Kenny and Renee and the German Elections

For some reason I feel I should blog about the German elections, but to be honest I don’t give a toss. I don’t really care who runs Germany so long as you can go to Germany and buy cheap beer, cheap smokes and have a swell night out at a country and western bar (I really must share my amusing anecdote on how me, the Vol-in-Law and VolBro got mistaken for a country band in Hamburg and drank all night for free, but not today). Maybe the Vol-in-Law will post something elucidating…(about the elections, not our failed C&W career).

Funny thing is, every time I think about writing about the German elections, I start thinking instead about the impending annulment of Kenny Chesney and Renee Zellwegger’s marriage I can’t really say why that is, it makes no sense, but there you go.

I went to a dinner party the other night hosted by the Texan (she made some yummy gumbo), and folks were talking about the Chesney-Zellwegger breakup. Now, back in Tennessee I reckon that the two celebrities are nearly par on fame, but here, people just don’t know who Kenny is. Even the Texan hadn’t heard of him. Name a song he sings, the guests cried. “She thinks my tractor’s sexy” I said, and the assembled table broke down into guffaws of laughter.

The other Kenny Chesney song I thought of was that Touchdown Tennessee. But I was pretty sure that one didn’t get big airplay in London, so I didn’t mention it. I downloaded that song once (it does have a great title) and then I had this dawning, horrible realisation that John Ward was dead. My eyes moistened and I had a little moment of reflection on the Voice of the Volunteers. I phoned my brother to find out more and VolBro said “Nah, he ain’t dead, I sold him some Scotch last week*. He’s just retired.” Oh. I felt silly, but you know The Economist doesn’t cover Volunteer football like it ought to.

Anyway, back to Kenny and Renee, I keep wondering about what the ‘fraud’ is that could lead to an annulment. (This might be my mental link to the German elections, have you had a good look at Schroeder’s hair color? )

It’s my belief that in the early days of a relationship everyone tries to portray themselves in a good light and the gloss of romance means that your partner is likely to overlook some of your less glaring faults. The ViL and I met on the Internet back in 1996 (and not at a dating site) so we had more scope than some for presenting ourselves in a potentially misleading light. We’re both pretty honest (him pathologically so, me generally so), so any ‘frauds’ were based more on self-deception than intent. For example, the ViL told me that he was a tidy person. Ha! But he still believes this to be so, despite my pointing out evidence to the contrary (e.g. the state of the bathroom), so I can’t really say that he was lying. (OK, for everyone who knows me, this is not an opportunity to pile in on me about my messiness, I know I have a tidiness issue and I do have the power to delete comments). For his part, the ViL says I should have told him that I was a recovering nicotine addict, as he was shocked when I fell off the tobacco wagon. I counter that I did say so.


*it might not have been Scotch, but it was some type of intoxicating spirit. VolBro keeps body and soul together by purveying liquor. He says about his work “Getting people drunk in East Tennessee, it’s a tough, tough job”