busker

Musings

Since Safeway introduced its al fresco umbrella'd seating, I've taken to spending Saturday mornings there in leisurely perusal of the Review over a large Hazlenut-flavored latte, occasionally glancing up to admire some flash car or notably handsome mother/daughter combination.

Today more sociable than I actually like with much handshaking and fake homie knuckle greets as folk stopped off to ask when might I next be looking in on the popular and well-attended Pegasus Sunday musical soirées. Very flattering and I make polite noises but have no real intention of joining the open mikers any time soon. However, their billing for star performer nights is stellar indeed:

• Tim Bertsch, who I'm sure is v talented but whom I only mention here for his suspicious kinship of name to Bert Jansch. I think Anna and I may actually have turned up one evening on the offest of chances that it *was* Bert under a flimsy nom-de-strum
• New Years Eve, 7:30-midnight: absolutely spot-on choice of Thom Herring as MC. He'll bring all his lovely pals and the rafters will ring thru the early hours.
• Jan 15: the unmissable and talented Lana McMullen
• Feb 26: gravel-voiced troubadour supreme, Eddie Williams, and the lovely Georgia Brown.

Speaking of late Feb, I note the current Arts News lists a Feb 25 appearance of one Les Barker, "satirical poet from Manchester, England".

Not the Les Barker? Of "Up the creek without a poodle" fame? Yo! Book now while tickets last.

Anyway, back to the Review, from which I spot only gloomy news:

• Who cannot be shaken to the core by the tragedy of Hayley and Kelsey Byrne - God guard their souls. Or be silenced with grief for mother and survivor, Suzanne Dawson, so unspeakably revenged upon that she could be forgiven wishing that ex-husband Stephen had included her in the massacre.
  
  There is talk of little else - nods and tuttings in the food aisles; sighs and lowered gazes along the High Street; solicitous glances at our own young.
• A simple tenner: yes, I too spotted Councilman Bob Scales' asinine reference to the bright side of the proposed increase in ferry parking fees. I can't add to Dave Richards' eloquent indignation, save to point out that, for a twit like Scales to be as stoopid and unaware as to come out with a remark like that in public, does not speak well for the overall intelligence of our public servants.
• Blotto blotter To coin Michael Caine's catchphrase, "Not a lot of people know that ...".
  
  Well, asking around, it appears that not a lot of drinky drivers know *this*.
  
  I cite PC Plod's Blotter for Nov 20 (a Saturday, which makes me wonder if the time given, 12:57 a.m., wasn't actually 00:57 a.m. of the Sunday morning?):

Patrolling fuzz spots bloke asleep in driver's seat of van parked on Winslow Way and "contacts" aforesaid snoozer (by which I assume they mean rapping on the window til the drunkard awoke). Breathalysed, the poor chappie scores twice the legal limit and is duly nicked for "being in physical control of the vehicle while intoxicated."

So beware.