Its only Rock and Roll..........

Being even more of a klutz than usual, I arrived 24 hours early for my Godson's birthday party. Never mind, I stayed for tea (and btw he was seven NOT six), and spent a pleasant evening en famille, in a way that - sadly - living in bachelor splendour with my Papa, Graham et al, with only visits from Corinna every couple of weeks or so, I have not done for a while. All in all, it is probably a good thing that I never procreated, but it is at times like yesterday evening, when I find myself - almost by accident - sitting happily in the midst of a family teatime, that I come over all wistful :(

Never mind - as Marianne Faithful has been wont to say `what cannot be cured must be endured blah blah blah`, which brings me - slightly tortuously - onto the subject of the new Rolling Stones album. Whereas once upon a time each record was a masterpeice, and until Black and Blue in 1976 they really didn't put a foot wrong, since then, the records have got progressively worse, with the notable exception of 1990's Steel Wheels, which was excellent. Now - with what will probably turn out to be their final studio album - they are back with a vengeance. A Bigger Bang is certainly the best album they have made since the mid-1970s, and for the first time in thirty years, it is possible for an old Stones freak like me to actually proselytise about a new album. Go and buy it, guys - you won't be disappointed.

Apart from bouncing around the office pretending to be Keith Richards (when I am sure that no-one can see me), I have spent most of the day working on Dad's book, and so I apologise to everyone who has written to me, and to whom I have not replied. Graham is having a day off tomorrow, so I shall put my shoulder to the wheel and get on with it properly...