1. Rail strikes mean trains in vain
Hundreds of thousands of UK commuters face a week of rail-travel woes as conductors start a five-day strike to protest against service cuts. The mood of despondency felt by passengers, especially those in areas of Sussex without trains, is reflected by the Velvet Underground’s Train Round the Bend. Its chugging motion teases travellers who will not be able to witness, as Lou Reed announces, “the train comin’ round the bend”. Going Underground by the Jam won’t be a viable option for those living in the home counties who are not served by the tube network, and reports that Paul Weller will be found Down in the Tube Station at Midnight have been dismissed as untrue.
2. Space travel is in our blood, say North Korea
As if to acknowledge avant-jazz musician Sun Ra’s belief that Space Is the Place, and in direct contravention of Modest Mouse’s contention that Space Travel Is Boring, North Korean officials have announced that they are aiming to launch advanced satellites into orbit by 2020. They’d also like to plant a flag, rather than an actual man, on the moon. A senior official at North Korea’s space agency said that he hopes to see the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea flag in space “within 10 years”. There are fears, however, that the ambitions of leader Kim Jong-un are a cover for North Korean military expansion. These have been dismissed as a bunch of Space Junk by the scientific research department of the country’s National Aerospace Development Administration. But let’s hope they’re not conducting something along the lines of Experiment IV, a song by Kate Bush concerning a secret military plan to create a sound horrific enough to kill people.
3. Pink Floyd head to the V&A
It used to be Us & Them, but now rock renegades Pink Floyd have been thoroughly absorbed into the mainstream. The 2013 David Bowie exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum became the fastest to sell out in its 164-year history. Now, curators are planning a celebration of the psychedelic pioneers in collaboration with surviving members of the band. It will be a further honour for Pink Floyd, follow on from Royal Mail’s decision to issue 10 stamps to celebrate their cultural impact. Some are suggesting this will provide Another Brick in the Wall of conformity, while others are delighted at the V&A’s plans to commemorate the band’s groundbreaking visuals, spectacular concerts, elaborate stage shows and iconic album art. The exhibition will also pay tribute to Syd Barrett, the legendary founder member of the band – although some critics think he would have been left Comfortably Numb by such an establishment gesture.
4. Fringe audiences go goo-goo gaga for baby show
A production at this year’s Edinburgh fringe invites the audience to watch a seven-month-old baby sitting on its grandmother’s lap for half an hour every morning. The show is entitled Come Look at the Baby and is not scripted or directed: the performance, such as it is, might involve the baby sleeping or playing, gurgling or crying. Audience members might be moved to invoke the words of Stevie Wonder and exclaim: “Isn’t she (or he) lovely!” Or they might even approach the stage and attempt to engage the infant in an exchange of sorts by cooing the lyrics to the Police’s No 1 hit from 1980, De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da. The show’s creators insist it is “not in any way a gimmick”, but is designed to demonstrate ways in which “children are represented in society and … how people treat babies in public”. Nor does it objectify the child, they argue. It is, they stress, “much more about the audience, and the audience’s responses, than any of the action that goes on on stage”.
5. Fans have a Ball with statue of Lucy
A new statue of the American comedy legend and 1950s icon Lucille Ball was unveiled in the late actor’s hometown of Celoron, New York, on Saturday, on what would have been her 105th birthday. It replaced a previous one that was so disliked it came to be known as Scary Lucy, and was removed following a Facebook campaign called “We love Lucy! Get rid of this statue”. Indeed, the creator of the earlier tribute, Dave Poulin, received death threats over the likeness, although suggestions that Eric Clapton has started humming the refrain to his song Watch Out for Lucy in support of the campaigners cannot be confirmed. Poulin did concede that his sculpture was “unsettling”, but his offer to redo it for free was declined. As the second statue was unveiled by sculptor Carolyn Palmer, hundreds of fans started chanting: “Lucy! Lucy!” Poulin was alone in mourning the loss of the original statue. “I woke up this morning,” he said sorrowfully, conjuring the words of Otis Redding, “[and] Lucille was not in sight.”
