Absent Friends

OK, I've more or less remembered what I was going to post about on Wednesday. I suppose the overall theme has to do with reacquainting oneself with long-absent friends. Sort of. Over Christmas I caught a few episodes of The Goodies which were being repeated on BBC2. Like many people of my generation, I have fond childhood memories of The Goodies, fuelled, no doubt, by the fact none of their BBC series have been repeated in decades, leaving us only with hazy recollections of the trio's comic antics. Sadly, on the basis of the episodes I saw, the show hasn't aged well. It all seemed so laboured and, far from being radical, the humour sometimes seemed a bit reactionary - particularly with regard to its depiction of ethnic minorities and youth culture. I'm not denying that some of it still made me laugh, but it just didn't seem as funny as I remembered it. Perhaps they're right, the past is a foreign country. Maybe we shouldn't try to go back, it can only disappoint us.

That said, over Christmas I also decided to see if I could track down an old friend I haven't seen in a few years and have rather lost touch with. Trust me, keeping track of the academic misadventures of sometime expert advisor to The Sleaze Professor Jerry Mire, for it was he I was looking for, as he has to keep moving to avoid the authorities. Nonetheless, it was with relative ease that I came across the Prof's latest musical venture. Now, I can't deny that I approached Asbo Derek, which this latest endeavour is called, having previously been exposed to the notorious Salient Points, Professor Mire's previous group. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Asbo Derek are actually pretty good! Unlike The Goodies, Professor Mire seems to have improved with age! Perhaps revisiting the past doesn't always have to be a depressing experience. Anyway, I enjoyed the musical stylings of Asbo Derek so much that I want to share them - so here's the link to their Myspace page. Enjoy.