Grease IS the Word

Week Fifty:- one: Sunday 16 – Saturday 22 September

Nearly one whole year since my wife, my daughter and I wrapped up our life in Lockerbie, Scotland and headed for the warmer, wetter, sea shaped climate of Falmouth, Cornwall, and we find ourselves packing up to move to a cosier, more modern, and centrally based, house ... and getting into the 'Amazon video rental by post' that we've been getting into to.

You build up a 'rental list' and they send them to you as they become available, although one at a time, such is our 'meek' rental agreement. As the winter nights fast approach, autumn seems to be flying, not tumbling, by, we look forward to delights such as 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks', 'Mary Poppins', 'The Sound of Music', '101 Dalmatians' ... I could go on!

The other day 'Grease' arrived, that much loved classic that Toni and I first saw thirty odd years ago, and have watched several time since. But not for a good few years. Aside from enjoying the whole thing all over again, two things struck me.

I never realised just how 'moralistic' Grease is: so many great vignettes about growing up, being the right person, being true to yourself, making the post of yourself, compromising, et cetera.

Just after Sandy has met up with Danny again, and has run off after telling him she wishes she had never met him, because he acted all cool in front of his friends, the character (who becomes the beauty school dropout) puts her arm round Sandy and says, "The only man a girl can always depend on his her father."

I paused the dvd, rewound, nudged Kumali, pointed at the tv, cleared my throat, said, "Hey, sweetheart, listen up to this bit", turned up the volume, then pressed play!