Of ancient bones (in and out of drag), cat Viagra versus pests, a Hollywood horse, witches' marks and Totty of the Day

RIP, Gilda Love, Spain's centenarian drag queen [Read more]
[click any pic to embiggen]

It's another snippets post, dear reader...

• Would you rather be attacked by mozzies - or cats? news: Scientists have discovered that an extract of common catnip - aka feline Viagra, that sends cats into ecstasy - is as effective at repelling mosquitoes as more expensive products, such as DEET. Remind me to seek some out for our trip to Amsterdam in August, and to avoid the oversexed toms. [Not!]

• My kingdom for a..? news: A massive Trojan Horse has materialised overnight in Trafalgar Square to mark the launch of Christopher Nolan's latest film The Odyssey. Money talks, it seems.
• I'm not a witch! I'm not a witch! news: A professor of architectural history in her new book has debunked the idea that etched patterns on the stones in medieval buildings are anything more than the mark of the mason(s) or apprentice(s). Not “witches’ marks” or “ritual protection symbols” at all! But does she weigh the same as a duck?

• Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones news: A fossilised skeleton of a 67 million-year-old 12-foot tall Tyrannosaurus rex has been sold for a record £37.4m ($50.1m) at a Sotheby's auction in New York. Where the fuck would you keep a thing like that? On your front lawn?
• And finally: The England football team's star striker during this World Cup has emerged as 23-year-old Jude Bellingham.

  Discuss:

And the weather? Still warm, but the ongoing breezes are taking the edge off. What I call a good summer!

---

FOOTNOTE:

So Monday's post finally showed up in the Blogger Reading List - THIRTY-FOUR HOURS after it was posted!

What a bunch of wankers the Google gnomes are.

These slippery people help us understand

As the UK continues to swelter, with no significant drop in temperatures in sight, let's give thanks for the impending weekend when at least we can get out-and-about rather than be chained to a desk for hours...

There are few good reasons to celebrate, too. I have an actual party to go to tomorrow, as one of the people John-John and I used to work with a few years ago in Scope, Claire turns 50 years old and has booked out a swanky new rooftop cocktail bar in Olympia, West London for the occasion!

It also happens to be the birthday today of the very lovely Mavis Staples, last survivor of her family's classic 1970s gospel-soul-funk group The Staple Singers. And whoever knew that they covered a Talking Heads number?!

It's brilliant - Thank Disco It's Friday!

The Staple Singers - Slippery People

Have a faboo weekend, dear reader!

---

FOOTNOTE:

British Wimbledon hopeful Arthur Fery is primed and ready for action, it would appear...

The True North strong and free

A Mountie always gets his man, they say!

Happy Canada Day to our chums across the water! And congratulations, too - the news has broken that at last, Deadpool has got his wish. Canada (joining fellow former colony Australia) will be entering the Eurovision Song Contest next year!

To celebrate this important occasion, I couldn't resist posting this again:

Kevin "Bloody" Wilson - You Can't Say Cunt in Canada

Mistress MJ will be breaking that rule as we speak...

Of Bowie, big cats, Cool Britannia, Baranski, Benidorm, Osmond brother, bonking blockade, Beethoven, Bond and the Black Dyke Band

Immerse yourself...

Another snippets post today, dear reader:

• God news: Everything these days seems to be "an immersive experience" - dinosaurs, the Titanic, numerous Egyptian kings and queens, the Vikings - and now it's David Bowie's turn! You’re Not Alone [pictured above] features an hour-long 360-degree film directed by Mark Grimmer – lead designer for the V&A’s blockbusting 2013 exhibition David Bowie Is – and is showing at London’s “immersive exhibition space” Lightroom. The blurb on its website reads: "Featuring the artist as its sole voice, a story composed from hundreds of interviews spanning a five-decade-long career at the cutting edge of art and culture sees Bowie invite you into his way of thinking like never before." We'll be the judge of that!
• "Here, kitty, kitty" news: The audience at a circus in Rostov, Russia got more than they bargained for when a ginormous Bengal tiger took advantage as a barrier collapsed, leapt out into the auditorium and bolted for the door. Without eating any children. More's the pity.

[Photo: the fabulous IanVisits blog; click any pic to embiggen]

• "Cool Britannia" news: A new free exhibition 1996: A celebration of the wildest year of Britain’s wildest decade - 30 years on promises to bring to life the spirit of the year when Britpop, Girl Power and superstar DJ club nights were at their imperial height, with outfits worn by The Spice Girls [including Geri's Union Jack boots, above], previously unseen Oasis memorabilia, personal items owned by legendary record producers and DJs Paul Oakenfold, Dave Pearce and Judge Jules, and the art, fashion, sport, and politics of that so-called "Cool Britannia" era. It runs from 16 April to 19 September 2026 at the City of London Corporation’s Barbican Music Library. "But don't look back in anger, I heard you say..."
• Gay icon(s) news: The fantabulosa Christine Baranski (and the equally faboo Richard E Grant) are set to star in a revival of Noel Coward's Hay Fever at Wyndham’s Theatre (from 22nd September)! Miss Baranski's debut on the West End stage, apparently [although we did see her at the Royal Albert Hall in Follies back in 2015, but that doesn't count]...

• RIP, Elsie Kelly aka "Noreen" in Benidorm...

• ...and Alan Osmond, eldest of the singing brothers.
• Safe sex shortage news: Thanks to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and a shortage of raw materials, the price of condoms is set to rocket by 30%!
• Culture with a capital "K" news: This year's BBC Proms season programme has been announced - with 86 Proms across eight weeks, 20 international ensembles, 41 orchestras and choirs from across the UK, 42 Proms appearances from the BBC’s own orchestras and choirs, 20 premieres including 17 BBC commissions and co-commissions, and 14 Proms across the UK including residencies at Bristol Beacon and the Glasshouse International Centre for Music (Gateshead), and the first ever Prom in Mold, North Wales; highlights include the Proms debuts of The New York Met Orchestra, the Spanish National Orchestra and the Mahler Academy Orchestra, a Prog Rock Prom, an evening with Evelyn Glennie, a celebration of soul legend Marvin Gaye, a brass band Prom with the Black Dyke Band, and a Prom featuring iconic music from the James Bond films titled "Bond and Beyond". Phew!

• And finally: Happy St George's Day to our English chums!

Pull that string! [click to embiggen]

And the weather? Beautiful and sunny, but still a chilly wind.

Of a lost Joan, eagles, Winnie Atwell's piano, octopi, totty, Time Warp, and the return of a Queen

Costume designer Edith Head called this frock "cinema’s single biggest influence on fashion"

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!

• Where eagles dare news: The magnificent golden eagle, one of Britain's biggest birds, is finally set to be reintroduced to England after more than 150 years, with a boost of government funding.

• Go East, young man news: The remarkable new V&A East museum opens its doors this weekend. Planned as an "open space" for visitors and locals alike, its emphasis is on 'making' and the process of craft and creation. The first showcase exhibition The Music is Black: A British Story apparently features outfits worn by everyone from Dame Shirley Bassey to Sade to Stormzy, Joan Armatrading's guitar, Winifred Atwell's piano and much more besides.
• When is an octopus not an octopus? news: A fossil believed to be "the world's oldest octopus" has been proven, using new technology, to be another primitive sea creature altogether.

[click any pic to embiggen]

• Hot Paprika news: Hungary's new prime minister Péter Magyar is not just a breath of fresh air for that country after years of repressive government, he's also a rather tasty bit of totty! [And Mistress Maddie agrees.]
• It's astounding news: Half a century on, and three of its stars Barry Bostwick, Nell Campbell and Patricia Quinn ("Brad", "Columbia", "Magenta") are reuniting for The Rocky Horror Picture Show 50th Anniversary Spectacular UK tour, which hits London's Dominion Theatre this weekend. Little Nell spills the tea on everything from Freddie Mercury to Mick Jagger to Disney erasing her nipple...
• And finally - Our Glorious Leader news: Madonna has a new album out this year - and even more fabulous is the fact that it's a sequel to her superb Confessions On A Dance Floor, from way back in 2005! Confessions II, released in July, is a return collaboration with Stuart Price - who produced the original - and here, for your delectation, is a teeny-tiny teaser snippet:

Madonna - I Feel So Free (Preview)

It's a bit trance-y, so more like her Ray of Light era - but exciting nonetheless!

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!

Of banana excess, Viv up North, chocolate theft, "Hello Campers!", a Macca media mishap, Totty of the Day and surrealism

RIP the utterly surreal cartoonist Glen Baxter (4th March 1944 – 29th March 2026)

It's another snippets post, dear reader:

• Yes! We have no bananas news: Tesco in Kirkwall, Orkney, is giving away boxes of bananas for free after mistakenly ordering 38,000 of the things - apparently equivalent to two per person living on the island! They had, it seems, intended to order 380kg (750lb) of the fruit. However, a mistake meant that 380 wholesale boxes arrived at the weekend instead.
• Fashion maven news: A new landmark exhibition dedicated to one of the most off-beat fashion pioneers the late Dame Vivienne Westwood opened last weekend - featuring dozens of items from the personal collection of a Lancashire chemistry teacher(!), as well as items on loan from other museums across the country. I was getting excited when I read about it, but then realised that it's actually on at the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, County Durham! I'm not likely to be travelling 262 miles just to see it. Let's hope it arrives in London some time in the future...
• Easter, ruined? news: The theft of a shipment of 12 tonnes of the eternally popular Nestle KitKat chocolate bars somewhere en route between Italy and Poland has led to warnings that there might be a shortage - just in time for the "peak chocolate season", Easter. I imagine Cadbury's is rubbing its hands with glee...

• British holidays nostalgia news: To celebrate 90 years in operation, the pioneering holiday-camp company Butlins [the inspiration for the comedy series Hi-de-Hi, of course] has commissioned a bejewelled version of its iconic "redcoat" (as worn by the camp hosts) to mark the occasion in style. The "Rhinestone Redcoat" [designed by The Masked Singer costume designer Tim Simpson] is being auctioned now to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital charity. I could be a "camp host" in that...
• Old people and social media news: The venerable and venerated Sir Paul McCartney found himself banned from Reddit for sharing photos of his own concert! Apparently attendees at the Fonda Theatre in LA were instructed to deposit the mobile phones before the show, and this was intended to be his way of rewarding them with official pics taken by his team. Oops...
• And finally: Happy 55th birthday today to "sex god" Ewan McGregor!

And the weather? Blustery, showery - but warming up. Typical Spring.

---

PS - more Glen Baxter:
[click any pic to embiggen]

Loved his work!

Licenced to thrill

Possessed of one of the most seductive speaking voices in acting history, the lovely Timothy Dalton is - gulp - 80 years old today!

In his long and enviable career, Mr Dalton has played alongside most of the greats of theatre and movies - Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn and Anthony Hopkins in The Lion in Winter, Richard Harris, Alec Guinness, Robert Morley, Charles Gray, Dorothy Tutin, Hugh Griffiths, Harry Andrews, Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson amongst them.

Another in a long line of Welsh acting maestros, with his piercing green eyes and 6ft 2" frame Timothy Dalton has always been a commanding (and extremely sexy) figure on screen. I had a major crush on him for years...

Just check out his debut screen performance:

Timothy Dalton - The Lion In Winter

Of course, the most lucrative role in his four-decade career, and the one for which he is likely to be most remembered worldwide, is his stint as James Bond in the 80s. Licence to Kill was one of the best of the series, as a result:

Timothy Dalton - Licence To Kill

Inevitably, there are always some less salubrious points in any actor's career. Here are a couple of them...

Timothy Dalton and Mae West in Sextette - Love Will Keep Us Together

Timothy Dalton - TV advert for Brains Faggots

Many happy returns, Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (born 21st March 1946)!

¡Nuevas melodías!

Madonna, GaGa and Christina Aguilera approve.

Frustratingly, it was a delightful Spring day today while I was stuck in the benighted office...

How about a little selection of the "newer" music that has caught my ear of late, to cheer things up a bit?

To open proceedings, here's a queen who's definitely overdosed on old Todrick Hall videos:

Boy Blu - Platinum Pleasure

Next - quite a surprise, as the artist formerly known as "Sporty Spice" makes a very welcome return, more than twenty years since her last solo Top Ten hit. Why no video? It's a mystery. Great song, though!

Melanie C - What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Side-stepping a little bit from the mainstream, it's always good to know that the icon that is Iggy Pop can still be dragged out into the light to make new music. When it's the eccentric Anna Calvi doing the asking, I guess it's hard to resist...

Anna Calvi feat. Iggy Pop - God’s Lonely Man

Our absolute favourite Spanish goths-turned-dance-act Fangoria never fail to please - and I adore their new one! "A little bit of everything", apparently:

Fangoria - Un poco todo

Miss Jessie Ware is rapidly becoming a firm favourite here at Dolores Delargo Towers, and for the video for her latest faboo (Ennio Morricone western-inspired) choon, she's only gone and roped-in [geddit?] the lovely James Norton as "The Cowboy". Lucky bitch!

Jessie Ware - Ride

And finally - saving the best to last, I am eternally grateful to our Blogger chum Mr DeVice for alerting me to this one! A meeting of true minds, where Neath's finest son and the legend that is Ana Matronic are concerned, methinks:

Bright Light Bright Light & Ana Matronic - Cold Sweat, Hot Boys

My kind of evening!

As ever, dear reader, I love to hear your thoughts...

---

STOP PRESS:

The UK's entry for Eurovision in May has been announced. I love it!

Look Mum No Computer - Eins, Zwei, Drei [United Kingdom entry, Eurovision Song Contest 2026]

[NB If you can't see the video, try here]

Of jewel poo,Nell's porn,Mickey in a ditch,Animaniacs,Euro-chaos,Ernie's bath-time and Totty of the Day

The very lovely Lando Norris, our new Formula 1 racing champion, aged just 26. I'd give him a hand with his joystick!

It'a another snippets post, dear reader:

• Bejewelled poo news: A miniature Faberge egg that was swallowed by a would-be-thief has been recovered by police, as nature took its course. I hope that it's been well cleaned!
• Restoration 3D porn news: An “erotically charged” illustrated pop-up anatomy book, printed in London in 1675 and once owned by King Charles II's mistress Nell Gwynne [who, famously, was illiterate] is up for sale at Christies in London today. How times change...
• Makes a change from crisp packets and tyres, I suppose: Among the thousands of items dumped along Britain's motorways and dual carriageways, Highways England has recovered sofas, storage containers, a boat - and a Mickey Mouse fairground ride! I wonder if Disney wants it back?

• RIP, Warner Brothers?: Whether it's Netflix or Paramount that ends up taking it over, the historic Warner Brothers will never be quite the same again. What will the Animaniacs do now?
• Boom-Bang-A-Bang news: Following the governing body of Eurovision's vote to allow Israel to participate in next year's song contest, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain pulled out. Today is the deadline for decisions to participate, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. It'll be an even stranger event next year, methinks...
• And, finally - D is for Duckie news: RIP, L.T. Lam, the creator of the "little yellow bath duck". We know a song about that, don't we, children?

Sesame Street - Ernie - Rubber Duckie

And the weather? Not bad, for a change...

Beef

Fancy a nibble on some buns? Maybe a slab of bratwurst?

Good news - birthday girl Jaye P. Morgan (94 today) is Cooking with Beefcake!

I can't imagine the saintly Delia Smith doing that.

Of knights, Queens, Auntie Beeb, totty, Sir David, explosions and Lulu again

Arise, Sir Becks (and Lady Posh)! I'd kneel before him.

It's another snippets post, dear reader:

• Stylish Queens news: To mark the centenary year of the late HM The Queen, an exhibition titled Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style will arrive in the King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace in April 2026. We will be booking to see this! From an article in Artnet:

  The show will be the largest display to date of the former monarch’s clothing, some of them never before seen. The checklist of nearly 200 pieces features items from all 10 decades of her life alongside outfits by contemporary British designers Erdem Moralioglu, Richard Quinn, and Christopher Kane, who took inspiration from her royal wardrobe. These pieces confirm the queen’s enduring influence on British fashion, even in the wake of her 2022 passing.

• The BBC axe falleth again news: The excellent journalist and broadcaster Matthew Sweet is departing Radio 3’s Sound of Cinema, a programme he founded. As Chris Bennion in The Telegraph says:

  All good things must come to an end, even in radioland where maintaining an illusion of permanence is paramount to the gentle rhythms of our day. So, just as we are processing the news that In Our Time will be presented by someone other than Melvyn Bragg, we learnt last week that Matthew Sweet is departing Radio 3’s Sound of Cinema, 12 years after he launched the programme. Much as In Our Time is Melvyn Bragg, Sound of Cinema is Matthew Sweet. His successor, Edith Bowman, has a tough job on her hands. Will she be more Roger Moore or George Lazenby?

  In Saturday’s final episode, Sweet referenced that radio-specific aversion to anything that looks like change. “When we began the show in 2013,” he said, that Hull accent jumping in every now and then like an eager child, “some people thought Radio 3 wasn’t the right place for a film-music programme. Twelve years later, I don’t hear that argument so much”. I would wager that’s because 12 years ago, the Radio 3 listeners didn’t know Sweet so well. “Film music demands serious attention,” said Sweet. And that’s exactly what he brought.

  A film-music programme on Radio 3? We all had the same sinking feeling. John Williams, The Lord of the Rings, Hans Zimmer, more John Williams, Chariots of Fire, The Godfather, yet more John Williams. We’ve got Classic FM for that soft-soap stuff, thank you very much. Yet Sweet defied us all, combining a cineaste’s enthusiasm with academic depth, delving far below the surface to add serious value to your listening.

• Too sexy for his shirt news:

The lovely Jonathan Bailey - whose career has rocketed from the West End [he did the most brilliant Not Getting Married Today when we saw him in the gender-reversed production of Sondheim's Company in 2018] via Bridgerton to big-screen stardom in Wicked - has been named as People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" 2025.

• Greed is good news: Computer chip manufacturer Nvidia's value now exceeds the GDP of every country except the US and China, according to data from the World Bank.
• World-famous dog news: The original image upon which the iconic HMV record shops logo is based - a painting titled His Master’s Voice, of "Nipper" the dog listening to a gramophone - has been purchased by The Huguenot Museum in Rochester.


• National treasure comes to the rescue news: The Wildlife Trusts and Northumberland Wildlife Trust bid to complete the purchase of the Rothbury Estate - a 15-sq-mile (38.8-sq-km) tract of former grouse moor, woodland and farmland, with plans to boost wildlife, restore bogs and promote nature-friendly farming - has seen a massive surge in donations since Sir David Attenborough released a video backing the appeal.
• And finally: Happy Bonfire Night! Yes, every year, we Brits celebrate the arrest and execution of Guy Fawkes and his gang, caught trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament in "The Gunpowder Plot" of 1605 - by lighting bonfires and igniting the wicks of thousands of tons of, erm, explosive fireworks! To celebrate, this:

Lulu with Take That - Relight My Fire

And the weather? Still exceptionally mild for early November.

Of cheese, canoes, cocks, oaks, cannabis, spice and sausage rolls

Only in the UK: the annual cheese-rolling race down the treacherous Coopers Hill in Gloucestershire resulted in two injured - and a shirtless German hunk winning it!

Yes, it's another "snippets post today", dear reader...

• Dedication to her job news: A news anchor in the US went into labour live on air - and carried on hosting the three-hour show!
• Nightmares in wax news: To mark National Sausage Roll Day next week [yes, such a thing does exist!], Madame Tussauds will unveil a waxwork of a Greggs sausage roll in pride of place in its display of "national treasures". No, it's not April Fools' Day...

• Canoeing totty news: A British canoeist has been banned from official competition because of his X-rated OnlyFans profile (that he apparently uses to raise money for his career), he claims. Now, which would you prefer? Watching a man try and manoeuvre a flimsy boat through cold water, or whopping his willy out on camera? Hmmmm...
• Happy Oak Apple Day! To mark the date of the restoration of monarchy under Charles II in 1660, people used to wear "oak apples" or a sprig of oak on this day every year. Despite the fact it is no longer a national holiday, across the country there are still "oak-related" events to mark the occasion.
• "The happy world of Haribo" news: Sweets manufactured under the Haribo label in the Netherlands have been recalled - because they contained cannabis! As if kids with a "sugar rush" weren't bad enough...
• And finally: It's "Scary Spice" Mel B's 50th birthday today! Time flies...

Spice Girls - Stop

That song is twenty-seven years old [and was in the charts when Madam Arcati and I got together]!

And the weather? Still blustery, but warming up nicely for the weekend...

¡El retorno!

Yes, we are back from another marvellous, fun-packed week in the (slightly breezy) sunshine of the lovely resort of Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol - tanned and gorgeous as ever!

We made the trip especially to join the celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of our favourite and most regular beach bar, Palm 5, a tribute to its owner Arnold, and to the loveliest crew of staff you'll find anywhere - Rita, Kim, Danny, Sophie and the rest. There was a party on the Saturday evening we arrived and, despite being somewhat shell-shocked (as we were after two consecutive nights out at the theatre and a long day travelling), we had a whale of a time, especially as some familiar faces had also made the effort to be there, including former team members Manon (who now has her own bar Miluca along the paseo, which we also always visit), the lovely Andy (who was there with Arnold right at the outset when we first visited nineteen years ago), and the fantabulosa Cinzia [with us in the top photo] (who, by the end of her stay, had agreed to return to Palm 5 as manager!).

With all that, and great food, booze, visits to our night-time haunts in La Nogilera in Torremolinos Chessa Bar and Vida, booze, more great food, wallowing in the sun-terrace of another favourite bar The Dizzy Donkey, a Flamenco evening, and booze on top, we had a great holiday!

But what did we miss while we were away?

• New mitre, old dictatorship news: There's a new Pope, apparently.
• 'Tis the season news: The BBC Proms 2025 lineup was announced just before we left, and tickets go on sale this week. I haven't looked at it thoroughly, to be honest, but somehow I doubt we'll be buying tickets - especially since our fave event Proms in the Park is now defunct. Here's the trailer, for your delectation:

Get ready for the Proms 2025

• Slow news: A tortoise that went missing nine months ago has been found - just a mile from his home!
• A salutary tale: Don't volunteer to be a nude model for an art student!
• Old cocks cause arguments news: A professor at Oxford University says there are 93 depictions of male genitalia in the Bayeux Tapestry, while an expert on Anglo-Saxon nudity claims he has found an extra phallus. Cock-spotting? A hobby I understand.

Speaking of which: we missed celebrating the 50th birthday of sex god David Beckham...

...and that of Enrique Iglesias, as well as the 70ths of Donatella Versace and Anne-Sofie von Otter, the 60ths of Rob Brydon and Linda Evangelista and Lily Allen's 40th - and the 99th birthday of the "national treasure" Sir David Attenborough! We also missed the chance to bid a fond farewell to the faboo Ruth Buzzi, of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In fame...

Whew.

To finish, here's a piece of music that was played at the Palm 5 party - we love it!

Dusty Springfield - Spooky [Quinten 909 Extended Remix]

Is it good to be back?

NO!!!

---

FOOTNOTE:

I haven't forgotten that it's a Tacky Music Monday - nor the fact that it's the Eurovision Song Contest (and our accompanying party, of course) this weekend.

Blending the two perfectly - this!

Subwoolfer - Give That Wolf A Banana

Oh, I cannot wait to see if anyone this year can top that!

Totty (and Basil) of the Day

Patron Saint of Cappadocia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Malta, Portugal, Aragon, Catalonia, Sicily and Sardinia, and, of course, of England...

Fawlty Towers - "Good old St George, eh Major?"

...happy St George's Day to my English chums!

In the Spring a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of...

Of Batman, spies, censorship, earth-moving, god-botherers and a Dame

RIP, Val Kilmer, gorgeous star of "Top Gun" and "Batman Forever".

Another snippets post today, dear reader:

• Spy news: Compact spy cameras, microdots in a talcum powder tin, a briefcase abandoned by Soviet spy Guy Burgess as he fled the UK, and a desiccated 110-year-old lemon that played a pivotal role in WWI are all on show in a new exhibition MI5: Official Secrets at the National Archives, opening this weekend. I wonder if they have any of James Bond's gadgets on display?
• Philistines news: Paris may be scented by centuries of coffee and Gauloise aromas, but the Paris Metro has banned a poster advertising a new David Hockney exhibition because he happens to be holding a cigarette! "L'Etat nounou", vraiment! ["Nanny State", indeed! in English]

• Never complain about potholes again news: Britain's 'wonkiest road' that was so badly damaged by a landslip during "Storm Eunice" in 2022 it was being used as a makeshift skate park has finally reopened after £5million was spent on repairs.
• False miracles news: Zealots in a church in Indiana who thought red marks on a communion wafer were some kind of miracle have been told it was actually just bacteria from being handled by dirty hands. Hallelujah!
• And finally: Among a slew of birthdays that includes Sir Alec Guinness, Marvin Gaye, Emperor Charlemagne of the Franks, Michael Fassbender, Emmylou Harris, "Adrian Mole" creator Sue Townsend, Paul Gambaccini, Casanova, Buddy Ebsen, Hans Christian Andersen, Serge Gainsbourg, Émile Zola, Linford Christie (who is 65!), Keren Woodward of Bananarama, Pedro Pascal (50) and - erm - Dr. Demento...

  ...it is the 85th birthday today of darling Dame Penelope Keith, star of The Good Life, To the Manor Born, and so much more besides - including her guest appearances on the Morecambe and Wise Show! All hail...

And the weather? The glorious Spring sunshine continues (even if the wind's a little chilly at times)!

Won't somebody help me chase these shadows away?

RIP, the lovely Richard Chamberlain (31st March 1934 - 29th March 2025)

We may have lost an hour in bed today - but British Summer Time is here! Yay!

I have made the most of the beautiful, warm sunshine today, and tackled another couple of huge pots - a phlox and a geranium [yes, we do have a lot of each], split up and repotted, all the while accompanied by the chilled-out sounds of Radio 2 - and trying to drown out the demon children next door who, to add insult to injury, now have a small, yappy dog to keep them hyped-up and screaming. I am going to thank their parents profusely next time I see them...

Speaking of "chilled-out", how about another faboo choon from our "house band" Postmodern Jukebox? That'll do nicely for "Sunday Music"!

Postmodern Jukebox ft. Lauren De Marco - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) [ABBA Peggy Lee style cover]

Wonderful, as ever.

Of totty, old luvvies, Bea Arthur, an egg thief and MOR

Many happy returns of the day to the very gorgeous Michael York! Any excuse just to gaze at this photo again.

Another snippets post today, dear reader...

• Marvel geek news: Dear old Serena McKellen and Patrick Stewart are among the cavalcade of stars announced to appear in the next MCU blockbuster Doomsday, scheduled for release next year! It took more than five hours of livestreaming to announce the whole cast - longer than the film itself, no doubt!
• Trump vs The Golden Girls news? A page on the US Department of Defence website dedicated to Bea Arthur's military career before she became famous was deleted as part of the fascist purge of DEI content! "No offence, pussy cat!" "None taken, you cancerous little prune!"
• Sickly confectionery crime news: A man who stole £220.50 worth of Cadbury Crème Eggs from a Peterborough petrol station has been banned from Cambridgeshire for three months. Lucky they didn't just make him eat them all. Then he'd be sorry!
• The gays in Spain stay mainly on the plain news: Apparently, there has been a marked rise in the numbers of gay people moving from the USA to Spain, to Madrid in particular. ¡Olé!
• Tariffs news: Threats to impose tariffs on imports of British cars to 'Merka? Ha! We only have one truly British car manufacturer left!
• Impending apocalypse news: There's a rogue planet on the loose in the universe! Apparently.
• And finally: Sharing a birthday with Mr York (above), as well as the saintly Sarah Vaughan, David Janssen, former PM Jim Callaghan, Quentin Tarantino, Fergie of Black Eyed Peas and - erm - Mirah-fucking-Carey, Miss Sally Carr is 80 today! Who? I hear you ask... Here she is, with her band's greatest hit:

Middle of the Road - Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep

As I said the first time I ever posted it: "They just don't make songs like this anymore!"

And the weather? Gorgeous Spring sunshine (and cherry blossoms and daffs everywhere)!

Dyck? That's an interesting name...

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He Can't Find Love?! *

Wheeee!

Yessss! Another weekend's in sight, and it's a blessed relief, indeed.

Let's get the party started - with a bit of Turkish Delight [and birthday boy - he's 45 years old today!] worth breaking your Lenten/Ramadan fast for, dear reader!

As I said the first time I featured him: "Mr Boz is evidently Turkey's answer to Ricky Martin. Like 'Our Favourite Latino' I imagine he probably takes it up the pooper, too."

I'm still imagining that. A lot.

Murat Boz - Aşkı Bulamam Ben

Thank Disco Turkey It's Friday!

Have a great weekend, dear reader!

[*"Aşkı Bulamam Ben" = "I Can't Find Love" in Turkish]