I very much enjoyed the birthday concert in Hyde Park last night in honour of Nelson Mandela who is 90. McChe and I had a small glass or two of South African Shiraz to toast the great man while we watched it on Dutch TV, and enjoyed the music so much we ended up dancing in the front window. Again. We are starting to become something of a local tourist attraction. I am amazed he is not Sir Nelson - or even better, Lord Nelson! Perhaps the Queen could give him the gong she's just taken back from Robert Mugabe?
It is also the birthday of another great inspirational figure, who was not too self-important to pass on his birthday greetings to Mr Mandela:
It is also the birthday of another great inspirational figure, who was not too self-important to pass on his birthday greetings to Mr Mandela:
14 comments:
I'm guessing Winnie wasn't invited, but I hope that both Bishop Tutu and F W De Klerk were there. Do you remember the Cosby show episode where the eldest daughter named her opposite sex twins Nelson and Winnie? Poor girl! I could have predicted that wasn't going to work out. Hopefully people will think she's named after Winnie the Pooh.
Remember Sue the panda? She was a bit of a tease always leading Sooty on.
"Oh Mr Corbett!" she used to say breathlessly.
Harry Corbett is looking very good for his age.
Yes Dr Maroon, Soo taught me a lot about the opposite sex whilst watching from the safety of my pram.
As for Nelson - top man, fortunate to see him in Cardiff a few years ago and have certainly never met such a charismatic person in my life.
Great concert!
A new gong, please...
He doesn't want his shirt covered in blood.
I was there for the 70th birthday of Lord Mandela - with my not so little brother.
Seems like 20 years ago.
Amazing what a good dosage of Jelly Babies will do for you
That's a very valuable suggestion indeed and one that I hope the Queen will consider.
:)
GB, Archbishop Tutu once criticized Nelson Mandela for his jazzy shirts and said he should dress in a more dignified manner. Mandela looked at him and raised one eyebrow, and said: "I'm being criticised for my clothes by a man in a FROCK???"
Maroon, if she sounded breathless, it was probably because she had Harry Corbett's hand up her.
Gambo, Nelson is indeed the Queen Mother of international politics. I mean that in the nicest possible way.
Krimo, I can't believe he hasn't been offered one already. Perhaps he was and turned it down, in order not to look like a lackey of the old colonialist power. That didn't seem to be a problem for the great liberator of Zimbabwe.
Goth, you must have been but a child! Shame he can't dance like this any more. A lesson to us all in how to grow old gracefully.
Sid, the Queen actually reads my blog, so if we see Mandela getting a gong soon, you know where she got the idea. I hope she doesn't leave it so late it's a posthumous one.
He's 90? Damn!!! Good work on the spontaneous dancing.
According to the Mail on Sunday, the Queen ruled out a knighthood for Mandela in 1995 because it would also bestow a title on his then wife Winnie. She did however honour him with the Order of Merit, the highest-ranking honor which the queen can bestow personally. Other honorees for the Order of Merit have included former U.S.
President Ronald Reagan and former Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher.
But now that Nelson is legally divorced from Winnie, perhaps Her Maj should reconsider? I am starting a Facebook group, if anyone wants to hear her say Arise Sir Nelson!
It is surprising he hasn't got a gong - unless he refused one. I hope he gets to have some peace now in his final years. He sure deserves it.
How's the itch?
If you believe the intertubes, lots of people already think he's a sir. He certainly deserves it.
Nelson Mandela doesn't need a gong, Mahatma Ghandi didn't need one either.
You might be surprised that some things transcend British ideals.
thanks for the song, it is rather amazing to hear that and think that we lived through the changes that have happened.
Mosha, hope I look as good when I'm 90. His dancing days are over, though, I fear.
Pat - cheeky! Apparently (my source in high places tells me) it's either given as a matter of course on a State Visit (how Mugs got his) or given for services to the UK, but not for being an "all round good egg". I wonder if he could get one for services to the jazzy shirt industry?
Farty, people power can move mountains, so far I have recruited six people to my Facebook group.
Jake, you have a very good point there. You could almost be Scottish. He's won the Nobel Peace Prize, which is a bit more important.
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