By the time you read this, dear reader - if ever you do, given yesterday's debacle - we should (hopefully) be just about landing in Malaga for another week of hedonism...
Here's a little variation on our usual theme of Vamos a la Playa to keep you entertained:
"Normal" service will be resumed, with any luck, in a week's time...
"Hooray, hooray, the first of May! Outdoor sex begins today."
In the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers, the daffs, tulips and primulas - as well as the cherry and apple blossoms in the neighbourhood - are over. The air is now scented with the intoxicating perfume of lilacs, jasmine, rowan and the last of the wallflowers. How does one adequately encapsulate the scents of Spring? The combination is simply divine.
To add to the uplifting mood, I'm counting down to the end of a particularly gruelling week - and tomorrow we're up in the deathly hours in order to get a taxi to Gatwick Airport, to catch our flight to Spain for a week's much-needed holiday! I have never needed a holiday this much [since the last one, of course 😎]!
Let's have something suitably Spanish to get the celebrations going, shall we - and who could be more appropriate than our Patron Saint of Plastic, Charo?!
¡Gracias Disco Es viernes!
Have a great weekend, dear reader! We intend to.
STOP PRESS:
I don't know when - or even if - you will actually see this, dear reader, but I timed it to publish at 7.30am...and it is now 6.30pm and it still hasn't shown up! I hate the Google gnomes.
It's another snippets post, dear reader:
And I say, hey yeah yeah, hey yeah yeah
I said hey, what's going on?
Indeed. It's a mindfuck...
And the weather? Utterly glorious!
Sharing the day with another panoply of "names" including Zizi Jeanmaire, William Randolph Hearst, Sir Thomas Beecham, Duke Ellington, Sir Daniel Day-Lewis, Leslie Jordan, Jeremy Thorpe, Uma Thurman, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Celeste Holm, Emperor Hirohito, Tammi Terrell, Andre Agassi, Lonnie Donegan, April Stevens, Baron Jacob Rothschild, Toots Thielemans, Professor Heinz Wolff, conductor Zubin Mehta (who is 90), Willie Nelson, Tommy James of The Shondells, Rod McKuen, Jerry Seinfeld, Jo O'Meara of S-Club 7 and - erm - Bernie Madoff...
...it's Bill Drummond's birthday today. Who? I hear you ask...
He was, of course, the co-founder of that most wonderfully loopy of late 80s/early 90s electro rave combos, The KLF!
I need no more perfect excuse (as if I would need one) to play this, their most completely off-the-wall hit that resurrected the career of a forgotten diva. I love it!
There never was anything like it before, and I very much doubt there'll ever be anything like it again.
The Daily MashI told him my ballroom is a mile high just to see his face, says King
The King has admitted claiming to own a domed ballroom a mile high in conversation with Donald Trump to see his crestfallen reaction.
The president had taken the Royal party to see a hole which he was boasting would soon be an even greater ballroom than Hitler’s, when Charles replied ‘Of course, we have terrible issues rerouting planes around ours.’
The monarch continued: “You’d think the view would be wonderful a mile above London, but the diamond capstone on the top is actually in the stratosphere so it’s all clouds.
“Holds 1.7 million people, though it’s not been filled since George V’s inaugural ball because I’m afraid there aren’t enough aristocrats left. Nowadays we use its solid gold art deco interior for family get-togethers and charity events.
“It really is a magnificent edifice and, of course, owned by a real king. But yours sounds like it will be nice too. How large? 90,000 square feet? Ah, so the same size as the palace kennels.”
He added: “You should have seen his mean, crumpled face. He started bragging about 80s golfers’ dick sizes to recover, but of course Camilla has hands-on expertise there.”
Trump said: “I’ve checked on the internet and it’s all true. I fired the aide who told me it was AI.”
Of course.
Another lovely weekend spent pottering in the garden and - whoosh! Here we are again...
Never mind, eh? - it's just a week, then we're off to Spain at the crack'o'doom on Saturday, and I have another week off after that, so I'm not too despondent.
Meanwhile, it's the 60th birthday today of one of our fave actresses, Miss Siobhan Finneran! We first fell in love with her as the harassed mum "Janice Garvey" in the sitcom Benidorm - dealing with her hapless husband "Mick", pregnant teen daughter "Chantelle", pretty-boy son "Michael" and her bombastic battleaxe mother "Madge" while trying to enjoy her holiday - and she played a blinder in Downton Abbey as the wicked ladies' maid "Miss O'Brien". She was also in Emmerdale, Happy Valley - and this, her first starring role, and a film I absolutely adore. It is a Tacky Music Monday, after all!
Have a good week, dear reader.
We had hazy sunshine all day, but that didn't stop me getting out there to complete a few more tasks in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers - more big salvias repotted into fresh compost, some primulas that have gone over tidied-up in preparation for their summer hiatus, and I split one of our indoor peace lilies that was looking very sorry for itself and needed a bit of TLC, among other pottering jobs...
Meanwhile... The bastard gnomes at Google/Blogger have been playing silly buggers again. I published a post at around 6 o'clock yesterday. It remained in Limbo, as far as the Blogger Reading List is concerned. Suddenly at 1 o'clock in the morning - boom! There it was...
WTF leads these creatures to think that a five-hour delay is acceptable is beyond me! Yet another blogging annoyance... Sigh.
Never mind, eh? Here's something soothing from our "house band" to ease our troubled souls...
Ah, that's better...
It was another beautiful Spring day today, and the chilly wind of earlier this week had completely dropped - so, obviously I spent most of it in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers. The last of the summer annuals-filled window-boxes and a wall pot are done. I moved-on a few more plants in little pots into bigger ones, then began the task of tackling the moth-eaten overwintered large-leaf salvia collection, which have all exhausted the soil they were in. More tomorrow, no doubt - and then hopefully everything will be ready for the summer "jungle" display. Once we get back from Spain, It will be time to do the "Tetris" task of placing the gazillions of pots into the best location for them to thrive and look their best [of course, everything's covered in a coat of flowers and detritus from the bastard weed trees at the moment; there's not a season when they don't give us grief]...
Meanwhile, sad news - Mademoiselle Evy Lenton, lead singer of the camp-as-tits one-hit-wonders La Belle Époque has donned her last glittery jacket and ascended the dry-ice strewn staircase to Fabulon, at - gulp - the age of 80.
It's obvious what to play in tribute, of course, really, since they only ever had one hit:
Love it!
RIP, Évelyne "Evy" Lenton (born Evelyn Verrecchia, 16th December 1945 - 22nd April 2026)
TFFT! Another week of drudgery - while looking out on the glorious (if slightly chilly) Spring sunshine from the stuffy and airless office - is over...
...and we have a Diva birthday to celebrate! Sharing her day with our Patron Saint of Hoofing Shirley MacLaine, as well as the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier, Tony Visconti, Paula Yates, Aidan Gillen, Anthony Trollope, Jill Ireland, guitarist John Williams, Kelly Clarkson, Sir Stafford Cripps, Clement Freud, Gabby Logan, filmmaker Richard Donner, Olympic cyclist (Dame) Laura Kenny, Rory McCann and - erm - "Lord Haw Haw" William Joyce - it's "MegaBabs" Barbra Streisand's birthday today!
As it is the end of the week, and we have a party to start planning, so how about Babs' most successful foray into dance music - in the company of another glittering gay icon LaDonna?! I think so. Thank Disco It's Friday!
Have a great weekend, folks!
Another snippets post today, dear reader:
[Photo:
the fabulous IanVisits blog; click any pic to embiggen]
Pull that string! [click to embiggen]
And the weather? Beautiful and sunny, but still a chilly wind.
The new Michael Jackson film is the first instalment of an interconnected cinematic universe of celebrity sex offenders, its producers have announced.
As well as telling the King of Pop’s origin story, Michael launches a multi-movie franchise about rich and famous celebrity wrong ‘uns which is projected to come together for a thrilling crossover finale in 2031.
Film insider Tom Booker said: “Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with all the dusty old source material on these guys. The NCU will tell you everything you need to know.
“Michael eases you in with a straightforward tale about a poor black kid who grows up to be the world’s most famous sex monster. Sit through the end credits and there’s a teaser for the next film in the series, 'Andrew: Prince of Paedos'.
“That leads into the Woody Allen biopic, then we go back a couple of decades and see the roots of it all with Jimmy Savile, Stuart Hall and Rolf Harris in 'It Was A Different Time: The 70s Story'.
“Yes, we’ve had to be creative in scriptwriting to tie it all together, but give Michael a magic rhinestone-studded glove and I think audiences will be in their seats cheering as the paedos put their differences aside to battle a galactic threat only they can defeat.”
Cinemagoer Martin Bishop said: “I can’t wait for them to keep churning these movies out long after they’ve stopped being good.”
Of course.
...in orange.
...in yellow.
...in green.
...in blue.
...in indigo.
...in violet...
...and in pink!
One hundred years ago today, our beloved - and still sadly missed - HM The Queen Elizabeth, the longest-reigning monarch the United Kingdom ever had [and second-longest-reigning in history, after France's Louis XIV], was born.
Generations of people knew no other monarch except her. She saw 15 British prime ministers and 14 US presidents come and go during her reign, as well as numerous global conflicts from Korea to the Gulf, the Cold War from Stalin's death through to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the transition of Empire to Commonwealth (on occasions bloodily, sometimes peacefully), the rise and fall of apartheid in South Africa, myriad political scandals from Profumo to "Partygate", tragedies from the Aberfan disaster to IRA bombing campaigns to the Dunblane massacre to the Grenfell Tower inferno, the decline of major British industries, the invention of the internet and the rise of the information age, a palace intruder, Royal weddings and divorces and the "annus horribilis", the death of Diana [as well as her mum The Queen Mother, her sister Margaret, and her husband Prince Philip], pretending to parachute into the Olympic Stadium with James Bond, the COVID pandemic and "tea with Paddington". She gave Royal Assent to 2,820 public bills and 235 private bills into law, presided over 70 State Openings of Parliament and almost the same number of Christmas broadcasts - and heaven only knows how many other speeches or dedications she must have made during her extensive visits to just about every country on the planet!
When she died four years ago, millions watched coverage of her funeral, and thousands upon thousands of people paid tribute in person, queuing - myself included, for eleven hours - to pay respects at her lying in-state.
Cheers, Ma'am. Nothing's quite the same without you.
Here's another tribute (of sorts):
Then one of us will be a Queen,
And sit on a golden throne,
With a crown instead
Of a hat on her head,
And diamonds all her own!
With a beautiful robe of gold and green,
I've always understood;
I wonder whether
She'd wear a feather?
I rather think she should!
Oh, 'tis a glorious thing, I ween,
To be a regular Royal Queen!
No half-and-half affair, I mean,
No half-and-half affair,
But a right-down regular,
Regular, regular,
Regular Royal Queen!
She'll drive about in a carriage and pair,
With the King on her left-hand side,
And a milk-white horse,
As a matter of course,
Whenever she wants to ride!
With beautiful silver shoes to wear
Upon her dainty feet;
With endless stocks
Of beautiful frocks
And as much as she wants to eat!
Oh, 'tis a glorious thing, I ween,
To be a regular Royal Queen!
No half-and-half affair, I mean,
No half-and-half affair,
But a right-down regular,
Regular, regular,
Regular Royal Queen!
HM The Queen Elizabeth II (21st April 1926 - 8th September 2022)
"Everyone's a national treasure these days; you can't move for them. But there should only ever be one at a time. For years, it was Dame Thora Hird. After she died, it was going to be Judi Dench, but then Joanna Lumley saved the Gurkhas so she got the gig."
It's certainly the year of sad anniversaries. On this day a decade ago, we lost the genius that was Victoria Wood. And, yes, she was a "national treasure"!
Needless to say, I, Madam Arcati, and all "our gang" absolutely idolised the woman. As did the majority of British society. We can all recite lines - maybe even whole sketches word-for-word - from her ground-breaking television series. And here's just a tiny sample of our favourites...
Of course, I haven't forgotten it's a Tacky Music Monday - so here's the ultimate pick-me-up with which to start the week!
Victoria Wood (19th May 1953 – 20th April 2016). We still miss you.
Have a good week, dear reader.
Another sunny day, another day in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers, trying to drown out the demon children next door and their sodding karaoke machine with blasts of Sounds of the Seventies while pottering and making things lovely...
Meanwhile, Queen Madge continues her latest comeback - she appeared on stage with Sabrina Carpenter at Coachella Festival last night, and the full-length version of I Feel So Free has been released!
I love it!
Thoughts?
It has been another beautiful Spring day and, needless to say, I spent most of it in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers: I built another set of display shelves [as you can see in the background of the photo above], potted-on another load of small plants into bigger pots, created the first of what will be a number of window box/wall-pot displays, and did load of general pottering besides. Very satisfying.
Meanwhile, I have just been reminded by Sean Keaveney on Radio 2 that it will be ten years next week since the force of nature that was Prince ascended the glittering (purple, of course) stairway to Fabulon. I think a little tribute is in order...
The archetypal flamboyant icon of mid-80s to mid-90s pop [alongside Queen Madge, of course], he evolved from the shadow of his idol Rick James into the mega-successful, adored superstar whose death was so widely mourned across the globe. He was not merely a performer, singer and musician, however; he was a brilliant songwriter, too.
And, by way of a tribute to his genius, here are several examples of how his compositions became massive hits for other people:
First up, the one that always makes me cry...
...lightening the mood somewhat, a clutch of much more uplifting choons...
...the classic - here featuring an artist who shares a birthday with The Purple One, Sir Tom Jones (Tom Jones)...
...and finally, the man himself:
Prince Rogers Nelson (7th June 1958 – 21st April 2016)
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)
Whew, what a scorcher!
We in London have had the hottest early April day in 80 years - the official figure was 26.5C (79.7F) at Kew Gardens, but according to our thermometer, we had already reached that temperature in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers when I was having my first fag and a mug of coffee out there at 8am - and I was in shorts with my top off [not a pretty sight], doing some pottering, after I got in from work at around 5pm!
Lovely. Here's something suitable for the occasion, that I haven't heard in ages:
Inevitably, it's all going downhill by the time the weekend (and the start of a week's leave pour moi) comes around...
The sight of a single takeout pizza van has caused villagers to think their town is now on a par with London, it has emerged.
Having grown accustomed to their Nisa and a chippie that takes half an hour to drive to, residents of a Gloucestershire village believe they are about to become the new Shoreditch thanks to a van that sells overpriced pizzas.
Local Donna Sheridan said: “I thought food trucks were something MasterChef made up for the telly. Yet there it is, in all its dazzling, gentrified glory for a pleb like me to enjoy.
“I phoned my kids who live in Camden to tell them I tried something called 'fior de latte' on my Margherita. They already knew what it was thanks to their swanky university education, and suggested I try an anchovy topping next. It’s all very cosmopolitan.
“The young lad who runs it says you can’t move for food trucks like this in the big city. Apparently they even sell Asian-fusion tacos and curried lentil dishes. Sounds a bit extravagant for our tastes but each to their own.
“Maybe if the novelty of pizza served out of a van catches on we’ll be treated to other London perks like a Gail’s and unaffordable housing. We can only dream.”
Pizza cook Jack Browne said: “A place like this is perfect for entrepreneurs. I could serve these hicks reheated Pizza Express ready meals and they’d never know.”
Of course.
It's been a gloriously sunny and warm Bank Holiday for a change, and I've spent another exhausting day in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers - potting-on loads of otherwise neglected plants (and a few of the newer ones we purchased at The Gardening Club yesterday) into fresh compost; I barely scraped the surface, to be honest, as there are still dozens yet to go...
I haven't forgotten, however, that it is a Tacky Music (Easter) Monday! With only a few weeks to go till our next Spanish holiday, let's revisit one of our faves from that country.
Miguel Bosé (for it is he) is a megastar in Spain, with 21 albums, roles in more than 35 films (including Pedro Almodovar's High Heels and the award-winning French film La Reine Margot) and his own television show. His father was one of the country's top bullfighters Luis Miguel González Lucas, and his mother Lucia Bosé was a renowned Italian actress, who counted Luchino Visconti and Pablo Picasso among her friends. From that promising start it was obvious that Miguel was destined for a life in the spotlight.
Of course the fact that he was cute must have helped. The fact that he's also as gay as a handbag full of rainbows probably helped too - I expect it made his mum proud, if not his dad!
In this season, what could be more appropriate than his mega-hit - about The Devil [the cover version of which by Las Seventies remains one of our all-time faves]?
Scarily, Señorita Bosé celebrated his 70th birthday on Friday!
Have a good week, dear reader.
I had another busy day in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers yesterday - I potted up some brand new Zantedeschina aethiopica (hardy Calla lilies) tubers that arrived in the post earlier this week, repotted a whole load of biennial foxgloves and campanula we have been nurturing since last summer, split and potted-on a tangled mass of baby self-seeded ferns that had been bunged into one pot for the winter, and did the same for some nerine bulbs [that have done bugger all for years, in the hope they might one day give us some flowers] and a few hardy geraniums to increase the stock.
Phew. One might think that flurry of activity might prompt a nice, quiet day to follow - but we plan (the side-winds of "Storm Dave" - yes, "Dave" - permitting) to pay a long-overdue visit to the horticultural wonderland of Crews Hill, and the phenomenal Gardening Club [before the bastards pull it all down in favour of one of the Labour government's flagship "new towns" - as was confirmed recently] today.
Meanwhile... some home decor suggestions, courtesy of Soft Tempo Lounge:
Perfectly lovely.
[Music: Max Raffeng - Leila]
As we live in hope that there might be at least some sunshine over this long weekend (as opposed to looming grey skies and blustery winds), it's time, methinks, for a little selection of some of the "newer" music that has caught my ear of late:
Let's open with something fairly low-key and jolly - a very welcome new choon from probably the only boy-band that has actually progressed to assume the "national treasure(s)" mantle...
Speaking of sunshine - this sublimely summery number from Reigate's most notable export since Dame Margot Fonteyn, Disclosure, really lifts the spirits [especially so for me, as it is a mere four weeks to go before we are back in Spain!]:
Who else but the fantabulosa Mr Bill McClintock would ever have thought that 90s boy-band NSYNC and death-metallers Slipknot would ever fit together? But they do!
House favourite eccentrics - beloved here at Dolores Delargo Towers, and over at Hexenhausli DeVice - Haute & Freddy are back, and as completely fruitloop as ever...
Multi-award-winner Raye is certainly more Lily Allen than Kate Bush - but her new release (a very surprising collaboration with Oscar-winning film music composer - everything from The Lion King to the recent Dune remake - Hans Zimmer) is quite the work of art. It took a few watches/listens, but I love this!
Even the mighty Raye, however, isn't top of this list. Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson (CMAT)'s lyrics in the opening verse are rather scathing...
I was at the
Jamie Oliver petrol station
I needed deli but god I hate him
That man should not have his face on posters
...which makes it even more remarkable that the fat-tongued Mockney git makes a personal appearance in the video! Regardless - it's utterly, utterly brilliant!
As ever, dear reader, let me know your thoughts...
[* ceol nua = "new music" in Irish Gaelic]
It's that time of year again, dear reader - and some traditions here at Dolores Delargo Towers will never change...
"I think I'm going to Hell. Oh, dear!!"
Happy Easter.
Sharing the date with a whole raft of fellow celebrants, including Dame Penelope Keith, Sir Alec Guinness, Marvin Gaye, Émile Zola, Hans Christian Andersen, Casanova, Linford Christie, Serge Gainsbourg, Paul Gambaccini, Emmylou Harris, Pedro Pascal, Buddy Ebsen, Sue Townsend, Max Ernst, George MacDonald Fraser, Teddy Sheringham, William Holman Hunt, Michael Fassbender, Camille Paglia, Brian Glover, Kenneth Tynan and - erm - Dr. Demento...
...it is the (gulp!) 65th birthday today of the lovely Miss Keren Woodward, founding member of house faves Bananarama!
No further excuse needed for a dose of cheer from the ladies themselves:
[Yes. It is a tribute to another great "house favourite" here at Dolores Delargo Towers, Hypnotic Tango by My Mine...]As it is a foreshortened week thanks to Easter, perhaps I should be saying Thank Disco It's Thursday(?)!!
Have a great extended weekend, dear reader!
From Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service this morning:
At 01:04 this morning, Beacon Hill in Charnwood, which has lain peacefully dormant for countless millennia, suddenly and unexpectedly erupted, sending millions of tonnes of super-heated rock, ash and magma into Earth's atmosphere.Please avoid the area.
A cursory glance at the calendar, on receiving such news, would have alerted you to the fact - it's April Fools' Day again! Here are some of the choicest pranks:
Don't like the jam in Jammie Dodgers? Try the "middles"...
Apparently most people log in to play the National Lottery while on the loo - and Tombola has announced a themed toilet seat...
Oh, yummy - how about IKEA's new meatball-flavoured lollipop..?
Whovians of the world head to Iceland! - their new "Darlic Bread" is apparently in stores now...
Ever wondered what those sneaky sheep are saying behind your back? Herdy Homewares has an app for that...
Chocolate-covered Babybel, anyone?
There were loads more, of course, including a Scottish Mountain Rescue search and rescue cat, Robert Gordon University's "therapy capybara", Asda's adult-sized shopping trolley seats and the announcement of the "first female James Bond"...
...and then there's this:
All very clever. Did anyone fall for any of them?
