Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Shanghai Surprise

It would be remiss of me not to hail the return of the good Professor (http://profchucklebuttychronic.blogspot.com/2010/06/liverpool-show-and-on-show-to-world-new.html ).
He's been to Shanghai as part of the local delegation & is in no doubt about the mission of the trip:
"To show once and for all that Liverpool was a great, modern premier European city with far more to offer than the tired old cliches of football and the Beatles.
"So, as the giant video screen showing a film of Paul McCartney making rude gestures with his thumbs welcomed the Chinese people that had got lost and ended up on the wrong side of the river, our Expo began.
"They crowded around the wallpaper paste table and deck chairs that was the Liverpool stand and gazed in awe at how much the city had to offer. This was depicted in the giant murals of John, Paul, George and Ringo, intersperced with photos of Googie the Liverpool Duck, Liverpool and Everton football players. There is even a wall-sized portrait of Liverpool FC with Bill Shankly in the middle! All of this and the Kop singing 'F*** off back to America' to a tune sounding similar to one from West Side Story.
"My word! There's a modern, forward-looking Liverpool. The entire stand almost 30 years out of date. Precious memories to many of us maybe, but a selling point to Chinese investors?
"Where were the Diddymen? Where was Arthur Askey?"
Where indeed, Professor.

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