Britain is still a country for and says "Happy Birthday" to an old cinematographer and film director called Nicholas Roeg

Nicholas is 85, second-unit cinematographer on 'Lawrence of Arabia', cinematographer on Roger Corman's 'The Masque of the Red Death' and 'Fahrenheit 451', co-director and photographer of 'Performance' in 1970 and director of 'Walkabout', 'Don't look Now' and 'The Man Who Fell to Earth', is 85 years old today.

What you you possibly didn't know about Nicholas, that he :

* was born in London in 1928 and after doing National Service at the age of 18, after the Second World War, joined the film industry as tea-maker and clapper-boy at Marylebone Studios then worked his way up to camera operator on Ken Hughes' 'The Trials of Oscar Wilde' at the age of 32 in 1960.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiTfRoFeg3Q

* was cameraman on Fred Zinnermann's 'The Sundowners' in 1960 and contributed to scripts for Cliff Owen in 'Prize of Arms' in '61 and Lawrence Huntingdon's 'Death Drums along the River' in '62.

* came into his own as a cinematographer, helping directors realise what was in their heads, creating a consistent look for the film, making images that help tell the story in the frame through the lighting, getting the mood right, getting images to push the story along and keep the audience inside, not outside.


* worked as cinematographer with Roger Corman on his 'The Masque of the Red Death' in 1964
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JPAJa0yUuw
, Francois Truffaut on his 'Fahrenheit 451'  in 1965 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9n98SXNGl8
 and Richard Lester in his 'Petulia' in 1968. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clfVZWgd8aE

* moved into direction in 1968 and paired with the painter and writer Donald Cammel on 'Performance', centring on the confrontation between a gangster on the run, James Fox, and a pop idol in retreat, Mick Jagger, but saw the films cockney accents, graphic violence, sympathetic view of London's hallucinatory drug culture and a complex narrative concerned with identity and power, delay its release by a more conservative Warner Bros, for two years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFxfn3LakeM

* in Australia directed and photographed 'Walkabout', a rite-of-passage drama built round the relationship between a teenage Aborigine, David Gulpilil and two white children, Jenny Agutter and his son Luc Roeg, who become lost in the Australian desert after their suicidal father tries to kill them and saw playwright Edward Bond's dialogue and own startling images of fierce orange suns, lizards and insects and savage terrain, attract audiences and critics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdqwbs8uKwQ


* achieved his biggest success in 1973 with a story of mystery, tragedy, sensuality in 'Don't Look Now', a bizarre supernatural tale, based on a Daphne du Maurier short story with glamorous, fashionable couple, Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland haunted by the accidental drowning of their little daughter in Venice, where they attempt to come to terms with their grief.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8yqq6uBrKc

* in 'The Man Who Fell to Earth' in 1976, made clever use of David Bowie's otherworldly weirdness, casting him as a benign but unhappy alien but, with the character's drift into exhaustion and confusion, left the film with an unsatisfactory dying fall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHkOyAh8WiI

* with 'Bad Timing' in 1980, used Theresa Russell, subsequently his second wife as a sensual, sexually liberated young woman and Art Garfunkel as the inhibited psychoanalyst and found that film's  disturbingly frank depiction of cruelty and sexual perversion upset the Rank Organisation, which preferred to lose their substantial investment rather than show the film in their cinemas.

* in 1982 made 'Eureka', a big budget film backed by MGM, based on the real-life story of the successful gold prospector Sir Harry Oakes, murdered, most probably by the American Mafia in 1943, which despite the striking imagery became  an ill-resolved murder mystery and forced the studio complain that he had not delivered the film he had promised and saw them rein in the expected wide release.

* saw The Big Audio Dynamite in 1985 release "E=mc2" as a tribute to his work, with each verse relating to one of his films, 'Don't Look Now', 'The Man Who Fell To Earth', 'Performance' and 'Insignificance'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHTDkJ-bQqM

* made 'Castaway' in 1986, with Oliver Reed and Amanda Donohoe marooned on a desert island https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C9SwPXbAlY
and followed it with his last mainstream movie at the age of 61, an adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's story 'The Witches'  in 1989.

*  filmed Joseph Conrad's classic novella 'Heart of Darkness' for cable tv in 1994 and it was Conrad who uttered what could be his own credo: "A man who believes he has no illusions has at least that one".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX1T4EkD_cM

* produced his book, 'The World is Ever Changing' this Summer, named after a line in 'The Man Who Fell To Earth'  by David Bowie's alien : "The world is ever changing, Mr Farnsworth, like the universe," underlining his own keen sense of life's fleeting nature and containing his jumble of thoughts, opinions and observations during which he zips back and forth between his early years as a camera operator's assistant and his movie directing heyday and produced as an ebook complete with clips from his films.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hniHzDbsO64

* wrote : 'the magic of the captured moving image, that is for me the most magical ability I can think of. It has already, and still does, open doors of revelation which will finally show us the future'.

Somebody I never met

But in a way I know.
Didn`t think that you could get
So much from a picture show.

Man dies first reel.
People ask what`s the deal?
This ain`t how it`s supposed to be,
Don`t like no aborigine.

Ritual ideas relativety,
Only buildings no people prophecy.
Timeslide place to hide nudge reality,
Foresight minds wide magic imagery.

Took a trip in Powis Square,
Pop star dyed his hair.
No fans to scream and shout,
When mobsters came to flush him out.
Gangland slaying underground,
New identity must be found.
On the left bank for a while,
Insanity Bohemian style.

Ritual ideas relativety,
Only buildings no people prophecy.
Timeslide place to hide nudge reality,
Foresight minds wide magic imagery.

Met a dwarf that was no good,
Dressed like little Red Riding Hood.
Bad habit taking life,
Calling card a six inch knife.
Ran off really fast,
Mumbled something `bout the past.
Best sex I`ve ever seen,
As if each moment was the last.
Drops of blood colour slide,
Funeral for his bride.
But it`s him who`s really dead,
Gets to take the funeral ride.

Ritual ideas relativety,
Only buildings no people prophecy.
Timeslide place to hide nudge reality,
Foresight minds wide magic imagery.

Space guy fell from the sky,
Scratched my head and wondered why.
Time slide into time,
Across international dateline.
Scientist eats bubblegum,
Hall of fame baseball.
Senators a Hoodlum,
Big chiefs in the hall.
Ritual ideas relativety,
Only buildings no people prophecy.
Timeslide place to hide nudge reality,
Foresight minds wide magic imagery.

Stray thoughts fear to tread,
Placed upon the screen instead.
Shes my flame too hot to hold,
Had to settle for her cold.

Bloodlust - Greek God - Gold discovery
Gone bust - Tight wad - Slow recovery
Axe job - Flame thrower - Ironbar and gun
Betting shop - New owner - A walk in the sun

Ritual ideas relativety,
Only buildings no people prophecy.
Timeslide place to hide nudge reality,
Foresight minds wide magic imagery.

Spread the news the Maestros back,
With a beat - box soundtrack.
The King of brains - Queen of the sack`,
Executives have heart attack.
It`s assault course celluloid,
The money makers would avoid.
Sometimes notions get reversed,
Centre of the universe.

Britain is no country for an old tv broadcaster called Jeremy Paxman unable to grow his beard without : comment on Twitter, reports in the press and odds at the bookies

The 63 year old Jeremy Paxman, appeared twice on tv on Monday. First, clean shaven. on the prerecorded 'University Challenge' at 8.00 pm and then bearded on the live 'Newsnight' at 10.30 pm. The difference was arresting. It aged him instantly, as a grey beard can do.

Jeremy later released a statement :

'I may keep it or I may shave it off, but I think I'll make my own decision. I have grown a beard for the last few summers, and suddenly wondered whether I really needed to shave it off to present 'Newsnight'. Unless you're lucky enough to be Uncle Albert on Only Fools and Horses, Demis Roussos or Abu Hamza, the BBC is generally as pogonophobic as the late-lamented Albanian dictator, Enver Hoxha.'

Albert                                                                                                                              Demis

Twitter went into meltdown on Monday after his facial hair made its 'Newsnight' debut. Minutes after the news programme started on BBC Two, the phrase 'Paxman beard' had become a trending topic.

Bookmakers, 'Ladbrokes' announced new odds on the future of the veteran broadcaster's beard - offering odds of 4/5 for him to keep the beard for the rest of his 'Newsnight' appearances this week, and 33/1 for him to retire without shaving.

Alex Donohue (right) said: "Paxman is odds-on to keep the pruners away this week. The future of the beard isn't as certain but if it lasts the month we'll have to slash the odds about it sticking around all year."

The beard news made the national newspapers.


What’s all the fuzz about, then? Jeremy Paxman's new beard lights up the Twitterverse

He is renowned for being bristly, but not like this. The Newsnight host’s unexpected facial hair created a social media frenzy, and now has its own Twitter account
 

Jeremy Paxman's beard sparks Twitter posts
Jeremy Paxman, the BBC journalist, saw himself trending on Twitter within minutes of appearing with a beard on Newsnight


Jeremy Paxman's beard tickles Newsnight viewers and Twitter

Presenter laments BBC pogonophobia and says his facial hair may stay after it became one of Twitter's most popular topics

If nothing else, we now know that pogonophobic  is 'an irrational hatred of beards'.

Britain is no country for more and more old men languishing in prison at the end of their days

Nick Hardwick, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, has said that old men over the age of 60 are now the fastest-growing part of the jail population in England and Wales.

Back in April Nick told the House of Commons Justice Select Committee that the prison service had become a significant carer of elderly people but was struggling to meet their social and healthcare needs. He made the following points, that :

* some prisons, such as Leyhill open prison in Gloucestershire, had developed day-centre-type activities and 'quieter wings' where older prisoners could escape the hurly burly of general prison life.

* other prisons had a lack of awareness among prison staff of how they should meet the health and social care needs of old prisoners who were less likely to complain or raise problems with staff.

*  there were 3,333 prisoners aged over 60 in jails in England and Wales last September, an increase of more than 100% over the previous 10 years and  included 42 prisoners over the age of 80 with the oldest at 92.

*  the rapid rise in old men prisoners was a result of the courts passing tougher sentences, particularly for sex offenders and more than 40% of prisoners aged over 60 have been imprisoned for sexual offences.

Nigel Newcomen, the 'Prisons and Probation Ombudman', also raised the issue of old prisoners who died in jail and said :

* a study of 200 'end-of-life cases'  had shown that while there was generally equitable treatment, compared with the care and help the prisoners would have received in the community but in a quarter of the cases the possibility of compassionate release had not been adequately explored.

* 50 dying prisoners had been wrongly chained or handcuffed during their final days in hospital or in a hospice over the past five years.

My posting on old men in prison last year :

http://britainisnocountryforoldmen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/britain-is-country-where-old-men-die-in.html

Thursday, 19 January 2012

Britain is a country where old men die in prison " at the last stop before Heaven or Hell"

Britain is still a country for and says "Happy Birthday" to an old rock guitarist, composer and lyricist called Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler lead guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the rock band 'Dire Straits', in which he played for 22 years from 1977 to its disbanding in 1995, is 64 years old today.

Things you possibly didn't know about Mark : he :

* was born in Glasgow, Scotland to an English mother and a Hungarian Jewish father, an architect whose communist sympathies had forced him to flee his native Hungary.

* settled in his Mother's home town of Blyth in the North-East of England when he was around 7 years old and at 11 went to 'Gosforth Grammar School.

* was was inspired by his Uncle Kingsley's harmonica and boogie-woogie piano playing and formed and joined anonymous schoolboy bands in the 1960's and at the age 16, made a local tv appearance as half of a 'harmony duo' along with a friend from school called Sue.

* displayed a flair for English and in 1967, studied journalism for a year at Harlow Technical College, got a job in Leeds as a junior reporter on the 'Yorkshire Evening Post' then studied for a degree in English at the University of Leeds.

* worked as a part-time lecturer at Loughton College and played music with mates in a band called the 'Café Racers' before moving to London and joining a band called 'Brewers Droop' which made an album called 'The Booze Brothers'.

* played on an old acoustic guitar with a badly warped neck strung with extra-light strings to make it playable which he found impossible to play unless he finger-picked it and later said : "That was where I found my 'voice' on guitar."

* made the first demos with 'Dire Straits' in 1977 including 'Sultans of Swing' which, when  released, became a chart hit in Europe, the USA and Canada and finally Britain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pa9x9fZBtY
Lyrics at bottom of posting.

* released 'Making Movies' in 1980, which contained his very 'personal' compostions 'Tunnel of Love' and 'Romeo and Juliet'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64vvX6-d_JY
Lyrics at bottom of posting.

* released 'Brothers in Arms'in 1985 and played in 1988 for the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium and saw it go on to sell 30 million copies worldwide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rt5tnpqFpM
Lyrics at bottom of posting.

* made the first video. with 'Money for Nothing', to be played on MTV in Britain, the first C.D. to sell a million copies, made a world tour in 1985–86 with 230 shows and great success and wrote the music scores for the films 'Local Hero', https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5maW-BTJ2LE 'Last Exit to Brooklyn' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0Z3d2VjAWM&list=PL257C587B5500F5CE and 'Wag the Dog' and sold over 120 million albums with 'Dire Straits'

*  in 1984, wrote the his scores for the films 'Cal' and 'Comfort and Joy', produced Bob Dylan's 'Infidels' album, as well as 'Knife' by Aztec Camera and wrote the song 'Private Dancer' for Tina Turner's comeback album of the same name.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4QnalIHlVc

* joined the charity ensemble 'Ferry Aid' on 'Let It Be' in the wake of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster and saw it reach No.1 on the UK singles chart in 1987 and  wrote the music score for the film 'The Princess Bride'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDSC_Nz3KhE

* released the follow-up to 'Brothers in Arms' in 1991, 'On Every Street', which with a mixed critical reaction, followed by a gruelling world tour which drove the band into the ground and ultimately led to its final dissolution in 1995 and him to launch his career as a solo artist.

* has recorded guitar for Ted Christopher's Dunblane massacre tribute cover of 'Knocking on Heaven's Door',
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KQzQVREMbU played in charity concerts,been continuously busy and last year released his seventh solo album, 'Privateering', featuring 20 new songs.

* was ranked 27 on the 'Rolling Stone' magazine's list of '100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.'

Mark, Britain's old men salute you and say "thanks for choosing a career in music rather than lecturing."

Britain is still, sadly, a country with old anachronistic Member of the European Parliament called Godfrey Bloom

Godfrey Bloom, who is the 63 year old democratically elected Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and  Humber representing the small right wing UK Independence Party, has attitudes which would have been more typical in Victorian Britain. He was filmed at a meeting in Wordsley in July and the release of his speech by the Guardian has engulfed this old man in a storm of controversy.
He said, in relation to British aid to Third World countries : 
"How we can possibly be giving a billion pounds a month when we're in this sort of debt to Bongo Bongo land is completely beyond me. To buy Ray-Ban sunglasses, apartments in Paris, Ferraris and all the rest of it that goes with most of the foreign aid. F18s for Pakistan. We need a new squadron of F18s. Who's got the squadrons? Pakistan, where we send the money."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23608106
 
 In the furore which followed he :
 
* defended his remarks saying people in Yorkshire would not think the term 'bongo bongo land' was racist because there is no such country.
 
* when asked what he would do if he was reprimanded, told BBC Radio 4's 'Today Programme': "I'd say "Righto, sorry, sorry everybody" and "If I've offended anybody in bongo bongo land I shall write to the ambassador at the Court of St James's and apologise to him personally." * denied the phrase carried any suggestion of racism and stood by his comments, saying: "What’s wrong with that? I’m not a wishy-washy Tory. I don’t do political correctness... The fact that the Guardian is reporting this will probably double my vote in the north of England."

A former economist, he was elected as an MEP in 2004 and has been making headlines ever since with his views on women, climate change and Germans.
He put his foot in it when, he :
 
* soon after he was appointed to the European Parliament's 'Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality',  declared that "no self-respecting small businessman with a brain in the right place would ever employ a lady of child-bearing age" and  added that he wanted to deal with women's issues because: "I just don't think they clean behind the fridge enough."

* on climate change he once remarked: "As far as I am concerned man-made global warming is nothing more than a hypothesis that hasn't got any basis in fact."

* admitted visiting brothels and argued that instead of being exploited, most prostitutes "do it because they want to".

* in 2010, was ejected from a Brussels debate after using the Nazi slogan : "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer" to insult German Social Democrat, Martin Schulz (right).

UKIP leader Nigel Farage ordered him to apologise and banned him from using the phrase 'Bongo Bongo land' again

UKIP chairman Steve Crowther (left) said: "We are asking Godfrey not to use this phrase again as it might be considered disparaging by members from other countries.However, foreign aid is an extremely important debate that needs wider discussion."

Rushanara Ali, a Labour Development spokesman, said: "If Nigel Farage is serious about getting rid of racism and intolerance in his party, he should take action against politicians who think it’s acceptable to speak of people in developing countries in that way."

A spokesman for the anti-racism, 'Hope Not Hate' campaign, said his remarks were reminiscent of the "Tory party of 1985", when Alan Clark, former MP for Kensington and Chelsea, provoked outrage by referring to Africa as ‘Bongo Bongo land’ in an official meeting.

 
Laura Pidcock (left), from campaign group 'Show Racism the Red Card', said: "What I can tell you is that in the classrooms that I visit as an anti-racism education worker, these crude stereotypes that see Britain as a civilised place and overseas as tribal is an extremely homogenising sentiment and I think it's incredibly damaging.
Actually he needs to understand that it is highly offensive and what he meant by it isn't important - it's the outcome that's important."

Godfrey Bloom, an old, outdated 'fruit of democracy' in Britain in 2013.

Britain is still a county for and says "Happy Birthday" to an old professor of mathematical physics called Roger Penrose

.

Roger, who is a Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University and is clearly a very, very clever old academic is 82 years old today.

What you possibly didn't know about Roger, that he :

* was born in Colchester, Essex, has a  brother who is also a mathematician and another who is a chess grandmaster, left school and went University College London and graduated with.... yes, a first class degree in mathematics.

* at the age of 27 in 1958, earned his doctorate at Cambridge University with a thesis on 'tensor methods in algebraic geometry' and devised and popularised the 'Penrose Triangle' in the 1950s, describing it as "impossibility in its purest form" and exchanged material with the artist M.C. Escher whose earlier depictions of impossible objects partly inspired it and in turn Roger's work inspired his 'Wateferfall' (right) and 'Ascending and Descending' (at the bottom of the page).

* in 1965, at Cambridge, showed that 'singularities' such as black holes, could be formed from the gravitational collapse of immense, dying stars and had his work extended by Stephen Hawking in the shape of the 'Penrose - Hawking singularity theorems'.

*  in 1989 in 'The Emperor's New Mind' argued that known laws of physics are inadequate to explain the phenomenon of consciousness.

* in 1991 in the film, 'A Brief History of Time' said : "I think I would say that the universe has a purpose, it's not somehow just there by chance ... some people, I think, take the view that the universe is just there and it runs along – it's a bit like it just sort of computes, and we happen somehow by accident to find ourselves in this thing, but I don't think that's a very fruitful or helpful way of looking at the universe.  I think that there is something much deeper about it."

* in 1998 featured in the documentary, 'Is God a Number ?'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxeMpdsHkn8

* in 2004 after years of productive theorising released 'The Road to Reality : A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe' and the following year led the 'Philosophy of Science Convention' at the University of California, Santa Barbara where actor, John Cleese, who had studied 'A' Level Maths, Physics and Chemistry at school, was in the audience.

* makes the case for three kinds of existence : normal physical, mental and the mathematical world and argues for three mysteries :
- how is it that the physical world accords with mathematics to such a fantastic degree ?
- how is it when you have physical structures of the right kind like human brains, mentality has a deep relation to certain physical structures ?
- the mystery of our access to the world of mathematics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9Q6SWcTA9w

Britain was no longer a country for and says "Farewell" to an old Admiral and Falkland's War veteran called Sandy Woodward

Admiral John Woodward, known as 'Sandy', has died aged 81. Best remembered as the tactical leader of the naval expeditionary force which, against all the military odds, recaptured the Falkland Islands from the Argentinian invaders back in 1982, he was very much a man from the last century and a Britain with a long military reach which no longer exists.

What you possibly didn't know about Sandy was that he :

* was born in Penzance, Cornwall, where his father worked in a bank and entered the Navy on a scholarship to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, in Devon, at the age of 13 as an 'officer cadet' in 1946 and after leaving and uncertain which career path to follow, found himself at HMS Dolphin, the submarine training establishment.

* as Lieutenant Commander, passed the notorious 'Perisher test' for would-be submarine captains and when asked : "which boat he would now like to command ?", named, in a story which went around the fleet, named "HMS Dreadnought", Britain's first nuclear submarine.

* commanded two diesel-electric submarines and became teacher of the Perisher course before taking command of the nuclear 'HMS Warspite' then after command of the 'Sheffield' and in 1981, was appointed 'Rear Admiral and Flag Officer of the First Flotilla'.

* was at sea in the North Atlantic in 1982, exercising his Flotilla of destroyers and frigates, when the Argentinian military junta invaded the British Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic and after catching Margaret Thatcher's Government, unawares provoked her to announce that an amphibious operation to recapture the Islands would be mounted.

* had 'tactical frontline command' of the naval Task Force led by Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse and consisting of his flagship, the old carrier 'HMS Hermes', supported by another carrier, 'Invincible' and destroyers and frigates – a total of 27 warships plus transports.

* once in the Falklands, had the role to provide air, surface and anti-submarine support for the landing of a counter-invasion force of 6,000 soldiers and marines but felt that he should have had control of the three British nuclear boats sent to shadow the Argentinian Navy and signalled his frustration by ordering, 'without authority', HMS Conqueror to attack the Argentinian cruiser, General Belgrano and was 'countermanded' by British Military Headquarters.

* gained his wish after members of the High Command sought and gained the Prime Minister's permission for a submarine attack on the cruiser with the attendant loss of 300 lives, controversially just as the USA, Peru and other parties were trying to mediate and the ship had been outside the Maritime Exclusion Zone and sailing away from the Falklands.

* during the War, kept as far east as possible, to give him essential local air superiority while the soldiers and marines defeated the Argentinian forces on land and reoccupied the Islands.

* was 'knighted'after the Falklands War, became Nato Commander of Submarines in the Eastern Atlantic and a full admiral in 1989 but despite his unique status as leader of the most successful British naval expedition since the Second World War, never reached the topmost posts of C-in-C fleet, First Sea Lord or Chief of Defence Staff.

* in 2012 deplored the reduction of investment in the Navy that had left it without an aircraft carrier, believing that he and his colleagues should have made more of how the Falklands were recovered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPieBCyFJWI

*  in his book 'One Hundred Days', described his Falklands experiences in a candid account of the pressures of high command in wartime and the impact on the individual commander.

* on Aug 5, 2013 was paid this tribute on BBC tv by Robert Fox, Defence Editor of the London Evening Standard : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g43U2ar4Qrw

Britain is still a country for and says "Happy Birthday" to an old welsh singer-songwriter called Andy Fairweather Low

What you possibly didn't know about Andy who is 65 years old today is that he :

*  was born in Ystrad Mynach, Wales.

* found fame as a founder member of 'Amen Corner' in the late 1960s and will be remembered by me and my fellow baby boomers for :
'Bend me shape me' in 1968
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM-y1a1oeCo
'High in the Sky' in 1969
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSjzrzdpLZE

* when the band split in two in 1970, formed , 'Fair Weather' and had a hit with 'Natural Sinner' in 1970 ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeE97_1FX1k before he left to pursue a solo career and had a Christmas hit with 'Wide Eyed and Legless' in 1975 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5FG3Ty3jD4

* in the late 1970s and 80s he worked for numerous artists, as a session musician and in 1978, sang backing vocals on the album 'Who Are You' from The Who and talked about this aspect of his work with Rick Wakeman in 2009 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=066JTEwLgrY

* since the early 1990s acted as a sideman in Eric Clapton's backing band, as well as session work, notably Clapton's 'Unplugged' concerts : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w24A2eesrUA and by 2005 had toured extensively with 'Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.'

Old men of Britain say : " Thanks Andy, for the voice and memories engendered of the time when, they, like you, were young men."

 

Britain is no country and still a country for old men like Baron Howell of Guildford, given their voice in the House of Lords

What is the link between this ceremonial crown worn by baronets in the House of Lords and fracking ?

First fracking and then the lord.
Apparently, hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involving the pumping of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into the rock to unlock energy has revolutionized the oil and gas industry, particularly in Canada and the USA, where previously uneconomical deposits have become viable. It is, however, still relatively new to Europe and the concerns about it have become heated largely because the continent’s dense population means drilling is almost always near a community. As a result, France and Bulgaria have banned it though both countries sit on some of the largest shale-gas deposits in Europe and Germany has put off a decision on the technology until after elections in September amid mounting opposition, including concerns from beer producers who are worried about the water supply.

Britain has gone the other way and is pushing shale-gas development hard with George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer saying : "Shale gas has the potential to transform our future energy supply and bring significant economic benefits. It could increase our energy security, support thousands of jobs and generate substantial tax revenue for the nation.”

Into the debate has come George's father-in-law, 79 year old unelected member of the Upper House in the lawmaking process, Lord Howell at a time when it has intensified with a report from the British Geological Survey which has doubled the estimate of shale gas contained in Northern England to 37.6 trillion cubic metres and If just 10% of that could be extracted, it would be enough to supply the country’s natural gas needs for 40 years based on current consumption.

Last Tuesday, Lord Howell drew gasps of astonishment in the House of Lords on Tuesday when, during Lords questions, he asked:
"Would [the minister] accept that it could be a mistake to think of and discuss fracking in terms of the whole of the United Kingdom in one go? I mean there obviously are, in beautiful natural areas, worries about not just the drilling and the fracking, which I think are exaggerated, but about the trucks, and the delivery, and the roads, and the disturbance."

The good Lord, who lives in Southern England, then said :
"But there are large and uninhabited and desolate areas. Certainly in part of the North-East where there's plenty of room for fracking, well away from anybody's residence where we could conduct without any kind of threat to the rural environment."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8ITNxwRy7Y

This prompted Lord Beecham, a Labour peer who is also a councillor in Newcastle, to say :
"Neville Chamberlain spoke of pre-war Czechoslovakia as 'a faraway country of which we know nothing'. Lord Howell clearly has a similar view on the north-east and his comments once again highlight the Tories' problem with the north."

It also inspired the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, to tweet:
"North-east England very beautiful, rugged, welcoming, inspiring, historic, advancing, not 'desolate' as was said in House of Lords today."

Friends of the Earth's energy campaigner Tony Bosworth said :
" Lord Howell's suggestion that fracking should be concentrated in the 'desolate' north-east is jaw-dropping, but the government's ill-conceived fracking plans aren't something that can be quietly brushed under the carpet 'up north' – as the villages resisting the drillers in the Tory heartlands of England's south show."

So what qualified this out-of touch old lord who would have been more at home in the 19th century to receive a seat in the House of Lords ?

He :

* was the son of Colonel Arthur Howard Eckford Howell  and his wife, Beryl Stuart Bowater, the daughter of Sir Frank Henry Bowater, 1st Baronet.

* . was educated at Eton College, then King's College, Cambridge, graduated in 1959 with a Master of Arts then worked for the government in the Treasury, followed by journalism before becoming a Conservative member of Parliament for the safe seat of Guildford in Surrey, in the South of England in 1966.

* served as a minister in Edward Heath's Government in the 1970's and Margaret Thatcher's in the 1980s Howell,
retired as a Member of Parliament at the 1997 general election and was elevated to the House of Lords (below) as Baron Howell of Guildford, of Penton Mewsey, in the County of Hampshire in the South of England.

So Britain is still a country where anachronistic old men from privileged backgrounds are given a platform in a legislative chamber to pontificate about matters of which they, apparently, know nothing.