The greatest LP of the 1980s - bar none

Welcome to the Pleasuredome
by Frankie Goes To Hollywood

"I'm sorry, I left me card at home",
"Well, you're late as well. That's three times on the run. The supervisor says if you're late again, we've gotta put you on daily signing."
Followed by Holly's cry "Ha" - is it of anguish or anger?
This is the run-in to Frankie's version of Springsteen's "Born to Run" which in my humble opinion is better than the original.

What on earth are you going on about, I hear you ask. Well, these are the opening lines to just one single track on the magnum opus that is "Welcome to the Pleasuredome." And a pleasuredome it is too - a roller coaster ride of magnificently produced gargantuan sound. Every track is an absolute pleasure to listen to - from the opening track with sounds of birds singing, to the ending with the narrator repeating "Frankie say, Frankie say, Frankie say...No more!" I love it - every goddamn minute of it. Take time out, grab some good headphones and listen to the whole sixty minutes with no interference from any extraneous noise - I guarantee you'll regard it as one of the best hours of your life.
This is, without doubt, the best album of the 80s - even better than Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love."
Just one gripe - I'm sure that on my original vinyl version, there was a track featuring a Prince Charles soundalike asking "Just what exactly is meant by orgasm?" That seems to be missing here - or did I only imagine it?
Listen - go buy this album now - I promise you won't be disappointed.

 

R.I.P. Mr David Bowie

If you're ever sad, just remember that the world is 4.5 billion years old, and you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie.


Rest now. Your amazing work is done.

Thank you David. For everything.

#davidbowie

Bacteria are Just Hanging Around Waiting for You to Die!

Well, this is extremely interesting. Who knew that life itself was just a perpetual battle with bacteria - and that they always win in the end.

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/12/youre-surrounded-by-bacteria-that-are-waiting-for-you-to-die/#.VnaL7vw97Gk.google_plusone_share

Thirty Years Ago

Thirty years ago, what albums were you listening to? I was listening to The Pogues third and finest album, "Rum, Sodomy and the Lash".  It was named after the 19th century belief that the Royal Navy’s finest traditions consisted of “rum, sodomy, and the lash” (a quote often mis-attributed to Winston Churchill).  

The album was produced by Elvis Costello, and contained excellent tracks, like "Dirty old Town" and "A Pair of Brown Eyes".  The absolute highlight for me though, was "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda", a searing indictment of war. It details the futile loss of life and limb following the attempt to take the Gallipoli peninsula in the First World War. Every time I hear it, it brings tears to my eyes.

Whew - that was a close call!

Well there we are. After nearly five months of politicians electioneering, we finally have a result.  And what a result!  Unbelievable!  I have to tell you I slept badly on Wednesday night.  At that point it seemed very likely that we were going to have some form of Labour minority government, loosely supported by the SNP.  A left leaning party, being pulled to the left by an even more left leaning party.  A party opposed to austerity, in fact not just opposed to austerity but anti-austerity! It was a forthcoming nightmare! A spend, spend, spend Ed Miliband, being encouraged to spend even more by Nicola Sturgeon.  Jesus - we would be in debt until all my grandkids had retired!

Luckily for all of us, common sense prevailed in the ballot box and all those (secret and embarrassed) Tory voters voted for the party they trusted the most to give us five years of economic growth, no increase in taxes and a general improvement in their standard of living.

I stayed up on Thursday night, and, like most of us, couldn't believe the exit poll that the BBC published at 10.01 pm.  By 4pm it was apparent that the exit poll was largely accurate, and, much as I wanted to see Paddy Ashdown eat his hat, I retired to bed feeling happier, safer and more contented than I had the night before.

So, anyway, what's all this about anti-austerity?  I don't get it.  I wracked my brains to remember anything, just one little thing that pointed to any form of austerity in the past five years, and I could only come up with one.  The streetlights on the motorway nearby have been turned off every night at 11pm, instead of being left on all night. What a good idea! 

Everything else is the same as it was five years ago. No, I stand corrected - my library is now open 13 hours a day, every day, seven days a week. It used to be open for 8 hours, 6 days a week. Progress!  No austerity there. My bins are still emptied on alternative weeks (landfill, week 1, recycling week 2).  I'm sure I can cope with 5 more years of austerity. As long as it means that we don't have to keep borrowing more and more money and then spend a fortune in interest charges.  I received a letter last year from HMRC, telling me that one quarter of my tax payments had been used to pay the interest on the national debt.  I'm sure that government could have put it to better use.

I'll keep campaigning for cuts in our military/defence spending (why is it we have to have nuclear weapons but that 180 countries, including Spain and Italy don't have any?) but apart from that I'm relatively happy. I realise Cameron has some formidable hurdles to overcome but he has my full support.

Amazing Stories #1 Rasputin

Sit back and pin back your ears while I regale you with a story containing an amazing (nay stunning) coincidence.

Grigori Rasputin was a Russian peasant, mystical faith healer and private adviser to the Romanovs.  He played a significant part in the increasing unpopularity of the Tsar and Alexandra Feodorovna, his wife, and the downfall of the Russian Monarchy. He was murdered by persons unknown on the 30th December 1916 in the city of Petrograd.
 
62 years later, Boney M, a German pop group had a number 1 hit record around the world with a song called "Rasputin." The male lead singer, Bobby Farrell even dressed as Rasputin whilst performing the record, and Bobby acted the part of Rasputin, croaking out "Oh those Russians" at the end of the song.

32 years later Bobby Farrell died, at the tender age of 61. He died on 30th December 2010, exactly 94 years to the day after Rasputin died. And where did he die?  Well he died in the ancient Russian city of Saint Petersburg, which, back in 1916 had been known as - yes - you've guessed it Petrograd.   The truth is sometimes stranger than fiction...

Reincarnation

Of course, as we all know, reincarnation is complete and utter rubbish and not based on any peer-produced evidence whatsoever.  However when I read the contents of this website, even I started to question my own disbelief. After all, this website has all the questions on reincarnation answered.  Incredible!
Since this is all on the interweb, it must be true!


If you have a moment, take a read. It is the funniest thing I've read for quite a while!


http://www.afterlife101.com/Chapter5.html#_Toc1998627