In real life I am an international taste-maker - a surfer, if you will, of the zeitgeist. But like many bloggers I also have a shadowy secondary life offline.
In that less vivid world I used to work for a regulator, one which had a report on its efficiency published this morning. It is a dry, technical document, as you might imagine, but in the middle of the summary section this florid passage of purple prose appears:
"This is an institution constructed in a different era – a ramshackle house, cobbled together with all sorts of extensions over time. The house is serviceable up to a point but it leaks and creaks, sometimes badly. The inhabitants
of the house have sought to patch and mend. But in the end, the house is built on weak
foundations. It is time to build a new house."
I have no idea what that is all about - presumably the author of the report wanted us to know that beneath their dull professional exterior there beats the heart of a poet. But it has inspired today's playlist, which I dedicate to all my old pals at the ramshackle regulator.
"Babylon Broke Dun Me House" - Winston Jarrett
"This Property Is Condemned" - Mike Henderson
"Building A Home" - Oscar Perry
"Under Construction" - Jim Ford
I worked in a Psychiatric hospital in the 80s where an inspection report read “ the author of this red port is wearing his own underpants.It’s a pity those he is writing about aren’t “
ReplyDeleteYou got off lightly
I slightly hesitate to ask, but was it you or your patients he was accusing of going commando?
DeleteReport as opposed to red port
ReplyDeletePatients and it was communal shared punders as opposed to a commando situation
ReplyDeleteI'm relieved to hear it (I think)
Delete