Diamond shoes too tight?

Hallelujah!

The RMT - the rail drivers' union have called off their strike on the London Underground. It was due to start at lunchtime and run through long enough to disrupt everyone until about Saturday lunchtime. I have no idea what these work-shy lefties were grumbling about this time. They are well-paid and get better than normal leave allowances. I don't think they even have to work a full day any more. As a rule they try to wrap their strikes up as taking place in the public interest. Well, if inconveniencing millions of people and reaming the economy are in the public interest, well job done.

Useless gimps, the lot of them.

Diamond shoes too tight?

Hallelujah!

The RMT - the rail drivers' union have called off their strike on the London Underground. It was due to start at lunchtime and run through long enough to disrupt everyone until about Saturday lunchtime. I have no idea what these work-shy lefties were grumbling about this time. They are well-paid and get better than normal leave allowances. I don't think they even have to work a full day any more. As a rule they try to wrap their strikes up as taking place in the public interest. Well, if inconveniencing millions of people and reaming the economy are in the public interest, well job done.

Useless gimps, the lot of them.

Plus ça change

Whatever else is happening in the world, it is comforting that some things never change; they are eternal and dependable.

For a loud, brash and vital country, Australia remains oddly insecure where the UK is concerned and are far more bothered by us than we are by them. Especially in an age where the average British chav couldn't find Australia on a map and would probably spell it wrong if he did. Instead of trumpeting their own success at the Olympics where, Australia is proportionately out performing pretty much evryone (medals gained compared with poulation of country) they are, instead, whinging about the British team's success .

Next time anyone hears an Aussie grumbling about "Whinging Poms" it is incumbent on any and all Britons there present to laugh in their pasty little faces.

Meantime in America, it seems that the latest evidence supporting the existence of Bigfoot aka Saskwatch is another hoax. Didn't see that coming no, Sirree. What makes it even funnier is the fact that someone supposedly paid real money to acquire what turns out to be a rubber gorilla suit frozen in a block of ice.

I love the silly season.

Plus ça change

Whatever else is happening in the world, it is comforting that some things never change; they are eternal and dependable.

For a loud, brash and vital country, Australia remains oddly insecure where the UK is concerned and are far more bothered by us than we are by them. Especially in an age where the average British chav couldn't find Australia on a map and would probably spell it wrong if he did. Instead of trumpeting their own success at the Olympics where, Australia is proportionately out performing pretty much evryone (medals gained compared with poulation of country) they are, instead, whinging about the British team's success .

Next time anyone hears an Aussie grumbling about "Whinging Poms" it is incumbent on any and all Britons there present to laugh in their pasty little faces.

Meantime in America, it seems that the latest evidence supporting the existence of Bigfoot aka Saskwatch is another hoax. Didn't see that coming no, Sirree. What makes it even funnier is the fact that someone supposedly paid real money to acquire what turns out to be a rubber gorilla suit frozen in a block of ice.

I love the silly season.

Memo to self

This is as much a note to myself as it is a general journal post and it serves as a reminder that I should find the time to sit down and write something before the ideas that have coalesced fade away as one or two already have done.

So. New characters for Little Whittering-in-the-Stubble, to be developed as and when inspiration takes hold or a back story suggests itself for either or both.

1 – The unfortunately named Solomon Sabbath Shaggs: offspring of puritan stock. Runs local grocer’s shop and is the depressed and erstwhile head prophet of the now defunct local millennium cult. Solomon spends a great deal of time poring over old almanacs trying to work out what is wrong with the calendar and why the world negligently failed to end on New Year’s Day 2000 just after he had maxed out all his credit cards in what was supposed to be a symbolic knee in the groin to Mammon, not just a damned enjoyable holiday.

2 – Nobby Ribbentropp’s Dancing Corsairs: an amateur pub dance troupe sponsored by the local brewery and based in the local hostelry. They commenced life as Morris Dancers, but a mix up with the costumes and the subsequent delivery of a set of pirate clothes, followed my several nights’ drunken and uproarious debate changed their theme and direction for the foreseeable future. The Corsairs are managed by Ted “Nobby” Fellowes, the publican who is fond of ordering their dance routines whilst wearing a German Army officer’s field cap. He is unaccountably fond of his nickname and is the proud owner of an unrivalled collection of WW2 era German lederhosen.

That last bit may change as thoughts develop if I can think of something dafter…

Memo to self

This is as much a note to myself as it is a general journal post and it serves as a reminder that I should find the time to sit down and write something before the ideas that have coalesced fade away as one or two already have done.

So. New characters for Little Whittering-in-the-Stubble, to be developed as and when inspiration takes hold or a back story suggests itself for either or both.

1 – The unfortunately named Solomon Sabbath Shaggs: offspring of puritan stock. Runs local grocer’s shop and is the depressed and erstwhile head prophet of the now defunct local millennium cult. Solomon spends a great deal of time poring over old almanacs trying to work out what is wrong with the calendar and why the world negligently failed to end on New Year’s Day 2000 just after he had maxed out all his credit cards in what was supposed to be a symbolic knee in the groin to Mammon, not just a damned enjoyable holiday.

2 – Nobby Ribbentropp’s Dancing Corsairs: an amateur pub dance troupe sponsored by the local brewery and based in the local hostelry. They commenced life as Morris Dancers, but a mix up with the costumes and the subsequent delivery of a set of pirate clothes, followed my several nights’ drunken and uproarious debate changed their theme and direction for the foreseeable future. The Corsairs are managed by Ted “Nobby” Fellowes, the publican who is fond of ordering their dance routines whilst wearing a German Army officer’s field cap. He is unaccountably fond of his nickname and is the proud owner of an unrivalled collection of WW2 era German lederhosen.

That last bit may change as thoughts develop if I can think of something dafter…

Incontrovertible evidence

Silly season indeed!

Did Bob Marley steal Buffalo Soldiers from the Banana Splits?

...a musicologist, who asked not to be named for professional reasons, says the songs are "strikingly similar."

The main differences are in bars two and six, where the timing and inflection in Buffalo Soldier is more jumpy and Marley sings with a groove, whereas the Banana Splits theme song is "straight". And in bars three and seven, a note is gained in Buffalo Soldier or omitted in The Tra La La Song.

And it goes on.

Spot the difference:



1. Buffalo Soldier is more jumpy - repeated in bar six
2. Buffalo Soldier has an extra note - repeated in bar seven
3. Buffalo Soldier goes down to a C, The Tra La La Song goes up to an E
NB: The bars are illustrated in the same key for comparison

Incontrovertible evidence

Silly season indeed!

Did Bob Marley steal Buffalo Soldiers from the Banana Splits?

...a musicologist, who asked not to be named for professional reasons, says the songs are "strikingly similar."

The main differences are in bars two and six, where the timing and inflection in Buffalo Soldier is more jumpy and Marley sings with a groove, whereas the Banana Splits theme song is "straight". And in bars three and seven, a note is gained in Buffalo Soldier or omitted in The Tra La La Song.

And it goes on.

Spot the difference:



1. Buffalo Soldier is more jumpy - repeated in bar six
2. Buffalo Soldier has an extra note - repeated in bar seven
3. Buffalo Soldier goes down to a C, The Tra La La Song goes up to an E
NB: The bars are illustrated in the same key for comparison