Pot69pouri

Well, I don't have much time for the royal family normally, but I think HM has played a blinder this week; which is more than can be said for TM the hapless PM. The Daily Mirror has also hit some form;

I used to work in the Mirror Building, back when both Fleet Street and I were in better shape; remind me to tell you all my Robert Maxwell stories sometime.

In other news I have been to see Vieux Farka Touré, the 'Hendrix of the Sahara'. I couldn't see any similarity between them myself beyond the fact that he played guitar, and, as the big bouncy woman pointed out, that is probably the absolute minimum. If I had to make comparisons - which I don't but I will - I'd say that he was the 'Robert Cray of the Sahara'. Whatevs, as the younger Miss Epictetus would say if she ever spoke to me, he and his band were very good. I have no idea what he was singing about - they spoke to each other in French, addressed the audience in very broken English, and sang in what is presumably a language native to Mali - except perhaps for the song entitled 'Ali', which I assume was dedicated to his father, the late Ali Farka Touré. However, I enjoyed it as did the audience of mainly aging hippies dad dancing in the aisles throughout.

He was on at the Howard Assembly Rooms, which shares a common entrance with the Grand Theatre. Currently showing there is Mama Mia, which made for some interesting contrasts in the queue for bag checks. It also provides an excuse to include a photo of Agnetha; though who needs one?

There is also no reason to explain the appearance here of some asparagus. That's crème fraîche with dill and jalapeño peppers on the right.