Some Jubilee jottings

Alas, I cannot compose for you a thoughtful, well-constructed essay complete with shrewd insights to sum up the last few days' jollifications, not just for lack of literary ability, or even basic intelligence, but mostly because I only watched bits and pieces of it.  I have the somewhat eccentric habit, although I think it is very sensible, of switching on Sky News all day but turning the sound off.  Most TV news is of little importance so I have no wish to listen to endless repetitions but I do keep half an eye on the 'tickertape' just in case someone has the temerity to start WWIII without consulting me first!

Naturally, I stick with Sky because BBC news is frequently tendentious and poorly presented.  Only a few days ago, by mistake because the 'Memsahib' had been fiddling with the 'do-flicker-thingie', I watched a BBC news bulletin with a pair of news readers.  They had a large screen showing an overseas reporter whom they were interviewing but the screen was behind their desk so that they had to twist their bodies round to look at the screen whilst we looked at the back of their heads.  Talk about 'amateurville'!  So, it comes as no surprise to me that the BBC has come in for a crescendo of criticism for its coverage of the Jubilee events in today's newspapers which have absolutely panned them.  Sky, on the other hand, is uniformly praised and rightly so, because their Royal Commentator, Alistair Bruce, kept the whole thing going with what seemed like effortless, easy-going, non-stop commentary and a very obviously detailed knowledge of what he was talking about.

Last night I 'watched', that is, every so often I put my book down and turned the sound up, the Gala show mounted, with great imagination, on Victoria's memorial statue just outside 'Buck House'.  Big screens were mounted down the length of the Mall so that the tens of thousands who had gathered enjoyed the show.  Again, the BBC coverage was irritating with the cameras flicking about, never settling on anything, apart from the 'stars', for more than a milisecond.  However, Sky, who did not have the film rights for the show, had the indefatigable and highly professional, Kay Birley, working down amongst the crowds and she 'introduced' me to my new 'hero'!  As we all know, ordinary people will kill for a chance to be seen on the 'telly' and so Ms. Birley had no trouble attracting people to her camera except, that is, one middle-aged man on his own sitting in a deck chair who took one look at the approaching Kay Birley and her crew and simply waved them away in dismissal.  Ms. Birley, pro that she is, took it in good part and made light of it.

Incidentally, I thought most of the 'show' was pretty naff.  Robbie Williams made the great mistake of choosing a popular music classic, Mack the Knife, originally composed by Kurt Weill back in the late '20s.  The piece has been covered by all the great songsters including the greatest of them all, Frank Sinatra.  I gather that Mr. Williams thinks he's up there with 'Frankie boy' but he ain't and he never will be and someone should tell him to stick to dross!  The so-called comedians who were called upon to fill in the gaps as the sets were changed all shared one characteristic - a complete and utter lack of wit.  This, of course, requires a slightly different skill than merely telling jokes - and none of them were much good at that, either!

Harking back to the pageant on the river, I do think the producer of that event deserves a knighthood for a wonderful flight of imagination.  In my previous post I indicated the incredible change in fortune for this country between the previous Diamond Jubilee and this one.  Given that today Her Majesty's Lords of the Admiralty would have considerable difficulty finding a couple of tugboats, it was a stroke of genius to skip the preceeding 100 years and instead to hark back 400 years when the Thames was the equivalen to the M1 motorway.  It was a great idea executed immaculately.

Not possessing too much myself, I am a great admirer of fortitude in others.  Personally, I spent virtually all of Sunday in my armchair with a book and the 'do-flicker-thingie' and it was only towards the end of the flotilla that I realised that Her Majesty and  Prince Philip (90 years of age!) had been standing for around 4 hours in very cold weather.  It really doesn't matter whether you are a Roundhead or a Cavalier, you just have to admire the sheer guts and determination of those two very elderly people to do their duty.  Poor old Prince Phil is now in hospital and I do hope he makes a full and fast recovery.

Finally, I would like to pay a tribute to the 'Plod' and the 'Spooks'.  Frequently they are the target of my spite and irritation but this huge series of events involving zillions of people has passed without incident, as far as I can tell, and that is a tribute to first-class policing and a superb security intelligence operation.  Well done, the 'Plods' and the 'Spooks'!

ADDITIONAL:  A neighbour has just popped in and reminded me of something I meant to mention.  She is one of those hooligans who practice ringing the Church bells on Wednesday evenings just as the 'footie' starts - grrrrrh!  However, her visit remided me of that excellent little touch in the flotilla in which a set of newly minted (if that's quite the word) church bells were placed on a boat and rang a chime as they passed along.  I had assumed that for this occasion they were operated mechanically but she assures me that down in the 'hold' there were real bell-ringers toiling away.  This hobby is tricky enough, I should have thought, standing on old flagstones under a bell tower but to do it in a bobbing boat must have taken real skill - so well done them! 

Also, I meant to mention the very best joke of the entire event and that was produced by the orchestral boat which, when it passed the MI6 building on the South Bank, played the James Bond theme.  "Very witty, Wilde!"

 

Comments

[Whyaxye]

"Poor old Prince Phil is now in hospital and I do hope he makes a full and fast recovery."

The poor old sod is 90, and at that age, one thing can quickly lead to another and the whole situation can spiral out of control. If dies, I wonder how the whole event will be seen?

Pity he didn't have the foresight to say "sod it, I'll stay here with a stiff whisky, and watch it on the telly". The country would have loved him for it.

Hope he's OK.

[David Duff]

Not his style, I think, to fail to go where 'Queenie' leads!

[dearieme]

My beloved sat down to watch a BBC highlights show about the river display. Some of the craft were beautiful (I thought the Venetians particularly well turned out) but I was driven from the room by the vulgarity, ignorance and stupidity of the Beeb's droners-on. Shameful boldly performance. Time to sell the bloody outfit off.

[David Duff]

My dear chap, let me introduce you to 'my mate Rupe'. Awfully nice bloke even if he is an Aussie and if you speak nicely to him he will give you a neat little aerial dish and a super-fantastic recording-thingie which even I mastered after ten minutes - and all for free! Er, well, you do have to pay a bit for his channels but, my dear, the joy of being free of the BBC . . . !

[Lawrence Duff]

Now I know why I've been such a miserable bastard over the Jubilee break, we've been denied a wrap-it-up broadside from the DoE; so here's one to tide you over: -

"Can you tell the difference between them?"
- The Duke's question after President Barack Obama said he met with the leaders of the UK, China and Russia.

[David Duff]

You had me confused, Lawrence, because just for a moment I thought you were referring to the Department of Education! Now I realise you are quoting the nation's favourite wit, the Duke of Edinburgh.

[investment in forestry]

Actually, the Duke should have said that about any leaders in the Middle east. Libya was attacked, Syria wasn't? Bahrain uses brutal force to put down demonstrators, yet little is said.

[Lawrence Duff]

IiF, Not sure the DoE would have obliged with a particularly disparaging comment reference the toe rags of the middle east.

As he said to the then Paraguayan dictator General Stroessner: “It’s a pleasure to be in a country that isn’t ruled by its people.”

[David Duff]

Nice one, 'SoD'!