A flying visit ...

I keep thinking that i must revive the old White Rabbit dreadful album cover posting. Here is a taster. It's got the lot, dreadful cover, surreal surname and an innuendo that puts Finbarr Saunders to shame.

Return of the rabbit - Nadine Dorries

For – as the well-known rabbit catchphrase goes – overseas readers and the terminally inattentive, the above person is named Nadine Dorries. She is a Conservative MP and until fairly recently was basically known for being very right wing and very anti-abortion (before anyone comments to say so, yes I know these are not necessarily the same thing).

Anyway, again for overseas readers there is a British occasion called Prime Minister’s Questions. It takes place weekly when Parliament is in session and the theory behind it is that it is an opportunity for legislators to hold the executive to account and – well – ask the prime minister questions. In practice is is a mindless shouting match that goes something like this:

Leader of the opposition: ‘Won’t the prime minister admit that he is a drivelling idiot who couldn’t make a half way competent job of wiping his own bottom?’

Cue huge noise from opposition MPs.

Prime Minister ‘On the contrary it is the right honourable gentleman who is a simpering imbecile and everything is the fault of the last Labour government’ etc etc

Cue huge noise from government MPs

Other MPs get to join in the fun and government MPs get to ask sycophantic planted questions. One interesting thing is that ‘Dave’ Cameron – a prime minister – gets genuinely as opposed to synthetically angry at Prime Minister’s Questions as if anyone insolent enough to criticise him is contradicting the natural order of things. Without permission.

In any event, some months ago Cameron in the course of Prime Minister’s Questions called Dorries – who is a member of his own party – ‘frustrated’. Presumably as in sexually. You don’t need to be a particular fan of Dorries to find this sort of witless patronising sneer – and Cameron has form for this sort of thing – unattractive.

Now the thing about insulting people is that they tend not to like it. And if they can get their own back on you they usually will. Dorries recently characterised Cameron - who is presently in huge amounts of trouble politically - and Chancellor Gideon ('George') Osborne 'two arrogant posh boys who don't know the price of milk'. The comment has resonated hugely.


Basically because it's so true.


Cameron needed this comment- which went viral in the British media - like a hole in the head. Dorries has put the boot in again, pointing out darkly that it only takes the signatures of 46 Conservative MPs to trigger a leadership election. Being sitting prime minister doesn't prohibit this - it is how Thatcher met her downfall. This again has gone viral in the British media. Now Dorries is undoubtedly a loose cannon but the moral of the story is that it is perhaps best not to make more enemies than absolutely necessary. 


I've been meaning to post this song for some time but now the context seems right. New Riders of the Purple Sage with Kick In The Head.

Apologies for absence

The rabbit - who is well and content enough - would like to apologise for the protracted period of blogsilence - basically due to busyness and distraction. Here is a man called Bill Shorten - Minister for Something in the Australian Government and plainly a man of towering intellect and independence of mind.

Think I lie down now ...

Passing through Leicester railway station this morning, the rabbit went to buy a newspaper. No, not the above one. The front page of the Daily Star did however attract the rabbit's attention. It was one of those 'do I inhabit a parallel universe or does everyone else - or at least a very large number of other people?' moments. I hadn't the faintest idea what the headline meant. I mentioned this to the woman behind the counter as I bought my daily dose of liberal rhubarb - sorry probably the best daily newspaper in the world. 


'You don't watch the X Factor, do you?' she asked.


Nope. Never seen it. Heard of it, though. One of those gruesome talent shows. probably something to do with Simon Cowell. I'd sooner stick my appendage in the blender than watch it. No, not literally. Investigations followed.


Duly 'enlightened', rabbit explaining this rubbish services will make all clear...


Tulisa is named Tulisa Contostavlos and - apart from being a judge (sic) on the X Factor was formerly a singer with something called N-Dubz. Someone wanted to sell a sexually explicit tape of her for £500,000. Details remain obscure save to say that she is apparently giving someone mouth to penis resuscitation. 


'Moi?' cried our heroine. '100% fake', it was announced on her behalf. 'Tulisa has categorically never allowed anyone to film her having sex'.


Jolly good.


Except the tape isn't fake, it emerges. It's 100% genuine. Plus our heroine now has an injunction prohibiting anyone disclosing - erm - images of 'an intimate moment'. 


If anyone cares, the recipient of her attentions is apparently named Justin Edwards aka DJ Ultra. Inevitably, Tulisa has addressed her adoring public on YouTube. It's like the Queen's Christmas broadcast save that Christmas has come (very) early for drooling idiots everywhere.



Hits (in no time at all) 1,809,456 and rising. This is drivel and demeaning drivel too. Why should anyone care? Why is the brain dead dimwit press obsessed with this rubbish? Think I lie down now ...

Dreadful - and quite clever - adverts ...

Pausing only momentarily to ask 'is facebook killing blogging?' (I have a nasty suspicion that the answer is 'yes') one of my favourite facebook pages is false advertising, which is presently having a discussion on the most annoying TV advert. There is a consensus emerging around the infamous Go Compare adverts (overseas readers, they are a car insurance comparison site) - the YouTube entry is introduced with 'Warning: song is annoying and will stick in your head'. This is very true and you were warned. I am on record on facebook saying what I would like to do to this person's moustache. It does not bear repetition in a family orientated blog. The advert below will make your brain bleed too but at least it's clever as opposed to merely annoying. I've some vague idea I may have posted this before. So suffer ...




Cadburys have produced a number of clever adverts, some featuring a gorilla ...





Parting shot: they say you should learn something new every day. Yesterday I  learned that there really is a place called Knob Lick in Missouri. TMI!

Marianne Faithfull

I defy any heterosexual male of a certain age not to fess up to the undoubted fact that in their adolescence they were madly in love with Marianne Faithfull. Apart from an extraordinary pretty face and an extraordinarily pretty voice, she had an extraordinary background. Her mother was an aristocrat from the very former Austria-Hungarian empire - an exotic state of affairs compounded by her being a dancer in productions by Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill. How cool is that? Plus her great uncle was one Baron Sacher-Masoch whose erotic novel Venus In Furs resulted in him giving his name to a certain activity - namely masochism.  Venus In Furs of course later became a song by the Velvet Underground.


She had hits in the early 60s, notably with the above, married and had a son. the marriage did not last long. 'My first move was to get a Rolling Stone as a boyfriend. I slept with three and decided the lead singer was the best bet'. 


Hmmm ...


Anyway, she became a subtext in various songs by the Stones and others. And below is probably her major hit of all time, a Jagger/Richards song.




Then things totally imploded, she split from Jagger in 1970 and lost custody of her son in the same year. She ended up heroin addicted, anorexic and literally on the streets. She came back in the end but differently. Her voice changed. Laryngitis, cigarettes drink and cocaine abuse produced a new husky voice.


It worked and with Broken English in 1979 came her most critically acclaimed album. It wasn't a smooth ride thereafter, drugs continued to feature along with disastrous relationships. It probably never will be a smooth ride. She's high maintenance. Inevitably health problems have followed. All those years later, I'm not in love with Marianne any more. But I do like her. She's paid her dues. This is slightly back to front as I did blog on the mature Marianne a while ago and this posting refers back to her early years. So for the sake of completeness - and anyway - here from Broken English and her comeback is The Ballad of Lucy Jordan





Oh okay then - somewhat tangential but just for fun here are the Velvets with Venus In Furs ...

Afghanistan - Enough ...

Forgive the occasional excursion into seriousness but two recent stories from Afghanistan shock me into reflection - and comment. 


The first was the deaths of the six British soldiers (five of them 21 or under) by a very large Taliban roadside bomb. Their relatives have paid moving tributes to their bravery which rightly have been reported widely and sympathetically. It may seem that this is not the right moment to ask the question (I'm not sure there ever is a right one) but I regularly wonder the following.


'What will be said to the parents, spouse, relatives and friends of the last British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan as to what the purpose of their sacrifice was?'


It seems to me that there is no answer to this question, save for the unpalatable one - there was no purpose served at all.  The only legitimate objective of the original attack, namely to make it more difficult for Al-Qaeda was achieved pretty quickly. The rest is a hopeless - and doomed - exercise in nation building. Who seriously imagines the Karzai regime will last very long after the coalition forces are withdrawn? Or that it is of such merit - and has such a wide base of popular support that it seriously deserves to in basic democratic grounds?


It will last as long as the comparably corrupt South Vietnamese government did after the withdrawal of US troops. If that long.

The second story is the murder of 16 Afghan civilians including nine children by an - I assume mentally unstable - US soldier today just adds to the sorrow and the pity. It is not the case that some lives are more 'important' than others. All are precious and the loss of any diminishes us. No doubt conspiracy theories will abound and the revenge attacks begin. The mix is hopelessly - to use an overused word - toxic. This is more than enough. We must not 'cut and run' comes the inevitable cry. Let's cut and run - and bring the troops back for they can do no further good. And do it now.

White Heat

The rabbit has been having a difficult time since last posting. I'm fine - it's not about me - and I will tell all (well perhaps not quite all) in good time. But not now - bear with me. It is worth noting, though, that the BBC seems to have trumps having just seen the first part of new drama 6 parter White Heat. 


It starts in the present with pivotal character Charlotte being shown round a house in Tufnell Park where she had lived as a student in 1965. The then young owner is an arrogant rich kid who auditions students as potential tenants. Charlotte is one of the chosen ones. The no longer young owner has died. We go to back to 1965. Claire Foy runs with the Charlotte character who is soon smoking, taking drugs and fornicating (the latter two activities taking place in rapid succession in accordance with the customs of the time). The story runs through the years to Greenham Common and the Falklands war and beyond to the present day. But tonight was episode one and much remains to become clear. The rabbit was rather taken by the surrealism of a party set to the backdrop of Winston Churchill's funeral and left wondering what the drug taken before the fornicating was. It could not have been LSD, the thought went, as that drug was rare in 1965 and pretty much impossible to combine with fornicating, at least in the early stages of its effects, but I digress.


It is written by Paula Milne who has fessed up to the obvious, namely that it is semi autobiographical. She is plainly a part of a generation with an interesting collection of back stories. Oh, and the soundtrack is quality. It starts with the inevitable ...




Not to mention this one - I'd quite forgotten it but researches reveal it was released in 1965. US readers, I fear you'll have to wait until White Heat shows up on a public service channel or whatever ...

Neil Young mostly ,,,,

To slightly adapt a well known saying, work is something that happens to you when you make plans to blog. A lot of tearing up and down the country, then recovering by flopping in a heap doesn't make for serious - or even sustained frivolous - writing. So some music is in order - mostly Neil Young today. Starting with our man at the top of his game with My My Hey Hey from the Farm Aid thing. 'It's better to burn out than to fade away'. Hmmm ... I'll get back to you on that.

Neil Young of course first came to note via Buffalo Springfield- as did Stephen Stills (random fact: Stephen Stills was considered as a possible Monkee but it was decided that his teeth didn't pass muster). They produced one wonderful album (For What It's Worth) and a sort of theme song for the Vietnam war - For What It's Worth, did a lot of drugs and kept having infinitely confusing line up changes.


Then there was Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, commonly known as CSNY, it must be said that a lot of their stuff was trite and sentimental as anyone who has cringed through Our House and/or Teach Your Children Well can confirm. But they also did all time rabbit favourite Helpless (written by Young). Annoyingly, the YouTube link to the Deja Vu studio version of Helpless has 'embedding disabled by request'. No problemo - just follow the link ..


Postscript: Or even better - and this shows the ridiculousness of the whole thing - same song, same album, different link - no embedding ..




All together now ...


There is a town in north Ontario
With dream  comfort memory to spare
In my mind I need a place to go
All my changes were there ...


Followed by one of the lines of all time ...


Blue, blue windows behind the stars

Then they also did Ohio ...

And finally as a very loud raspberry to a very rude woman who thinks the rabbit needs a haircut, here are Crosby, Stills and Nash from 2009 with Almost Cut My Hair Today. If you got it, flaunt it!

Let the overkill begin...

The London Olympics - which will plainly grind the city to a halt (probably literally) and suffer the hugest media overkill imaginable - is bound to bring out the contrarian in the rabbit. Hopping across London Bridge early yesterday morning, the rabbit was confronted by loads of professional photographers and their great big cameras on the east pavement. The object of their excitement? A float with the seven Olympic rings between London and Tower Bridges ...

Cue rolling of eyes. Compliments of the rabbit's homeboy Shiraz, here is a much clearer pic of the stupid thing ...

Today being the 29th February, by tradition women may propose marriage. The rabbit is open to all reasonable offers ...

And with Hat Tip to Charon QC ...

And a happy valentine's day ...

to all that could use such greetings!






And again in French  complete with pretty people ...

Things from facebook ,,,

Belatedly, and slightly against his better judgement, the rabbit signed up to facebook a while ago and above - with apologies to anyone who has seen it on his facebook page - it was stolen from the rabbit's homeboy Shiraz's page - is informative stuff on how to be made gay. If it doesn't work complain to Jester Wools (in the unlikely event that they still exist) and not to the rabbit.

Also from facebook - via a blogger near you (she may not want naming all over the blogosphere) is some more informative stuff. Never let it said that it was not educational chez rabbit...


The rabbit mentioned top Spanish organisation the CNT in a comment on Daisy's blog - adding something to the effect that it was the only political organisation he would contemplate joining but that was there, that was then. In fact it still exists and has a membership of 10,000 - to be contrasted with a membership of 700,000 in 1919! Rather a pity that - nice banner though.

A stern ticking off ...

Foreign Secretary William Hague denounced the Syria regime as 'murderous' in the House of Commons yesterday. Above is a recent study of Hague giving Syrian tyrant Bashar Al-Assad a stern ticking off as regards the latter's state as instrument of murder. Hat Tip to Old Holborn. For the sake of completeness, and in the interest of political balance below is former prime minister Tony B. Liar showing the now deceased Libyan dictator how all right minded people held his similarly murderous kleptocracy in contempt.

The Artist, Top Totty, The Walbrook and wholesome song

It seems that the entire population of the known universe is raving about just how good The Artist is and the rabbit, who went to see it last night, would like to join in the chorus of approbation. The first thing to say is what a daring project it is: in the era of 3D and the avatar, The Artist is a full length black and white silent movie - about a silent movie actor.
Could they possibly pull it off?

The answer is yes. As a fan of French film, I suspect that only the French would have the flair and imagination to try in the first place. But it works - for a number of reasons. The acting follows the convention of the silent movie, where the story is told mostly told by overstated gesture and expression - with the odd text for the more complex strands. The sets are outstandingly authentic looking - entirely convincing in fact. There are all the set pieces of early cinema - including the performing small dog. The narrative makes a good, affectionate job of conveying the cartoonishness and sentimentality of early cinema. Of necessity the story is driven by image.

And the story? Well let's just say it begins with a chance encounter, the rise of one person as another falls, apparent betrayal - and a happy ending. Otherwise go see. You won't be disappointed. Oh and hiuge credit goes to the two principal actors, Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo who the rabbit was wholly unaware of before but may be slightly in love with.

Here is a really stupid story. Above is the handpump plate for a beer called - erm - Top Totty. It is brewed by Stafford based brewers Slater's and features a bikini clad young woman in its promotion and is described as 'a stunning blonde beer ... full bodied with a voluptuous hop aroma'.

Haw! Haw! Haw! (etc)

Apparently, it's not a very good beer and jokey names tend to give away the embarrassing fact of a naff product, the exception being Fat Bastard Wines, which are generally rather good but I digress. Now the House of Commons has a number of rather good bars. (Selected) members of the public are allowed in the Strangers' Bar (the rabbit has been a few times and rather fun it is too) - Top Totty was installed as a guest beer.

Oh dear ...

Enter Kate Green MP , Labour spokesperson on equality issues in full blown outrage mode. She pronounced herself 'disturbed', demanded a debate on 'dignity at work in Parliament' and further demanded the removal of the offending beer - which was done in 90m minutes flat.

I really have to say that I'm struggling to get worked up about the (former) presence of Top Totty. It hardly ranks up there with war crimes as a source of -erm - being disturbed. Perhaps Kate Green MP should get out more. The topic makes for strange bedfellows: I've just read the first comment from an UKIP member I've ever agreed with (Mike Nattrass MEP) 'This sort of knee jerk puritanism does more to damage the cause of equality than a thousand beer labels. It suggests that to be in favour of equality you must be a dour faced, insult searching misery'.

Not Kate Green's finest hour?

The rabbit has hitherto blogged without ever putting a pic of himself up- but I suppose it had to be done one fine day and the day is upon us. On Friday, he was invited to the Walbrook, a members' dining club in the City of London. so here he is (blue shirt on left) with colleague and friend It's well posh and has a number of oddities, Winston Churchill's hat in a glass case, two (not very good) original John Lennon cartoons and a completely surreal gents. Below is the toilet paper dispenser. Weird or what?

Finally, and as an apology for the appalling lapse of taste in posting Downtown with an - ahem - reference to solitary vice, a wholesome song is in order. What could fit the description better than the king of the slide guitar, Elmore James , with Dust My Broom.

Goodwin, solitary vice and Mrs Windsor

For overseas readers and the terminally inattentive, the above person is named Fred Goodwin. Until yesterday, he was Sir Fred Goodwin but had the 'Sir' bit removed - or 'cancelled and annulled' by some body no-one has ever heard of before - the 'Honours Forfeiture Committee'. Previous persons relieved of honours include Mussolini, Ceausescu and Mugabe.


The rabbit will expend few words on Goodwin, a particularly unattractive individual. In brief summation, he also as a banker with RBS (the Royal Bank of Scotland) had the title of 'Fred the Shred' due to his aggressive asset stripping techniques. American readers: think Mitt Romney minus the effusive charm and social conscience. He over-reached, notably in the takeover of Dutch bank ABN-AMRO and in 2009 Goodwin presided over a loss of £24.1 billion - the biggest in British corporate history. Cue imminent collapse of RBS and with it the British banking system. 


Oh well done, Sir!


The net result was an inevitable Government bail out - the alternative being presumably an economic system based on barter with bright coloured beads - with the result that RBS is now 87% owned by the public. The result for Goodwin was a huge pension (despite huffing and puffing from Government circles about 'no reward for failure') involving him trousering £703,000 per annum (that's $1,113,046 a year to get by on, American readers). Oh and he had add on benefits. Naturally. Like for example a £2.7 million tax free lump sum). After a public outcry, Goodwin's pension was reduced to a mere £342,000 per annum).


Cue the next public outcry. The current head honcho of RBS, a person named Stephen Hester, was about to be paid a 2011 bonus falling just short of £1 million. For exactly what reason remains obscure and it will be called that the public have an 87% stake in RBS since riding to the rescue following Goodwin's depredations. Cue general outrage. The Labour Party in a rare example of it showing signs of having a spine, was prepared to take the topic of the bonus to the House of Commons and force a vote. 


The government wouldn't have liked that. 


Surprise, surprise. On Sunday last, Hester graciously announced he would waive the bonus. Not that he was leant on by a government horrified at the idea of being seen voting for bankers' bonuses or anything like that. Oh no...


So two days later, Goodwin is stripped of his knighthood (given for 'services to banking' as you ask). Now the rabbit views the honours system as nonsense on stilts but there is a distinct whiff of convenient scapegoating in the timing of this. It's always easier to go for gesture politics calculated to make the government look good as opposed to actually addressing the substantive issues isn't it 'Dave'?


It is a short step from bankers to - oh never mind, just change one consonant. The rabbit has long known that Pictures of Lily is about masturbation but was shocked to learn that Downtown is too. And that Petula Clark looked so demure...


:0





Finally, the rabbit was amused to Learn of Leanne Wood, a member of the Welsh assembly. Ms Wood - she being like the rabbit of republican opinion - called a person often described as 'The Queen' as 'Mrs Windsor' in the Welsh Assembly. Some Labour sycophant complained and Ms Wood (a Plaid Cymru - that's Welsh nationalist for overseas readers - member)  was ordered to leave the chamber. As can be seen below.

Welcome back...

Pausing only for a quick 'we are not worthy', the rabbit is delirious to see that total class act Beau Bo D'Or has returned! Welcome back, Sir!

Meanwhile in the land of the free all was not well for two British would be tourists named Lee Van Fryer and Emily Bunting after a twitter announcement that they were going to 'destroy America' and 'dig up Marilyn Monroe' (presumably to measure her - erm - ass for identification purposes - see below). Result: stopped by armed guards at Los Angeles International Airport, interrogated for 5 hours, handcuffed and locked up with various Mexican drug dealers etc. before being deported. Oh and their luggage was searched for spades. Dear Department of Homeland security - Now about that British sense of humour...


Admittedly the less than dynamic duo do look like a pair of dolts, but if this were grounds for banning people from international travel, then there would not be much of it about.

Meanwhile all is not well on the liberty front in the UK. The above is John Marjoram who is Mayor of Stroud, a Quaker and a pacifist. He refused to fill in his 2011 census form as a statement against the involvement of the defence contractor Lockheed Martin UK, which won the contract to run the census. At about the time of the census was the first anniversary of Lockheed Martin's military hardware being used to give Gaza the Guernica treatment. He is to be prosecuted for failing to fill in his census form.


Apparently 1.6 million census forms were not returned. are 1.6 million people to be prosecuted? Nope - apparently about 400 so far with 120 convictions. It is generally agreed in official circles that the census is an anachronistic and unproductive exercise and will not be repeated. 


On what basis has John Majoram been singled out for prosecution? Could it be that he is being prosecuted because he took a stand on principle and did what authoritarians and bossyboots everywhere hate - he showed dissent? Slightly disturbingly - and for reason so far unexplained - he is not to be prosecuted in his home town of Stroud but some distance away in Bristol. No doubt if he couldn't be bothered filling in his census form or simply 'forgot' he would be most unlikely to be prosecuted. Below - as a small sign of support - is a picture of the founder of the Quakers - George Fox - once imprisoned for 'disturbing the peace' (the authorities tend to suffer an irony deficit). It is to be hoped that his latter day follower does not suffer a similar fate.

It's cold up north... mostly photos

The rabbit has returned from his long weekend in the north east where he found himself regularly addressed as 'pet', which is quite nice and attended the Shami Chakrabati lecture as announced on the last posting at Northumbria University - which is an impressive piece of modern architecture (see above). The rabbit stayed in Durham for the long weekend and attended a Verdi requiem by the Durham Choral Society (I'm under orders to give them a plug!) at Durham cathedral which is noted for - as well as its age, it's early Norman - its sheer hugeness. The rabbit couldn't get all of it in one photo from anywhere remotely resembling close up but here is the centre section with tower. Those Normans knew how to make 'we are in charge' statements

Here are a couple of other images from the peninsular (the centre of Durham and a world heritage site). Below is Market Square with statue of Lord Londonderry. Apparently the square was refurbished in the recent past and the statue moved so that - if you wish to photo His Lordship from the front, a less than world heritage Tesco Express appears in the background. the rabbit took the photo from the rear so we - literally - have a horse's arse.

And then The Castle - or at least a part of it. The Keep to be exact...

Then yesterday, the rabbit was taken for a drive in bleak treeless moorland in County Durham. Rather beautiful but incredibly cold and if the skies appear iron grey in these photos - there is a reason...

Apart from the odd mad cyclist, you don't see people on the moors. You do see sheep, though. Lots of sheep. Regularly getting in the way. Oh and the white post just to the left of the road is for orientation in heavy snowdrifts.Very useful up there no doubt...

But this appealed to the surrealist in the rabbit - the cart is solid but the horse is made of strips of metal to create a skeletal image. The rabbit is back in London - where it is significantly less cold - and at work now...

Off I hop...

The rabbit is not a liberal lesbian for reasons too obvious to labour but found the above funny and does find Mrs Gingrich the Third to be scarily fascinating. It's the hair mostly. Is it actually a plastic helmet or is it riveted on or what? 


The circular firing squad that constitutes the Republican primaries is guiltily fascinating - as a car crash is guiltily fascinating. You know that good taste and decorum tells you to look away but you can't help it. With a circular firing squad there are inevitably casualties and the serial killer AKA Perry is the latest to withdraw leaving the repulsive Gingrich slugging it out with empty suit Romney, a man whose business practices are so unattractive as to make his fellow Republicans come over all Michael Moore on him. 


As a peaceful man, the rabbit would not suggest that the loathsome Gingrich (it will be gathered that the rabbit is not a fan) be strangled with the guts of - oh - one of the other would be nominees would do nicely - or anything unpleasant like that but those of a less pacific bent may wish to consider this undoubtedly moderate course of action. Otherwise he will just seek to trade in Plastic Hair for a younger and healthier model in due course. Women of America - be afraid, be very afraid - especially if you make the mistake of getting older or seriously ill.


For the avoidance of doubt - as we say in the trade - the rabbit retains his highly qualified regard for Ron Paul but he's not going to win. God help us, Gingrich might.


Otherwise the rabbit has been invited to Northumbria University to hear   Shami Chakrabarti speak. The rabbit has no idea why he has been invited but will combine this auspicious event with a weekend away staying with a friend who is singing in a choir in Durham Cathedral on Saturday. The rabbit has a front seat ticket.


In the meantime, the smaller small rabbit needs help with his car insurance. He assures the rabbit it will be the last time.Cue for a song... 

Snaresbrook Crown Court and Dennis Potter

Above is Snaresbrook Crown Court in East London. There have been strange goings on there of late. Stranger than usual that is. The advocates' lounge has been closed following concerns as regards the food. Of itself this would be little surprise to anyone who has ever eaten there but there is a particular reason. Namely what? I hear you cry.


There have been fears that the food may have been contaminated. With what? I hear you cry. Ermmm ...

Well it is not official but the suggestion is that traces of urine have been found in soups, sandwiches and salads. Complaints were made that the food 'smelled a bit off'. The rabbit was in fact at Snaresbrook on Wednesday afternoon this week but (coincidentally) had eaten lunch before arriving.


But here is the best bit. Police have become involved and are looking for - erm - 'someone with a dislike of lawyers or judges'.


No doubt.



After the Everly Brothers' Love Is Strange clip in the last posting Tony commented referring to the Buddy Holly version. Good point but not today - though the comment did send the rabbit on an excursion around YouTube in hot pursuit of different versions of this song. Above is the original by the relatively obscure Mickey & Sylvia but with a twist. The clip is from playwright and total rabbit hero Dennis Potter's Lipstick on Your Collar. Potter largely wrote for television as the medium he felt would reach the most people and  Lipstick on Your Collar was a 6 part television mini series. Mickey in the clip above is the young Ewan McGregor. Potter used popular music to frame magical realist scenes as above. if I am not mistaken the cartoons are by those Biff jokers.

Potter, a heroic chain-smoker, became a playwright as he spent most of his adult life desperately ill with regular hospitalisation from arthritic psoriasis, thus making ordinary employment impossible. You can see from the hand with the cigarette the distorting and paralysing effect of his condition. His plays are (largely) great, he was great. I'd quite forgotten that the only time that he ran for elected office - in his twenties - he became so disenchanted he didn't even vote for himself. 'Nuff said. Except this...


He was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer - probably a by product of the medication he had to take for his arthritic psoriasis. He gave a television interview to Melvyn Bragg in the Channel 4 Without Walls series. I think it is the most moving thing I have ever seen on television. Here's a taster.




He had two months to live at this point, through the interview he is swigging oral morphine, sipping a glass of champagne and smoking away. He was also caring for his wife at the time of the interview - she had terminal breast cancer and died 9 days before him. The full interview is up on YouTube in segments - go check it out or here is an edited transcript. Almost 18 years later I still remember the emotional impact of the interview and thinking' I love this guy'.


For the really time pressed, here are some of his points from the interview...

Resist cynicism, invite criticism.

Remember what's truly important.

Appreciate the now.

Don't be seduced by conformity.

Nurture and cherish talent.

Figures aren't everything.

There are reasons for tradition.

Fight the commodification of public life.

Be true to your idea.

Put wood to good use.

Find your own voice.

Consider what you leave behind.

Always make time for your dad.

As the page these quotes are assembled on says 'cut them out and keep them in your wallet; it will make you a better person'.

Above is his gravestone in St Mary's Parish Church Ross-on-Wye. It connects with that of his wife.  The inscription across both stones reads, 'All the way to heaven is heaven ... All of it a kiss'. It is taken from Alice Hoffman's novel Turtle Moon. Respect from the rabbit. Proud to be a fan.

Eve Arnold and Ron Paul

American born but long term UK resident photographer Eve Arnold has died aged 99. She spent a lot of time photographing Marilyn Monroe. As - erm - can be seen. I'm sorry, i couldn't help myself.

Perhaps a little surprisingly, she was given extensive access to Malcolm X, the net result of which was a number of images.

Not to mention Andy Warhol, here seen engaging in some bizarre sort of exercise regime.

Not to mention Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. She wrote 'if a photographer cares about the people in front of the lens and is compassionate, much is given. It is the photographer, not the camera, that is the instrument'. Okay, one more Marilyn.

On a totally different subject, the rabbit is constantly asked who he would vote for if he had a vote in the US Republican primaries. On balance and in the absence of definitive guidance from his friend Christine O'Donnell who is still keeping her own counsel (sort of) the rabbit would seek help. 


Let us consider the field. we have Romney (empty suit) Sanatorium - or whatever he calls himself - who is apparently of the belief that the British lost the Empire because of the NHS), Gingrich (utterly loathsome toad), Perry (serial killer and serial dimwit) and the now out of the race Michele Bachman and her definitely not gay husband.


And there is Ron Paul.

Ron is aged approximately 108 and is seen here wearing a prosthetic nose as a bet. He is also - unlike the rest of the field -a  genuinely interesting thinker. He is routinely described as the most conservative member of the US Congress but it's a bit more complicated than that. Let's do a little checklist. His deficit reduction proposals are off the wall but that's hardly unique and unlike drooling idiot Perry, he no doubt can actually remember what they are. He is generally against invading other countries and specifically was opposed to the Iraq war (right). He opposes US aid to Israel (right for the wrong reason). He regards the not medically insured failing to be treated as a consequence of freedom (hugely wrong - the non choice between private care you cannot afford and nonexistent free care is the absence of freedom). By way of contrast, the wants to end the US trade embargo of Cuba (right). He opposed Tony B.Liar receiving a Congressional Medal of Honour (guess) and is opposed to the death penalty (guess again - this is pretty rare among US politicians too). I could go on.


Paul is undoubtedly a thorough going extremist and the rabbit does not buy into his free market beliefs (although some propositions flow from them that are actually quite sound). He is however an original thinker and a challenge to received wisdom. As such, he has to be a highly qualified good thing. The rabbit might even vote for him if some bizarre set of circumstances allowed him to do so. Look at the competition for starters.


Have Love Is Strange as something for the weekend for no particular reason that I heard oit on something the other day and thought 'good song'...