with all things being relative, i was up earlier than the rest of my family (as in the 75% of my family you actually all like), but this is not indicative of me being up early as such. all the same i was awake in time to tune into something called The Andrew Marr Show on the visual wireless. it was with some interest that i saw this show was to be on and i was a position to watch it, as i recalled seeing somewhere that it would herald the first guest appearance proper of this Jeremy Corbyn bloke.
alas, no. the host of this The Andrew Marr Show, whose name escapes me for the moment, said that Mr Corbyn, or "Jez" as the marketers are keen and enthusiastic to address him as, was not going to appear on the show after all, as "something else cropped up". it is within the mandate of all politicians, i suppose, to break, breach or alter their pledges, but to do so within 24 hours of being elected as leader must be some sort of new record.
his absence is a pity partially as i was looking forward to having a bit of a listen to this "Jez" fellow to see what the fuss was all about, but mostly as the BBC had managed to obtain an interview with that well known political commentator, Keith Richards out of The Ro££ing $tone$, to give his thoughts and musings about both Mr Corbyn specifically and the direction of the Labour party generally.
yes, i see it and you see it too, but we will focus on that later. and no, Dad, not his smart green shoes.
the idea of getting Keith Richards (i refuse to be drawn into this "Keef" business as i have no need to look sad in an attempt to look cool and i do not know the man) to commentate on political leadership and 21st Century socialism is, to me, exciting. it might to some seem like a move which exemplifies how the BBC has become at once both completely starstruck and entirely committed to dumbing down, but that's only if you don't engage in blue sky thinking.
Sainsbury's was my saviour in this regard, however, as they have one store not too far away from me which still stocked them. however, that looks like it is coming to an end.
it was bad enough, yet tolerable, that they sold them for some 13p a packet more than what Spiros paid for the ones he found in London. let that sink in for a moment. it seemed a small price to pay extra, after all, for something that i wanted.
the wheels somewhat fell off this thinking today, alas. at Sainsbury's i was hit with the double whammy of them not having as many packets in stock as i wished to purchase, and confronted with the fact that they had added a further 26p to the price. it would seem i must resign myself to finding another cheaper and more easily accessible brand, then.
indeed yes this could all be nature's way of telling me that i should strive to be more successful in quitting or cutting down considerably, but i am electing to ignore nature for the moment. but thank you for the concern and the indeed wise suggestion of quitting, if that is what you are thinking. it is a silly, stupid habit and it has an inevitable conclusion, but what can i say, i happen to enjoy it. but, back to Mr Richards.
the commitment to socialism, let us not forget, effectively oozes through every single thing Mr Richards and the Ro££ing $tone$ do, be it through interestingly selected and sparsely inspiring re-releases, or through concert ticket pricing. in this sense, then, Mr Richards is clearly an ideal candidate to consult with for an opinion on what lies ahead for Labour.
yes, i see it again, well done if you spotted it and i assure you we will get to that just now, as that's the main reason for this post anyway.
the BBC, as we are all well aware, are an institution which does not believe it has to answer or explain anything it does to anyone. it was a bold and astonishing move, then, that the host of The Andrew Marr Show, whatever is name is, explained that they interviewed Keith Richards about Jeremy Corbyn as Mr Richards "is the age now which Mr Corbyn will be at the time of the next General Election". that to me is a sound and solid reason to solicit the opinion of someone on any subject.
what was the view of Mr Richards on Mr Corbyn ("Jez") and socialism? we will get to that, but first let's have a bit of a gander at some bonza shampoo i saw today.
yes, that's right - Australian shampoo is now available to purchase in England. wow. i mean, wow. perfect hair is, or if you like was, the last secret which Australia refused to share with the world. well, yes, ok, how they not only get away with but are also applauded and celebrated for institutional racism might be a secret some want to access, but as only a handful of pop stars (Midnight Oil, i think) have ever expressed their distress at this nobody pays much attention.
no, i didn't purchase any of this shampoo myself, for i am currently satisfied with the performance of both my hair and the shampoo i have on the go (an apple or citrus based Head & Shoulders thing. and on that note i've just clocked, who on earth shampoos their shoulders?). but i probably will buy some of it next time.
so, Keith Richards on socialism and Jeremy Corbyn. he seemed generally happy with giving an answer along the lines of "yes, no, maybe", indicating that it could be quite good, but that it could also go quite bad. he also referenced the Labour leaders of his youth, for the poorer, theoretically working class youth of Mr Richards is something he has never once hesitated to reference in interviews which he has given over the years, whether the interviews were hosted on a private jet or indeed on one of the islands that he owns.
considering the champagne socialism on the go - just go and check out all the hefty and expensive bottles of Bollinger's that were cracked open and drank straight from the neck of the bottle (how crass and vulgar), it might have been a better idea for them to have interviewed Sir Michael Jagger on the subject. but, alas, Mick does not currently have a new product to sell on that Net Flix (or "Nit Flux" in New Zealand) thing, whereas Mr Richards very much does.
the whole point and purpose of this blog post? the thing that you saw in the first two images of Mr Keith Richards and assumed that i would be all excited about? very well, here we go.
oh hell yes, reader, yes he was. Keith Richards was smoking both inside a studio and on British television. to my knowledge absolutely no one has been shown smoking on British TV in the last two years, at least not outside of biased documentaries making rush-to-judgement conclusions about the health consequences of smoking.
why was he allowed to do this thing today, in this day and age where smoking is considered the greatest perfectly legal criminal act one can do? because he's Keith Richards, that's why. are you going to go and tell Mr Keith Richards that he can't smoke? best of luck with that.
i am going to assume that just as there are some sad, pathetic and probably lonely people out there who have nothing better to do that write some sort of "blog" about how great it was that Keith Richards smoked on British TV, there are going to be some sad, pathetic and clearly lonely people who will write in to the BBC to complain about this, accusing both them and Mr Richards of "corrupting the youth". to this i say it's absolutely brilliant that Mr Keith Richards, 50+ years later, is still capable of corrupting and influencing youth. nice one man, that's rock and roll.
so, in conclusion, i am none the wiser about who or what "Jez" is all about, except for the fact that Keith Richards might or might not approve of him. going forward, i suspect he, as in Jez and not Mr Richards, might break further pledges, both about TV appearances and other matters more trivial, but i shall leave it to someone else to observe and comment on them.
smoke 'em if you got 'em.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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