"The Bendy Tree", a wych elm on the blustery seaside promenade of Newcastle, Northern Ireland, has been named the UK's Tree of the Year 2026
It's another snippets post, dear reader:
- Very old steak preserved news: The building that houses London's oldest restaurant, Rules (founded in 1798), has been gifted to the National Trust - which will now be in a position to conserve its vast archives as well as the structure. Specialising in traditional British food [beef, lamb, pies, salmon, cod, potatoes, cheeses and so forth], customers over its long history include Charles Dickens, H.G. Wells, Graham Greene, Charlie Chaplin, Laurence Olivier, John Betjeman, David Bowie, Liza Minnelli, Madonna - and Madam Arcati and I!
- The smallest recruit news: Meet Comando the chihuahua, who has been adopted by the Mexican national guard...
- Old as the hills news: The world's oldest-known terrestrial animal, an Aldabra giant tortoise named Jonathan estimated to be about 194 years old, may hold clues to longer life, according to scientists.
- Heeere's Johnny! news: Among the items in The Stanley Kubrick Collection going on sale at at Bonham’s in London on 3rd February 2027 are the axe infamously wielded by Jack Nicholson's psychopathic character in The Shining, the original script from Kubrick's 1960 classic Spartacus, the great man's director's chair and, estimated to reach as much as £800,000, the model of a foetus that takes a prominent role at the very end of his 2001: A Space Odyssey. I have my eyes on the dresses worn by the spooky twins at the Overlook Hotel - "Come play with us..." - myself, but I don't think they'd fit either Madam Arcati or I.
- Homoerotic classic news: Remarkably, it is fifty years since Derek Jarman's groundbreaking gay film Sebastiane was released [and promptly banned, no doubt, in many places] - and the anniversary is being held at the cinema that hosted its premiere way back in 1976, The Gate, Notting Hill in London.
- And finally - Big Willy news: It is the centenary today of Willy Alberti, one of Amsterdam's most revered singers, whose repertoire included popular songs in both Italian and Dutch, and even opera! Here's a double-bill, for your delectation:
And the weather? A bit breezy and a bit cloudy, but still mild for October. Thankfully!
What an assortment today! We had friends a long time ago who had two sons. The first was Richard and the called him Dick. The second was Willy. Not William, Willy. Two boys called Willy and Dick! The Bendy Tree is amazing.
ReplyDeleteHow unfortunate for those two boys. I sincerely hope they grew up without hang-ups [or, indeed, small cocks]!
Delete"The Bendy Tree" is remarkable - 150 years old, battered by Atlantic winds, survived Dutch Elm Disease, and still there, doing what it does... Jx
The Bendy Tree!!!! How cool is that?? If it was here, the Dump or his admin would have cut it down already. He just tore down some of the fabled cherry blossoms along the river to make room for more golf course space, a slew of the world's tallest pines in a federal park to make roads for a developer and tore down the last three grandmother trees in AZ that were 250 years old to continue his already crumbling border wall. BASTARD! 250, ironic the country just turned 250 and he lets this happen...I call it foreshadowing.
ReplyDeleteIn the words of Patsy Stone at her mother's death bed..." Oh Mother, just DIE ALREADY!"
Crimes against nature are horrendous across the world. The Aral Sea in the former Soviet Union is now mainly desert due to its rivers being diverted for industrial use. Rainforests in Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria and Malaysia continue to be destroyed. Madagascar has lost over 44% to 80% of its original forest cover due to human activity, endangering the lemurs who live nowhere else on earth. The list goes on... Jx
DeleteI love the tree, but I'm now afraid that some twat will come and chop it down - somethings are best kept secret. Similar fears re the axe!
ReplyDeleteSx
It does rather beg the question - who on earth would want to pay between £30,000 and £50,000 for an axe (that's actually a prop), no matter how iconic the scene in which it appeared? Jx
DeleteI'd like the tanning bed from 2001, especially if it came with Gary Lockwood and his plump nipples.
ReplyDeleteI just looked up that scene (I'd forgotten it!) - and I think I'd bid for his shorts as well... Jx
DeleteI was there watching Sebastiane back in 1976 at the Gate cinema Notting Hill
ReplyDeleteHoorah! I had to wait till it was shown on Channel 4 in 1985... Jx
DeletePS we like Big Willy too and will have to add his Zondag in Amsterdam to our play list
ReplyDelete...and start rehearsing it, in case it turns up at one of the sing-a-longs at Cafe 't Mandje 😍. Jx
DeleteJust played it again a week later and absolutely love it. It's a keeper.
DeleteDefinitely! Jx
Delete