The sun is rising in a clear blue sky, the weekend is looming, and - after another tedious week in work - we need to start planning the party to celebrate!
As any sign of sunshine always brings thoughts of holidays in Spain, how about an old, old fave [it was in our charts - gulp - 47 YEARS AGO this week!] from one of that country's greatest exports?
Gracias Disco ¡Es viernes!
Have a great one, dear reader!
The AI-generated video of Gaza that Trump shared yesterday was a terrifying glimpse into his mad brain the world was totally unprepared for.Millions of people who watched Trump’s vision for Gaza, which includes bearded belly dancers and towering gold statues of himself, have been driven completely insane by the chilling insight into how his deranged mind works.
Martin Bishop from Woking said: “I thought I’d be immune to Trump’s batshit ideas by now, but no. Watching him sipping cocktails by the pool with a topless Netanyahu pushed me over the edge.
“This must be how he sees everything, weird and tacky with money floating down everywhere while terrible music plays all the time. Why else would he endorse this abomination?
“Seeing a child holding a giant gold balloon shaped like Trump’s head made me realise reality is an idiotic delusion. I used to be a rational man with a career and a family. Now I spend my days shitting in the park like a dog and screaming ‘We’re all going to Trump Gaza!’”Nikki Hollis from Perth said: “I’ve started thinking the gods of Atlantis are talking to me through my toaster, and I only microdosed Trump’s brain for half a minute. Imagine what thinking like that all the time must do to a person.
“Actually you don’t need to imagine. Just turn on the news and you can see a man who thinks Elon Musk is cool.”
Of course.
[The "real" story. Be prepared...]
Another snippets post today, dear reader:
The weather? Typical British Springtime - wet one minute, sunny the next.
STOP PRESS:
* Not at £85 per person, we won't!
More sad news yesterday - one of the last of the great soul and blues divas Miss Roberta Flack has departed to Fabulon, to join the greatest choir in history no doubt.
Facts:
We loved her, and her beautiful mellow voice. Here are her two greatest numbers, by way of a tribute:
And speaking of "heavenly choirs"...
Utter perfection.
She's a huge loss.
RIP, Roberta Cleopatra Flack (10th February 1937 - 24th February 2025)
Sigh. Another weekend over - and, despite the mildness of Saturday, yesterday's drizzle has turned into rain so the commute's going to be a miserable affair...
Never mind all that. I have a treat in store this Tacky Music Monday; a wannabee-diva that Madam Arcati flagged up to me a while back.
Possessor of probably the biggest hair in showbiz (it makes even Dolly Parton's look like a modest bob!), let's wallow in the - ahem - talents of a lady once dubbed the "Polish Yma Sumac" for her vocal range, Miss Violetta Villas (and her safety gays)!
Have a good week, dear reader...
It will be the 80th birthday next Tuesday of one of the UK's finest singers, Miss Elkie Brooks!
Originally a cabaret and jazz vocalist (with Humphrey Lyttleton's band), she went on to form the legendary blues and rock band Vinegar Joe with Robert Palmer - earning the reputation of the wild woman of rock 'n' roll, due to her energetic stage performances.
However, it was as a solo singer that she finally hit the big time, with a string of hits in the 70s and 80s - including these:
Perfect "Sunday Music", methinks.
Many happy returns, Elkie Brooks (born Elaine Bookbinder, 25th February 1945)!
I've been pottering in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers again today, dear reader. The weather's been mild, the sun was shining, and our Sarcococca hookeriana var. digyna 'Purple Stem' has been filling the air with scent and attracting the year's first honeybees!
I continued my mission at this time of year to "banish death" from the garden, so more ferns, salvias, hardy geraniums and verbena have had "the chop" to remove the old, tatty, windswept and browned top growth, clearing the clag of leaves and sycamore seeds off each pot as I went along. Still more to do but it's looking so much better out there, and now I can "see the wood for the trees" (to coin a phrase) which of the herbaceous plants I need to prioritise for repotting/division.
A gardener's work is never done...
However, now I'm sat down with a cider in my hand, so I think this number from our "house band" is in order, don't you?
The original song [video here for the uninitiated (like me)] was apparently the big surprise hit of 2024, spending 36 consecutive weeks in the UK Top 100 (twelve of those in the Top 10), and a remarkable 19 weeks at #1 in the US Billboard singles chart. Quite why remains a mystery to me.
The PMJ version is at least listenable...
