Musical weekend

Last weekend was in effect a long time in the planning.

Friday evening was spent in Lille to see Grand Corp Malade, the tickets having been bought one year before and the idea gestating long before that.

We took the Eurostar to Lille which for most of the passengers was the Disney Land express- as only two other people or so got off at Lille. The others on the train were families of different ages and compositions commonly dressed as Mickey or Minnie.

I was surprised by the number of police and soldiers before we went in and by the number of older people in the audience. I was expecting mostly young people- I was wrong.

The crowd loved him and it was a great evening.

On Saturday we moved onto Paris. We saw the ballet at the Opera House-Palais Garnier- Mayerling. This is a relatively modern ballet. It tells the story of the prince who is next in line in the Austro Hungarian empire prior to WW1. He is a nasty piece of work, unfaithful, drug addict and general abuser of people. He dies in a suicide pact. The dancing is more sexual than is typical.

Sunday was electo-jazz- never heard of it before at a cool venue- old railway station.

There were three musician of whom Théo Ceccaldi was the star and lead. A s,all venue, free entry paid for by beer etc and a whip around at the end. Great quality and skill. Great experience.

A bit of more trad jazz on Monday evening- not bad.

But an unexpected experience at the church if St. Eustache on Tuesday morning when we found, by chance, the organist practicing on the second largest organ i France. Wonderful noise!

Something like this but actually better

Another historical win

So apparently the first time Brentford have beaten Manchester United since 1938.
It was a complete thrashing- 4-nil.

Ronaldo was rubbish- more a spoilt brat than an adult.

Guardian

The Perc and I were in a new seats – in the same stand but a few rows higher up allowing us to see more of the action.

Man U were terrible and gave away 2-3 of the goals.

It was the return of Eriksen who looked out of place and position and did not have the influence that he had just a little while ago playing in a Brentford shirt.

The crowd were happy at the end singing along. We went to the pub for a few celebratory pints.

The season is up and running

This weekend is round 2 of the premier league season. An early start because of the world cup being held in winter because of the oppressive heat.

So this weekend is the first home game against the well- known Manchester United, who were poor in their first match and the Bees pulled back to get a good draw.

Erikson is gone- to Man Utd, and maybe a fine replacement has been found?

Brentford snap up Mikkel Damsgaard from Sampdoria for €15m

  • Danish international joins Bees on five-year deal
  • Damsgaard could make debut against Manchester United
Mikkel Damsgaard at Sampdoria
Mikkel Damsgaard made 49 appearances for Sampdoria but his last season there was beset by injury. Photograph: Getty Images

Fabrizio Romano and Joel MiansWed 10 Aug 2022 12.55 BST

Brentford have agreed a deal to sign the highly rated Denmark midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard from Sampdoria on a five-year deal for a fee of €15m (£12.7m).

The 22-year-old has completed his medical and will become the club’s sixth summer signing.

Canicule

The UK and other parts of Europe are currently experiencing extreme heat.

There are forest fires in Spain and Portugal. On the Atlantic coast of France too, including around ‘John Barley’s house”.

Currently it is 36C and due to be 38C later.

It is certainly too much to bear out of doors and I am not looking forward to the trip to the allotment to do the necessary watering.

This is at the same time as the protracted Tory leadership contest- as they slowly whittle down the contestants to the last two. Currently there are 5- and they have hardly discussed the climate crisis. They have concentrated on attacking each other-not Brexit enough- magic money trees and being a socialist. Wild.

Only yesterday did they, all five, begrudgingly say, they would keep to the net zero target. But with what sort of commitment in reality?

I saw the chair of the self styled ‘net zero scrutiny group’ interviewed yesterday- Tory MPs modelled on the ERG and similar members . Enough to make your blood boil- essentially climate change deniers. ” USA had a heat wave in the 1930s”, ‘ it is hot now but all will be back to normal in a few days”.

‘what the tiny group of Conservative MPs in the Net Zero Scrutiny Group are trying to make us do, in the latest salvo of their eccentric opposition to sound science. Led by Steve Baker and Craig Mackinlay and some of their faithful cheerleaders in the rightwing press, they are demanding the prime minister abandons the green levies that help finance Britain’s drive to net zero, out of apparent concern over soaring energy bills.‘

They couch their arguments as too expensive to act, not necessary, economic self- destruction with inflated numbers used. No acknowledgement of cost of not acting, eg- national trains cancelled today and people staying away from work. What about when there is a shortage of food, water, cities are a nightmare to live in.?

The dangerous PM is ‘gone’

Johnson resigned as party leader yesterday after so much pressure. I think 59 ministers resigned in total from Tuesday- A record. He tried to tough it out.

In the end his speech outside the door of number 10 was typical- no mention of his many wrongdoings and basic corrupt actions and lying but of the ‘herd’ turning against him. In essence, not his fault and others have made the wrong decision.

He is trying to hand on until the autumn as PM- ridiculous. But he wants to hold onto power and the trappings of power.

He will go but the satisfaction will be short lived. The next one along will be in a similar mould.

Ride London Free Cycle

The route

Last Sunday the event happened again for first time in 3 years- I was there 4 years ago.

I had to cycle there and back from home which made about 45km in total – with the circuit itself about 13km.

Me

I enjoyed my previous outing more the last time; maybe more space on the roads, less busy? but also just fresh experience. But good all the same this time.

Certainly a good event. Lots of people, lots of families with young children having the opportunity to access the roads in safety. An important way, for a short time at least, to reclaim the streets.

James Blake

This is very late in the day but…..never too late?

EQ bough tickets for James Blake at the Alexander Palace for Shaz’s birthday. However in the end- EQ decided to go to Croatia with the baby. So I filled her shoes.

It was on a Tuesday night, 10 days ago now, but a school night…so a little dangerous.

The journey there was in truth quite straightforward with an easy walk from Wood Green tube.

And the event-not bad. I like a lot of his music but I am not sure how well it transfers to the live settling. There were 10,000 people there who seemed very relaxed, white, coupled and not raucous.

A good event but not the best.

And a few extracts of music: