Important news from London. The ban on garden gnomes has been lifted at the Chelsea Flower Show, bringing joy to aficionados of these kitschy figurines.
The ban had been enforced many years ago because the show's organisers felt that these lawn ornaments with funny hats and bushy beards were an unnecessary distraction. Visitors had been paying more attention to the gnomes than the flowers. More importantly, the Royal Horticultural Society regarded the gnomes as "a bit tacky".
Among the visitors last week were King Charles and Sir David Beckham who both had the doubtful honour of having gnomes at the show named after them. Well, that's the price of fame, I suppose.
Garden gnomes are popular throughout Europe and Germany alone has a staggering 30 million of them. They are also prevalent in Britain where there are thought to be about five million. In North Devon there is even a Gnome Reserve where more than 2,000 garden gnomes hang out in what is termed a "pastoral refuge".
Some owners treat them almost like pets. Back in England I knew an elderly gentleman in Maidenhead who had a large garden with a proud collection of garden gnomes. One morning he was most distressed to find a gang had stolen all his gnomes which he had looked after for years. He had grown quite attached to them and the poor chap was never quite the same after that.
Stealing garden gnomes became quite a fad in Britain. In some cases gangs would purloin the figurines and go on a jaunt around the world with them. They took photos of them in famous places and then sent taunting snaps to the owners to let them know their gnomes were having a good time.
This practice became known as "gnoming" and in France there even emerged The Garden Gnome Liberation Front dedicated to "freeing" gnomes from gardens and returning them to the wild. Oh well, it takes all sorts.
Different strokes…
I see the UK claimed its customary lowly place in the Eurovision song contest in Vienna last weekend and to be fair the British act was definitely not easy on the ear. It finished rock bottom gathering just one rather forlorn point. Can't say I was too keen on the other offerings either.
Admittedly I have never been a great fan of the Eurovision event simply because of the type of music that is performed. Those extravagant light shows and pyrotechnics seem solely designed to cover up the musical shortcomings. But it's still popular and remains one of those "different strokes for different folks" events.
Thailand is incidentally hosting the inaugural Eurovision Asia event in November and with all the talented singers in this part of the world it could be a little more inspiring than its European cousin.
The puppet song
I am ancient enough to remember watching the Eurovision contest on TV back in 1967 when Sandie Shaw won with Puppet On a String. Sandie later publicly admitted that she hated the song, "from the first 'oompah' to the final bang on the bass drum" and referred to it as having a "cuckoo-clock tune".
However, Puppet went on to make No.1 in the UK charts which meant that for years to come Sandie had to grit her teeth all the way to the bank and sing this ditty she loathed everywhere she performed.
Many famous singers admit they hate a certain song even though it has contributed to their fame.
After some years it was widely reported that Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant was getting fed up singing the group's anthem, Stairway to Heaven. It was not that he hated it, but was simply weary of a song recorded decades before. It doesn't matter how good a number is, if you have to sing it time and again, chances are that it will begin to pall.
Doo-be-doo
Frank Sinatra had a particular aversion to Strangers in the Night. It is somewhat ironic that Sinatra disliked this song so much, because when it was released in 1966 it became his first hit in 11 years. It even knocked the Beatles' Paperback Writer off the top spot in the US.
Concert audiences everywhere expected Sinatra to sing Strangers and he usually obliged, but often informed them "This is a song I cannot stand". Just why Sinatra detested Strangers so much is not entirely clear, but apparently he didn't like the lyrics. In fact he didn't even bother with the lyrics at the end of the recording, famously finishing off ad-libbing with "doo-be-doo-be-doo".
Buffalo superstar
Donald Trump is known to like things being named after him, but I'm not sure what he would make of a report from Bangladesh doing the rounds. Apparently a 700kg albino water buffalo nicknamed "Donald Trump" has become a huge hit, attracting thousands of visitors to an area just south of the capital, Dhaka.
It was given the name owing to its rare pale pink colouring and a golden head of hair which locals say resemble the US President's haircut. Almost inevitably this has prompted assorted "Commander-in-Beef" headlines in the media.
