Political prisoner, activist, journalist, hymn-writer, emerging thinktanker, aspiring novelist, "tribal elder", 2019 parliamentary candidate for North West Durham, Shadow Leader of the Opposition, "Speedboat", "The Cockroach", eagerly awaiting the second (or possibly third) attempt to murder me.
Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Civic Pride
I am delighted, if far from surprised, to have been declared the City of David Lindsay in order to mark the Diamond Jubilee.
Thank you, Lilibet, darling.
Now, whom to create as Freemen, why, and with what privileges?
You do pop these things in occasionally, like when you claimed that there had been a fly past to create you Royal David Lindsay, that you would not be sending your customary cases of claret at Christmas to Zoo and Nuts because they had not shortlisted you for Sports Personality of the Year, and most recently when you accused Nicola Sturgeon of being the source of the world's worst caviar. No wonder you profess to admire Peter Simple and Auberon Waugh. Keep it up, it is a whole other side of you that your readers rarely see.
There are no jokes in the books, that's for sure. These are welcome insights into what it must be like to sit next to you on high table. But you are right to keep them to a minimum. Wits are often considered intellectual lightweights, and you are anything but one of those.
The lack of laughs on here has always been a disppointment to those of us who have known you for many years, even though we know why you keep it that way. Have you considered creating a character through which to write humour, like Peter Simple was to Michael Wharton? Your feuds are also in the Wharton-Waugh tradition, which means that Oliver Kamm and Damian Thompson need to watch out. Who now remembers Nora Beloff, for example?
You do pop these things in occasionally, like when you claimed that there had been a fly past to create you Royal David Lindsay, that you would not be sending your customary cases of claret at Christmas to Zoo and Nuts because they had not shortlisted you for Sports Personality of the Year, and most recently when you accused Nicola Sturgeon of being the source of the world's worst caviar. No wonder you profess to admire Peter Simple and Auberon Waugh. Keep it up, it is a whole other side of you that your readers rarely see.
ReplyDeleteThere are no jokes in the books, that's for sure. These are welcome insights into what it must be like to sit next to you on high table. But you are right to keep them to a minimum. Wits are often considered intellectual lightweights, and you are anything but one of those.
ReplyDeleteThe lack of laughs on here has always been a disppointment to those of us who have known you for many years, even though we know why you keep it that way. Have you considered creating a character through which to write humour, like Peter Simple was to Michael Wharton? Your feuds are also in the Wharton-Waugh tradition, which means that Oliver Kamm and Damian Thompson need to watch out. Who now remembers Nora Beloff, for example?
ReplyDeleteMy favourite was only a week ago, the one about a woman on Question Time dressed as Prince.
ReplyDeleteWhat fancy dress horror awaits us tonight?
ReplyDelete