Well, I’d delayed writing this because on Saturday we were due to have our first day in London for ages – and guess what? No trains! Oops – deja vu – see last post… We went to Tenterden and Spent Money instead. Have had a busy week – saw West Side Story, went to a Brazilian Bossa Nova night, lunch with friends, WI Book Club… Weather has been better, and we have enjoyed sunny walks and outings. The national situation gets worse and worse. I have written three times to our MP, Sally-Ann Hart, in the last couple of weeks, and got no replies. The woman is a clone with no mind of her own.
On the theme of politics, Battleaxe is totally fed up with the constant media banging on about how Johnson is on a ‘knife-edge’, in the ‘last chance saloon’, on ‘number eight of his nine lives’. Look, I know the game is all about whipping up frenzy in us poor punch-drunk little plebs, but look, let’s face it, no way is the obscene, immoral smirking slug going to give up his power, or his expensive wallpaper, and no way are those craven Tory MP cowards going to lift a finger to send him on his way. On the contrary, us numbskull knuckle-dragging proles are supposed to be distracted by ‘red meat’ populist rubbish – getting rid of the BBC, sending gun-boats after migrants and God knows what next. Oh, and of course, Covid is on its way out! What a triumph for the Tories! Well, no. The dramatic ‘drop’ in cases coincided almost to the day with the removal of the requirement to confirm infection with a (registered) PCR test, and the sudden non-availability of lateral flow test kits. As Trump used to say – no tests, no cases. It’s a miracle! It is indeed a miracle how any sane person can be expected to survive this nightmare.
Pah, leave it out. Let’s go to West Side Story – the new Spielberg production. We saw it with friends Jan and Tom at the Kino, St Leonards. Cinema, packed… Film – it was quite touching seeing the so-much-older Rita Moreno back in the new version. She is 90! The new Anita was also pretty mesmerising. Here’s a list of changes from the original to save Battleaxe time and space. Dancing – brilliant, particularly the street-set version of ‘America’. Singing, excellent – and nothing can take away from the magnificence of that score.
Bossa Nova with the Hastings Philharmonic? Surely not, but yes. The redoubtable Marcio da Silva is Brazilian, and as well as the other five million things he does he also has a Latin American combo that can rattle out jazz samba rhythms with the best of them… eat your hearts out Astrid Gilberto et al. They were playing in the Sussex Lounge in the basement of the White Rock Theatre – we have never been there before. It sounds like an intimate venue but actually it is a big space – too big, I think, for this – it needed somewhere more cabaret/club style, with a bit of space for finger-snapping – and even getting up and shaking booties. Sitting there with masks on doesn’t help. But what we heard of it was good, and as before, the place was packed. Like so many events we now attend, we left at the interval! Don’t ask me why, but it gives me a liberated feeling to do that… a taster, but not an overdose. It feels very grown up as well – like being able to leave undrunk wine in your glass in a restaurant. I am still no good at that. If Philosopher leaves some of his, guess who hoovers it up?
Good thing I don’t work in Downing Street with that wine fridge… the organisational culture in that place is clearly total, utter rubbish, never mind the lack of Alcohol at Work policy (see this). It is astonishing they get any work done at all. And look, you imbecilic Tories. Who is responsible for that culture, good or bad? The person at the top. No matter if Johnson went to the stupid parties or not. He is in charge. He is responsible.
Oh, don’t start that again. Yesterday went for a sunny walk round St Leonards and today, we went for a sunny walk around Scotney Castle. As ever, Scotney was looking fabulous, but we were surprised to see the lake covered in ice. I found a couple of little stones and threw them. TinkTinkTinkTink they went…
Wow, you’ve been busy, Stephanie. We are still not allowed to go to cinemas or the theatre…sigh…there’s no logic to any of these policies. Anyway, West Side Story looks great. I’d like to see it too. As for Scotney Castle, it looks beautiful. A lovely place to waste some time.
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Scotney Castle is indeed beautiful