Prodigal sons

We admit to having hit a bit of a blogging rut so while the batteries get recharged, a couple of incidental musings. We've done a few Pete Doherty posts recently and we thought of him again last night while listening to the ... er .. highlights of a bizarre debate in the House of Lords about that vile weed, bracken. One Lord (who we think was a Labour peer) was singing the praises of it, listing one benefit after another, and towards the end of the impressive list, at least one lord in the background can be heard shouting "Up the bracken!" which we choose to interpret as a nod to Pete's days with The Libertines and in particular the fabulous Up the Bracket. The interjection can he heard near the end of Monday's Today in Parliament.

And speaking of wayward genius, we also happened to catch a report on French news about the film La Vie est à nous which looks like a light comedy/drama about two women friends in a French village where the peace and tranquility is disturbed by the arrival of an outsider -- in the form of a striking lorry driver played by Eric Cantona. Unlike Roy Keane, the fellow ex-Manchester United man had been clear that he saw acting a post football possibility and to his credit, he is finding work. The one clip with him from the report is either funny or embarrassing (we hope to God he's playing it for laughs) -- he's at the counter with the would-be love interest and he says something like "May I drink from your glass? I like a glass from which a woman has been drinking." A scene that we can't imagine Keane, or indeed George Best, playing.