A New Bite Size Style For My Blog.
Sky News. In the words of Jim Royle. “Independent news, my arse!” Yesterday they spent 10 minutes on the hour, every hour showing Hull in the worst possible light. It was a piece lying about immigration. “Failed asylum seekers from Afghanistan living off tax payers”. Oxymoronic because err.. we wrecked the country but left the Taliban in control. So it’s a failed state and we cannot send people there. And this counts as journalism!
Rachel Reeves. Labour’s wannabe Chancellor spent a whole day bragging that she’d raise £1 billion by enforcing tax. The annual spending for the UK is £1,100 billion according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies. This drive raises 0.001% of that figure. Reeves worked for the Bank of England. So she’s either very stupid (not the case) or this is bullshit and shows why many people are turned off by politics. Assets Tax £800 billion. Job’s a good ‘un.
Helen Lewis Podcast. BBC Sounds. The former Spectator Deputy Editor (see I can cross the aisle) is currently doing a dive into the murky world of Watts App and the Westminster Bubble. No surprise some politicians, including our last but one PM are foul mouthed bullies. But listening to Dominic Cummings spill the beans about Number 10 left me feeling I needed to have a shower. If I could. Also included is an episode on Watts App school parents groups. I’ve obviously lived a sheltered life.
The Libertines, “All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade” This record is the best, and most consistent album the band have produced during their turbulent career. The Libertines are worthy members of a thread in British music that started with the Clash. Encompassing acts such as the Manic Street Preachers and Youngblud searing honesty, satire, poetry, politics are driven by mighty fine tunes. The Libertines journey has been a real rollercoaster. Drugs and addiction took their toll. In addition the hounding of the desperately struggling Pete Doherty is emblematic of our media. I found the songs in turn stark in their tone and joyful. The best bit is the tighter production without the loss of that slightly chaotic vibe. Stand out tracks are the beautiful (who would have thunk that!) The Man With the Melody, Merrie Old England which excoriates the disgusting Tory poison around undocumented workers. The opener Run, Run, Run is a rollicking reminder of what makes the Libertines one of the best bands this septic isle has ever produced.
The Gentlemen. This is sadly hidden away on Apple TV. I am a self confessed lowlife who owns an iPhone so I can tune in for free. Guy Ritchie has written a fantastic romp into the world of organised crime. If you can’t laugh at people being tortured for the gains of drug money, then there’s something seriously wrong with you. I love the high level banter and fast based dialogue which expects you to be clever to get the maximum flavour of the thing.
Ghost Rider, by Neal Peart. The author was the drummer with Canadian rock legends Rush. I’m a big fan. This despite Tony Parsons writing, “Protect Your Children: Rush Are Fascists” in the NME circa 1977. Granted they don’t like Commies, sadly. Red Lenses sums that up. But Danny and I nicked the song title for our book. Aren’t we clever little lefties? Peart was the drummer and lyricist with Rush. In 1997 the drummer and his wife suffered the bitterest blow of all when their only child Selena, was killed in a car crash. Less than a year later Neil’s wife, Jackie was taken from him by cancer. “A slow suicide by apathy. She just didn’t care”. Peart felt shunned by even his parents. He said that people were scared of him. “I was the one suffering. Not them”. I hear that Neil. I hear that. Peart dusted down his massive motorbike and took an astonishing 88,000 mile solo road trip criss crossing the North American continent. He wrote about every aspect of his life. No holds barred. Normally these books are a) mawkish novels or b) some kind of never ending victim hood. Yes I get the irony. But this book is so relatable, funny, trivial, profound and tragic. The human condition. We all experience in some form. Neil put his life back together, joined his band mates, got married and had children. As I was reading the book during my six month sojourn in hospital Neil was diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer and passed away in 2020 in the arms of his family.
TURN LEFT. 
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