If he wins, I am thinking that he could lose the costume, be John Harvey, and sincerely work as an Independent MP for Clacton-on-Sea. If he lived there, he could spend far more time with the voters than Farage ever did. I’d like that to happen because the people that live there shouldn’t have a joke MP (Yes, yes I know they already have one…).

However, I would like him to have the costume on in the House of Commons at least once.

I thought this deserved a mention on here.

I didn’t watch it but what I do know from scrolling is that Colbert made no comments about Trump – but Springsteen and Letterman certainly did! Elvis Costello came on and the show ended with Colbert singing a spirited rendition of Hello Goodbye with Sir Macca.

In the final few seconds, we see the main power switch of the Ed Sullivan Theatre being turned off by McCartney.

This may signal the end of the late night TV chat show as a format, overall. This kind of show isn’t as embedded in British culture as it is in the States, so I’m not sure the significance will be felt outside of the USA.

I remember several attempts to emulate this format in the UK – Danny Baker, Joan Rivers, Clive James , Jonathan Ross – and I even recall one presented by Janet Street-Porter in the 70s. Didn’t quite catch on.

However, worth noting I think.

It may mean nothing to you, but this year’s context is underway in Vienna.

5 songs down so far, 20 to go. Israel’s song passed without incident and also without leaving any impression at all, so I don’t see it as a contender. I’m always wrong with my predictions though, which is part of the fun.

The T-shirts thread led to a side discussion about logos from @pencilsqueezer.

I also like a good logo. The Mute Records walking man is very pleasing as it spins around on a 7” single. My first Mute purchase was TVOD/Warm Leatherette and it was hypnotic. Early Depeche Mode singles had it too.

The Chrysalis mad hatter is another one that promotes warm nostalgic feelings along with Island’s palm trees the RSO pig, the 2-tone man and many more.

As for bands, the Rolling Stones lips logo is the undisputed guvnor I’d have thought.

I’m not alone in this – am I ?

I was at a gathering last night and several people I hadn’t met before were there too. One of these was a gentleman wearing a Peter Hook and the Light concert T shirt, which led me to go and say hello and talk about the last Auckland gig which was about two years ago.

There was a bit of confusion (geddit?) when I mentioned that I am also a fan of New Order/Joy Division and I thought we might have a little bit of a chat about the common ground we clearly share. Once he worked out what it was I was rambling on about, he clicked and we did talk about the gig and all was well. However, he also said that he goes to quite a few gigs and tends to pick up a T shirt each time. He only had a passing knowledge of JD/NO.

So my warning to you is this – don’t assume, like I did, that wearing a band T shirt means that the wearer is a fan of said band. We know that youngsters wearing Ramones T-shirts are probably not at home playing Rock n Roll High School and perhaps may not » Continue Reading.

In the comments I will post a brief video from Stephen Hendry, showing his technique for hitting a snooker ball so it goes into the pocket. It’s so simple, it’s brilliant – and I’m keen to give it a go when I next get an opportunity.

With football, keeping your knee over the ball when you shoot will mean the ball should go in the direction you intend it to go without it screaming over the bar.

With golf, the tips of your toes should align with the direction of where you want the ball to go – when you do manage to hit the ball, that is.

With cricket, a right handed batsman should grip the bat very tightly with the left hand to keep it straight – and you adjust the grip of your right hand in accordance with where you want to ball to go. Again, assuming you actually hit it.

I’m not at all proficient at any of these sports – but the football and golf ones have spared my blushes a bit because they do seem to work. The trouble with the cricket one is that I am generally a terrible batsman, but at least » Continue Reading.

It’s possible that you will see and hear the song “Ein, Zwei, Drei” in the coming weeks, because it’s the UK’s entry in this years Eurovision Song Contest.

I looked at the video for the song to begin with. Very Eurovision, very wacky – the performer, one Sam Battle – a kind of Thomas Dolby and Damon Albarn-type character singing silly lyrics leading to a shoutalong chorus that will be memorable in a good way, hopefully.

But there’s a bit more to this guy. He runs a museum of ancient musical electronic equipment in Ramsgate and is clearly devoted to his craft. He made a furby organ, a Henry vacuum cleaner that is now a flamethrower and rescued a full church organ and wired it up for his museum. I have linked a short video about what he does in the comments.

If you’re longing for someone to fill the gap left by Wilf Lunn in our culture, then look no further. I’m 100% behind him and will be willing him on in May.

Interesting compilation just out from War Child, Help (2) – a fundraiser to help children affected by war across the world.

Depeche Mode’s rather good version of Universal Soldier is on there. Dave Gahan’s “older” voice just seems to be getting better.

https://open.spotify.com/track/7dpPH25jaKKvKDJcYDgF6d?si=2FjMN7V3Tw-VED2FiIHYRA

The death of Neil Sedaka made me think of his Greatest Hits compilation called “Laughter and Tears”. The cover shows 9 headshots of Neil, arranged in a neat square, starting top left with him laughing and as we move through the squares, his mood gradually darkens then by the time we get to the bottom right square – he’s full-on blubbing.

If I am being picky, this isn’t a good example of a literal album cover because “laugher and tears” suggests one or t’other. Shurejy 4 photos of laughing Neil and 4 photos of crying Neil would have done the job, Then again, Neil probably didn’t want to come across bipolar or anything, so that’s why he went for nuance.

Another example is “This Way Up!” by Chris de Burgh. The cover shows two photos of Chris. It’s the same one twice but the bottom one is upside down.

I’d like to hear more about these. Not the usual ones that come up e.g. US Christian singing groups of the 50s with an album called “He’s tickling my fanny” or the like. I want creativity-free, will-this-do route one laziness,

Rather than have one, long, wordle-rivalling post about the leader of the free world, I have taken to bite-size chunks as and when they happen.

Well. As you have doubt already heard, he has posted a memevideo thing depicting the Obamas as apes. This has been taken down, and the blame has been laid on a “staffer”.

What would YOU do if you had something racist posted on social media in your name? You’d be mortified and be quick to disassociate yourself from it and offer a sincere apology. That hasn’t happened. I dare say he finds it all very amusing.

Another snippet I learned today was that redactions in the Epstein files puzzlingly include the word “don’t” As in the line “Don’t forget to pull on your Tena pads, Sir!” Will have the first word blacked out.

Why? Because the millions of files needed to be cleansed of all references to the orange one – and every single short form of his name – Don, Donnie, DJT and …”Don T”….

Let’s remind ourselves the redactions are necessary to protect the victims. Also, appearing in the Epstein files thousands of times is no indication of any wrongdoing. No way.

A local story that might just “cut through”.

In suburban Auckland today, hoodlums with machetes raided an off licence. They grabbed a box of beer each and then made their getaway. On a bus.

The police were waiting at the central Auckland bus station 15 minutes later.

In the US, FIFA have just had corruption charges abruptly dropped by the DOJ.

That Peace Prize did the job, then.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the whole peace prize thing was a Trump suggestion.

I was just challenged for not using the already-hot water from a mixer tap to fill the kettle. I switched it to cold, let it run for a bit, then filled the kettle with cold water.

I know I’m right. But I don’t know why I’m right. All I know is that cold water goes in a kettle if you’re making tea. Always.

I get the feeling every aspect of tea making will have a thousand different opinions. So as I could do with a new hamper, I’d like to know yours.

Anyone had a look at this yet? For those that are unaware, Spotify gives an annual breakdown of your own personal 2025 of listening to music, audiobooks and podcasts. In my one, Alexei Sayle thanks me for listening to his autobiography and Rory Stewart and Alistair Campbell also seem to thank me personally for my custom.

My listening age is 61 (about right). My 16 year old twins are 30 and 61 – which they put down to musicals.

DJ and TV personality Pete Murray celebrates his 100th birthday today!

This made me wonder…is Vera Lynn the only charting act to have actually made it to the age of 100? I can’t think of anyone else. Even that grizzled old punk Charlie Harper is still “only” 81.

I read on Wikipedia that Pete’s voice is on a Barclay James Harvest live LP, so this might be the closest we get for a while until Cliff gets there in 2040.

https://star4cast.com/pete-murray-rock-n-rolling-to-100/

Soft Cell’s best Album – The Art of Falling Apart – is getting the spruce up it richly deserves by being reissued in multiple formats including a diamanté toaster, a deformed cuddly toy and word has it that the platter will be added to the periodic table when they have the next round of PT voting in Svalbard in the new year.

The album has a self-effacing title but the songs are strong and confident. Still sleazy, but less of the slap and tickle with a wink to the postman (?). The title track, Baby Doll, Loving You Hating Me and Where the Heart is are all top-drawer Soft Cell songs.

However the gold in them thar hills is the material you found on the 12 inches (missus, ooh I say! And so on). Martin – a quite literally diabolical song in the sense that the Devil is lurking in there, messing with poor old Mart. It’s a Mugs Game is another wonderful nugget – a teenager having an extremely angry and amusingly inarticulate rant about his lot in life. As a broody teenager at the time I very much related to the, erm, energy. And also a very brilliant » Continue Reading.