Heart Attack and Vine
So Tony goes to his local A&E to check out his chest pains and the rest of his cabinet must be immediately weighing up their chances of succeeding him.
Whoever it is who eventually replaces the increasing liability, must know that that moment is not that far off now.
Tony is already costing the Party votes with his stance on the quagmire in Iraq and his insistence on sticking his head up the arse of, probably, the thickest incumbent the White House has produced in the last 228 years. Now that the spectre of ill-health (no matter that it might just be trapped wind) has raised its smiling and knowing head, I predict a new leader before the next election.
Nice and neat though isn't it ?
"Tony - you're a frigging vote drainer these days mate. Ever thought of stepping down ?"
"Errrrr......well....you know...errr.....no !"
"Hmmm, you will be doing in a bit. How about a health scare ? I reckon 'chest pains' are called for. I suggest you arrange it - we'll take care of the rest."
Of course it IS the beginning of the end of his Prime Ministerial role. It's a ruthless world politics - you have to be strong, and the Leader of the Labour Party has today exhibited a weakness. Bye bye Tone
Under the circumstances, it's a good job the Tories are united behind a charismatic leader who is more than ready to take on all-comers at the next election isn't it ?.
I tell you what, I am knackered with all this housework. Today the morning sun seared my baby bloodshots as I tidied away the detrius of last night. Myself, Dearest, Eldest and Eldest's Darlin' had celebrated City's annihilation of Bolton with a meal of Morrison's Steak, Mushroom and Ale pie with roast potato, veg and gravy, all washed down with a bottle of Paul Casson white and a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. Dearest partook of a couple of glasses for the first time since D Day. She is obviously back on the mend.
After vacuuming downstairs, I then mowed the lawn, Sorted out some washing and started cooking a full English breakfast for four. After that I washed the pots, transferred the washing from washer to tumble dryer and generally sorted stuff out.
Half an hour after I sat down to read t'Observer, I had to sort out the braised steak, mushrooms and onions and get it in the oven. Broccoli, green beans carrots and peas followed. More washing then time to sort out the meal. The same four as last night and we thoroughly enjoyed it. If it had been crap I would have been so disheartened.
Eldest and his Darlin' did the washing up thank god. Now I'm up in my 'music and computer room' listening to Bob Harris' Saturday show via t'Internet, finishing another bottle of the Chilean red and typing this.
Christ ! Bob has just reminded me that 'Ratrap' by the Boomtown Rats was a hit 25 years ago ! I like to think that, at least I'm not 'going gently into that good night'. Mind you youngsters these days probably take one look at me and jump to the same stereotypical assumptions about middle-aged me as I do about them.
Over the years - as the offspring have got bigger, older and....errrrr......wiser, our house has ALWAYS been the place to meet for them and their mates. As they have developed into young adults, our house has become the pre-night out and post-night out venue. My CD collection has been rifled for the best of the past - although not one of them can handle jazz - be it Miles, Mr Metheny or Satchmo. But there's plenty of time for that. In the meantime, Zappa, Neil Young, Bowie, Hendrix and a few others, have all disappeared from my collection. It reminds me of the time - as a fourteen year old in 1969, buying my Dad a copy of Sinatra sings Cole Porter for Xmas. I decided to play it before I wrapped it in case it was scratched or something. I ended up falling in love with Sinatra, Cole Porter's song book and the delectable arrangements of Nelson Riddle one of the greatest arrangers in the history of popular music. Listen to his orchestration of 'I've Got You Under my Skin' for example. Sheer bloody magic ! My kids and their mates have similarly *discovered* the best of the past and are now heralds in the wilderness. A few of the lad's mates I've actually accompanied in public on various projects. The things we pass along......... If it's intelligent then it deserves a serious approach. That includes listening. If it's addressed lazily, it gets quickly forgotten. I can't help but think that Bob needs to stretch himself - there's only so much Judy Tzuke one can listen to.
As I sit here typing away and listening to Bob Harris, I find myself trying to remember the song he played the one before last. At the time they sound pretty good, but when you try to remember them afterwards, you realise just how insipid they really are. Is this just old age catching up and strangling my once-youthful enthusiam, or is modern music truly bland and banal ?
Is there anything today to match the frisson of first hearing the harmonies in 'She Loves You', the sheer never-heard-anything-like-it-ness of 'Subterranean Homesick Blues', 'Sympathy for the Devil', Hendrix's 'Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)', Julie Driscoll and the Brian Auger Trinity's version of 'Wheels on Fire' ? Maybe there is - maybe there isn't. I know this much though, I'm looking for some new music now to blow me away. This happens to me every few years or so. It might be time to start revisiting the wonderful world of classical again. Who knows ? Might be jazz, might be alt.country. In fact it might be anything, I've just got an inkling it won't be Rap or over-sung, *cool* R&B.
They announced a *restructuring* at work on Friday. Out of the blue it was. So now we all work for some other faceless bastard who will probably never meet us, understand what we actually do and will try to make us redundant within months of taking over. Life is circular and history DOES repeat itself. Ho Hum.
I've just read all this back to myself and...yes. It IS drunken ramblin'. Never mind - it could be worse.
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