I opened my paper this morning to discover that I am not the only person who has thought of using the moustache for political protest,
they're also doing it in Brazil. Good to see the Brazilians, so often associated with hairlessness, going in the other direction for something they believe in. It just spurs me on to think that people might actually go along with wearing the toothbrush, permanently or temporarily, in order to persuade people to vote for anyone other the BNP and thus stop this unpleasant party in its tracks. I have set up
a Facebook group where you can register your support and also post pictures of yourself with a "Hitler". It would be terrific if this stupid comedy idea transformed into something genuinely useful. But we don't need to persuade many people to exercise their democratic right in order to halt the BNP in their tracks. If everyone who saw my show either went to vote, or got a non-voting friend to do so, then I think the BNP could be completely defeated. We have to stop them now. They are already getting funding from the European parliament and if they use that wisely (which looking at them, they are unlikely to do) then they could build on their unlikely success. But we can stop them. Us and our toothbrush moustaches. Please spread the news about the group and if you dare to wear the toothbrush out and about for a day, a week, or longer and we can get people questioning why this is happening, then it might lead to something. Who knows?
I am still looking into ways of providing my audience with a temporary Chaplin. The velcro roll arrived today, but alas it was white velcro (despite being black on the picture on the site) so I had to send it back. A nervous and disconsolate Northampton man on the other end of the phone seemed so upset by the fact that it would cost him money to send the courier out to get the velcro and cost him to cancel the credit card payment that I actually offered to post the stuff back at my own expense. Perhaps it is having to deal with Collings that has made me sympathetic to the feckless and guileless people of Northampton.
His firm doesn't do black velcro (don't they appreciate the mass market in Hitler moustache construction?) but the stuff he sent was not dangerously sticky and I think it should work and I managed to find another website with the right colour (though it seems slightly racist to insist that your Hitler Moustaches are black and not white and for a second I wondered if the protest moustaches should be white anyway - but better to appropriate the actual thing)
Apparently craft making felt might work too. The website I tried to order that from was not working properly though. I shall try again.
It was a ridiculously long day today as I was up at 6.45 for a doctor's appointment (the cyst, though not completely better is well on the way) and then due to a mistaken double booking had to do two shows tonight on different sides of town. I was exhausted by the end of it all.
I continued to mourn Tina and finally managed to have a proper cry when reading
Collings' nicely judged tribute. He must never know that his words actually produced tears, but it was more of a catalyst for something that needed to be done. How do you like that Tina? Because of you Collings made me cry. I am sure she'd get a little kick out of that. And I also wish she could see all the amazing tributes to her on my and Andrew's websites, both from people who knew her and those who had only seen her at gigs, or read her posts, or just felt some kinship with her due to the fact that we're all part of the same little stupid, sick community. Thanks so much for your wonderful remarks, which I know have been seen by her friends and family and have definitely provided a small amount of comfort at this difficult and horrible time.
Thanks.
