At Home in Hespeler

 All the fluffy news about those nutty celebrities

British rocker/drug fiend Pete Dougherty may be in a spot of difficulty with the Huns. Dougherty during a broadcast concert sang a portion of the verboten Nazi national anthem. During a performance of Ray Charles vampire classic, Hit The Road Jack, Dougherty threw in a few rounds of “Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles.” The German’s frown somewhat on Nazi symbolism, including the Casablanca classic.

You expect things like “German authorities are investigating Pete Daugherty,” to come up now and then. Less expected is “Harpist hooked on heroin played at royal wedding.” Yet that was the story this week as former royal harpist (that’s harp as in angels play the harp, not “the blues harp of Sonny Boy Williamson”) was accused of burgling houses while battling drug addiction.

Jemima Phillips, a 28 year old harpist who was appointed royal harpist in 2004, testified at her own trial that she had two abortions and started using crack cocaine soon after her second, at age 23. She progressed to heroin by the time of her royal appointment. She was also bullied at school and has been in a series of abusive relationships.

Reports are that she is giving up the harp for a career in rap.

If you went to see rock band Weezer here in Toronto last Saturday, as someone I know did, you unexpectedly saw there last show of 2009. Weezer was in a bus accident on Sunday morning in upstate New York, with their bus skidding on ice, striking a guard rail and sliding into a ditch. The crash resulted in lead singer Rivers Cuomo being injured and the band cancelling the rest of their 2009 dates.

Fluffernutter Deutschland, Germany, Jemima Phillips, Pete Dougherty, Rivers Cuomo, Royal Harpist, Toronto, Uber Alles, Weezer