold for $28 million (£22m)!! There's some rich queens out there...
- And finally: RIP, Broadway trouper Miss Helen Gallagher, at the ripe old age of 98. She wasn't exactly a "household name", but I discovered this marvellous little video of her performing as Tallulah Bankhead which suggests she would indeed have been "our kind of girl"...
And the weather? Another cunty "named storm" - Storm Darragh - has battered the crap out of Wales and the West of England, and even here in London the gales are fierce!
STOP PRESS:
Sorry, Krampus!
...we missed your "Nacht"!
Shame on the BBC once again, They axe well loved and talented people and keep the awful reprobates as long as they can against all reason.
ReplyDeleteI will miss Sean Rafferty's wit wisdom and kindness.
There's certainly no-one else who can bring the same amount of charm to hosting a prime-time programme like that. It's ageism, pure and simple. The controller who got rid of him came over from the commercial Classic FM channel, with all that inanity in tow. Say no more, really. Jx
DeleteI wondered how you were faring under Darragh. May you staff safe and dry, and with both feet planted firmly on the ground! I pity any statesman or royal who has to make nice with that orange asshole. And, holy crap, we used to cook 28-pound turkeys in the States. I wonder what they’re charging there.
ReplyDeleteDarragh's blowing over a bit, but it's still gusty and miserable - and we're venturing out in it, for our sins, to meet up with the Madam's sister and brother-in-law this afternoon! It'll mainly be spent sheltering in pubs and a restaurant (with no £360 turkeys on the menu, that's for certain!)... Jx
DeleteI survived!! I survived the storm!! I had the red alert warning and everything. Today we have gusts of 45mph - and it's like a mill pond compared with yesterday. The noise of it - crikey. And we couldn't really open doors to the outside world for fear of them being ripped off. Crazy stuff. The roof is still on.
ReplyDeleteSx
I imagine your bit of Devon bore the brunt of the storm, so I'm very pleased to hear everything seems to remain intact in its wake! Jx
DeleteBlimey! I should think my wee holiday cottage would have been blown into the next county! Zyderr apples an' aall
DeleteIt left a lot of damage in its wake, that's fur certain... Jx
DeleteI thought i spied a queen wearing red ruby slippers last night in the club but wrote it off as too many gins?
ReplyDeleteAnd your turkeys are so expensive there? I wonder why? We had a very nice 28 pounder for thanksgiving and it was $69.99 right from the farm. I dress mine with various herbs and Madeira wine....I bet you'd enjoy my meat.
Many's a man who's enjoyed gobbling your Parson's Nose, dear!
DeleteThe butcher selling the turkeys at such exorbitant prices is, of course, in one of the most upmarket areas of London, so I am not surprised it's expensive. We don't eat much turkey, to be honest. It's always a disappointment in comparison with just about every other type of roast. Jx
For Christmas, I do a nice roast beef with Yorkshire pudding...but I have considered doing a pheasant......
DeleteCan't beat a good roast beef and Yorkshire pud! Jx
DeleteFor the price of that bird you could have a 4 day festive 'turkey and tinsel' break away, staying in a 3 star hotel, explore the French and Belgian Christmas markets, travel with National Holidays, for only £299 yes £299!
ReplyDeleteIn retrospect, how much did you say that turkey cost again?
We could get a week in the Costa del Sol for the price of that turkey! Jx
DeleteI bet there'll be a massive move to vegetarianism. Oh wait! We have to call in "plant-based" now don't we?
ReplyDeleteI bet there won't. Jx
DeleteThough I always wished there was someone who could do a good Tallu, I've never been impressed. I saw Valerie Harper live with hers & I couldn't have been more embarrassed for her. Embarrassed for myself as well for buying a ticket & going. Can't say I was blown away by Helen in this clip, though David Susskind was a surprise. Maybe because she was the acme of camp she was
ReplyDeleteun-doable?
But, the best Tallulah I've encountered was Charles Pierce.
As I read your opening comment, the inimitable Charles Pierce came to mind immediately! Jx
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