Week ending 5th December 2010.
Well what a blast off to the start of the working week. Batman and Robin rule Russia, Gaddafi goes nowhere without a busty Ukrainian nurse at his side, Hilary instructed her US diplomats to spy on the UN, David Cameron was less than impressive to the US (and as someone who did not vote for D.C. that comes as really no surprise), not to mention that we Brits are obsessed with the so called special relationship which is nonsense - more to follow next week, China has developed a rather soft spot for a reunited Korea and Julian Assange can't help tickling young Swedish fillys. Did we not know all this already? The most interesting and outrageous item of all was the full story of Bradley Manning, a US soldier working as an intelligence analyst, who stands accused of downloading vast amounts of classified materials on a CD-RW which he labelled as Lady Gaga. Whilst he listened to the files he would lip-synch to Lady Gaga's Telephone while 'exfiltrating' possibly the largest data spillage in American history.
Whilst the content of the Wikileaks is nothing more outrageous in its tone than someone making quips at an English dinner party or down the pub, we do tend to forget that most of our overseas friends do not share our 'close to the bone' and more often than not, insensitive sense of humour and wit and perhaps once again, the US has snuck an own goal of foot and mouth disease. Of course this would have never happened in previous generations past, when everything was recorded in analogue form - i.e. in writing, on paper, as it would have been too difficult to shift and carry heavy files around without being noticed. That is progress for you. Perhaps Apple will come out with a new wikileaks i-phone already loaded with all our personal gaffs and secrets, not such a ridiculous idea.
Going to the theatre on a Monday night is a bit of a strain, especially in sub-zero temperatures. However, being given tickets to the best seats of the house which would normally cost £85 each was a good enough reason to push on through the more preferable hibernation mode and into the Novello Theatre with a fabulous friend. We watched the fantastic Robert Lindsay starring as Aristotle Onassis. Starting in 1963, and covering the last 12 years of the Greek shipping magnate's life, it shows him to be little more than a boorish megalomaniac. We see him dumping Maria Callas (for whose art he had nothing but disdain - 'opera sounds like a bunch of Italian chefs singing risotto recipes'), for the supposedly more covetable Jackie Kennedy. It's also suggested, in conspiracy theory style, that his dubious financial dealings with shady Palestinians may have paid for the murder of Bobby Kennedy, whom he passionately loathed. The best line in Onassis was one spoken by Jackie Kennedy to the doomed Onassis heir Alexander, 'your father was peanut butter with chocolate and stawberries, they don't make them like like that anymore, the future is vanilla'. Couldn't agree more.
Thank goodness for Robert Lindsay. The play has had mixed reviews, however, the star of My Family and the previously written about Citizen Smith was the absolute star of the show. Well worth watching if you find yourself lost in the Aldwych area for a couple of hours of fun, before or after a dash to the new Beaufort Bar at the Savory - go about 10 minutes before the performance starts and you will be sure to get a good seat for a fantastic price as the theatre was far from full, except for the fact that amongst the half empty seats I spotted an ex! And as much as they were your world at one time, once they have stepped out of it and you genuinely wish them the best, the next time you spy them some years later, you feel quite indifferent to the sighting. In fact, so indifferent, there was no time to pass pleasantries, there was no need. The satisfaction was in knowing that his new beau was more of a Miranda than an Elizabeth Hurley.
The plethora of Christmas parties are in full December swing, sometimes 3 or 4 a night. One can either tackle them head-on in a haze with a full on head ache every night, or somewhat more tempered, deciding which ones to drink at or not, depending on the quality of the liquor flowing, the company, the venue, etc, etc. Luckily so far so good. Even in the depths of the snow and ice last week, I managed to skid down Glebe Place on the Louboutin's at lightning speed aided by holding onto a passing handsome mans arm and traversed into the party grabbing a vino tinto and a salmon blini on the way up the stairs. In the spirit of Christmas and charitable cheer, let's not forget the poor homeless buggers sleeping in their cardboard boxes in awful minus temperatures. I will make an extra effort to dig a bit deeper into the pocket this winter and remember those more unfortunate.
Aside from above, 10 other things I read, did and encountered this week that may be of interest or may be you would prefer me to shut up and you can go back to reading your new Heat magazine:
1. Lunch with the FT: Tamara Mellon - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/9d821ce2-fe60-11df-845b-00144feab49a.html#axzz17GqypBGG
2. Fabulous cultured pearls and other jewellery by Silvana Monson, a wonderful friend's Brazilian wife;
3. L'Oreal Spray Tan - wake up like you have been in Barbados without the jetlag;
4. Great drinks party with Dubai friends at Ju Ju on the Kings Road - the joint is pumping on a Thursday night and delicious duck spring rolls;
5. Catching up with missed episodes of Any Human Heart - http://www.channel4.com/programmes/any-human-heart;
6. Wrapping Christmas parties whilst blasting out Gil Scott Heron;
7. Booking somewhere hot to double whammy missing Easter and the Royal Wedding;
8. Wondering if the ironing pile procreates like mice and doubles overnight;
9. Reading The Slap on the Kindle for I-phone whilst I still have good eyesight, quite small writing, although very surprisingly clear;
10. Wondering why the oh so cool Black Eyed Peas could sing Dirty Dancing, surely there are other great songwriters in LA who could help them?
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