2528 - Crazy shit

I'm back from a fun comedy night in
Manchester - Effed Up is its name, and we
Did well, stripping down to our trunks, within
Them was a pair of socks, of course, to be
Sufficiently well-endowed, genitally
A daft Australian sitcom, all made up
On the spot, on the stage, just Derm and me
It was some crazy shit, was all Effed Up
With several pints of beer I filled my cup
Tomorrow morning I'll have a lie-in
Might watch Alan Partridge's new film, see
That, and then off to Leeds for a meet-up
Playing The Doors album, a bit of fun
Then back to Manchester, late night for me

Wed 7 August

2008 - Financial and other black holes

Petroleum hundred dollars per barrel
Stock market falls after US subprime
Crisis. Aussie PM Kevin Rudd tells
Them sorry for child-stealing. Bank crash time
Northern Rock and Lehman Brothers. Debt climbs
In Greece and Ireland. Fidel resigns, Raul
Takes over the family firm. They decline
The Lisbon Treaty in Ireland - they will
Get it right the second time. Meanwhile, Bill
Gates steps down. The Beijing Games go so well
CERN in Geneva, concerns of malign
After-effects, could create a black hole
Out with young Vicky from Oldham, oh well
Split, saw P in Paris, Barack did fine

Written Sun 4 March

1980 - A kick up the eighties

Andrei Sakharov exiled to Gorky
Banisadr PM of Iran briefly
Israel and Egypt become more friendly
Carter's hostage rescue crashes badly
Mugabe is PM of Zimbabwe
Moscow Games boycotted by USA
Bristol riots, SAS embassy
Tito dies, Mount St Helens skies heavy
Quebec stays Canuck, Pac-Man game's funny
Lech Walesa and Solidarity
At Ayer's Rock, dingo takes a baby
Iraq attacks Iran, new Pres Ronnie
Who shot JR and Lennon, NYC
Ian Curtis hangs himself, closer to thee

1973 - Well oil be damned

UK, Ireland, Denmark join EEC
Elvis live from Hawaii via satellite
US ends its war, Paris Peace Treaty
World Trade Centre and Sears Tower reach full height
Skylab launched, but more leaks on Watergate
Deep Throat and White House Tapes start spilling beans
Allende suicide and Pinochet
In US-backed coup in Chile - oh, please
Kissinger Sec of State, Agnew resigns
Ford new VP, Yom Kippur War, Sinai
Back to Egypt, Sadat more westernised
From now til his death. Slow, the oil pipelines
As crude doubles in price, OPEC turn the
Screw. Sydney Opera House. Blanco's demise

1972 - Glam shock

Bloody Sunday in Derry, the Claudy
And Belfast bombings, retaliation
Aldershot's innocent deaths lead to the
Official IRA ceasefire. Nixon
Visits an ill Mao and Chou, but undone
By Watergate, the original 'gate'
Who paid for the break-in and spying on
The Democrats? Tricky Dicky does beat
McGovern, though. Asians told to get out
Of Uganda by Amin. Atari
Video game 'Pong'. The Munich Games go on
Though terrorists kill Israeli athletes
Last Moon landings confirm the place seems dry
Second Cod War, and Oz PM Whitlam

1967 - Chemical love

The Doors are open, attend a be-in
Fossils in Kenya and a coup in Greece
Big oil spill and a strangler in Boston
Is caught, while anti-war demos increase
Muhammad Ali says no to service
Britain and Ireland say 'Please' - France says no
Wilson was pro-Europe, not just Ted Heath
Australia drops racism, but below
The sea sinks Harold Holt, PM... Igbo
Of Biafra, tired of Nigerian
Status, go it alone. Israel will seize
Hostile border areas in Six Days, though
They're still there today. Summer of rioting
Not just Love. Pink Floyd. Radio One, Two, Three...

1941 - Oops - it's another war on two fronts

The '41 North African campaign
Saw Brits and Aussies beat Italians
But not Rommel's tough Afrika Korps men
Despite Lindbergh's views, Lend-Lease now begins
The States in naval conflict with Germans
Vichy France headed by Petain, Laval
At least they stop France fighting for 'the Huns'
FDR works closely with our Churchill
And seems to ignore warnings about Pearl
Harbour soon being attacked by Japan
Yugoslavia's new king, his allegiance
Switched to the Allies, means Hitler curtails
Invasion of Russia til the Balkan
Area is subdued, ruining all his plans

1836 - Tex-Mex, Oz and Swiss

In 1836 the Alamo
Battle took place, as the fight for Texas
Against the Mexicans started to glow
Red hot. Not a lot else, except perhaps
Charles Darwin's Beagle voyage, Galapagos
Behind him now, the wide Pacific crossed
Exploring round Sydney, Australians
Meanwhile evolving their new state, those lost
Souls from British prisons settling the west
Round Perth, that most remote town. Tomorrow
I'm off to Switzerland. No Brenner Pass
By car. First I'm touring the scenic coast
Of Lake Geneva, then by train I'll go
To Bern and Zurich. Time to meet the Swiss!