Glorious!

Scene: Richard Burton (né Jenkins) has brought his extended family to London and put them up at the Dorchester Hotel for the Royal Command Performance of 'The Taming Of The Shrew', 1967...

'Hey, Jenk,' said a Welshman to Burton, overcome by the marble grandeur of the lavatories, 'Doesn't it make your cock look shabby in here?'

In Roger Lewis' 'Erotic Vagrancy', p.464

God bless the Welsh!

FRIDAY MUSIC: Veronica Swift, by JD

Not all Swifts can sing but this one certainly can. At age 23, Veronica Swift is now being recognized as one of the top young jazz singers on the scene. Not only is she a fine singer she is reviving the 'lost art' of scat singing (originating in vocal jazz, scat singing or scatting is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice solely as an instrument.)

Her parents are renowned jazz pianist Hod O’Brien and celebrated jazz singer and educator/author Stephanie Nakasian. She has appeared on stage with Jon Hendricks, Annie Ross, Esperanza Spalding, Joe Lovano, Bob Dorough, Kim Nazarian, Danilo Perez, and others. With her family she has appeared at The Great Waters Music Festival in NH, Blues Alley Jazz Club in DC, the Jazz Standard in NYC, the Jazz Cruise, and for the New Jersey and Hilton Head Jazz Societies.

https://www.veronicaswift.com/bio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronica_Swift

(There are not many good quality videos so this is but a small selection and as Wiggia has already noted she needs to find better backing musicians although in the last video below she shares the stage with Wynton Marsalis and he looks suitably impressed by her performance.)

At Last - Live at the Strathmore (A Glenn Miller Swing Celebration) Ft. Veronica Swift

Veronica Swift - Moanin'

Veronica Swift sings "This Bitter Earth" at the 2023 SFJAZZ Gala

Veronica Swift 'Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me' Blue Note NYC [Night 3]

"I Just Found Out About Love" Veronica Swift and the SC Jazz Masterworks Ensemble

Véronica Swift & Wynton Marsalis "Cherokee" @Jazz_in_Marciac 2019

FRIDAY MUSIC: Music of the Spheeris, by JD

Chris Spheeris is a Greek-American composer of instrumental music. He is a producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist.

Chris Spheeris has created some of the most enchanting instrumental music of this era. It has earned him platinum, gold, and Emmy awards. His music has been heard in Olympic skating championships, Miss Universe pageants, documentary films, daytime television dramas, and countless commercials.

• https://chrisspheeris.com/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Spheeris

CHRIS SPHEERIS - ELECTRA

Cariño - Chris Spheeris

♡ CHRIS SPHEERIS & PAUL VOUDOURIS - Pura Vida

Chris Spheeris - Magaya (Live)

Chris Spheeris - Dia del Sol (Live)

CHRIS SPHEERIS - Narabi - Album Maya

So you dream of a passionate relationship?

Elizabeth Taylor on her marriage with Mike Todd:

'Out of my perversity I'd try to drive Mike mad. I'd be late, I'd love it when he would lose his temper and dominate me. I'd start to purr because he'd won.'

In Roger Lewis' biography 'Erotic Vagrancy.'

Lewis comments 'Yet didn't it mean she'd won?'

WEEKENDER: Parliament, a Suitable Case for Treatment, by Wiggia

Lindsay Hoyle has with his change of rules stepped over the line, yet this is not the most pressing part of the shambles in parliament; “the worst scenes I have seen in parliament in the last fifty years” said one journalist.

Like most things exaggeration comes easily to British journalists, this was hardly a kin to the all out fighting seen in some countries when things go wrong:



Cries of ‘order order’ would have proved less than useless in those situations. The speaker was heckled, rightly, and a few people walked out in an orderly fashion, it was all very British.

What was wrong was the proposed debate in the first place, the assumption that if our MPs got together and said 'stop that Israel' would take any notice of a washed-up world power is laughable. I have even heard the word ‘insist’ used in the same context!

Meanwhile……..

The Jerusalem Post

Israel's Knesset votes against recognition of Palestinian state

Story by BY JERUSALEM POST STAFF  • 1d

https://www.msn.com/en-ae/news/other/israels-knesset-votes-against-recognition-of-palestinian-state/ar-BB1iE6Cp


One has to ask why is this fervour directed at Israel and Gaza when thousands are dying in Ukraine and after two years of fighting and billions shovelled Zelensky’s way, demands for a ceasefire are not forthcoming in that region?

I would suggest it is partly because this is election year and the muslim vote, ever more important in certain areas, is uppermost in many MPs' minds. Long-term this is a lost cause as the demographics will determine that Islam-based parties will emerge; they already have with Aspire in Tower Hamlets showing the way.

The electoral commission has not allowed the first of the Islam-based parties to be established……

New ‘Party of Islam’ rejected by Electoral Commission over compliance with election law

The Express first reported on the party's attempted registration this weekend.

By CHRISTIAN CALGIE, Senior Political Correspondent

21:48, Tue, Oct 31, 2023 | UPDATED: 21:54, Tue, Oct 31, 2023

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1830131/Party-of-Islam-Rejected-Electoral-commission

Anyone believing that is the end of it is living in a bubble. There will be a more normal approach that disguises the belief system that underpins these type of parties and once they have momentum the Islam factor will emerge.

So what did the shenanigans in Parliament achieve, apart from the remote chance the Speaker will join Bercow in hall of shame? Nothing at all: it will fill headlines for a couple of days, Cameron will resume his world tour and make more unaccountable statements to an empty room and all will carry on the same.

Still it’s good to know the new intake of MPs has such a caring and thoughtful and intelligent addition to its ranks…..

Bandwagon beckons….



Just one thing to add, there was no vote, good start though.

FRIDAY MUSIC: Aegean Jazz: Dig the Thessness! by JD

The Speakeasies' Swing Band! are a seven piece Swing/Jazz band based in Thessaloniki, Greece. The line up features Caterina Sisinni (vocals), Panos Karnoutsos (Electric Guitar), Manolis Stamatiadis (Piano), Panos Voularakis (Upright Bass), Giannis Ntalianis (Acoustic Guitar), Christos El. Papadopoulos (Clarinet) and Grigoris Oikonomou (drums). The Speakeasies' Swing Band! formed in 2010. The band's preview Extended play, Bathtub Gun, was released in 2012 and their debut album Land Of Plenty in 2015

https://speakeasies.gr/

the Speakeasies' Swing Band! - St. James infirmary

O Pasatempos - the Speakeasies' Swing Band! (Official Video)

Walkin' Away Blues - the Speakeasies' Swing Band! (Official Video)

Bright Lights Late Nights

Exile Train (Traino Exorias) - The Speakeasies' Swing Band!

the Speakeasies' Swing Band! - Why don't You do Right?

Excess deaths

The UK’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) has changed the way it calculates ‘excess deaths’ i.e. whether weekly recorded deaths are more (or less) than expected. The methodology had remained the same for at least half a century: to compare latest data with the average of the previous five years - a simple arithmetical task. Now a new system is used, weighting various factors and interpreting the results with statistical analyses that are far beyond the layperson’s grasp.

The change has been noted with suspicion by (for instance) Youtube commentators Simon Webb and Katie Hopkins. They and others think the government is keen to play down the figures because of the potential for public criticism. The inquiry into Covid and official actions taken started in 2022 and is still ongoing; will it be a face-saving whitewash?

Popular theories abound to explain the apparently anomalous increase in mortality. One, it’s fair to say, is the subject of systematic suppression in the media: the idea that the mRNA vaccines have adversely affected many people, sometimes fatally.

Other reasons are already provisionally accepted: that the lockdowns and other methods of social isolation led to delays in diagnosing and treating cancer, and to ‘deaths of despair’ as people harmed their health with overindulgence in alcohol and drugs. There was also the disastrous decision to ‘clear the decks’ in hospitals by moving elderly patients into care homes where they might infect others and where staff were afraid to look after them appropriately.

However there are a few additional possible reasons why the raw data for deaths in this country might have changed and will continue to change. You may be able to think of more.

1. The population is ageing
2. The real number of people living in the UK may be higher than the official estimates. Indirect evidence may come from supermarket purchases or even Facebook usage
3. There are differences in health and life expectancy among ethnic groups that may become more significant as first and second generation immigration increases. Aside from genetics, people born in less developed countries may not have had a sound foundation in diet and medical assessment/treatment for continued good health as they age.
4. Drug deaths in the UK are soaring
5. Economic inequality is increasing and poorer people live less long, for various reasons. The statistics vary around regions of the country
6. For 2020-2022, male deaths outstripped female - the first time since 1981. Does this indicate that men, traditionally family providers, feel greater pressure and sense of failure in a declining economy and use less approprate coping strategies?
7. The NHS is failing, especially in the provision of GP services. The contract agreed under the Brown premiership released GPs from the obligation to provide evening and weekend cover and there is an increasing tendency for them to deal with queries remotely - that’s if one can get through on the phone in a reasonable time.

Not all of the above would explain the recent spikes, but it is clear that a subtler analysis is needed.