I have mentioned a couple of times in earlier chapters how I have managed to upset a few rock stars. Readers of Albert Magoolie Remembers will know that upsetting Roger Waters became almost a favourite pastime.
I am happy to say that that particular pastime has continued, though it may confuse some. This is because in the final chapter of Albert Magoolie Remembers, titled The Post Floyd Dream, Roger gave me a big hug and all was forgiven.
Hmm. Things have changed since then. I will be telling the whole sorry story soon.
But before I get to my latest installation in the never ending story Albert Gets Up Roger’s Nose, I have an even more recent one. Then I’ll work my way back deeper and deeper into the past.
I’ll start in 2021 with the British guitar legend with whom I’d had the pleasure of corresponding, Stavros Butcher.
Things had been going extremely well with Stavros. He kept reminding me at the end of his emails that he was really looking forward to touring Australia in 2022. I was sure that if I kept things going the way they were that I was a shoo-in for backstage passes.
As I was still in the practice of sending Mad About The House to anyone I thought would appreciate a good chuckle, I posted a copy to Stavros, along with a few other related items of Albert-oriented humour.
For this next bit to make any sense I will need to go into the MATH storyline just a little.
As well as being a fan of the limerick I am also a fan of puns, dad-jokes, word-play and anagrams. For those unfamiliar with what an anagram is, it is when you rearrange the letters of a word, name or phrase to make other words out of those same letters.
For example, rearrange the letters of ALBERT MAGOOLIE and among other possibilities you end up with I’LL EAT MA BOOGER!
I first became interested in anagrams when I read a newspaper article which cited several examples where the resulting anagram bore an uncanny connection to the original word.
ASTRONOMER = MOON STARER
DESPERATION = A ROPE ENDS IT
MOTHER IN LAW = WOMAN HITLER
I began toying with anagrams, intrigued to see if I could find any of my own uncanny ones. I am pleased to say I have. A vast number! But anagramology (a word I thought I made up, but it does exist) is a bit like archaeology. You can “dig up” a heap of junk and rubbish, but every now and then you discover something priceless!
In Mad About The House the main character asks the Scrabble board where the coronavirus pandemic came from. This next bit is taken straight from the book:
The Scrabble board said, “Do you want me to spell it out for you?”
I said, “Yes, please do.”
So the Scrabble board spelt out “THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC” then rearranged the letters in a different order.
“You must have been living under a rock,” the board said. I looked at the rearranged letters and was amazed to find in front of me the message: COURT PROVES: MADE IN CHINA.
There were a couple more anagrams mentioned in this passage, one of them being the name of someone who’d been in the news quite a bit, GRETA THUNBERG.
Her anagram was TREE HUGGN BRAT!
As an offshoot from the book I also made up an anagram quiz which included a number of uncanny examples including this one:
UNITED NATIONS = TAINTED UNIONS.
Having explained all that, I’ll get back to Stavros.
A while after sending my parcel I emailed Stav asking if he’d had a chance to go through it.
He said, “It’s a fun read, though I actually do admire Greta Thunberg…”
OUCH! In one short, unfinished sentence Stav kicked my butt in no uncertain terms. And my butt only got sorer when I discovered that Stav’s wife was a member of Greenpeace. And sorer still when I found he was a big fan of the United Nations!
Albert, Albert, Albert! (If you’re reading this aloud make sure each subsequent “Albert” is of a falling inflection. You’ll sound a bit loopy if they go up!) When will I ever stop burning my bridges? However inadvertently?
For all the favourable comments I’d made about Stav’s music and the effect it has had on me, and on my own songwriting, the ONE thing he comments on in MY stuff is the thing he DOESN’T LIKE.
And it’s not as if I said, “I think Greta Thunberg is a tree hugging brat!” I simply made note of the fact that if you rearrange the letters GRETA THUNBERG, one example you end up with is TREE HUGGN BRAT, which, whatever your opinion of her may be, you have to admit is pretty uncanny.
I did mention this to Stav, after first saying, “To the naughty corner, Alby!”
Hopefully this story is not over, but I must confess I haven’t listened to his albums nearly as much since the butt kicking.