Reasons to be Cheerful Part One.

While there's a page devoted to categorising the things in the world I feel that someone should be jailed for, I think the general tone of this blog ought to be positive. I would like to think that there are more things in the world that I like than things that irk me. In the vein of Reasons to be Cheerful by the late Ian Dury, hereafter is a short list that shall no doubt be added to in the fullness of time:

Reasons to be Cheerful Part 1:
Elle MacPherson: speaking of fullness, she still captures the imagination whenever I am in vacant or in pensive mood. She was a fixture on my wall as a teenager and I ran my illegal gambling book out of an Elle MacPherson diary at school. Attila the Wife has very graciously allowed Elle as my free pass, now I just need to wait for the phone call.

Daphne: Not another supermodel, rather the small intensely aromatic flowers that sing out that spring is arriving. If I am to die, I hope this is the last thing that I ever smell, although a naked and fragrant Elle MacPherson would be a very close second.

Midsomer Murders: I once read that if Midsomer wasn't a fictional county it would have a murder rate three times higher than Greater London. Some of the murders are comic in their execution (forgive the pun), some of the characters eccentric to the point of lunacy but every single episode entertains and is good mental exercise. It is the televisual equivalent of the cryptic crossword and an hour and a half well spent.

Nicely polished shoes: I'm not generally known for being the tidiest man on the planet but I do get an inordinate amount of satisfaction from having at least one set of immaculately polished shoes. It's one of the few positive habits I came out of the Army with and I can spend hours applying polish, burning it on evenly over the leather and then polishing it off with a piece of wet cotton wool, it is quite cathartic. I had a look around me at the High Court the other day and you'd be surprised at the shoddy standards of the shoes of some professional people. Look at the shoes of some of the accused shuffling into the District Court and you can see why they're the accused.


Ian Dury and the Blockheads: Ian Dury had a face like a smacked arse. He was by many accounts a horrible person: vain, angry, selfish and self-obsessed. He wasn't even a cockney but he had a way with lyrics and led a band that created some of the most loved music of the 1970's and 80's. There's many a moment made better when Ian Dury and the Blockheads come on to the playlist, although I accidentally had Plaistow Patricia come out of the speakers at full noise at the opening of a quiz when the bar had a table of older customers and children present. Click on the link if you're not familiar with the song. It might be a good idea to turn up the volume as loud as you can as well. Let me know how you get on.