Month: October 1993

A Quiet Weekend Followed By A Midweek Dinner With Kim & Micky, 1 to 6 October 1993

Following my trip to Switzerland, Janie and I clearly chose to have a quiet weekend. We spent at least some of the time at mine.

The most noteworthy thing in the diaries…indeed the only appointment…was Microbee at 10:30 on the Saturday. We’d had an infestation of cockroaches in Clanricarde Gardens – I think resulting from the major “knock-down-leaving-facades-only” job a few doors down from mine.

I remember in particular a very friendly Aussie pest-control dude whose lifestyle was to spend English summers in England and Australian summers in Oz. He was clearly over-qualified for the role of pest control dude, but the lifestyle of perennial summers mattered morre to him than the nature of his work.

I think this might well have been his last visit.

Janie jotted L’Artista Finchley Road in her diary, which I suspect was planning for the Wednesday evening meal with Kim & Micky.

Janie and I both finished work late on Friday 1st, so I’ll guess we fell back on getting some top notch Chinese food from May’s place, The Park Inn, just around the corner from mine…

…Postscript: What excitement. My Quicken financial records start in mid September 1993 so I can confirm that I spent the princely sum of £16 at Park Inn that night, 1 October. That almost certainly means that I had some home cooked Chinese food; perhaps won ton soup and/or my Cantonese style braised brisket dish, which I would have supplemented with some of May’s food, e.g. pork bellies (a necessity I’d have thought), rice and vegetables.

I’m not 100% sure we ate at L’Artista that Wednesday night with Kim & Micky but I know we did eat there with them way back when, so I’m guessing this was one of those occasions.

My accounts are silent on this matter, but “over there” Kim & Micky would no doubt have insisted on picking up the tab.

Somalia Mini-Opera, NewsRevue Lyric (Almost Certainly Unused), 4 October 1993

Not only am I pretty sure this one wasn’t used, I’m not even sure it was ever submitted. It isn’t even recorded on my log – just the electronic file sitting in my 1993 creative folder. I’m guessing that I decided that the subject matter was simply too grim for comedy.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali was the Secretary General of the United Nations at the time. Aidid (Aideed) was a Somalian warlord.

_ THE SOMALIA MINI OPERA _

(A medley using a range of seemingly unconnected tunes)
 
BOUTROS BOUTROS
(To the Tune of “Stupid Cupid”)
 
Boutros Boutros you’re a real mean guy,{Boutros Boutros}
Your troops in Mogadishu wish you’d die;{Boutros Boutros}
You try to harmonise relations,{Boutros Boutros}
By sending in the troops of the United Nations;{Boutros Boutros}
To free Somalis,
Boutros Boutros, Boutros Ghali.
 
WARLORD
(To the Tune of “Milord”)
 
We’re getting peeved and bored,
With this Aideed warlord,
The blasted UN blow up everyone but him;
They think they’ll end the war,
If they just fight some more,
But this Somali gore gets deadlier and grim.
 
BOUTROS BOUTROS
(To the tune of “Daisy Daisy”)
 
Boutros Boutros,
Send us your UN troops;
Snipers shoot us,
Which gives us all the poops.
It won’t be a stylish slaughter,
But we still think you oughta,
Bomb infantry,
And Somalis,
In the blighted Mogadishu.
 
WARLORD
(To the Tune of “Milord”)
 
We are indeed more bored,
With this Aideed warlord,
The blasted UN blow up everyone but him;
They think they’ll end the war,
If they just fight some more,
But this Somali gore gets deadlier and grim.

Below is a video of Connie Francis singing Stupid Cupid with lyrics on the screen:

Below is a video of Édith Piaf singing Milord with an English translation of the lyrics on the screen:

Below is a recording of the original Daisy Bell (Daisy Daisy) song with lyrics on the screen; the familiar chorus starts around 37 seconds in.