Ginsberg 100

 

Allen Ginsberg would have been 100 today. He was one of the most influential poets of 'The Beat Generation'. All of us who considered ourselves 'groovy' mentioned him as often as possible, anyone NOT possessing a copy of his collection of poems entitled 'Howl' (1956) was decidedly 'un-cool'.

I met him briefly at our flat just off Cambridge Circus. He was an imposing figure, and I remember asking him (very humbly) if there was anything I could get for him.

"I'd really like a young boy" he replied. Initially I thought he was joking, but I don't think he was.

The above photo shows him standing in front of The Albert Hall. I seem to remember that he was participating in some avant garde 'Poetry Reading' evening there at the time, as a part of a festival. The photo must have been taken around the time we met.

I'm pleased that our paths crossed, even if it was for just a few fleeting minutes. I'm sure he bored all his friends about meeting me too!

When Popularity becomes a Pain.

The Cotswolds is one of England's most beautiful, and desirable, areas to live. People often compare its architecture to that of Périgord, in France.

The area has recently been made even more popular by droves of 'Celebs' quitting Sadiq Khan's Socialist, Hamas-loving, London, for a safer, less crime-ridden, and friendlier, place to live.

However, as nice a place as it is, with its beautiful old stone-built homes, it does come with ONE HUGE disadvantage;.... droves of bloody, camera-toting tourists. It's become a 'theme park'.

Many decades ago, when my people had a cottage on the North Welsh border, we would always stop en route to buy Pork Pies, etc, at a particularly good butcher's shop in the village of Broadway.

Broadway was, and probably still is, the most iconic Cotswold village. Yes, I suppose we were also 'tourists' of a sort, but we didn't go around peering into people's windows, or eating sandwiches whilst sitting on the pavement. We stopped, did our shopping, and continued on our way. They would hardly have noticed us come and go, other than a small amount of money we contributed to their economy.

These days, coachloads of foreign tourists are ushered around in large groups, treating the area as if it is some sort of huge plastic Disneyland theme park.

If I owned, and lived in, one of the cottages above, I would be absolutely bloody furious.

Squirming...

 

Poor old Nicola, her hubby, Peter Burrell, has been arrested! 

I first mentioned the dubious goings-on in the Sturgeon household back on 21st February 2023, in my piece entitled 'Thank goodness'.

The fragrant Ms Sturgeon was on Laura Kuenssburg's Sunday morning BBC show yesterday, in which she stated that she had absolutely no idea that her hubby had been stealing Hundreds of £Thousands from the SNP's funds. Well, she wouldn't would she!

His biggest purchase was this huge Camper Van (seen from space), which cost over £120.000. It was parked at his parent's home (above), where Nicola claims not to have noticed it. On visiting her in-laws, she says she never saw it. Well, it is only the size of a London Bus.

Amongst other things he bought for himself were a Pencil Sharpener for £110, a set of Salt and Pepper grinders for £2,600, a Model Helicopter for £550, a Beatles souvenir Fountain Pen for £1,500, and another Skywalker Pen for £4,200, and a Telescope for £1,200. It's a very long list.

Ms Sturgeon claims not to have known anything about where all this spending money came from, even though he had a history of being 'light-fingered'. I believe he allowed about £1,500 to accidently fall into his pockets whilst working for Alex Salmond in the 1990's.

The two questions that all sensible people are now asking are 1, How on earth did he think he'd get away with it?, and 2, How did Sturgeon not notice that £400,000 worth of goodies suddenly appeared at their marital home?

What I do know, is that if Lady M came home with a £120,000 Camper Van, I'd feel inclined to ask where she got the money. Wouldn't you?

Some wag has suggested that he bought the Camper Van to stash all his 'swag'. They could be right.

Ms Sturgeon has now moved down from Scotland to London. Sensible wee gal. Scottish Independence no longer appeals!

A Tricky Question....

 

Now, this might sound like a really silly question, but it's one of the great debates in British politics.

Which of these TWO PROPOSALS would you prefer; or even sounds the more sensible?

1. The UK buys oil from Russia, so that Putin has plenty of money to spend on killing people in Ukraine.

2. We drill our own oil in the North Sea (of which we have lots), giving work to thousands of UK workers.

Honestly, this really IS a serious question, and it explains perfectly the difference between the UK's Communist Socialist Party, and the UK's Tory Party. One would prefer to financially support a nasty genocidal regime, whilst the other prefers to support their own country's economy.

I really don't know what more I can say! The whole country is STUNNED!

Which way would you go; pro-Putin, or pro-your own country? Tricky eh........

Jet Harris

Some people may remember Jet Harris.

I've just found this video of Cliff and The Shadows, showing my old friend Jet on bass.

Jet is the small blonde. He was booted out of The Shadows in 1962, after having become unpredictable and uncooperative; I think through drink and drugs. He later teamed-up with the band's drummer Tony Meehan.

He was a nice enough person, but one always felt that there was something going on inside his head that you didn't want to know about. We were good friends, then one day he suddenly disappeared.

Cliff Richard, Hank Marvin, and Bruce Welsh are still around, but Jet died in 2011. The band's drummer Tony Meehan died back in 2005.

Their music seems very 'mild' these days, but back in the 60's it was the coolest sound on earth (well, almost).

 

Cute Kitten.

I'm under attack again from left-wing woke lovies at the moment, so, as is my wont, I am offering this cute kitten video to see if they can possibly find some idiotic lefty thing to moan, or say about it.

 

In the Summertime.

In 1970 Lady M and I were still at college, where one of our good friends was a lovely Greek girl who would boil-up Greek Coffee in a little pot (in the studio), and play this record over and over again.

It now totally represents that year of our studies (our degree year), and brings back so many memories.

So here is Mungo Jerry (Ray Dorset singing), and their HUGE HIT; In the Summertime. Enjoy.