Heather Mills’ court outfit, Arthur C. Clarke, food on the move, The Sweeney and travel weather

PARSLEY'S COMMLOCK

Court Report : Heather Mills’ court outfit
Obviously I couldn’t help but be moved by Heather Mills’ selfless attempt to protect her daughter by stopping the details of the judgement on her divorce being made public. If she hadn’t received a settlement of 24 million pounds I’d be tempted to say she got what she deserved. However, what in my opinion was truly unforgivable was her outfit at court. She gave those of us that like to wear somewhat ‘different’ clothes a bad name by wearing a suit that someone on BBC Breakfast News described as her ‘ringmaster’s outfit’. Interesting clothes have been sullied by the association. Shame.

Obituary news : Arthur C. Clarke
Science fiction is a funny old game. The collaboration between Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick over the film ‘2001: a Space Odyssey’ is reasonably well known, and paralleled the less well-known advice from Isaac Asimov to Gene Roddenberry on Star Trek.

In both cases the authors’ knowledge of science fact suggested the way to deal with the science in the fiction. In both cases fans of the fiction have ended up working in the science and space industries, making realities out of the ideas as far as is practical. So ‘clam shell’ telephones mimic Star Trek communicators and multiple BBC channels foreseen in ‘2001’ become a digital reality.

As a big fan of ‘2001’ I have found myself a bit weary of obituaries referring to alleged arrogance in Clarke’s case. I’d have been happier if instead they’d remembered the excellent song about Arthur C. by the Aardvarks, whose performance of it on the James Whale show is happily available on youtube at http://youtube.com/watch?v=GVe46k05VNE.

Retail News: Food on the move
Despite it being 2008, service stations on motorways and shops in airport terminals still see fit to charge ridiculous prices for food such as sandwiches. Bucking the trend is Marks & Spencers Simply Food, which is now providing food in Gatwick and Heathrow Airports (arrivals terminal 3), and several motorway service stations and garage shops. A bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich (‘BLT’) at Marks & Spencers costs £2.35, compared to £3.69 at a ‘Welcome Break’ service station.

DVD Review : The Sweeney
In my lighter moments recently I’ve been cheering myself up by watching seventies cops break the rules to get the villains behind bars. Aside from being drenched in London culture that is comfortably familiar to me, I also enjoy the way the stories deal with moral ambiguities and the failings of the heroes. When Inspector Regan is questioned for his rough treatment of certain criminals he falls back on it being in return for what the villains did to ‘one of our own’ (a fellow policeman). Tony Blair must have been watching.

On my latest viewing I discovered an interview with Wanda Ventham that I must have overlooked previously. Wanda is a ‘butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth’ well-spoken hearthrob who I’ve admired since she became Straker’s right-hand woman in the later episodes of ‘UFO’. Here she plays a criminal who kidnaps Regan’s daughter and is verbally taunted by Regan and Carter over her lesbianism. Ventham recounts how her husband and her had gay cameos in different episodes of the show, and she was a bit worried what her mother-in-law would make of it all.

In the interview she praises the drama for having stood the test of time, but then suggests that the music has dated it. Then she reflects that the clothes have probably dated it too. Actually I would suggest that rather than dating it, the music set a standard for cop/bad guy sequences, with meandering minimal bass lines, slightly jazzy drums and haunting electric piano chords giving way to noisier horn sequences as the Jag car chases start. Similarly theremin is always space music, heavy reverb guitar twanging is desert island music.

Also, I’d query what the implied criticism of ‘dating’ something is supposed to mean. Actually I think when TV and films are dated it means they can hold a mirror up to the current day and its failings. A show where robbery is a serious crime rather than often not worth investigating because the thieves will never be caught shows you what has changed. When teachers aren’t allowed to teach, doctors aren’t allowed to use their judgement to cure illnesses, and it isn’t worth policemen trying to catch criminals, nostalgic worlds bizarrely become something to aspire to.

Internet tip : Travel weather
Not that there’s any need to plug Google, but if you’re going abroad and global warming means you don’t know if you’re heading for scorching or freezing, typing ‘weather ’ into google.co.uk will give you temperatures and a graphical representation of the next few days. This has been twice useful to me in Stockholm, where it was mild when it should have been frozen and vice versa.

parsley@gardenrecords.com [www.gardenrecords.com]