Blur drummer's Star Boot Sale for refugees sees quirky donations from Paul McCartney and co
Dave Rowntree admits 'Engelbert Humperdinck donating a stapler has left us all scratching our heads'
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Your support makes all the difference.Like so many of the world’s best ideas, it started with a pun. Dave Rowntree (top right), the drummer from Blur – who also happens to be a practising solicitor, a pilot and a computer animator – was pondering how he might help refugees fleeing Syria when he decided to ask his fellow musicians to donate memorabilia to his Star Boot Sale.
“I wanted to do an actual car boot with people selling stuff from behind trestle tables,” he tells me, “but November is not the best time for that as many musicians spend the winter months on tour. So, we are hosting the auction [all proceeds to the International Rescue Committee] on eBay from this Thursday until 6 December [starbootsale.com for details]. I do still hope to do the real thing next spring, though, and people are interested, though I couldn’t possibly name names.”
And what of Rowntree and Blur’s own contribution, the ice-cream van used to promote their recent Magic Whip album? “Damon bought it and, because we’re not planning any more ice-cream flavoured albums, we don’t have much use for it now. We’re hoping that if it was a collectors’ item before, its value has only increased after sharing the stage with us at our Hyde Park show last summer.”
As for some of the other offerings (Paul McCartney’s donations include a jewellery box), Rowntree says that if they look a little bit quirky, that’s because that’s what he wanted. “It was the car-boot ethos we were going for,” he says, “though I have to admit that Engelbert Humperdinck donating a stapler has left us all scratching our heads.”
It’s not you, it’s them
Though there are many apps and websites designed to help you find a partner, until last week there was no such assistance to help you end a relationship. Step forward two Canadian brothers – MacKenzie and Evan – who have just launched The Breakup Shop. With services ranging from a text break-up ($10) to a phone call and “comfort pack” (about $100), the brothers are currently handling all the business themselves but are keen to recruit an elite squad of international “heartbreakers”.
So what will successful applicants need? MacKenzie says: “A minimum level of relevant training or experience; a willingness to listen and offer support; an understanding that while break-ups are tough, we’re helping our customers get out of a relationship they don’t want to be in; discretion and great communication skills.” And how do they know they are acting on behalf of the person in the relationship and not, say, a concerned parent? “Good question,” he says. “When we get an order, we see the name of the person that placed it. If it doesn’t match the name of the break-upper, we start to get suspicious. But, technically nothing … Ouch!”
Who’d have thought that the internet could invent a way to make the trend for “ghosting” away from unwanted relationships seem positively romantic?
Bible bashing
In 1882, a French writer called Léo Taxil wrote a book that pointed out what he considered to be inconsistencies and errors in the Bible. Astonishingly, La Bible Amusante (right) has only just been translated into English and The Amusing Bible is now available at an online bookshop of your choice.
Sample extract: “There is no doubt that Daddy-God was more concerned about his silly little Tree of Life than about his newly created kids. Seriously, if God has the ability to know the future, then he cannot overlook the fact that Adam was going to sin. Wouldn’t it have been better for God not to plant that tree at all?” Amen to that.
Daddy cool
Among the many events at the Being a Man festival on London’s South Bank this week (southbankcentre.co.uk/bam), is a strange and wonderful celebration of dad dancing (above), which sees professional dancers team up with their fathers to encourage others to shed their inhibitions.
Dad Dancing is the brainchild of Rosie Heafford, Alexandrina Hemsley and Helena Webb, whose supportive dads are bemused by contemporary dance. “Dad dancing gets a bad press,” says Heafford. “It makes people embarrassed or is used as a derogatory term. We’re on a mission to change that.”
And dad’s view? “Being a father is also about just being with your child on an equal basis and not having to pretend to be all-knowing,” said Adrian Heafford.
Gives pop art a whole new meaning.
Strange days indeed
While we’re on the subject of men, it may have escaped your attention that last Thursday was International Men’s Day, a celebration, as someone on Twitter pointed out, about as needed as International White People’s Day. What, then, are those all-important dates for your diary this week?
Today: Go for a Ride Day. Monday: Fibonacci Day. Tuesday: Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day. Wednesday: Shopping Reminder Day. Thursday: Cake Day. Friday: Flossing Day. Saturday: French Toast Day.
Somebody say Cake Day? I’m in.
Twitter: @simmyrichman
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