Saturday, November 12, 2011

Being the 11th of November: Blonde and Chains

In her welcoming address, Angela referred to my remarks about "blonde and chains" made at the Folk Song Club on Tuesday. In explanation and a wish to ease your vexed minds over this matter, which must continue to trouble you (if you haven't forgotten it), I offer the following, but please bear in mind two things: 1) you probably had to be there to appreciate the full impact, and 2) it did bring the house down.

The guest on Tuesday, a tall, slim, attractive singer/songwriter/guitarist from the USA, Sarah McQuaid, was introducing a song by telling us how she came to write it. She was confined to a hotel room in San Antonio, Texas, by illness, watching the best available TV fare: back-to-back episodes of Ice Road Truckers. She explained a bit about the programme and in particular described a diminutive lady truck-driver, who had to fit snow chains to her truck. This tiny blonde said that the chains were heavier than she was, and Sarah said "I believe her", going on to describe the difficulty in icy conditions. "There she was, this bonde with these chains". At this point your humble correspondent chimed in with "Blonde and chains does it for me" - which was greeted with much hilarity by the company.

There you have it, this probably futile attempt to convey the atmosphere of an ephemeral incident.

Ken Hobbs

P.S. Children in Need next week - bring lots of money, lots of spots - we'll have lots of fun with sponsored requests, spotty prize cakes and more.

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