"Such is the end of Empire, I sighed to myself."

"Such is the end of Empire, I sighed to myself."

"It took me some time to realise that this was not first class(!) although it puzzled me as to why the seat seemed so uncomfortable."


The above are quotes apparantly lifted from Prince Charles journal, made upon being relegated to a British Airways 747 "club class" . The comment was lifted verbatim out of Charles' recently published 4000 word treatise on the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese.

Charles has sued to keep the document he titled " The Handover of Hong Kong or The Great Chinese Takeaway", from being printed , but it's already leaked, and provides a telling look at the opinions & class viewpoints of our fave ol' big eared royally inbred Prince of Wales. He gripes about losing his royal yacht "Brittania", and having to hang out with Chinese leaders he refers to as "appalling waxworks" .

A visibly irritated Prince Charles, right, stands by as the Chinese flag is brought in to replace the Union Jack at the 1997 ceremony transferring control of Hong Kong.

Of course the Charles matter is not without dry British humor, with PM Tony Blair wryly referring to the contents of the diaries when he was asked if he felt Charles was guilty of playing party politics. "I don't know if I can answer that question until I've had the focus group". The comment based on Charles expressed disdain for politicians he apparently sees as driven by focus groups.


However, Prince Charles wrote warmly of Blair in his diary, even being somewhat shocked of the younger Labour Party PM who "... gives the impression of listening to what one says, which I find astonishing."

Excerpt's of the Prince's 1997 diaries turned up in The Daily Mirror when a disgruntled aid leaked them, under the pretext Charles was attempting to influence policy making, and therefore the contents were pertinent to the public. Charles has sued, which backfired on him, making the supposedly private contents even more accessible via the court system and an ensuing fury, or tempest in a teapot has occured.

soundtrack suggestions for this story:

Perhaps something official

Official Chinese Gov't Propaganda Mix - Hong Kong , Asia's World City

or maybe somethings relatively unofficial:

Sublime - Hong KongFooey

( pssst...lemme know if these links workin' eh?)

Her Highness - Mao Tse Tung

Sexteto La Playa - Hong Kong Mambo

Guns And Roses - Chinese Democracy ( live in Boston)

And since there's always time for a royally sloppy reconsideration of a stupid sh*tstorm : Here's longtime UK musical group Deep Purple , recorded in a 1976 concert with the late Colorado raised rocker Tommy Bolin on guitar...

Deep Purple - Stormbringer



Or maybe his highness would enjoy some Bing Crosby with Orson Welles?

Bing Crosby + Orson Welles- The Happy Prince Sessions

        -
 Crosby-Bing_The-Happy Prince.. Side 1  2.9M
 Crosby-Bing_The-Happy Prince Side 2..  2.8M
 Crosby-Bing_The-Happy Prince ..Side 3    2.7M
 Crosby-Bing_The-Happy Prince..Side 4

or perhaps some Russian Black Goth Metal from the album Carnivorous Romance

Black Countess - Royal Escort

Black Countess - Majestic Countess


pssst...lyrics to these tracks found here


Meanwhile heading back over into some other random Anglo-Centric news:

Nick Cave is readying for the Sam Peckinpah-esque brutal Outback western film he wrote called "the Proposistion" directed by John Hillcoat to premiere worldwide...and in an interview with the UK's Guardian newspaper, he expounds on a variety of subjects from heroin to kiddie films. Anecdotes include his peculiar "wacked-out script" of an anti-war Gladiator sequel solicited and then handily rejected by Ridley Scott & Russell Crowe.
The soundtrack, by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis of the Dirty 3, is released on Mute Records on March 6, hits UK cinemas March 10th, and eventually the states in May.


Nick Cave - Stagger Lee ( live) (with Warren Ellis, Jim White, Norman Watt-Roy) at Piazza del Plebiscito, Ancona, July 2002.


and here's one going out to the guys who sent the troops into Iraq so they could miss March Madness once again and instead have front row Humvee seats in a full on holy war...Yay!

Thanx For All Your Support, Uncle Rummy !

The Go Team - We Just Won't Be Defeated

Meanwhile the silence on the Able Danger issue has been almost defeaning...

Able Danger was an undercover operation linked to the failure to stop the threat of 9-11, and the Gov't of course denies accustations that hijacker Mohammed Atta was a known threat ahead of time. Recently in DC there were was finally a day of hearings in which Under Secretary of Defense Stephen Cambone testified to his dumbfoundedness, and refused to be sworn in. Of course that, and the existence of the hearings themselves, went unreported by almost any major news media outlets. Look into it, it's another tragic pothole on America's mighty taxpayer funded, Intelligence Super Highway.

here's some recent mp3 clips of a radio show that aired in Cleveland lasterday on the issues at hand...

I first heard about this issue from the Rory O’Connor blog, and O' Connor was on in on the broadcast with several others in a roundtable discussion. The clips are from Dirk Thompson’s radio show, 610 AM WTVN in Columbus, Ohio.

Previously published at the AbleDangerBlog.com

Here's five MP3 files to match the five segments of the program:

First Segment Second Segment Third Segment Fourth Segment Fifth Segment

anyhow...

I gotta go...

There's scotch whiskey in them thar hills , and I'm supposed be there me thinks...