A Funeral Tango

According to the East London and West Essex Guardian, I'm not sure if there really is a paper called that, but there ought to be, Elton John is the artists whose records are the most popular at funerals. This was discovered in a survey by Redbridge Age Concern Funeral Plans, which helps people plan for their funerals by offering a choice of traditional funeral arrangements through approved funeral directors. Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley were runners up. Presumably Elton's 'I'm Still Standing' isn't one of the choices, maybe ‘Funeral For A Friend’?. I bet Sinatra's 'My Way' is more popular than 'Come Fly With Me' and Elvis, what would we pick from the King’s vast catalogue of songs? 'Promised Land', or 'Long Black Limousine' or maybe even 'Crying in the Chapel.'

I've decided long ago that I would have the Beach Boys, no surprise there according to my wife, and 'Til I Die'

I'm a cork on the ocean
Floating over the raging sea
How deep is the ocean?
How deep is the ocean?
I lost my way
Hey hey hey

I'm a rock in a landslide
Rolling over the mountainside
How deep is the valley?
How deep is the valley?
It kills my soul
Hey hey hey

I'm a leaf on a windy day
Pretty soon I'll be blown away
How long will the wind blow?
How long will the wind blow?

Until I die
Until I die
These things I'll be until I die

Edinburgh Warming

I was a beautiful day in Edinburgh yesterday and I walked the length of Rose Street. The pubs, bars and cafes all had seats and tables outside - every one was full. It felt like I was in a Continental city, people were smiling and laughing and the atmosphere was great. The arguments over how much man is to blame for global warming and how much is cyclical I find impossible to fathom, especially as the experts cannot agree. I do know there was an Edinburgh warming in the whole feel and ambience of the city.

Jam Tomorrow

The news that Ryanair proposes absurdly low fares to North America with the coming deregulation of transatlantic air services comes as no surprise. The Ryanair story is all about opportunism by Michael O'Leary, a master showman and PR hound. Ryanair announced that they would be buying between 30 and 50 long-haul jets - either the Boeing 787 or the Airbus A350, These aircraft will cost around $200 million each meaning that Ryanair is proposing to spend Between $6 and $10 billion – roughly the equivalent of the GDP of Belize, St.Lucia, Guyana, Mongolia, Malawi and The Gambia combined. They may well be planning something but I suspect it will not be as adventurous as they suggest. Between making a statement of intent and actually operating is a big gulf - or in this case ocean. There's also the small matter of some very sophisticated US competition, one that knows far more about dog fights over air fares than most of the air carriers in Europe, which were the ones that Ryanair took on to get where they are. Travel patterns on long haul flying are also vastly different to short haul.

In the short term expect little change. In the medium term who knows where the argument over taxing flying is going to take us. Mr O’Leary’s statement is much more about his short haul business today than a possible long haul business tomorrow.

Things I Bet You Didn't Know No.1

According to the obituary in today's Independent of Terry Hall, the ventriloquist behind Lenny The Lion....

"The Beatles made one of their earliest television appearances in a May 1963 episode of Pops and Lenny, singing their first No 1 single, "From Me To You", and "Please Please Me", as well as joining Hall and his puppet for a song titled "After You've Gone". At the time, the future pop star David Bowie's father was working on the show and he launched the Lenny the Lion Fan Club. Hall and his stooge also released their own single, "Lenny's Bath Time" (1963)."

Thanks to my brilliant designer pal Richard Evans for this top tip