Let them entertain you

I've been away for a few days and there are a number of things I want to ramble on about. First up is away from politics. Over the last few days I've been to see the Sex and The City 2 movie, and Kenny Rogers live in concert. Neither of these are things I'd ever have chosen to see myself (many thanks to the Good Lady Indolent Cyclist). And, frankly, the reviews of S&TC2 are pretty accurate in describing it as a very bad film indeed.

But, despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed both evenings. I think if you go in to almost any entertainment with an open and uncynical mind, and allow yourself to go with the flow, you can come away entertained.

Post facto, I opened my critical mind to the film and frankly it was utter garbage, bordering on racist is places. I say this as someone who's studiously tried to avoid all of the S&TC phenomenon - challenging with a wife like mine. So very few preconceived ideas except that I've hated all the fragments I've seen. All of the stuff in the "UAE" was utter garbage. It really is a horrible film. But, and this is the funny thing, I think you can still go along and be entertained.

Kenny Rogers is another matter entirely. His singing voice is gone, now. But it really didn't matter. He pretty much knew that, so he just played all the hits (and it's amazing quite how many hits there are), kept them largely to being fragments - maybe 1 minute or 2 at most for almost all the songs. Didn't even bother with an encore - he'd already told us that he'd play the encore and not bother with the walking on and off stage when everyone knew he'd be back. And put in a ton of very entertaining and funny patter between the hits, like a proper entertainer. So, although his voice was gone, you came out thinking you'd been to a proper live performance; something a lot of younger bands could learn something from - we don't just want to see you play your songs; we actually want something that's different from the records. Seeing you in person playing note-for-note what's on the CD is not worth £50 of my money. I need something a bit more. Kenny, for all his cheesyness, provided that.

On other entertainments, I've just finished reading the new David Mitchell, which takes me back into higher-brow territory. A very fine book it is, too. Really enjoyable and, nicely, every time you feel it's taking you in one direction it tacks back and changes again. But it's much less dense or complex and structurally interesting as his previous novels, I think.

Latest reading - and this is going to be a real test of my ability to let anything entertain - is Sarah Palin's Going Rogue. Wish me luck.