Bernard Cribbins, RIP

 Russel T Davies on Bernard Cribbins.

Poem of the Week

Working Class Hero
John Lennon

As soon as your born they make you feel small,
By giving you no time instead of it all,
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.

They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool,
Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.

When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years,
Then they expect you to pick a career,
When you can't really function you're so full of fear,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you're so clever and classless and free,
But you're still fucking peasents as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.

There's room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,
A working class hero is something to be.
A working class hero is something to be.

If you want to be a hero well just follow me,
If you want to be a hero well just follow me.

And Again

In revisiting Liverpool, I should have recalled the gathering after the death of John Lennon. 

He was murdered on December 8th, a Monday.  On Sunday the 14th, there was a huge vigil and memorial gathering in the centre of the city, at St George's Plateau. Wikipedia says there were 30,000 people there.

I was watching the TV News in Birkenhead, and saw a report on the gathering.  And I remember seeing people I knew in the crowd, so I went out, crossed the Mersey, and somewhat amazingly found them again and joined them.  It all took about 45 minutes I guess.  It was one of those days when you wanted to be with people you knew.

Jolly Saturday Morn

I must say I found this Saturday morning's Radio 4 programmes most enjoyable.  I know that sounds awful - middle-class, Home Counties, etc.  Well, tough, is my considered reply - I still enjoyed it.

Firstly the new Honours list.  And in my view this is nothing about Brenda or any other member of the Royal family, nor about empire (despite the awful names for some of the Homours).  It is just about recognition.  So you can still be pleased when people you like or know get recognised.

Thus, I was happy that the morning News bothered to highlight the two Goodies (Garden and Brooke-Taylor).  Billoddie has one already (for Wildlife stuff) - but this was either for ISIHAC or The Goodies.  I'm pleased with either.  

Bruce Forsyth I can take or leave, and also Jenny Murray.  But a large Hurrah! for the Bernard Cribbins OBE (for services to Drama - presumably that can encompass everything, including The Wombles, Right Said Fred!, the Railway Children and Doctor Who).

Today and the News was followed by 'Your Desert Island Discs' - so I'm already cheered up there was no Saturday Live this week.  A top eight of discs chosen by listeners to DID: self-selecting and unrepresentative, of course. 

I tried to predict what would be in the list, but mis-read almost all of the winners, which were:

1 Ralph Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending
2 Sir Edward Elgar - Enigma Variations
3 Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No 9 in D minor 'Choral'
4 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
5 Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
6 Sir Edward Elgar - Cello Concerto in E Minor
7 George Frideric Handel - Messiah
8 Gustav Holst - The Planets

OK - I worked out Bo Rap, Ode to Joy and the Planets.  But The Lark Ascending? Comfortably Numb? (sounds like a write-in campaign), the Elgar Cello?

The Beatles weren't there because there were just too many choose from (it seemed they were easily the most popular artists but spread too thinly).  But as the list was slowly unveiled, and it became clear that there was a bias towards the English, and to what I would call 'Big Sounds', I guessed the number one would be Jerusalem.  Hopelessly wrong of course.  Probably over-influenced by my walk around Bunhill Fields earlier in the week.

But it was good fun, even if only two of the choices would have been in my top eight.  (Actually that is not a bad average - your personal choice is meant to be exactly that, personal, so it'd be surprising and rather sad if too many overlapped with the most popular, common denominator choices).

One complaint: I wish the BBC DID Website showed more detail - the top 100 say?
And finally, Lenny Henry explored Chaucer as part of his 'What's So Great About...' series.  I have to admit I was surprised. He normally chooses a topic with a little more general popular presence (if I can call it that).  Not that I was at all displeased, of course.

It was a fun listen, including an excerpt from Neville Coghill, Terry Jones being himself (discussing the colloquialism and the jokes), and many others.  And of course, in addition to Canterbury, it had to be set in South London, mostly on the site of the Tabard and then round the corner in (I think) The George. Absolutely fantastic.

And then I had to get up...