Night Music: Earliest memories

I was watching something the other night and it triggered memories of the very first music that registered in my infant mind.  It must have been January or February 1954, and I was not yet four and a half. It may be that my parents had just bought a radio, a Christmas present to themselves maybe. The song was “Oh, Mein Papa”.

I would have had no idea, of course, but there were two competing versions at that time looking for airtime: a vocal by Eddie Fisher, and an instrumental by Eddie “The Man With The Golden Trumpet” Calvert. Between them they must have got a lot of play because sixty-plus years later I can still remember all the lyrics and whistle the Calvert arrangement.

Today, having listened to both of them again today, I’d go for the Calvert version, by a whisker. Here, you decide ….

This Sporting Life

September is full of pleasures for me — special birthdays, cooler weather, stuff — and the start of the European rugby union season is one of them.

I watched the opening game today, with Gloucester hosting Leicester Tigers. I don’t support either team and so was cheering on Gloucester as being more West Country than Leicester. I was happy therefore that Gloucester had a comfortable 31-7 lead soon after half time.

Image: David Rogers/Getty Images

However, Leicester were having none of that and scored a spectacular 31-38 win with the final play of the game. Here’s a real report of the game.

This was northern hemisphere rugby at its most enjoyable. I thought the handling skills of both teams were phenomenal, especially so early in the season. This augers well for the winter ahead!

Anti-Poverty Rally

As I was walking the Drive yesterday, I came across an anti-poverty rally down at the corner of 7th where the speakers, cleverly, can use the staircase as a podium.

 

This took place at the wettest time of the morning but they still managed a decent crowd. From the signs, this was a crowd that supported increases to welfare rates and the re-establishment of bus passes for the disabled. Not too many votes there for Christie Clark I’m guessing.

I didn’t see any of this on the news last night. Maybe I blinked.