Poor Katie Price; I am not really a fan of hers but I am feeling quite sorry for her these days. Firstly her cowardly worm of a husband walks out on her having obviously planned his escape for months prior – and even writing and recording songs about it a year previously!
Then she has been the victim of a public hate campaign all because people find it irritating that a woman is able to pull herself together and move on rather than mope and cry her eyes out in public…like her simpering ex-husband has been doing. No, the public like to see pain and suffering, not Katie’s brand of up-yours-I’m-fine bravado. Why should she fall apart over some untalented has-been husband when she has sat in front of a doctor and been told her baby son will be blind for the rest of his life…there’s perspective folks! Obviously Strong Women annoy alot of people out there…
Peter Andre has, for his own reasons, walked out on the partnership that has given him the fame he enjoys today. Fair enough if there were real problems between them however he has been decidedly ungallant about the way the mother of his children has been treated lately. I don’t for one minute believe that Katie is over Peter, not one bit – but with self-important smugness he has watched as she has grappled with the remaining pieces of her life and is dancing with glee as it turns to rubble. Financially he has done very well out of the split…nice career move Mr Andre.
With this latest furore over what-Katie-did-next Peter Andre has really come into his own; blatantly lying about his knowledge of the male celebrity who sexually assaulted Katie ten years ago. One thing they both always made clear during their marriage was that neither hid any secrets from the other – Pete most certainly would have known about this incident but of course it is in his interests to side with the public against Katie and behave like the complete shit that he has proved himself to be.
Like I said, I am not a fan of Katie Price/Jordan, but the vitriole she is being subjected to these days is disgusting. One thing worries me about the way the self-important and sanctimonious British public are behaving over all of this; if and when this person’s name is revealed (and let’s face it, it won’t be too long…) ‘he’ will receive as much support from the public as Peter Andre is enjoying.
Well done Pete, the taste of victory must be sweet…
When you think of Handel’s ‘Messiah’ you instantly conjure up images of staid choirs made up of bosomy church ladies and tuxedoed middle-aged men. That’s your suburban production of Messiah and we all know of one. I have had the experience of listening to a Messiah of which even Handel himself would be astonished. Handel in the hands of the young.
On the 250th anniversary of the great composer’s death, BBC Prom 68 on Sunday night (6th Sept) was awe-inspiring and just plain bloody brilliant. Handel specialist, Nicholas McGegan, conducted a massed choir of young singers – young voices – from around the United Kingdom under the direction of choral specialist Simon Halsey. What this man does not know about choral singing is not worth knowing and on Sunday night the audience was treated to the most refreshing and vibrant Messiah ever produced. What better way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of this landmark piece than by taking it out of the domain of the traditional and placing it in the hands of several youth choirs: The National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and Wales and youth choirs from Birmingham, Manchester, Gateshead, Scunthorpe and the Royal School of Church Music.
There is no ‘authentic’ Messiah - no blueprint. Handel took free license with his own work, conducted it himself often and adapted each performance to the voices and instruments available to him at the time. For this performance Nicholas McGegan had brilliant material to work with and the result was sheer magic, Handel’s Messiah as it should be – big and loud.
When those young voices burst in with “And the Glory of the Lord” you just knew that this performance would be something extra special – those young voices were simply magnificent in a way which was both exciting and surprising. For the Royal Albert Hall no production of the Messiah should be on polite terms – this was a massed effort with trumpets blazing and the thrill and resounding authority of the mighty Albert Hall organ.
And yes, true to tradition, the audience rose to their feet for the Hallelujah Chorus just as George II did back in 1743 although to this day it is not clear just why the King stood at that point. Just choose your favourite theory and go with that
One of my most enduring memories from my childhood in Australia during the late 1970′s is this little song: “Travel all over the countryside, ask the Leylands, ask the Leyland Brotheeeeerrrrs!”
Each Sunday evening at around 5.30 we settled down to watch Mike and Mal Leyland take their young families to places around Australia that the viewing public had never heard of. They got around in 4X4′s before your suburban Mum ever got her hands on one and they actually used them for the purpose for which they werecreated – traversing swamps, deserts, the Cape region in the wet season – and they had all the rigs and winches to get them out of any sticky spots.
Sadly Mike Leyland has died at the age of 68 and he leaves a legacy that we Australians probably have never really appreciated. The Leyland Brothers opened up Australia to it’s people through their weekly show; we learned that ours is wide and vastly varied nation of landscapes, people, flora and fauna. All you had to do was send in a letter and ask them to go somewhere you wanted to see and off they went for you. Remember them standing superimposed on that big map of Australia while reading the viewers letter…?
They were the pioneers of the current roving-travel shows and they did it without the five star comfort; they slept in caravans and the wives cooked on open fires. Great memories for sure.
Poor Katie Price; I am not really a fan of hers but I am feeling quite sorry for her these days. Firstly her cowardly worm of a husband walks out on her having obviously planned his escape for months prior – and even writing and recording songs about it a year previously!
