The Daily Tonic: The Darling Bops Of June

The Mirror ran a story yesterday about Rachel Johnson flouting lockdown rules ahead of today’s Great Lifting, having caught her staying overnight in her London home when she was supposed to be isolating in Somerset.

Embarrassing for her, no doubt. Embarrassing for her brother, the Prime Minister too. But the Mirror appears to be sparing the blushes of the man they photographed leaving her property: the editor of The Times, John Witherow (or “a man” as the Mirror describes him).

This marks a real about-turn in behaviour from Witherow as corona prevention was very much his jam at the start of all this. Early subscribers to the daily will remember that he was the one who sent an all-staff email to everyone at the Times with “helpful” medical tips, seemingly gleaned from Facebook, which suggested employees should drink tea every 20 minutes to wash the virus into their stomachs and protect their lungs.

[Third picture down]

Inspired by one of the stories below, today we want to know about celebrity gift-giving. Have you ever been given a birthday present by a star? A Christmas gift? A little thank-you treat, or a get-well goody? Who went to town? Who scrabbled together something last minute? Tell us it all.

Send stories of celebrity prezzies: hello@popbitch.com and we’ll dish out some digital gifts of our own to the best.

S writes:
“Didn’t happen to me but it’s great food celebrity story. Stuart Maconie went back to Mark E Smith’s flat after a boozy night out and Smith asks if he wants something to eat. Maconie says sure, so Smith goes into the kitchen and bangs around for twenty minutes or so.

“Then comes out carrying two plates of crisp sandwiches.”

MW writes:
“In 1988 or 1989, my then-wife and I drove to Amsterdam to visit a longtime friend of mine for a few days. During our stay he told me that he was having some guests over for dinner (his sister was coming along with someone she worked for) and asked if I would help with the meal.

“A small group of four arrived, I helped with the cooking and it was all good fun. As I had recently invested in a high-end Canon video camera, I decided to make use of it and start filming. I was quite surprised when the guest of honour got really upset and asked me to stop, which seemed unusual.

“This guest was Nina Simone. I had no idea who she was and didn’t realize until years later when I saw and heard her singing.”

the_horse_whisperer writes:
“I once knew someone who played a minor role in Oliver Stone’s Alexander movie. The production in London wrapped up before Christmas and she had to get rid of some things before flying off to the next location.

“A half bottle of Jack Daniels from Val Kilmer and some weed from Oliver Stone. Best Christmas presents ever!”

As we stumble into our fourth calendar month of doing these daily audio lockdown rounds, we thought we’d celebrate the arrival of June by making a little quiz of songs that were UK No.1s in this month over the last 40 years.

You get a point for the artist and a point for the song title. Ten songs, twenty points.

[Audio Round #73]

Some useful resources for readers who want to donate to/support the protests but not sure where to turn
[For UK readers]
[For US readers]

Otters on ice!
[See on YouTube]

Horrifying 3D models of The Simpsons as realistic humans
[See on Laughing Squid]