From Andrew Ashworth:
“Last night I had dinner with my boss and his wife. It was a complete disaster. The wife asked me: ‘How many potatoes would you like?’ and I said: ‘I’ll just have one, thanks’. She said: ‘It’s all right, you don’t have to be polite,’ and I said: ‘OK then, I’ll just have one, you stupid cow’.”
Okay, it’s really just an old joke but it made me chortle.
…for the Brits, anyway, as they are going to vote the Communist Labour Party into power because reasons.
After Bill Clinton was elected President, I remember expressing my amazement to a friend that almost the very first thing he did was increase taxes. My friend’s response was withering: “Of course he raised taxes: he’s a fucking Democrat, and that’s what they do.”
Now back over The Pond…
Here’s the opinion of the Greatest Living Englishman on the topic:
Anyone who thinks that Labour will behave in any way differently to what Clarkson says needs to jump off a cliff. And in fact Labour may do worse, much worse.
I’m not taking any bets on that.
And not for the first time, either. It’s a perennial occupier of my subconscious.
Adding to the panic-stricken voices of the Left Over Here, FrogPres “Manny” Macron weighs in:
Emmanuel Macron has warned the public that “civil war” awaits France if they fail to vote for his brand of centrist neo-liberalism in the upcoming legislative elections.
I guess it should be noted that while we Murkins had our own little shindig just before the Frogs had theirs, we are (as a nation) less likely to repeat the exercise — although I may stand to be corrected, if the 2024 elections are of a certain type.
The Frogs, however, are a lot more volatile, as I’ve mentioned before.
Mind you, that’s not to say that the French governments of recent times haven’t earned such a shitstorm, as the popularity of the National Rally has proved. But then again, our own .gov hasn’t exactly earned the respect of the populace either, so…
All this, however, takes place in an environment in which the Brits seem most likely to be about to commit national hara-kiri themselves, by tossing out (on, ironically, July 4) their own Stupid Party (the not-so-Conservatives) and replacing them with the reliably-Communist Labour Party. But I digress.
Back to the French: the 1789 Revolution took place against a political and social order which was manifestly unjust and in many cases actually malevolent, wherein an unelected power elite (the Royalty and Church) ran the country at the expense of ordinary people.
It remains to be seen, then, whether the French will revolt against their government again, for precisely the same reasons — only instead of the Royalty being the villains, there is the European Union (only nominally elected by the French citizenry) and instead of the Church, the multiple “religions” of socialist and Green policies. It sounds like a facile comparison, but clearly it’s enough to frighten Macron, which is why he’s sounding the alarm.
And finally: after our Revolution, we didn’t hack off the heads of the deposed ruling class, but the Frogs sure as hell did.
So maybe Macron and his lizard people have a right to be fearful.
It’s going to be interesting — in both countries.
Many years ago when I was still living in Chicago, I had a chance to see Procol Harum live at the Vic Theater, a small supper-club type venue which held (at that time) only about 600 people. (The small number is because of the tables.) We had dinner, and then the lads came on and blew everyone away.
Their tour was to promote their latest album, Prodigal Stranger, which I still consider one of their very best (of an extraordinary collection of albums, as any fule kno).
Anyway, what that concert confirmed for me was that if I’m ever going to watch a live band, I’m only interested in doing so in a small, intimate venue. I’d seen the incomparable Leon Redbone in a similarly-small theater a couple of years earlier, but Redbone’s act was by definition a more intimate one, with the crooner entertaining us with many, many sly quips as well as his music. (Oh, how I miss him.) And one last such example: back in the late 1970s I saw Blood, Sweat and Tears perform in Johannesburg’s Empire Theatre (800 seats) and well, blues vocalist David Clayton-Thomas, say no more.
I was reminded of all this by a chance comment made by (of all people) BritRoyal Prince William’s in joking with Ronnie Wood that he’d only come and see the Stones if they brought Taylor Swift along.
The thing that both Swift and the Stones have in common for me is that I’d rather have a rat cage strapped to my face than attend the mega-concerts of either. This is not just the ranting of an elderly man, by the way: I’ve always preferred to watch a concert in a smaller venue, as I’ve demonstrated above, even when I was a young rock musician myself. Frankly, if the concert has to have giant TV screens for the audience to see the act perform, I’d rather watch the concert on a DVD afterwards than be part of a massive crowd.
The whole “Swiftie” phenomenon, of course, leaves me ice cold because, when all’s said and done, young Taylor is just a country singer, and I’m not a particular fan of country music per se, although there are a few country singers I wouldn’t mind seeing live, provided that the show was in a place like the Gruene (Texas) town hall, where I once saw Merle Haggard, or Austin’s Liberty Lunch bar (Bonnie Raitt, in her pre-Nick Of Time days).
And finally (!) I come to the point of this post, which is: if I were going to attend a concert in a small country bar like Austin’s Broken Spoke or Route 20 in Racine, Wisconsin (where I once saw Bachman Turner Overdrive and Steppenwolf in a double-header), which three country artists would I prefer to see the most (instead of Taylor Swift)?
In no particular order:
And none of them would have to do a modern-style “show” (lighting, multiple costume changes, massive sound systems etc.); just a small backing band, a bar stool and (preferably) an acoustic guitar would be fine. I want to see the artist, not special effects.
Parenthetically, I wonder how well Taylor Swift would perform, under similar circumstances. Would she still be as impressive?
Your three choices in Comments.
From Adopted Daughter:
“Hi Papa. Could you ask your Readers for advice on visiting Ireland? I’ll be staying at Lough Rynn Castle near Carrick-on-Shannon in August, but other than the castle itself, I don’t know anything about the area (County Leitrim).”
Here’s Lough Rynn, which appears to be a shabby little place:
I don’t know nothin’ about birthin’ babies traveling in Ireland, never having been there myself, so all advice, experiences and warnings will be welcome.