dominic cummings sorts out the civil service

So, Dominic Cummings not only got to stay in his post after his sight seeing trip Oop North, but is now reorganising the Civil Service. I thought Brexit was about removing power from unelected officials? I fucking despair of this country sometimes, although l am never surprised by the corruptness, lies and hypocrisy of the Conservatives.
At least Keir Starmer is currently tormenting Boris Johnson at Prime Ministers Question time. Long may that continue as it's always good to see Boris suffering, despite him trying to bluff and bluster his way out.

toodle pip

Little Richard has died - he deserves the capitals

So, Little Richard, the King and Queen of Rock and Roll has shuffled off to meet his maker after suffering the last few years with various health problems. I'm amazed he lasted so long with the lifestyle that he partook in for so long, but he was always a survivor, albeit the most over the top flamboyant one of all. I heard while l was at work over the weekend, and funnily enough l had just finished watching the Elton John biopic 'Rocket Man' on my overnight shift when l heard the news, and was thinking at the time about Little Richard, because without him, there may not have been an Elton, and although Elton's outfits were more flamboyant, and they superficially had very similar lifestyles, Little Richard was waaaay over the top and living his in Black America, before rock and roll coolness had become 'a thing', when it was (and to a lesser degree, still is) a very dangerous thing to do. I know about his influences, and that he wasn't 'the first', but he was the best. I wrote about how great Little Richard was and how fantastic and honest his biography (by Charles White) was here (Which was a long seven years ago), so find out for yourselves. I haven't really much to add, apart from the fact one of the few things l regret is not having been able to watch (or meet) him when he was a young pup (and bitch) back in his old Rock and Roll days. He was a massive gift to us all who lost his Rock and Roll way by heading to the pulpit, and who wasted his talent on lots of different record labels and bad choices of songs, but man, could that cool cat entertain and sing. For those that haven't heard them, his gospel and soul recordings are also sublime. - he could do anything. Even when he was drugged up and not at his magnificent best, the charisma. intelligence, honesty and playfulness shone through, and he'll be missed a lot in this household. I spent a lot of time yesterday watching old youtube clips with a drink in my hand and a tear in my eye, and l advise you all to do the same. The records will be dug out later today, and l pity my neighbours if they are trying to sleep. I may even try putting on some makeup and being bisexual again in his honour - he deserves it.

Here's an early crowd watching Elvis (when he was cool) - look at the joy, despite how shocking he was to some

Here's an early crowd watching Little Richard - look at the disbelief and amazement

The screen test for 'The Girl Can't Help It'. He's a bit subdued at the start, but watch him go after 1.15m. Every time l see him dancing on this l laugh out loud





From 'Don't Stop The Rock' - Bill Haley watching.















toodle pip

matt hancock and the care badges

Fuck Matt Hancock, Boris Johnson and the rest of this government with their pretence of caring about the NHS, Care Workers, the immigrants who have been putting their lives at risk, or the vulnerable in our society. If they cared, they wouldn't be such a racist, money grabbing party, looking after their rich benefactors and mates. They should be insisting on care workers being paid a decent salary, while collecting a higher (or any) tax  from their opulent non taxpaying offshore non domiciliary buddies which would go towards funding the NHS. Don't even get me started on the curiously quiet Jacob Rees Mogg and his accumulation of wealth, or l'll be here all night. They're going to start testing all care home tenants before sending them back from hospital to their nursing or care homes, where there are a lot of other vulnerable people at risk? Why the fuck is this not being done already? It's not like we didn't have any warnings from other countries or the World Health Organisation so we could prepare.
What are we recieving from our glorious overlords?  Empty platitudes and unfulfilled promises of protective equipment and testing, a lack of firm leadership, and to top it all, fucking care badges!! Forget the bastard clapping on Thursday evenings, pressure the government for more, lots more. Action, leadership, wages, correct and up to date information, equipment and tests are all desperately needed, alongside a lot less of the bullshit from the daily briefings, including the sycophantic and banal questions from the likes of Laura Kuenssberg. Try letting some of the front line NHS workers ask questions instead, that might shake them up a bit.
Fuck them all - Where's a revolution when you want one?

Peter Smith nails this.

toodle pip

Edit - Can you tell l'd just been at a cremation for someone from a care home who contacted the virus?

trump - no one could have predicted this....plus zac goldsmith

I don't know how to put this clip from Alastair Campbell's twitter feed up directly, but just watch it. As usual, Trump is being a lying, arrogant arse, and Obama is being the kind of leader America (and the UK) could do with right now. 
Boris and Trump currently overseeing a pandemic response - fuck me we're doomed.

LOOK HERE

And while we're Alastair Campbell's twitter, here's a retweet he put up from Nick Hilton ages ago that l never got round to sharing.
It's still true though.

toodle pip

john prine has left the building

John Prine, one of the greatest songwriters of his generation has sadly passed away from the Coronavirus, although he had been in poor health for a while.
If you are unfamiliar with him and his work, do yourself a favour and check him out, as his ability to inhabit a character and speak plainly and emotionally from their viewpoint was outstanding.
He'll be missed a lot in this household.

Here's some examples of his genius









And here's Jeff Tweedy paying tribute with a John Prine song



toodle pip

jack and the beanstalk at darlington - l'm not guilty

Another night - another recent theatre trip. This time for Jack and The Beanstalk at Darlington. I can't say it was one of the highlights of my life, but it wasn't me that delivered the hate mail, as even l'm not that sad.

toodle pip

wank pass

I've nicked this from Popbitch, but it's well worth sharing. A bit expensive, but well worth the money.
Shame l've already bought my Christmas presents, as l know somebody who would have appreciated this.

toodle pip

friday the 13th gives us a conservative majority

So it's finally happened. Rather than the great and good British public voting for a better life for others, they have voted to have a worse life for themselves (unless they are stinking rich), and fuck their friends, family, and the poor and needy.
Boris has lied constantly and just kept repeating the 'Get Brexit Done' mantra, while the right wing press have constantly vilified Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party. People really are fucking idiots and will get what they deserve, but will no doubt spend the next few years moaning about public spending being cut, hospitals and the NHS going to ruin and being privatised, and the lowly workers having what little rights they have being taken away from them. Don't even get me started on the Universal Credit debacle, zero hours contracts, Libraries closing and food banks springing up everywhere, and some of the electorate deciding not to vote as 'They are all the same'.
If the Conservatives had done anything worthwhile in the last 9 to 10 years they have been in power, they would have been banging on about how they had improved the country and to vote them back into power so they could continue the good work. Instead of which they have bleated on about Brexit not allowing them to focus on the NHS, Policing etc during the last 3 years, What about the years before then?
Austerity has hit the poorest and it will only get worse. It's not like people can say they weren't warned. Despite the right wing press propaganda there are many instances of the Conservatives openly lying about their past and future policies for all to see if they could be bothered to look, and enough failings from Johnson and his party to show any compassion or empathy (and keep a straight face while doing so).
As for former coal mining or steel making wards voting for the Conservatives, it is just pathetic, and the rich fuckers who run the country (and their rich and powerful backers) must be rubbing their hands in glee at the stupidity of the masses.
Fuck all of them and don't blame me. As a scouser l voted Labour and am proud that the majority of the Liverpool area did the same. Don't blame Corbyn either. I think he could have done a lot better, but you should be voting for policies, not the figureheads, and if anyone thinks Boris Johnson can be trusted to run the country to benefit the country itself, rather than the rich, they are living in cloud cuckoo land.
Dominic Cummings, Priti Patel, Jacob Rees Mogg, Aaron Banks, Nigel Farage, Presidents Putin and Trump - come on in and abuse us as much as you want. Privilege, money and vested interest has conquered common sense, as the rest of Europe no doubt hangs its head in despair at our stupidity.
Democracy, human rights and compassion will be eroded quicker than they have been recently, but we deserve it all, like the fucking idiots we have shown ourselves to be.

toodle pip

jonathan pie sums up boris and the tories

I've not posted any election stuff so far, but Jonathan Pie's latest rant sums up my feelings exactly.
Vote Boris Johnson out for fucks sake, and kick out the rest of his sycophantic preening privileged lying Conservative arses with him.
I used to think the Tories were bad years ago, but even some of them (including past Prime Minister John Major) think this current set of liars are too right wing, and a danger to our democracy.
This is easily the worst set of politicians l have ever known in power, and l remember the bad old days of Margaret Thatcher and George Bush senior / Ronald Reagan only too well (Including the possible Mutually Assured Destruction).
What a bunch of fucking rotters.



toodle pip

tottenham hotspurs mauricio pochettino sacked, and the return of jose mourinho

So, Jose Mourinho is the new Tottenham Hotspur manager, after the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino.
However, Pochettino has transformed the club during the last five years or so, playing attacking entertaining football, finishing in the top 4, and taking them to their first European Cup / Champions League final as recently as May, as the club was in the process of moving to a new ground, whilst having limited transfer funds. He's supposedly getting a £12 million pound pay off, and will have no shortage of offers, but if Daniel Levy (Tottenham Chairman) is anticipating things will improve under Mourinho, he must be mad, and can kiss goodbye to entertaining football. Apparently the training and mood around the ground was getting depressing, and recent results have not gone well, so let's see what happens now (Cue the entry of Mourinho, scowling).
At least Manchester United may have a chance of signing Harry Kane (and / or Christian Eriksen) now, so it's not all bad news.

toodle pip

francis rossi's green telecaster for sale

Another reason l need to win the lottery and move to a larger house. Status Quo guitarist / singer Francis Rossi has put his green Fender Telecaster up for auction with Bonhams, Knightsbridge on 17th December 2019. Rossi bought the guitar for £75 in 1968 and painted it himself, using green Ronseal, and it was the guitar most used by him during the subsequent years.  Rather sadly for me, it is estimated to go for between £100,000 and £150,000, which is a bit out of my price range, especially with Christmas coming up.
For those that have the money - see here

                                                                Image by Bonhams

Here's Rossi and the guitar in action





Toodle pip

bollocks to brexit

As l was watching the latest vote about Brexit earlier today, l was reminded of this crossword from a September issue of The Guardian.
Subtle brainwashing at its best, but if you can't see what l am on about, read across from the top and bottom lines.

toodle pip

neil kinnock condolences letter and spacemen 3 - revolution

As unlikely a scenario as it may have seemed a few years ago, the nightmare is coming true, as Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt battle it out to be the next Conservative Prime Minister. What a fucking choice - it's like someone asking me if l want my left or right bollock blasted off. Either outcome is shit, and with Donald Trump as United States President, things really are looking grim.
I thought things were bad years ago when Neil Kinnock lost out on becoming Prime Minister. I even went so far as to write and offer my condolences to him, and here's the reply l got (It's my old address, so don't bother trying to find me there). Political leaders have certainly gone downhill since then. Where's a revolution when you want one? Bastards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

toodle pip

vanity fair moon landings / nasa at 40 special feature

As it's the anniversary of the moon landings, l thought l would stick these up - a Vanity Fair article around NASA turning 40 that l ripped out and have kept for the last 20 years. I amaze myself sometimes with my hording mentality, but l will now throw them away as l will now be able to read them online here, and probably elsewhere if l could be bothered to look. I particularly like the Buzz Aldrin photo - it just amuses me for some reason.

toodle pip

danny baker the racist - now fired

I've been listening with great pleasure to various Danny Baker podcasts for years now, and although he can have certain convictions that l completely disagree with, l have never thought that he was a racist. Last night however, he made a serious error of judgment on his twitter feed, by posting a picture of a posh couple with a suited monkey, straight after the naming of the new royal baby (Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor). There was  a backlash about the picture on racist grounds, due to the mixed race parentage through Megan Markle, and Danny apologised a few times (although often with a caveat) and took it down, saying he did not mean it to be perceived as racist. He has also had years of ongoing jokes of a non racist kind about monkeys dressed as famous people without complaint. Twitter however, would not let it lie, and despite other apologies from Danny, he has now been sacked from his BBC5 Live show.
Now a lot of people may argue that as Danny comes from a working class background and supports Millwall, there may be racist connotations to the post as he may be subliminally racist. However, forget his background and the team he supports, this does not make him racist. It's actions and deeds that count.
Only Danny knows the truth, but l for one, was extremely disappointed that the following tweets from Danny could also have been seen to be linked to the one that was taken down, although no-one seems to have really mentioned this. One referred to 'Brown' being added to a drink, and the next referring to a microphone he was holding from an early show of his being in the shape of a banana. I think if there was a genuine heartfelt apology after the monkey pic, without the next couple of tweets, he should have been forgiven.
Maybe these were intended as racist. Maybe these were just poor attempts at humour and coincidental. Maybe there is nothing of note in these tweets and l am the racist one, finding meaning in them.
As l stated, only Danny knows, but these were seriously stupid posts, and this could be a sad end to a career.
Posts are below, his twitter feed is here, and there are plenty of podcasts out there for you to make up your own mind.

toodle pip

will self stares down Mark Francois

Will Self can certainly be pompous, but his spat with the Conservative MP Mark Francois (a twat) on BBC's Politics Live highlighted what is one of the worst thing about some politicians (and some people). Francois does not listen to Will Self's statement properly and fails to grasp what Will Self has said, and then keeps demanding an apology (on behalf of others), despite the statement being explained again, and Francois still not understanding, clinging to his Syllogistic fallacy. Obviously Will Self knew he could lick Francois intellectually, and you can see the great delight he takes in doing so, at the same time exposing his opponents self righteousness. As for the stare off at the end, l thought Francois was going to crumble and go for him (after all - he's been in the T.A!!).
I'd love to see what was said between them at the end of the filming.

Here's the full show from Donald TV on Youtube - it kicks off  40.30 minutes in.



toodle pip

a panda says - don't do drugs

I've taken quite a few drugs in the past but none have ever affected me in this way. I think l need to sue my dealer as the git was obviously short changing me and selling me below par merchandise. If only l knew where there was an ex lawyer who may be a bit dodgy and do stuff on the side......

toodle pip

the the labour party split and the ragged trousered philanthropists - the money trick

With The Labour Party seemingly in disarray (although The Conservatives are also pretty fragmented) here's a reminder of why they the left wing are so important. From Robert Tressell's The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists - The Money Trick.
I'm not saying this is the most important book of all time, but every time l return with family members to Liverpool, we visit his grave (Opposite Walton prison - now just before Rice Lane City Farm) as a mark of respect. The language is antiquated, but the message is unequivocal.

toodle pip