THE BRITISH THREAD II

@McTag,

Quote:

Versatile singer/organist, John Shuttleworth decides to test the popular theory - that the further north you travel, the friendlier people will be - by venturing to Britain's most northerly spot, the Shetland Isles. Foiled by failing light, let down by a flat car battery, and buffeted by the constant wind, John doggedly pursues his quest; asking everyone he meets the all-important question; "Is it nice up North?"Filmed by internationally renowned photographer Martin Parr and co-starring Shetland tour guide Elma Johnson as herself, "It's Nice Up North" is a brilliant spoof drama/documentary; a mix of riveting actuality (caught by Parr's ever roving camera), and inspired nonsense from the mouth of Shuttleworth. It also features the music of Shetland's own superb violin ensemble 'Fiddler's Bid'.

There's bits of it on You Tube.

1 Reply

@spendius,

Surrealism- John Shuttleworth does not get the acclaim he deserves, imho.

For it was he, was it not, who as Jilted John was responsible for the classic '70s song "Gordon is a Moron".

I do not think though, that he was responsible for the subsequent "Gordon's Not a Moron 'Cause he Knows Who Wrote Handel's "Messiah""

But he might have been.

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@McTag,

Hi from Kildare county!

Yesterday I watched five minutes of Coronation Street. Utterly boring.

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@McTag,

It's a drollery you wouldn't be surprised at out of his mouth.

He phoned the wife back in Sheffield from a wild moor in a gale near a derelict haunted castle to see if she had remembered to tuck the curtains behind the radiators. And he did some outstanding things with the wind. The wind had a big part. My sofa felt twice as good watching it. No wonder the Romans buggered off. And the way he played with Time is amazing too.

Philip Larkin would have loved it.

And he couldn't find anybody with a sense of humour.

And he never tried to look sexy: probably because he never thought of it. Which is most refreshing.

And the difference in a woman's legs when she's walking forwards or going backwards is scientifically amazing.

I've seen much worse movies than that which cost thousands of times more money. On the fun he gives his audience per £1 of cost to him puts him "up there" as Andy Warhol used to say.

It really is very good.

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@Francis,

Quote:

Yesterday I watched five minutes of Coronation Street. Utterly boring.

Obviously. For three reasons.

No 1--you can't get up for Corrie in five minutes. Your artistic reputation has just blown away Francis.

No 2 --It's English.

No 3-- Because French people cannot understand it at all because they are not complete idiotic arseholes like what we English rabble are. It is a comedy you see. Shakespearean even.

We are just as much at a loss to understand French humour as French people are to understand ours. Basically it's about deviousness and low animal cunning in the sexual/financial field. With some subtle social engineering added. When that's boring it's time to pack it in.

What you said reminded me of those people who take a peek at a baseball game and say it's just rounders. I avoid that sort of thing at all costs. Everything interests me. And if it is an (inter)national institution, written by the highest paid scriptwriters in the Premier League and has well known actors angling for a part in it then I am quite interested. Utterly even.

1 Reply

@spendius,

spendius wrote:

Your artistic reputation has just blown away Francis.

I didn't know I had one...

In addition, you shouldn't take for granted everything you read on the internet.

I just made some idle comments about matters I don't even care about, being bored is some internet cafe/library in the Irish countryside...

What's your social analysis about a French guy having profiterolles in a fake Italian retaurant in the Irish countryside?

(The waiter doesn't even know what an Amaretto is).

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@Francis,

Francis wrote:

(The waiter doesn't even know what an Amaretto is).

Isn't that the small, dry cookie you get with with your Starbucks coffee? Wink

1 Reply

@Walter Hinteler,

.... if you get coffee, that is (Steve knows more about that ....)

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@Francis,

Quote:

What's your social analysis about a French guy having profiterolles in a fake Italian retaurant in the Irish countryside?

Offhand, for I have to go to the pub shortly where I will consider the matter further, I would say Paris must be very ******* boring.

1 Reply

@Francis,

I would like to know what you're doing on Erin's green isle, Francis, but I've got a feeling that you're not about to tell me.

Anyhow I hope you find it convivial. The Irish are good company in the main. But County Kildare in November could be less than alluring, I suppose.

Spendy, are you familiar with John Shuttleworth's song "Pigeons in Flight"?

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Spendy will like this one, an article by Theodore Dalrymple in The Times.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5133966.ece

"The second reason is that the fundamental purpose of the British public service is to provide a meal-and-mortgage-ticket for those who work in it, especially at management level. The ostensible purpose of an organisation is rarely its real purpose. I know this from my experience in the Health Service. "

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@McTag,

Mr Dalrymple was always one of my favourite writers.

It is only a pity he did not include reference to the situation he describes as the only cause of the credit crunch and the resulting national impoverishment.

Thanks for drawing my attention to that Mac. The Times publishing it is a straw in the wind. Just as the dismemberment of the bureaucracy which has been measuring carrots and cauilflowers for the last 20 years also is.

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@McTag,

Quote:

"The second reason is that the fundamental purpose of the British public service is to provide a meal-and-mortgage-ticket for those who work in it, especially at management level.

And look at the stick I had to take when I said that about Jobcentres. Your love for smorgsie traduced your judgment.

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@spendius,

spendius wrote:

I would say Paris must be very ******* boring.

Would you be agreeable enough as to explicit the foundations of such delectable sally?

1 Reply

McTag wrote:

I would like to know what you're doing on Erin's green isle, Francis, but I've got a feeling that you're not about to tell me.

I'm always amazed, McT, about the accuracy of your feelings..

I really enjoyed the friendliness of the Irish people.

Their hospitality is quite remarkable.

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@Francis,

Quote:

Would you be agreeable enough as to explicit the foundations of such delectable sally?

It struck me that to leave a place to visit another at great expense, not least for carbon spewing, in order to end up with-

Quote:

I just made some idle comments about matters I don't even care about, being bored is some internet cafe/library in the Irish countryside...

What's your social analysis about a French guy having profiterolles in a fake Italian retaurant in the Irish countryside?

(The waiter doesn't even know what an Amaretto is).

strongly suggests that the place left must be intolerable in some way. I offered "boring" as it throws the blame on the place rather than on the person escaping.

To offer the justification of the friendliness and hospitality of the Irish people also makes an invidious comparison with the place left behind. Most people are friendly and hospitable when they are taking your cash.

And, for someone who has known a good few Irish people, a not very flattering one at that.

It is well known that talented Irishmen leave Ireland at the first opportunity and a few of them have given their reasons. Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Frank Harris, George Best and James Joyce come to mind.

And no can-can dancers.

1 Reply

@spendius,

spendius wrote:

It struck me that to leave a place to visit another at great expense, not least for carbon spewing,

As I suspected, you are completely beside the point.

I was not visiting Ireland nor was I engaging in great expense.

As a matter of fact I was there to earn my meager pittance (well, not so meager) therefore taking the Irish some money.

Yet, they were very hospitable and friendly.

See, Spendy, how easily one can indulge in idle reasoning, based on prejudices and statistics?

BTW, I met a dog there called Molly.

As you certainly remember, Molly is the nickname of Leopold Bloom's wife...

1 Reply

@Francis,

Also the subject of Little Richard's song.

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@McTag,

That one is not the Molly that has a barrow in the market place...

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@Francis,

Joyce's choice of "Molly" is a bit complicated.

If I get time I'll look up the references and explain what I mean.

PS --Anybody who can get money out of the Irish must be pretty damn good at something.

1 Reply

THE BRITISH THREAD II

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