Even better the second time

It's great to be back in London. This year, we're focusing on something akin to a greatest-hits itinerary. For the last few years, we've focused on visiting sights which opened after COVID, or since our return to Australia. For example, we're staying at one of our favourite hotels, the Radisson Blu Mercer Street, opposite Seven Dials.

On Saturday, after flying in from Nuremberg, we went for a wander through Covent Garden and grabbed a beer at Punch & Judy. They've been pouring pints here since 1787. We sat on the outdoor balcony overlooking the market square, reminiscing about our life in London. At AUD30 for two pints, we certainly miss earning British pounds. Dinner was at Gaucho, an Argentine-themed restaurant.

Tonight, we headed out to Stratford to relive the ABBA Voyage experience. We loved it two years ago. I bought us some encore tickets after learning that the complex is scheduled for demolition in June. However, recent news reports suggest that the high-density housing development scheduled to replace it will now be built in stages. If this happens, the arena will remain standing until 2029.  

Tonight's show was just as good, if not better, the second time around. It's still hard to believe it's all virtual reality.  The video rendering is also showing its age. Garry and I agree that some of the AV sequences could do with a little AI retouching. 

Dinner tonight was provided courtesy of Old Crompton Brasserie. We now know that Colchester oysters pair beautifully with a Hibiscus Pisco Sour. Yum!

The forgotten ones

I learnt today that, Janet Elizabeth Armstrong, passed away recently. Jan, as she was commonly known, was the first wife of Neil Armstrong; whom we all remember as the first person in human history to walk on the moon.

After learning this news I feel compelled to offer a brief tribute. All too often the headline-grabbing achievements of modern heroes, sports stars and titans of industry involve a spouse or family members toiling silently in the background. Their tireless efforts ensure the bills are paid on time, the children are fed and clothed and the many chores of daily life continue unabated.

While Jan may have never walked on the moon, without doubt, her efforts on the home front freed her husband to focus on his deadly and dangerous career. I don't know about you, but I feel Jan deserves her moment in the sun. Here's a link to a tribute published by the Houston Chronicle in June.
 

Gyrate expectations

Ricky Martin burst onto the global music scene in February 1999.  He performed live on television at the 41^st Grammy Awards. His energy and rhythm stunned the crowd, earning him a long and loud standing ovation.  In the years since Ricky has sold more than 70 million albums, including 95 platinum records, 6 #1 Billboard albums and 11 Number 1 hit songs.

My parents and I saw Ricky perform live on Broadway in September last year. At the time he was playing the role of Ché in Evita.  His performance was solid but not exactly breath-taking.  However, the audience gave him a rousing ovation which left me feeling rather sorry for the actress who’d played the production’s namesake role.

Earlier this year Ricky signed on as a judge for a local version of The Voice reality television show.  He was instantly popular with the Australian public. It was therefore no surprise when he announced plans for a national nine-date concert tour. Garry and I fell for the bait.  We attended his is second sellout Sydney concert at Olympic Park on Saturday.

We had a great night out despite a nightmare 90-minute commute into a Homebush parking lot.  The concert sound stage included an impressive floor to ceiling video wall and plenty of agile dancers.  However, I’d have to say that Ricky’s showing his age.  His signature swiveling hips looked stiff and often out of sync.  Gone were the astonishing gyrations that captured the imagination of a global Grammy audience. It seems that none of us stay young forever.

Hot in the City

I'm currently in New York for business. On the way here I broke up my long-haul flight with a brief weekend stopover in Memphis, Tennessee. With the Summer heat at its most intense, I couldn't have picked a better time to visit. Soaring temperatures had sent the locals packing, leaving the city and sights all but deserted. This made it quick and easy to get around and enjoy everything without the constant stress of surging crowds.

Why Memphis? In 1960's it was heartland of the American Civil Rights movement and city where Martin Luther King Jr took his final breath.. I wrote a passionate exposition on his formative year as a poltical figure during my final year of University. For more efforts I was awarded one of the only A Grades I scored during four years of study. As a result, I was keen to gain a better sense of the culture and environment that spawned such a violent and angry period in American history.

Memphis is also home to some of modern music's most innovative artists including B.B. King, the man often considered the father of modern Blues. This pioneering scene went on to inspire the world's most successful musician, Elvis Presley. Since 1954 the self-proclaimed King of Rock and Roll, or simply just "the King", has sold over one billion records worldwide, more than any other artist in history. His music inspired a generation who went to create the world we live in today.

With so much transformative history its midst, Memphis proved to be a fascinating destination. Over two leisurely days I came face to face with some poginant moments in modern American history; including a chance meeting the only man standing with Martin Luther King Jr. at the moment he was shot and killed by escaped convict James Earl Ray in 1968. I'll share more details shortly.

PS: The photo above is the Pyramid Arena located on the banks of the Mississippi River in Memphis.  It's a 20142-seat arena, built in 1991, that dominates the downtown shoreline.  However, its been empty since 2004, after new, more flexible stadium opened its doors just off historic Beale Street.  The day I was in town the pyramid literally shimmered in the midday sun.  Spectacular!

Royal riots

Our last full day in London has dawned with news that a car carrying Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall was attacked by protesters last night. The heir to the British throne was en route to the annual Royal Variety Performance when a mob, protesting against higher university tuition fees, set upon his car. The rear passenger window was cracked, the doors dented by kicks, and the vehicle splattered with white paint. The couple were understandably shaken but unharmed.

All week the capital has been gripped by increasingly violent protests as the Government prepared to vote on higher fees. Parliament approved the fee hike yesterday in a vote commentators are calling the first real test of the nation's coalition Government.  Twenty one Liberal Democrat MPs eventually voted against the measure, reducing the Government's majority by 42 votes. 

The increase is yet another unpopular measure set in place as part of the Government's growing austerity program. Such protests and their depressing headlines are increasingly a sign of the times in Europe. It's hard not to feel that perhaps Garry and I have chosen a good time to return to Australia.

A royal wedding

As you can imagine local headlines have been filled for the last two days with news of a royal wedding next year. Prince William, second in line for the British throne, has finally popped the question to his long-time girlfriend, Kate Middleton. Preparations are now well underway for plenty of royal pageantry next Spring or Summer. They'll tie the knot almost thirty years to day after William's parents were married at St Pauls Cathedral. I cannot believe we're going to miss the entire spectacle.

Commentators are going crazy debating the venue they'll chose, the designer of Kate's dress and even the exact date they'll walk down the aisle. Debate is also raging over how spectacular the wedding should be during an era of austerity budgets and negative equity. I've already seen reports suggesting the event could cost up to 50 million once security arrangements are accounted for.

Royal living

Buckingham Palace is one of the world’s last remaining royal palaces. More than 450 people can be found at work most days coordinating The Queen’s ceremonial duties, maintaining the building and grounds and running the royal establishment. Many of the official duties staged at the palace take place in one of its 19 state rooms. Every Summer these majestic, gilded rooms are opened to the public for two months while the Queen holidays at Balmoral Castle. These tours are a recent development. They were originally used to pay for a five-year, £37 million restoration of Windsor Castle undertaken after a devastating fire in November 1992.


Beyond the state rooms are another 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. These remain off limits at all times. Today Garry and I spent a wonderfully sunny afternoon touring the Palace’s state rooms and gardens. We’d bought the tickets months ago and they had to be used before the end of September. We couldn’t have picked a better day to visit. The warm weather meant that doors and windows were open throughout the palace, offering glimpses of the grounds and giving the stunning, ornate rooms an airy feeling.

The tour gives visitors surprisingly generous access to its west wing. We were able to view the Grand Hall, climb the genuinely Grand Staircase and stand in the Throne Room; venue for many of royalty’s most famous family portraits. Each room was a picture to behold. Even the Ballroom was a highlight. Here the knighting sword used for investitures was on display. Perhaps the most impressive rooms were the State Dining Room and the White Drawing Room. To my eye the design and decoration felt more coherent and pleasing than any other room.


It’s easy to see why the palace’s construction and fitting had cost a heart-stopping £800,000 by the time the first royal, Queen Victoria, took up residence in 1837. John Nash, the appointed architect, originally estimated his work would cost £252,690. Millions more has been spent since finishing incomplete rooms, updating others and undertaking major restoration. The last major building phase was completed in 1913 when the current Mall façade was clad in durable Portland stone.


Today’s tour exited the palace via its West Front. This grand facade opens onto a generous 73 metre long terrace overlooking the private gardens. The gardens themselves are an impressive sight. They cover 16-hectres and include a lake, open lawns and shaded tree-lined pathways; all offering a tranquil green oasis in heart of central London. It’s here that The Queen hosts up to five garden parties every Summer, attended by eight thousand people. For the rest of year, the expansive lawn acts as her majesty’s private helipad.


We finished our day at the Palace with a tour of the Royal Mews. This complex, also designed by Nash, is where the royal carriages and limousines are stored; and the carriage horses are stabled. Perhaps the most impressive item on display here is the Gold State Stage. This rococo gilt coach is by used by the monarch for coronations, weddings and jubilee celebrations. It was presented to George III in 1760 and weighs a staggering four tones. The gilt vehicle is a remarkable sight with its painted panels, cherubs and grand Triton statues. Rumour has it the ride is incredibly uncomfortable. Sometimes royal life only looks grand.

Chatty Man

A couple of years ago I managed to humiliate myself on national television. My Graham Norton debut earned me a priority seating in the audience of another television production. It’s taken Garry and I two years to finally get our act together and head down to the London Studios at Southbank. On Wednesday evening we sat in on the filming of Chatty Man, a talk show hosted by comedian Alan Carr.

It’s always a bit hit and miss with these shows in terms of the guests you’ll see. We’ve always struck it lucky with an interesting line-up – that is until now. Wednesday’s guests weren’t exactly top of our Christmas Card list. I think we’re just not sufficiently British to appreciate their contribution to society. Fortunately, Alan Carr is a hilarious man - often just because he’s unbelievably camp – and so the evening wasn’t a complete wash.

We saw Russell Brand's fiancée, Katy Perry, perform her latest single Teenage Dream and Davina McCall stopped by to talk about hosting reality television series, Big Brother, for more than a decade. Sadly, we’re not Big Brother fans and so the gossip about the current series meant nothing to us, as did her reflections on past UK contestants.

However, we loved Paul O'Grady, another savagely camp comedian and former drag queen diva. He revealed that Julian Clary, yet another camp comedian (how many are there in Britain?), was his neighbour at his rural home in Kent. The images of these two comedians hanging over the fence in rubber boots made me chuckle.

All good things must come to an end

Regular readers may have noticed that Garry and I have been clocking up a considerable number of increasingly exotic holidays. Our travelling madness does have a reason. With less than five months left to run on our UK work permits we're packing in as much sight-seeing as possible. Come December our time in London will end and we'll be heading back to Australia for good.

However, we plan to go out with a bang. In the months ahead we have the most amazing travel schedule slotted into every spare day of annual leave we can muster. Highlights include:

• An eight-day cruise of the Alaskan panhandle, followed by a brief road tour up the George's Highway to Denali National Park in central Alaska.


• A three-day detour in Las Vegas while enroute to family and friends Down Under.


• A long weekend in Tauranga, New Zealand visiting my parents, before heading to Sydney, Australia for three days of work.


• A week in India for work as I'm making my way back to London. Garry's coming with me. While I'm slaving at the office he'll be enjoying a whirlwind tour of each city I visit; Mumbai and Delhi. We've also planned a three-day weekend that will see us soak up the sights of Udaipur and Agra. Watch for photos of us at the Taj Mahal.


• A long weekend in November (part of the last round-the-world ticket we've just bought) to Bucharest, Romania. I also have a buiness trip scheduled the same month to Malaysia.


• A five-week grand tour through South America as we relocate back to Australia. This trip will see us take a nine-day train journey through the snow-clad alps of Austria and Switzerland before flying to Chile. We love those round-the-world tickets!


• A cruise of Antarctica where we're scheduled to spend Christmas Day.


• A long weekend on Easter Island where we'll see in the second decade of the new millennium.


• A tour of the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile. It's said to be the driest location on earth.


• Another brief stop-over in Tauranga, New Zealand before we finally hit the shores of Australia for good.

In between all of this globe-trotting we've also have a few London-based adventures scheduled. The first is a tour of Buckingham Palace. We brought a couple of open-dated tickets a few months ago and plan to use these in September. We've also booked a final television chat show production evening in early-September.

We're off to see Chatty Man, hosted by Alan Carr, a man who gives the term 'camp' a bad name. His show has risen through the ranks and increasingly attracts A-list celebrities. In recent weeks he's interviewed Grace Jones, the cast of Twilight and Kylie Minogue. I've secured front row seats for this event thanks to my humiliation on national television a few years ago.

Life back home in Australia could seem rather dull by comparison. Either that or we'll simply be glad to have some time to finally rest!

Priscilla

We've been celebrating Garry's birthday in style this week. On Thursday evening we had tickets to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, dead centre, eight rows from the stage. As the end of our fourth year in London draws to a close we both enjoyed an opportunity to rekindle memories of home. For several hours the Palace Theatre in Soho was filled with all manner of Australiana. Garry came away declaring it one of the best musical productions he'd seen in London.

Familiar names and icons cascaded across the revolving stage all evening. Highlights (of which there were many) included a satirical but surprisingly accurate reenactment of the Imperial Hotel, numerous indigenous roadkill and the surreal spectacle of Jason Donovan singing a Kylie medley. Jason was superb job as Tick, the middle-aged drag queen who co-opts his friends into joining him on a road trip across Australia's hot, dry interior.


Afterward we went for dinner at our favourite Thai restaurant Chiang Mai. However, our 'official' celebration meal took place the following evening. I'd booked us into Roussillion a contemporary French-influenced Michelin Star restaurant. Garry and I had seen it featured in a popular BBC television show called MasterChef. We enjoyed an evening of fabulous food and wine, finally rolling the door shortly after midnight. The kitchen even created a special gingerbread and orange icecream birthday platter.

Friday Follies

This evening Garry and saw La Cage aux Folles at the Playhouse Theatre. The venue was ideal for story about transvestite French showgirls. It's a remarkably small, and ornate (read, faux gilded), Victorian theatre near the Thames riverbank. We laughed our way through more than two and half hours of high-camp humour and OTT drag performances.

John Barrowman clearly had a ball playing the role of Albin, the the aging drag queen diva. At one point, during one of Albin's more melodramatic moments, he had to stiffle a large chuckle much to the audience's delight. However, it was John's singing voice that really made the evening. I had no idea he could sing so well. He absolutely nailed Jerry Herman's iconic song, "I am what I am". Believe me, this song isn't one for amateurs! Snce 1983 it's been re-recorded by many of the world's most popular divas including Shirley Bassey and Gloria Gaynor.

I did feel a little sorry for Simon Burke. Throughout the performance the crowd was clearly focused on John - an actor most familiar to a British audience. This rather awkward side-lining continued afterwards in the foyer as John and the cast collected donations for the Macmillan Cancer Support Foundation. However, I did see a few familar faces from Sydney in the departing mob so clearly Simon had his own Australian fan base in town.

Keeping ourselves busy

Two weeks from now Garry and I will celebrate the fourth anniversary of our departure from Australia, followed eight weeks later by the fourth anniversary of our arrival in London. It’s hard to believe that our fifth year in the North Hemisphere is almost upon us. This also means we'll soon be entering the final 12 months of our current work permits. We clearly have some serious decisions to make in the year ahead. Should we renew the lease at Swiss Cottage? Should we stay in the UK beyond 2010? As I said to Garry recently, if we stay another year, we’ll probably want to stay a further six months beyond 2011 and enjoy Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, we’ve plenty to keep us busy for the next couple of months. Next Friday we’re off to see La Cages aux Folles. This was actually the first Broadway musical I ever saw live. I saw it in November 1983 as an exchange student on a school trip to New York city. Ironically, the following day, I’ll be off to New York for a week on business.

I wonder how well La Cages aux Folles has stood the test of time? The current West End production should hold its own as it includes two of my favourite actors; Simon Burke and John Barrowman. Simon starred in Phantom of the Opera and is recognized by many young Australians as a former Playschool television host. John is well known in the UK as the star of a popular Dr Who spin-off called Torchwood.

In mid-October Garry and I then fly to Dubrovnik for a long weekend. Late November has me scheduled to be back in China for business. Early-December is another round-the-world trip for both business and pleasure; taking in California and Australia for work, New Zealand for an early Christmas with the family. Garry and I will finally round out 2009 with a Christmas/New Year vacation in South Africa. Plenty more photos and blog post to look forward to!

By the time we ring in the New Year I’ll have completed at least 59 separate flights this year. Along the way I’ll have flown around the world twice, visiting every continent except South America and Antarctica. Somehow 2009 turned into a year of particularly heavy travel. Next year won’t be any quieter. We already have flights booked to Sweden, Greece, Canada, the USA and Australia. We’re certainly getting plenty fo mileage out our annual round-the-world tickets. I'm sure this jet-setting life will come to a sudden stop when we finally return to Australia.

An afternoon in Hampstead

Every so often Garry and I have an inadvertent brush with fame. Since arriving in London we’ve met Barry Humphries , sat in a bar with Graham Norton, slept with Nick Lachey and flown across the Atlantic with the UK’s Atlantic with the UK’s Foreign Secretary, David Miliband. Today we joined friends for lunch at the Foremason's Arms in Hampstead to celebrate Martin's birthday. That's him in the middle, above, with his Mum on the right.

We last dined here for my birthday almost two years ago. Eleven of us enjoyed a jovial lunch in the pub’s sunny, glass roof atrium. Our dining companions included Richard O’Brien, author of the Rocky Horror Show. That's Richard on the left. Garry and I first encountered him as a guest on the Dame Edna Treatment in 2007.

Everyone wanted me to meet Richard as he grew up in Tauranga, New Zealand. My parents currently live in Tauranga’s coastal beach resort of Mount Maunganui. Over lunch Richard spoke modestly of the many star-studded encounters that have marked his career. I also learnt that Hamilton city recently unveiled a statue of Richard. He’s certainly the first person I’ve met to have achieved bronze immortality. Needless to say we all enjoyed a fabulous afternoon in the sun, sipping glass after glass of Moet. Hooray for Summer.

Joseph, Rob and a large shoe

I raced back from Madrid on Friday evening in time for an evening at the theatre. Garry had secured some discounted tickets in the front row, centre stage, for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in West End. I first saw this production in 1978 when it was staged by the Hamilton Operatic Society in New Zealand. The role of Joseph was played by the late Rob Guest.

The current West End production is the third such revival. The role of Joseph was originally chosen by a national vote as part of a reality TV show broadcast in June 2007. The winner, Lee Mead, when on complete a popular 12-month contract. Gareth Gates, a Pop Idol runner-up, is currently playing the lead. I’ve heard that Friday’s performance was his penultimate appearance as his six-month contract draws to a close.

So how did it stack 31 years later? Not bad. Gates was superb, as was Jenna Lee-James who played the show’s Narrator. However some of the songs were sung with less than perfect enunciation, thus losing much of the impact I recall them once having. It’s clear the cast has become a little complacent as small details falter. Despite these glitches, the show remains timeless. It’s hard to believe that Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice sold the show’s copyright for a mere 50 guineas in 1969. The last time these right changed hands, they cost £1 million.

Next on our list of West End shows is London's first production of Priscilla; Queen of the Desert, a stage adaptation of the Australian arthouse comedy film took the world by storm in 1994. Currently, the Palace Theatre in Cambridge Circus is festooned by a giant silver stilletto shoe. It's a wonderfully simple, eye-catching promotion.

Ultravox

As a teenager one of my favourite bands was a British electronic pop band called Ultravox. The band was most popular between 1979 and 1985; a period that later came to be known as the Classic line-up. I bought every album during this period and enthusiastically played them at full volume for weeks on end.

The band had several hits including Vienna, which peaked at No.2 on the UK and New Zealand singles chart in 1980; and Dancing with Tears In My Eyes, which reached No.3 in the UK in 1984. It's lead singer, Midge Ure, also co-wrote the 1985 famine fundraiser, "Do they know it's Christmas?" which became the UK's fastest selling single of all time. It sold a million in the first week and stayed at No.1 for five weeks. More than three million copies were eventually sold.

Living in distant New Zealand, I naturally assumed I'd never see them play live; that is until tonight. Six months ago Ultravox announced plans for a reunion tour of the UK and Ireland. To date 19 concerts have been scheduled including one at Camden's Roundhouse venue, a short walk from Swiss Cottage. After a brief internal debate I soon had a ticket ordered and on its way.


This evening I dragged Garry down the road to see Ultravox live, fulfilling a teenage dream. For 90 minutes 25 years disappeared as the band performed my favourite tracks. I suspect I wasn't the only one in the room taking a trip down memory lane. The average age of the crowd had to be at least 40, with plenty of pot-bellies and receding hairlines in view.

However, for a brief moment, we all rediscovered our long lost youth while chanting the lyrics of their greatest hits. I never thought I'd find myself with thousands of others singing Hymn at the top of my lungs. It's moments like that make our time in the UK so unique. Ultravox live in concert? Never in New Zealand. 15-minutes from Swiss Cottage? Absolutely!

Obama my neighbour

The G20 Summit kicked off tonight in London. The G20 is a group of 19 countries, plus the European Union, who collectively represent 85% of the world's GNP. The Group's leaders are in town for the next two days debating a global plan for economic recovery and reform. Their presence has resulted in a massive £10 million security net across the city.

More than 5,000 police are curently on duty, including 2,500 in the central financial district alone. Many have been drafted in from outside London, escorting 40 armed conveys or containing seven officially registered demonstrations. The first of these protests began today outside the Bank of England where twenty-two people were arrested. Another two demonstrations are in full force this evening, with early reports of one death.

Police fear these protests will become increasingly violent, with much of the anger directed at banks and their staff. As a result, workers in the financial district are being urged to dress casually so as not to draw the attention and ire of protesters. In Garry's office everyone has been told to dress down, while staff in my office are advised to do the same if venturing into town for meetings.


President Obama is staying at Winfield House, located on the edge of Regent's Park, less than ten minutes walk from our house. With the president in the neighbourhood, security is understandably tight. This morning I walked to work through the park and stumbled across an overwhelming police presence.

The entire northwest corner of the park was fenced off, with large crash barriers spaced at regular intervals and bolted firmly to the ground. Police patrolled in pairs every 20 metres along both sides of the fence, while scores more sat armed and waiting in a dozen minivans. The police clearly mean business!

This evening as I was coming home, Baker Street tube station was also swarming with police officers. They were out in force to prevent trouble as fans made their way to an England v Ukraine World Cup football qualifier at Wembley Stadium. I think I've seen more policemen today than I've seen in three years.

Tomorrow morning at 7am we'll be woken by the President's helicopter departing for the Summit's East London venue. Apparently more than one identical helicopter typically flies in convey, to confuse potential threats and provide a back-up at all times. I'm guessing we won't run in Obama at the local Tesco any time soon.

Celebrity in the UK

Jade Goody was a UK celebrity that mystified Garry and I when we first arrived in London. She was everywhere; gracing magazine covers, hosting reality television programs and the catalyst for endless national debate. We later learnt that, in 2002, she’d been a finalist in Big Brother, a UK reality television show. This television apperance subsequently triggered a uniquely enduring brush with fame. In time she came to symbolize the UK’s obsession with celebrity, no matter how vapid its source. It seems appropriate to blog on a phenomenon so uniquely British.

Last week Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody died from cervical cancer, aged 28. She left behind a family of two young boys. As with so much of her adult life, Jade’s death became the fodder of magazines, television and political debate throughout the week. She’d planned it this way. Her cancer diagnosis was given while appearing in an Indian version of Big Brother last August. She then allowed a film crew to follow her into hospital, gave heartfelt interviews and sold exclusive rights to her recent wedding.

Jade’s motive for this final burst of publicity was never in doubt. She wanted to build a healthy trust fund for her children and raise cervical cancer awareness. She succeeded on both fronts. Her final weeks of publicity reported secured a £1 million windfall, while latest stats show a 30% rise in the number of women taking smear tests following her diagnosis.

Jade was unashamedly, sometimes surprisingly, ignorant. However, while she may not have possessed any hard-won talent, she did demonstrate a vulnerably and openness all too rare in modern society. Her troubled upbringing also spoke to those seeking inspiration and opportunity against the odds. In the days since her death more than one commentator has described her as Lady Diana from the wrong side of the tracks.

Jade was born in South London in 1981. Her father was a heroin addict and her mother, Jackiey, lost the use of an arm in a motorcycle accident when Jade was five. Her mother later became a crack addict. By the time she appeared on Big Brother she’d been evicted from a council flat and was facing prison for an unpaid tax bill. Her time in the house caused a national storm. Harsh tabloid headlines railed against her, before eventually turning in her favour. Five year on and her fortune was an estimated £4-million.

Her celebrity continues, even in death. Tonight, the first of a two-part television tribute was broadcast with more coverage on the way as funeral plans are finalized. Jade Goody is unique phenomenon, but her rise as a celebrity isn't. The UK's obession with fame goes on.

NOTE:
I've illustrated this post with the cover of OK magazine. It's one of the UK's more popular weekly celebrity news magazines, with a weekly circulation of 500,000. Media reports claim it sold an additional 1.3 million copies in the UK the week it published exclusive images of Jade Goody's wedding. It also publishes USA and Australian editions. The Australian edition was launched as a monthly publication in August 2004, before moving to a weekly edition in October 2006. This publication's success is mirrored again and again by similar titles like Hello and Tatler, and a dozen other clones gracing the local newstand every week.

The audacity of hope

It’s been an odd week for news. While UK generates more bleak headlines, the USA has been generating a wave of uplifting stories. It’s almost as if the USA has finally burned itself out with recession doom and gloom.

The good news started last Thursday with the miracle of Flight 1549. The story of a US Airways Airbus A320 ditching in New York’s Hudson river filled the airwaves for days. The twin-engine plane lost all power during take-off when it flew into a flock of geese. Quick action by the pilot saw 155 people survived a textbook emergency landing. It was hard not to draw parallels with BA 038, another successful crash landing at Heathrow last year. As a regular traveller it's comforting to know such events are truly survivable.


Good news continued this week with yesterday historic inauguration of America’s first black president. At last I was in a time zone that made it possible to watch an inauguration without rising in the dead of night. It was quite a spectacle. More than one million people had gathered in the National Mall in Washington DC. You could almost feel the palpable mood of hope that swept down the mall as Barack Obama took the presidential oath. I was almost overwhelmed by the magnitude of the events I was witnessing.

As the inauguration unfolded I was reminded of my University days, almost 21 years ago. In 1988 I wrote a top-scoring term paper on Martin Luther King, Jr. I spent months studying the events that transformed him from an unknown local pastor into the nation’s most famous Civil Rights leader.

My term paper concluded with the moment King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech.  This event was witnessed by more than 250,000 civil rights supporters crowding the length of the memorial's reflecting pool. I concluded that this was the moment that ultimately immortalized King for the ages. Yesterday, as Obama stood at the opposite end of the Mall, with the Lincoln Memorial shining in the distance, King's dream was made real. It's life-changing stuff.


Meanwhile, news in London has grown darker by the day. Pick a statistic. They’re all bad. On Monday the Royal Bank of Scotland warned that it would report the largest corporate loss in the nation’s history; a staggering £28billion. The Government increased its ownership of the bank to 70%, leaving the markets convinced that it would be nationalized within weeks. Its shares plunged 68%, dragging down other bank shares in the process.

Yesterday’s news was dominated by a record fall in the value of the pound. It hit a 23-year low against the US dollar. Earlier today the pound briefly dropped to $1.3622. Last summer we were getting more than two dollars for every pound. The Australian dollar saw a similar jump against the pound. Tonight it’s trading at $2.06, down from $2.22 last Thursday.

Today’s headlines were dominated by news that the ranks of the unemployed rose to 1.92 million in the UK between September and November. Not surprisingly, the papers reported that mortgage lending fell 30% in 2008 and inflation fell by a quarter in the final month of the year. Later this week we'll be officially in recession after the quaterly GDP results are published. There doesn’t seem much to celebrate. Britain desperately needs its own dose of hope.

Stars fall to earth

This week’s storm in a teacup blew up when two BBC radio presenters made prank calls during their regular Saturday evening show. Comedians Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross are renown for their edgy humour offset by a somewhat fobbish demeanor. On this occasion they attempted to call 78-year old actor Andrew Sachs four times for a pre-arranged interview. Sachs is best known for his role as the Spanish waiter Manuel in Fawlty Towers.

When they couldn’t reach him, Brand and Ross began to leave increasingly obscene comments on voicemail about Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie. Of the program’s estimated 400,000 listeners, only two initially complained to the BBC, including Sachs. However, a media storm soon erupted.

The story came to dominate headlines for days, while the BBC received 37,500 complaints. Most questioned how a pre-recorded show with such deplorable content ever made it to air. All agreed that harassing an old man with obscene calls was in poor taste, even if the incident had become a something of a media frenzy.

In an interesting twist it was revealed that Baillie had dated Brand two years earlier. She was also reported to be a burlesque dancer, performing with a female troupe called the Satanic Sluts Extreme. The group decribed themselves as “four of the sexiest depraved London jezebels.”

As the news hype continued, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron both deplored the calls. The BBC moved from an initially inadequate response to one that risked blowing the entire incident out of all proportion. As one newspaper commentator noted, nothing is more deadly than the British press pursuing moral outrage.

Repercussions quickly followed. Russell Brand initially made a public apology, then resigned. The Controller of BBC Radio 2, the network that broadcast the calls, also resigned. The BBC then suspended Jonathon Ross without pay for 12 weeks and issued a full apology.

Ross is one of the Corporation’s highest paid presenters, currently earning a reported £6 million. I must admit that I struggle to understand why he's so popular. I find him not the least bit talented and rarely funny. British humour can be cruel, as I well know. It’s encouraging to know that it has its limits.

Wheels on Fire

In 1991 British comedian, Jennifer Saunders, wrote a 14-minute sketch called Modern Mother and Daughter for the French & Saunders Show. The public loved it. Within a year the sketch had become a global television phenomenon called Absolutely Fabulous. This sitcom eventually ran for three years from 1992, and was revived again for another three in 2001. I am a dedicated fan of the show and fondly recall watching every episode when they first aired.

Fast forward 15 years. I never imagined I’d see French & Saunders perform the original sketch live. Last night I did. A few weeks ago I purchased tickets to French & Saunders’ farewell tour as an early 40th birthday gift for Garry. Last night, after a quick meal at Covent Garden, we joined a sell-out crowd for two hours of fun and laughter.

Watching Jennifer Saunders play Edina Monsoon on stage was pure magic. I can safely say that Modern Mother and Daughter was every bit as funny as the television show I’d eagerly anticipated all those years ago. I’ve since read that both comedians memorized every line of the sketch word for word. It was easy to see why these 14 minutes became a cultural icon. It’s a true classic that’s stood the test of time.