didn't he do well? happy birthday brucie

 

It was a strange experience watching the BBC's tribute to an 80 year old Bruce Forsyth this evening.

The programme was a kind of one-off variety show version of This is Your Life, complete with singing, dancing, and cake-decorating contests.

(Unfortunately Vernon Kay made an appearance)

 

Self-indulgent it might have been, but it was nice to see the life of a national treasure celebrated while he's alive, rather than in a glowing obituary that he'll never get to see.

My personal favourite Brucie moment is his small role in the vastly underrated Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

Still, what was brought home was that Bruce Forsyth's era of personalities who entertain a nation of millions for decades, is nearing its end. And that's no bad thing - yes, tens of millions of people tuned in to Sunday Night at the Palladium, but that's because there was literally nothing else on TV.

So yes, celebrate Brucie's life in entertainment, but ditch the rose-tinted spectacles and be glad that we can watch vintage episodes of Play Your Cards Right, or chose to watch the latest series of Curb Your Enthusiasm on cable TV, or download a classic Louis Theroux doco.

An open question is that of the future fate of the all-round singing, dancing entertainer in the Brucie mould. Is there a space for the next Brucie on youtube? Or are we in an era of niche entertainers?

kate s-b

what if... Obama is Blair?

Watching Obama at a rally on TV today, an inexplicable wave of understanding swept over me.

'Oh my god', I thought, 'He's Tony Blair!'

I don't know where this thought came from - I'll admit it was purely gut instinct.

When I started thinking about it, though, I realised it isn't so far fetched. Consider the evidence -

A moribund, deeply unpopular government, racked by sleaze allegations in power (George W. Bush/ The Conservative Party).

A new, inspiring leader emerges onto the national political scene in the space of just a few years. He's relatively young and good looking (for a politician), with an ear-to-ear grin, and for the first time people have hope that things can be better.

He makes great speeches (Hope! Yes, We Can!/ Education, Education, Education), but the policies are rather thin on the ground.

Obama is often compared to Kennedy, but JFK was shot before he could disappoint anyone. That's why he could remain a symbol of hope and optimism in popular culture. Blair might be a better point of comparison with Obama, because in his case we know how the story of hope ended.

Ten years ago, crowds used to cheer for Tony Blair, and reach out in the hope of shaking his hand. Now, after numerous broken promises, and a bloody war in Iraq, the UK is glad to be rid of him, and active campaigns are in motion to prevent him becoming EU President.

I don't want to write Obama off; I hope he is everything that he appears to be.

However, even if he does have the potential to change America for the better, he should be wary of setting himself up for failure by raising hopes to such a fever pitch. Blair recently admitted that his government had no hope of meeting the high expectations raised in 1997, and a British Prime Minister has much more personal power than an American President can ever hope to wield, given the fragmented nature of the US political system.

So, I guess my point is: don't trust politicians. Hardly revolutionary, but in the midst of the Obama whirlwind, perhaps worth remembering.

kate s-b

why hillary clinton is courtney love

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A recurring concern in the current Presidential race has been what successive Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton Presidencies would mean for American democracy.

But those making this point seem to forget that there is a fundamental difference between being someone's child, and being their partner.

Is it any surprise that two young, talented, ambitious people should be attracted to each other in their twenties and then both go on to have great success in their forties and fifties? It shouldn't be, but when this happens, the woman in the partnership is often singled out for vitriolic abuse, and her success is deemed to be based solely on the talents of her husband.

Such 'power couples' include John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham, and Tony Blair and Cherie Booth.

The women in these couples have not generally been praised for their glass-ceiling-busting achievements in the male-dominated worlds of Rock music, Art, Politics, and Law. Instead they've become public hate figures, and are also often blamed for the problems, or even the deaths of their husbands!

Of course, dynasties such as the Bushes, or the Bhuttos in Pakistan, pose a threat to democracy, social mobility and meritocracy. George W was an alcoholic, drink-driving C-student who wouldn't have a shot and the country's highest office if he'd been from Anywhere USA. But this shouldn't be confused with young women who climb the ladder on their own merits, and just happen to be married to successful men.

kate sb

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the union forever? hot air in oxford

Some interesting debate has been bubbling away about tonight's debate at the Oxford Union. Racist politician Nick Griffin and Holocaust denier David Irving are in the line up for a debate about free speech.

I paid over a hundred quid for membership to the Union and all I got was a bent spoon from Uri Gellar (I think he mistook my hysterical laughter at his act for awe), so I have sympathy with those who urge us not to give the institution so much respect and attention. As Charlie Beckett has pointed out, it is far from the distinguished forum of national debate that it claims to be. It is a school for future MPs, CEOs and professional gas-bags.

In principle I agree with the liberal defenders of the event, but I think many are missing an important part of this particular case: how do we have a useful and enlightening debate about free speech?

The crux of the issue is the appropriate limits to free speech, particularly when we find what is said abhorrent. But Griffin and Irving don't believe that their views are unacceptable, so they won't be engaged with the fundamental question that needs tackling. No doubt the debate will descend into acrimony, with them playing the victim and defending their oddball views.

To really address the issue of free speech, I'd like to hear intelligent speakers who are engaged with the issue. Perhaps the defense lawyer for the 'lyrical terrorist' who was recently convicted for owning violent and subversive manuals and poetry, or a leading liberal thinker like Alan Ryan or Nancy Rosenblum.

There might be some sort of a case for inviting Griffin to a debate about immigration, or Irving to a debate about the nature of historical enquiry, but I don't see that they have very much at all to contribute about the nature of free speech in a modern democracy.

kate s-b

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boyzone: together, they're better by far

I couldn't let Boyzone's reunion last Friday night, or their upcoming tour pass without comment. They were my personal teenage obsession for at least five years, and while I can now look back rather more objectively on the quality of their output, their connection to those formative years of my life means that I can't wait to get to Wembley and see them perform.

Plus, their shoddiness was always part of the charm for me.

Anyway, with the awareness that not everyone shares my irrational love for the Dublin quintet, I've posted a video that the most hardened pop-cynic will revel in. Even more hysterical than the dancing is the fact that when asked where he comes from on a national TV show, Stephen Gately gives his street name!

 

kate s-b

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