Love, Poetry and Revolution - Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th May 2023

Living life has overtaken the blog and I am behind, post-wise.  This does not matter, though, because living life is more important than writing about it.

Saturday can be summarised as a day of travelling.  Packing, saying goodbye, then driving.  I arrived in Liverpool in time to unpack and see a bunch of helicopters and the Red Arrows flying over central London on the TV.  It was originally meant to be a much bigger flypast, but the weather was too poor with too low a cloud base for the full show.  We had considered being in London for the flypast but decided against it. Good decision, made in advance.  Son #2 and his gf were in Hyde Park for the event and saw the planes for real

I am ambivalent if not actively uninterested when it comes to the big event happening in London, however, in contrast, Q is very interested. She had watched the whole thing and we watched the highlights (?) together. Apart from the planes (is there anything else?) I wanted to see if I could spot Nick Cave in the audience, who was attending as one of the representatives of Australian culture and the arts.

If I have any hope for the Carolean era (see above), it is that KC3 modernises the monarchy and uses his role to further promote cultural diversity and the climate emergency.

Over dinner, we started watching 'The Night Agent' on Netflix.

...and now it is Sunday. Just like that!

A lazy start to the day with a cooked breakfast (we have a table booked for three this afternoon) to keep us satiated until lunch/dinner.  I have received word that sons plus one are on a train to Liverpool and will arrive at one-fifteen.

Q and I drive into town, park up and then walk to Lime Street, to await the arrival of the train from London.  The station has been gripped by Eurovision fever and is awash with Ukrainian flags, and people dressed as you might imagine.

Once they'd arrived we headed into town towards the docks.  The city is buzzing, the sun is shining and there's an amazing atmosphere. There is also a huge police presence, many with semi-automatic weapons. 

After touring the sights, we headed for dinner at a Punjabi restaurant. Amazing food, but so much. I may not need to eat again until tomorrow.

After dinner, and feeling a little sleepy, we walked some more. There's a Police surveillance aircraft circling the city centre and there are Police strategically placed on rooftops overlooking the concert site at the Pier Head.

We heard Andy and Odd Socks (WTF?) and music all over the town, but nothing to bring my boat afloat.

As we headed back to Lime Street, the intensity of the buzz was even greater and the queue for the evening Eurovision concert at St. George's Hall was enormous and good-natured. More roads were closed off compared to when we arrived, but our drive back to Childwall was easy.

We'd all had a fun day.  Togetherness.

When we got back we were so full we couldn't eat, nor had we the brain power to watch anything demanding.  Q wanted to watch the Coronation concert and I sat through it.  I can't say I was interested in it, and for me, it epitomised everything I dislike about 'pop' music. It was all very showbiz, with mostly pointless dancing, over-the-top glitziness without any sense of irony, and people well past their prime. I like some edge, grit, dirt and danger. It had none of that. No wonder so many (mostly equally dull) performers turned it down. It was so bloodless and anaemic and self-congratulatory. It was all done in the best possible taste, except for Shakespeare set to bloody music! FFS! The best bit was the Chinese guy on the piano. That had an element of quality about it, but it was way too short. Luckily I read the papers whilst it was going on.  The light show had its moments, and, in all fairness, I don't think I am the intended audience, which is fine, and liking different things is at the heart of life and relationships.

Time for bed, I think.

The Last Dinner Party / 'Nothing Matters' / (Single)

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