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Hello, long time no talk. I’ve been real busy since the last time we communicated.
Posted Monday, July 18, 2005
Thank you for all the positive comments about the last series-its really appreciated. My respect for Gina Yashere’s comedy chops grew like Topsy as the series developed. She really is a very funny and generous person. I hope she gets a series soon.We had a good wrap party, the dancers led by Nicki Hinckley got the whole thing started with a whole load of party moves from the Electra Glide to the Bump, the two step and all kinds of stuff like that. Rapattack were in the house and I have to say, their particular brand of hip house, hip-hop and old school (last night a dj saved my life, Funkin for Jamaica, I found lovin’ etc) really tore the house up. There were some lovely speeches from the Executive producer Clive Tulloh and I got up and said some stuff too. I like the wrap parties because it’s a chance to hand out gifts and talk to people and get deep like the location designed, choreographers and assistant directors. Much dancing and much showing off on the dance floor.
Earlier that evening I went an art exhibition that Kim Fuller the producer and head writer of ‘The Lenny Henry Show’ was holding. Russian Art prevailed and the whole thing was for charity... Fergie was there (not the one from Black Eyed Peas, but the one that used to be married to Prince Andrew.)
And all kinds of posh people –what was funny was, I don’t think a lot of people had expected me to be there, I was the only black person there and so lots of people staring at me. Eventually a guy came up to me and told me some jokes ‘ This black fella goes into the gents in a bar …’ kind of jokes. When I hear jokes anyway, my eyes glaze over and I contemplate murder. I don’t know why – its rare that I haven’t heard it –which is why when I hang out with people like Peter Kaye, its such a relief because he tells jokes generally that you haven’t heard, or tells them so well that you don’t mind if you’ve heard em before. Anyway this guy insisted on telling me some fairly racist jokes that I then had to respond to: so rather than inserting a chair into his rectum, I had to say things like ‘ hahaha, that’ll be me laughing ironically, then.’ Or ‘ There’s my cab’ and like that. I don’t think he noticed he just kept marching on… ’And he said, could you make me one in white?’
Hilarious –hold my drink while I stab myself in the eye with this blunt spoon.
Anyway, it was good to support Kim and the charity was for homeless kids, and they raised 20 or so K, so it was good.
Talking of good causes, the Live 8 thing was an amazing sequence of events. The Big gig on the Saturday was phenomenal for me, because my baby sister Sharon was getting married that day, and I was giving her away. I’d asked her if it was ok to go –Richard Curtis had asked me to be around on the day and do stuff, and also Dawn had been asked to introduce someone, so I wanted to go, this was history in the making; we may just achieve a cancellation of the Third World Debt, Double aid and get some movement on the whole trade issue. My sis said it was cool to go, but I stayed at the wedding until the end of dinner and speeches. My sister looked wonderful on the day, like an African Queen in creams and bronzes. Richard her new husband looked smart, but attentive –very much in love. It was good to see. Come 6.00 pm, the family rushed down the stairs of Beckenham public hall, into a waiting car and drove as if the hounds of hell were on our tails. Anticipating traffic jams up the wazoo, we were surprised to arrive at Hyde Park, within the hour! Big surprise though, when we arrived we found that the whole thing was running behind by at least an hour and half (typical benefit!), so we weren’t due to get on stage for 90 minutes. But it was all good – we got to hang out and talk to Sting, and look at Snoop with his big security guys, one of them was like a small planet in leisure wear. I got to meet Brandon from The Killers and the UB40 posse were there, and Joss Stone. The high light of Live 8 was sneaking out to the front with my daughter and watching Madonna singing ‘Music’. My daughter’s face was torn between a ‘Can’t be bothered’ sort of expression and a ‘this is quite possibly the most exciting moment of my life’ sort of expression. Quality!
I caught bronchitis on the way out, because I was in my T-Shirt and those guys on the gate wouldn’t let us out in the car because people were walking home. Fair enough, but the wife kept saying ‘Go down there and find out when we can go home’, so I had to keep schlepping down to the man on the gate and giving him the ‘how long, pal?’ look. And then Schlepping back to give wife and daughter the news. By the time we left there, I had a definite sniffle in the nostril and a tight chest. Oh Dear. Which meant that by the time I got to Murrayfield for Murrayfield 50,000 ‘the final push’, I could barely talk. I was croaking away and drinking gallons of lemon and honey, going for many steams in the hotel spa, and taking the advice of all the singers, from Will Young, to Katheryn Jenkins. The best ‘voice’ advice at Murrayfield was from the Godfather of Soul –James Brown. After the gig, we returned to the hotel to find him in the bar, with his posse. I asked for his autograph ‘for my daughter...’ and he heard my voice and said ‘uh (he always says uh!) gargle with warm salt water... I can hear it in yo’ voice, salt water!’ one of his backing singes adds ‘Don’t ya’all swallow,
ya gotta spit it out...’ And then I’m in bed wrapped up warm having gargled a pint of warm salt water. It does work.
The concert for me was incredibly moving, exciting and inspiring all at the same time. It was wonderful for me to hear people like Annie Lennox and Bono and Bob Geldof talk in an open and honest way about the issues to such willing ears.
There were a few highlights at Murrayfield: I’d have to say the crowd singing ‘Flower of Scotland’ during a break in proceedings, whilst Eddie Izzard was trying to control them.
The Proclaimers opening the show were wonderful, not cheesy at all- they sang 500 miles and the audience knew every single word. Brilliant.
Annie Lennox singing Bob Marley’s ‘Redemption song’ was legendary, and James Brown kicked righteous butt.
And just in case we forget why we were all there, the other morning I get an E mail from Richard Curtis that sums up some of the things that were achieved by this massive peaceful public protest: 18 months ago, poverty was chosen for the first time ever as a cornerstone at the G8. At that time, the deal that emerged on Friday would have been considered a miracle. As it is, both the government and us never lost our focus and pushed on to the end to get everything that was possible, I believe, with the 8 countries involved, at this moment in history.
When you get passionate about these things, you can only do so by caring about every single life lost to poverty. And so you mourn every single life not saved. I still don’t understand why the leaders of the world don’t see it our way and prioritize it even more.
But for the record, some of the highlights of the Gleneagles deal for the poor are
- A promise to invest in developing vaccines and treatments for Africa’s killer diseases including TB and polio.
- A promise to knock out 85% of malaria - 600,000 lives a year being saved by 2015.
- A promise for as close as possible to universal access to AIDS treatment by 2010 – as many as 9 million people on treatment by 2010, many of whom would have otherwise died.
- A promise to take care of children orphaned by AIDS - as many as 5 million children being cared for by 2010.
- A promise to deliver free and compulsory primary education as well as access to basic health care for all by 2015. That’s an extra 20 million kids in school.
- A promise of money to be spent on physical infrastructure of poor countries, crucial to proper trade and aid delivery
- Real money to go into the areas that really worry many people – on such things as corruption, the pursuit of good governance and peace-keeping, where an extra 20,000 peace-keepers are promised for Africa.
And this is alongside a hefty movement on debt (18 countries completely in the clear, with potential for a further
20 countries added soon) and a doubling of aid (an extra $50 billion per year by 2010 - $25 billion for Africa), which will be the means of paying for this stuff.
After the announcement, I saw AIDS campaigners in tears. Kofi Annan hailed it as a 'huge success', and everyone agrees it was the single most effective G8 meeting in the 30 years since G8s begun. Jeffrey
Sachs, whose book The End of Poverty is one of the key documents on this issue, says he thinks that by 2010
10 million people will be alive who wouldn’t otherwise be.
For me, 10 people would have been a good result and made our work worthwhile. My family is only 6 in all.
The battle is clearly still on; there are huge things to be done on trade – the final answer to Africa’s problem:
Many more countries must be freed unconditionally from the nightmare of unpayable debt: and promised aid levels of 0.7% of GNP are still to be reached in most countries: and the whole damn deal must be effectively delivered - but….
And he continues to say that we as a people have combined to perform massively effective deeds in relentlessly unfair world.
The big message is that we must not let this lie – we keep going, we keep on pushing and that way – we become global citizens, reaching out to those who are weaker than us and giving them a leg up, and not a hand out.
Peace
Len
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