He's Still Alive...

No, not me, although if the cap fits...!

I was saddened to hear in April of the death of Humphrey Lyttelton a month short of his eighty seventh birthday. Old Etonian, Guardsman, trumpeter, bandleader, calligrapher, cartoonist, writer, journalist and broadcaster, an immense talent who is much missed.

My first contact with `Chairman Humph' would have been in my early teens on my crackly first hand me down radio (or wireless as we used to call them back in the day...).

My Mum & Dad had upgraded the kitchen radio to an all sing all dancing modern version, with an integrated tape player, heady stuff indeed. I quickly discovered that the radio was not just this awful `pop' music that my friends all seemed to be into (I never was very trendy!) but that there was a wealth of comedy on offer on both Radio 2 & Radio 4. Comedy shows such as `Radio Active', `The Huddlines' & `Keep it Maclean' as well as panel shows like `The News Quiz', `The Law Game' & the wonderfully bizarre `I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'.

From my first listen I was totally hooked, this was radical, near the knuckle stuff which as a twelve year old was quite simply the funniest thing I had ever heard. The double entendres delivered in such dead-pan style by Humph would surely have had Mary Whitehouse choking on her Cocoa had they been uttered by, say Ben Elton, on TV.

In those early years, I'm not ashamed to admit that I was totally taken in by such things as the silent score keeper Samantha & the bamboozling game of `Mornington Crescent', even sitting down to listen on occasion with a copy of the London Underground map to try & track the moves & work out the rules.

I still listen to every show & have a stack of tapes that I play in the car from time to time, they make long journeys fly by.

In recent years I have been fortunate to see Humph in action in `Clue' twice. The first occasion was at a recording in Ipswich in 2005 - 2 shows were recorded & took about an hour each. The atmosphere & experience was fantastic & I finally saw the truth behind Samantha (an empty chair) & the `laser display screen' (the producer walking on & holding up a big bit of card with the answer scrawled on in marker pen).

The second occasion, also in Ipswich was the stage show tour in 2007, a sort of `the best of' presentation. Unhindered by recording requirements & re-takes this was an unashamed celebration of all the best of `Clue', complete with Mornington Crescent, Jeremy Hardy's unique singing & audience participation on kazoos. In concert tradition, the cast returned to the stage for an encore & the evening ended with Humph giving a wonderful rendition of `We'll Meet Again' on his trumpet with a joy & energy belying his old age.

One date of this stage tour was filmed & has recently been released on DVD, an abridged version was broadcast on BBC4. On the tour, producer John Naismith introduced Humph as `The jazz musician's jazz musician's jazz musician's panel show chairman....He's still alive...Humphrey Lyttleton'. the last part was cut from the BBC4 version, understandably given that this was part of an obituary of sorts. I hope that it is re-instated within the DVD, it makes a fitting tribute as although having left us, Humph is in many respects still alive in the minds of the many people he touched through his long & talented life. This turned out to be Humph's last `Clue' performance so it is fitting that it should be the only filmed version of the show.

So raise a glass & go straight to Mornington Crescent, farewell Humph.

So the arse end of another year has finally disappeared into the boxer shorts of time, leaving me teetering on one foot trying to get both legs into the trousers of destiny before falling flat on my face & wondering where the devil the time has gone to.

December was a busy month. The obvious, Christmas stuff, the frantic final texting to relatives pleading for a clue as to anything that they might want, the visits & visiting & the wonderful Dr Who Christmas special, but also I managed two weekends in the home of lovely beer where much lovely beer was drunk & much lovely breakfast was eaten, as well as much lovely curry. Marillion played their traditional Christmas shows & I caught them in Cambridge for a fantastic evening at the start of the month. ...

Much as I enjoy Christmas (and I do, whatever anyone else may tell you - I just think that when it starts so early & you have 24 hour Christmas songs for 6 weeks before together with the attendant shopping frenzy, it gets spoilt & by the time the actual event arrives, it's an anti-climax), I do enjoy the period between Christmas & New Year. I go back to work the day after Boxing day & the roads are empty, work is quiet & all the food is on special offer :o)

And then, as quick as you like, it was all over & before I could draw breath, I find myself into Spring. Not that you would believe it having seen the weather today, icy winds & heavy (but fortunately brief) snow showers. However, it's true, Winter is over & Spring burst into life at 5.10 am on 20th March.
February half term week saw us take a short break, using our usual criteria of`where can you fly to cheaply from Stansted'. After previous winter trips to Venice (misty & a little bit nippy), Prague (real proper big snow, damn chilly) & Tallin (real proper brass monkey weather - some evening temperatures around -15 degs, water was freezing between leaving the lower ends of drain pipes & hitting the pavements!), we chose to visit Krakow in Poland.

Cold, but not as cold as Tallin, Krakow was a very friendly city with great architecture & some marvelous cellar bars - great places all with vaulted ceilings & various chambers & levels. If I could have had a pint of Bury St Edmunds finest, I think I might have stayed!

The darker side of human nature & history are also in evidence, with the very moving Holocaust memorial in the old Jewish ghetto area, not far from the Schindler Factory. The indescribable & infinitely moving Auswitch is about an hours drive away.

It was here that we experienced one of those `small world' moments that should be incredibly rare but seem to occur more than they should. Having debated the best way to travel to Auswitch, we decided on the easy option of allowing the hotel to organise a minibus with English guide at the site.

The bus picked us up punctually from the hotel, having obviously made previous pick ups. One more pick up was made before making the hour long journey. This was only a 15 / 16 seater bus, so imagine our surprise when we recognised four people get off the bus as we arrived. They had been sat at the back so we hadn't noticed them as we boarded, I was gob-smacked to see the barmaid from the pub not fifty yards from my flat in Bures, with her husband & 2 other chaps I recognised from the pub. Now, Bures has a population of around 1100 & this bus had around 16 seats so to find 6 people from the village on it was pretty spooky.

Chatting with them back in England, they said that a similar thing had happened to them in (I think) Prague.






























A nice simple serving suggestion this time - a chicken fillet in breadcrumbs. At first glance this seems straight forward enough - serve with peas & mash & cut one end off so the recipient ca see what lies beneath the tempting crispy breadcrumb coating. Further scrutiny reveals a couple of interesting (ok not that interesting) points of note.

Firstly, the disappointing proximity of the instruction to `keep frozen' to the words `serving suggestion' (unfortunately this hasn't come out too well on the scan so you'll just have to trust me!)

Secondly, if you look at the actual size of the fillet, the suggestion appears to be to serve this on a saucer sized plate. I feel anyone coming home from a hard days work to be presented with such a dinner is unlikely to be overly impressed!


I realise looking at the (in)frequency of my posts that I am becoming lax! Whilst I will never be as prolific as some, I really must make the effort to post at least every month!

Anyway, that's all for now, next post due before the end of April! The serving suggestions are mounting up & need to be shown to the world!

Til next time, take care, stay alive & serve correctly.