Front page dudlines!

Barack ObamaLast night I watched the BBC Ten O’Clock News and they were confidently running the story that Barack Obama had continued his winning streak by defeating Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire poll.

So you can imagine my confusion when the radio came on this morning with the news that Clinton had actually won the vote.

It means that all the UK newspapers look very silly this morning with pictures of Obama on their front pages, having assumed that pollsters had got it right.

It’s not exactly on a par with the 1948 US election, but it’s the same principle. Back then, Harry Truman was aiming to be re-elected, following WW2 and there was widespread speculation that his use of the H-bomb would end up derailing his campaign.

The vote went down to the wire and the pro-Republican newspapers were so sure that Truman’s opponent, Thomas Dewey, was going to win that they ran front pages like: “Dewey Defeats Truman”. Needless to say, they ended up with egg on their faces.

These sort of mistakes rarely happen nowadays, although the Daily Mirror produced a corker back in 2003.

Before their marriage descended into a public slanging match, you may remember that Heather Mills and Paul McCartney had a baby together. The Mirror, keen to get the scoop ahead of its rivals, proudly proclaimed “It’s A Boy” on its first print run, having got some ‘insider news’.

How silly did they look just a couple of hours later, when the Press Association reported that Paul and Heather were celebrating the birth of their new baby, Beatrice. Yup, that’s right, a girl!

How stupid do I feel?

A jelly rollI recently wrote about learning new words and making sure that the usage of words that some people might call esoteric is upheld.

This morning it occurred to me, as I was walking to work, that I didn’t actually know the meaning of a certain word that I had seen written down time and time again.

I was listening to John Martyn’s awesome Solid Air and remembered that one of the tracks was called Jelly Roll blues. I’ve also come across Jelly Roll Morton in my time as well, but until today it had never occurred to me to find out what ‘jelly roll’ in the world of jazz.

You can imagine my surprise and, I suppose, embarrassment when I discovered that it is basically slang for a woman’s vulva and also refers to sex.

I guess that just goes to show you learn something new every day!

A sad day

Yesterday I had the awful experience of going to my cousin’s funeral – she was only 33 when she died on 30 December.

It all happened very suddenly and was obviously a huge shock, not least for her husband and immediate family.

The thing about going to any funeral of someone who isn’t ‘old’ or who hasn’t had a long illness is that it makes you look at your own life and those closest to you.

The thought of leaving behind my dearly beloved and two daughters is a sobering thought. Indeed as C and I both agreed last night, we both used to be quite unfazed by the thought of death, but having kids changes them totally.

The other thing that occurred to me is how difficult it is to ‘celebrate’ someone’s life on the day of a funeral.

Yes, you can remember all the things about them you loved and the memories that you will treasure long after they’ve gone, but however hard you try, it is always a day of deep sorrow.

RIP Jan