Advantages: Richest Freak Show On The Planet Disadvantages: Gaudy, Tacky and Fake
Prelude
In August of this year I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks travelling Provence and the South Of France. Here is what I had written at the time of my Monte Carlo experience...
After spending the last few weeks travelling the south of france in a motorhome, i thought i would share some of my experiences with you lucky lot and not least because i recieved the credit card bill through the post today!
The journey into Monte Carlo is quite unimpressive, very industrial and stark contrast to the picturesque landscapes surrounding Monte Carlo. You get the first taste of its financial implications by the increased frequency of the tolls upon its approach. It seemed like there was a toll booth on the roads every 10 mins as opposed to the every couple of hours we had experienced around Provence.
We arrived at night, a bit ...
Advantages: Sumptuous arrangments and the voice of Marisa Monte. Disadvantages: 'Rose & Charcoal' is a better album.
I first remember hearing this album on a warm steamy tropical afternoon in 2003 whilst swinging in a hammock beside a riverbank. I'd kind of forgotten I still had the CD and have only recently started playing it again after rediscovering it at he bottom of my CD collection.
It is all to easy to place Marisa Monte's music into the category of MPB (Música Popular Brasileira - Brazilian Popular Music) - a type of urban popular music that emerged in the 1970s with artists such as Chico Buarque, Maria Bethânia and Gal Costa. MPB evolved from the Bossa Nova period that dominated the 1960s and the subsequent 'Tropicália' movement led by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. Like European and North American pop music, MPB combines many influences derived from contemporary folk and rock, but often borrows heavily from traditional Brazilian Samba ...
Advantages: Vegan. No Artificial colours, preservatives, flavours or sweeteners. Only 78 calories per lolly. 100% RDA for Vit 'C'. Disadvantages: Only sold in boxes of 4, so not available individually.
A chance for me to enjoy a respite and any relaxation is a rare occurrence during the school summer holidays, and to actually concur with some hot sunny weather is even more obscure. But just like a lottery win, these things do happen, and once the children had temporarily vacated the premises in order to pursue their hectic social lives, it was my prompt to hit the sun bed and lap up some rays.
Twas a lovely day too, laying there, my mind drifting off to a fantasy beach on a fantasy isle... Somewhere tropical, where warm ebbing waters tickled white sandy shores. Basking in the sun and dreaming... aaaa this was the life... I was suddenly gripped by a desire to compliment my newfound freedom with my latest discovery whilst in Sainsburys, a Del Monte Pineapple 'Fruit Ice' lolly.
Although Del Monte now makes wide ranges of juices ...
