Saturday 6 May 2006

Dear, Dear Diary


Dear Tony,

You are a god. Things have been looking really shaky recently through no fault of yours but after a week and a half of everything going pear-shaped, you appear calm as ever, statesmanlike and you pull the biggest bunny to date out of the bag.

As you know, because you read my blog carefully every day, I don't believe that John Prescott's philanderings had anything to do with anyone outside of his household. But he took one for the team. And you showed your displeasure without judgement by not removing him from post but taking away his responsibilities.

Great re-shuffle. Charles Clarke - well, difficult to know how he could have been aware of what was going on at that level in the department, but he certainly looked like a spanked puppy as he left Downing Street. Nicely done.

Ruth Kelly - hell, we never liked her, I must say I'm a little surprised you didn't give her transport, but you know what you're doing.

And trump card. Margaret Beckett, oh Tony, we all LOVE Margaret, inspired choice. You are a god. Keep up the good work. You and Gordon, standing firm there, wonderful, it brings tears to my eyes.

Your humble servant,

Schneewittchen.


Meanwhile, in other news, it has been a joy to watch one of my other political heros, Angela Merkel striding ahead of Georgie boy, speaking to the cameras in crisp, clear German whilst Dubya stumbles along in whatever that is he speaks. Amusing to watch Angela address the American Jewish association in English and then being over-dubbed in her own language. I feel like curtseying to her.

Yesterday I saw a sight in Richmond that I didn't even realise how much I had missed. I saw a Goth girl with a skateboard. The gothy kids at school were always the most interesting ones. They were the ones that you felt were in a cocoon of adolescence, wrapped in their long black coats and dyed curtains of midnight hair whilst they pupate their way into the adult world. I really don't mean to make fun of them, I truly, truly valued them, they always had a deep, dark take on the world, and they put up with the most unbelievable levels of shit from all the Jack the Lads and Chavs. And way down in the depths of their heads they were working their way through the painful transition from childhood to adulthood. I'm sure if I went to downtown Vancouver more often I would see goths, but here in Richmond, in the sunshine of a late spring day it was like spotting some rare species of animal.

And just a short media round up for the last couple of days, trying not to let any spoilers slip through. If you have been watching 'Ghost Whisperer', let's just say that halfway through the last episode in the series we were saying to each other,
'Oh no, not that old cliché,' but by the end we were both sitting with our mouths open staring at the screen. We did not expect that.
A wonderful Jack line from the last-but-two end of all things episode of Will and Grace,
'What do you think I am, some kind of futuristic robot or something that can look and listen at the same time?' Oh well, I guess you had/have to see him deliver it. The writing in that has never failed to please, it will be greatly missed, but all things must pass.

We bought three new albums this week. We were very impressed with the packaging on the Tool album. This is clever thinking, you make people WANT to buy the CD instead of whining about how much money you're losing to internet download. The album cover had artwork that you could view with the attached stereographic viewers, nice touch.
Pearl Jam will continue to be great as long as they have Eddie Vedder singing. Kevin was impressed with this back to roots album, nothing has ever bettered 'Yield' for me.
Pink's new album also has some cracking tracks, and yet still, my favourite remains 'Mizzunderstood'. But she's (mostly) still on form.

And finally finally, Canada day will be celebrated in Trafalgar square this year - albeit one day early on the 30th of June. I'm quoting from the 'Spirit of Canada' mailshot,
"Come out play on Canada Day!
Join Canadians having fun in Trafalgar Square on June 30 to celebrate Canada Day. It's the first time that Canada's national holiday will be celebrated in Trafalgar Square. The party begins at 2:00pm with everything from street hockey to Canadian food, arts and crafts, as well as talented street performers. At 5:30pm, the tempo heats up with 'Canada on Stage' with live acts from across the country until 9:00pm. And the Canada Day Trafalgar Square event is free - so bring your family and friends!
Details: www.canadadaylondon.com"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Goths were in the paper twice last week: once because goths are more likely to grow into lawyers and accountants, which the article was suggesting is a good thing; the second time because goths are far more likely to self-harm than any other form of teenage sub-culture (well, der), which is only a good thing if you think point one is a bad thing. If you're still with me...

Anonymous said...

Goths -- well, yeah Goths. My granddaughter who turned 16 last Dec. has been a goth for a while now. She lives in Ottawa and has beautiful long black hair and black eyeliner and black clothes. I even bought her black gloves and scarf, etc. two years ago for Christmas. Last year I hedged my bets and bought her a green nightgown. Turns out she likes green. Well, onwards and upwards. She got a boyfriend about four months ago (first boyfriend) -- a devil worshipper, 18 years old, works in a shop where they punch holes in people's flesh to make pictures. Yeah. So naturally her parents are going nuts. Her mum had lunch with the boyfriend and told him off in no uncertain terms --- no fear there (she works for a very large union). So he told Sammi that they better break up because her parents didn't seem to like him. I loved that. Also the devil worshipper group that she was ostensibly becoming a member of -- well it turned out they didn't want her, she wasn't sincere enough. So now she and her mom have joined a Union Choir and merrily sing together one night a week. She really was never a bad kid in the first place, just terribly confused. Glad the story has a happy ending. She is still a goth, however.AR