Something nice to study, phoning up a buddy, being in my nuddy

Farewell, Gunther Von Hagens, whose Body Worlds freakshows exhibitions of "plastinated" corpses were wildly popular amongst the ghoulish in the early 2000s.

It's another snippets post, dear reader:

• It could crush a small child news: As part of its centennial celebrations, the Los Angeles Public Library has put on display the world's biggest-ever pop-up book, spanning approximately 31 by 20 feet when open! Your arms would be aching trying to read that one...
• Surprising food choices for a heatwave news: Supermarket giant Waitrose has reported a surprise increase in sales of winter comfort foods, such as cottage pies, gratins and red wine, despite the ongoing heatwaves across the UK. Let's face it, that kind of dish is a damned sight tastier than lettuce, any day!
• We're almost at the end of [the somewhat concocted] "Disability Pride Month" [something I certainly never heard of in all the time I worked for the leading UK disability charity Scope, so I assume it's yet another US import] - but no further excuse is necessary, really, to play one of the UK's most celebrated and defiant disabled heroes, the late, great Ian Dury:

Ian Dury and The Blockheads - Reasons to be Cheerful (Part Three)

• Wakanda Forever news: In a surprise announcement at Comic-Con in San Diego, the next "Black Panther" in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to be British actor David Jonsson - an actor best known for, ummm, a load of stuff we've never watched and are not likely to, such as "investment bank-based drama" Industry or streaming-channel-only rom-com The Road Trip. Let's hope he lives up to expectations.
• Don't do this at home news: In possibly the most pointless Guinness World Record ever, an Idaho man got the record for the most consecutive flaming torch juggling catches while riding on a unicycle - and burned off his eyebrows in the process! The only thing that comes to mind is "why the fuck would you do that?"
• And, finally: RIP, "national treasure" Bill Oddie, comedian, broadcaster, one of the original hosts of the BBC's Springwatch, famous birdwatcher - and, of course, a pivotal member of this lot, one of the most beloved anarchic comedy troupes of the 70s, alongside Monty Python:

The Goodies - Kitten Kong

The Goodies - Funky Gibbon

And the weather? Heatwave #4 is upon us - with temperatures in London set to reach 33C/92F (and possibly higher) tomorrow, and no respite in sight. Pass me a gin'n'tonic with loads of ice and a slice of lime, my dear...

Je t'adore, ich liebe dich

Paralympian Ellie Simmonds, competitor in Strictly Come Dancing 2022

It's the 30th anniversary of the International Day of Persons with Disabilties today, dear reader, so I thought I'd bring a bit of class into proceedings by featuring three of the most accomplished disabled perfomers of classical music:

Itzhak Perlman - Fiddler on the Roof

Jose Feliciano - Malagueña

Jacqueline Du Pre, London Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Daniel Barenboim - Cello Concerto, 1st Movement (1967) [Elgar]

But what of the geniuses-who-happened-to-be-disabled who hit our charts? There are obvious candidates such as Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles [both blind, like Sr. Feliciano], John Cougar Mellencamp [born with spina bifida] and many, many artists on the autistic [such as Susan Boyle or Courtney Love] or bipolar [like Adam Ant, Sia or Ray Davies] spectrum, but in my opinion, the singer with the most defiant, in-yer-face, "who the fuck do you think you're looking at" attitude of 'em all is worthy of "pride of place" on this day:

Ian Dury and The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

International Day of Persons with Disabilties

Yes, yes, my dear, perhaps next year, or maybe even never - in which case...

The end is nigh, dear reader - and here are a few numbers I felt appropriate for this, a most welcome New Year's Eve.

Starting with an old favourite that features lyrics which perhaps express many people's feelings about 2020:

It's that little souvenir, of a terrible year
Which makes my eyes feel sore

Tin Tin Out feat Shelly Nelson - Here's Where The Story Ends

...however, this one sums up my feelings a bit more succinctly, perhaps:

Millie Jackson - Fuck You Symphony

Regardless, no matter how much we have hated, and want to see the back of, 2020 - NYE is essentially an excuse for a party [and we're having ours via ZOOM later!], so let's get cracking!

Happy Brexit Day!

Chumbawamba - Tubthumping

Ian Dury and The Blockheads - Reasons to be Cheerful (Part three)

Yazz - The Only Way is Up

...and, of course, such a party would be incomplete without today's late, lamented birthday girl LaDonna Adrian Gaines!

Donna Summer - Last Dance

Let's raise our glasses to a Happy, Happier NEW Year, everyone!

I should be glad to be so inclined

Today would have been the 70th birthday of the incomparable Mr Ian Dury!

One of the most loved artists of the "post-punk" era, his pithy lyrics and slightly effete yet "in-yer-face" defiance are still among the memories that sum up the late 70s perfectly. Read my previous tribute to him on the tenth anniversary of his sad death.

In memory of the great man, let us just wallow in his musical genius. Here's the ultimate Ian Dury and the Blockheads classic:

Ian Dury and The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

Another masterwork:

Ian Dury and The Blockheads - Reasons to be Cheerful (Part three)

And this, which is very apt for the loss of such a master of his art:

Ian Dury and The Blockheads - What A Waste

Ian Dury and the Blockheads official site

We do our best endeavours to keep our doobries clean

Ten years ago today, the world of music lost a unique talent. Mr Ian Robins Dury was an unexpected arrival on the music scene at the height of the punk era, arriving as he did as a pub singer fresh from art school, with songs with lyrics that actually made sense! Disabled by polio as a child, he struck a distinctively unusual figure, all wobbly and wielding his walking stick as a prop - part Bill Sykes, part decadent dandy.

It was with his lyrical talents however, adeptly served by the uber-talented Chaz Jankel's music, that he rose above the crowd and became the "national treasure" we all remember so fondly. New Boots And Panties is even today (quite rightly) regarded as a masterpiece, and regularly features at the upper end of "all-time best album" ratings. Mr Dury's hits are all instantly familiar - Sex and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll, What A Waste, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, Reasons To Be Cheerful, Pt. 3 among them. Whenever they come on the jukebox, generations later even people who weren't around at the height of his success will immediately sing along. How to choose between them, however?

I am particularly fond of this one, with all its subtlety:

Ian Dury and the Blockheads - I Wanna Be Straight

However, this is undoubtedly my all time favourite.

Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Common as Muck

You're not Bridget Bardot, I'm not Jack Palance.
I'm not Shirley Temple by any circumstance,
Or Fred Astaire

You're not Sidney Tafler, I'm not Dirk Bogarde.
I'm not very stylish, and you're not avant garde,
Or Lionel Blair

We're as common as muck.
Bon chance, viel glück, good luck
Where bold is beautiful, we don't give a damn
Luvva duck, we're as common as muck.

You're not Victor Hugo, I'm not Patience Strong,
I'm not Rodney Rygate or Yvonne Goolagong.
Shirley Abicair, Oh!

I'm not Nellie Melba, you're not Nellie Dean
We do our best endeavours to keep our doobries clean
Because we care!

We're as common as muck.
Buona fortuna, vayas con Dios, Good luck!
Where bold is beautiful, we don't give a damn.
Luvva duck, We're as common as muck.

We're as common as muck.
Bon chance, viel glück, Good luck!
Where bold is beautiful, we don't give a damn.
Luvva duck! We're as common as muck.

And just by way of a perfect tribute, here is the wonderfully weird Nina Hagen with her version of Mr Dury's most successful number:

Nina Hagen - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

Jools Holland's biography of Ian Dury

You’re not Sydney Tafler, I’m not Dirk Bogarde

Out of my sick-bed and onto the sofa - the best therapy I can get is to watch old black and white movies. Lucky we have Passport to Pimlico to rely on (and a selection of other Ealing comedies and Margaret Rutherford films)...

Here's a taster:

Passport to Pimlico

Passport to Pimlico BFI entry

This film is a great joy - anything that has Stanley Holloway, Hermione Baddely, Charles Hawtrey, Margaret Rutherford and Sydney Tafler in it must be good!



And so this song comes to mind. (It must be the Lemsip...)

Ian Dury - Common as Muck

Common as Muck
You're not Bridget Bardot, I'm not Jack Palance.
I'm not Shirley Temple by any circumstance,
Or Fred Astaire

You're not Sydney Tafler, I'm not Dirk Bogarde.
I'm not very stylish and you're not avant garde,
Or Lionel Blair

We're as common as muck.
Bonne chance, viel glück, good luck
Where bold is beautiful we don't give a damn
Luvva duck, we're as common as muck.

You're not Victor Hugo, I'm not Patience Strong,
I'm not Rodney Rygate or Yvonne Goolagong.
Shirley Abicair, Oh!

I'm not Nellie Melba, you're not Nellie Dean
We do our best endeavours to keep our doobries clean
Because we care!

We're as common as muck.
Buona fortuna, vayas con Dios, good luck!
Where bold is beautiful we don't give a damn.
Luvva duck, we're as common as muck.

We're as common as muck.
Bonne chance, viel glück, good luck!
Where bold is beautiful we don't give a damn.
Luvva duck! We're as common as muck.

PS If anyone knows who Rodney Rygate is, I'd be grateful for the information...