Blog No. 36
Monday, July 12, 2010 at 11:17AM There was a very good preview, connected with the Udderbelly reading, of “Stalin...” in the Guardian” Guide on Saturday, it said “Surpisingly sensitive but also very funny...” Which is exactly the quote you’d want if you were writing it yourself. Incidentallly I did check with them about the £17.50 ticket price but they said that’s the price they charge for everything so there was nothing I could do. I can only promise, if you’re coming, that I’ll try not to be crap.
More importantly we’ve got a new cat! Our beloved Tiger died three years ago and I’ve been grieving ever since but we heard through a friend a few weeks ago that a, lovely but clearly lost cat had turned up in the front garden of a friend of theirs and was refusing to leave. They put up posters and checked with cat charities but nobody reported a cat matching his description missing so we brought him home on Saturday. They’d actually called him Tiger but we’ve named him Wilf M’Banga after a Zimbabwean freedom fighter and journalist. The guy whose garden he was living in, had been a journalist in what was then Rhodesia and had known the original Wilf M’Banga well.
Wilf seems to be a Main Coon cat, he is certainly huge with gigantic paws. I have always dreamed of running through the streets of London late at night with a pack of giant cats who would do my bidding or possibly riding a war chariot pulled by giant cats through the middle of the Hay Festival so this is stage one.
It was funny refereeing that writers v scientists football match on the South Bank on my bicycle. The organisers had said “Oh its all a laugh and nobody’s taking it at all seriously” but as soon as I tried to make a stupid joke during the game one of the players gave me such a look that after a couple of minutes I just left them to get on with it. My only contribution was that since I wasn’t wearing a watch one half of the game was 11 minutes long and the other half 17.
I watched the semi-finals of the World Cup at my house in Spain, every time Spain scored the villagers would run out into the streets and fire rockets in the air then run inside again to carry on watching the game, so I can only imagine the noise last night, like a sort of fun invasion of Gaza.
Reader Comments (17)
Alexei, come on, just admit you didn't know what the offside trap was! Mind you, not unlike the English referee in the Final...
I think it would be a good exercise to write an entire review about oneself, exactly how you would like to read it. Full of glowing praise and pats on the back. I'd be very interested to read yours, Mr. Alexei Sayle. It would probably mirror the type of thing I might write, in my little star-struck way.
It might also be good to write a very critical one. And to hunt down the author and poke dog-muck through their letterbox!
I'm sorry to hear about Tiger. I hope they went peacefully :-(
And hello to Wilf! I've heard a few things about Maine Coon cats recently. I had never heard of them 3 weeks ago and now they're the soup of the day.
Perhaps your vision of running with cats could be a short story?! Being careful to avoid the whole "Goodies" thing, obviously.
You'd be a good pundit! "A fun invasion of Gaza". Marvellous.
Dan - Glenn Hoddle is having a GOAL!
Glen Hoddle is having a goooaaallll!!!!!!!!!
When I go see Leeds,
they seem to achieve alot of high ball speeds.
Cat Cat Cat, Kitty Kitty Cat Cats.
Cat Cat Cats.............
I had a Maine Coon Cat mix growing up. She was enormous, but her meow was so highly pitched that only other non-human animals could hear her. We thought she was mute until she growled one day 15 years into her life. Scared the crap out of us! Rescued her with a Lynx Point Siamese/Tabby mix who I named Spam for her pink nose. She thought I was her kitten.
Sorry about Tiger. Long life to Wilf!
Off to pre-order now!
Ah Ah Rachael.
Off to order please. No such thing as pre-order.
Ah...Nit Picking, it's Rachel. Not Rachael.
Damn these figners.
Alexei, I read you're involved with People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. Re: cats, we co-opted a tabby kitten, Miaow Mao. He replied 'miaow mao'; when asked his name. In fact not sure if 'he' was a he,she or transgender. Sadly for us Miaow Mao went on a long march. Cats often look for alternative accommodation if not entirely satisfied with their domestic circumstances.
Also, ah ha Mr, Picking, surely the second 'ah' is capitalised and there's a full stop after 'Rachel'?.A sentence needs a verb as well as a noun. Jesus wept! I never noticed 'pre-order' may be something of a contradiction in terms like 'airline food' etc. .Nonetheless, amazon.co.uk are using 'pre-order' rather than 'reserve':
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stalin-Ate-Homework-Alexei-Sayle/dp/0340919574/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279070149&sr=1-2
Am mildly sad I can't make this evening, but I know it'll be fabulous :)have a great show and hope to see you in Camden in Sept.
My other half is flat-sitting and looking after a 15 year old cat called Katie. She's the sweetest little thing and has a constant runny nose so when she sneezes she does this dance/shake before looking at you for some kind of explanation.
xx
Sorry, forgot I wanted to show a few insights from the fan page - Alexei appears to very popular in Sydney, the US, and Venezuela!? (the numbers are posts and interactions with updates) :)
Most active cities
Sydney12
Most active countries - United States 57,
United Kingdom 43.
Australia 25.
Sweden 4.
Denmark 3.
Spain 3.
Canada 2.
Ireland 2.
New Zealand 2
Belgium 1.
Germany1
Netherlands1.
Taiwan1.
Venezuela1
xx
*clears throat, gives a little wave* France, over here. Or does it even count anymore?
I'm not suprised Hugo Chavez is a fan.
WHAT DOES 'INTERACTIONS WITH UPDATES' MEAN?
By way of picking my own nits, I meant the second 'Ah' in the comment above should NOT be capitalised. Must move out of this glass house.
Free mp3 download, reading from and discussing Mr. Roberts http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2008/nov/18/fiction-alexei-sayle-mister-roberts
To download I had to right click on 'download mp3' then click 'save target as'. Usually, it's just click and save. Anyway, got it in the end.
Interactions with updates means people who answer / reply to any status updates on the Alexei Sayle Facebook fan page.
xx
Thanks for the explanation Jay. I'll pass it off as my own, next time I'm down my local.