Up Front 05/03

Eagle eyed readers may have spotted from the front cover that this is issue number 50.
Someone suggested we celebrate this momentous occasion. 50th birthdays are quite unique and we wondered how many people really celebrate them with any gusto? It’s quite a big number and you’re not really old but your children aren’t exactly going to say your young either. It’s the sort of age that is older than your mother was when you first asked her her age. Whatever way you look at it there are some great things about being fifty. For example, you’re not sixty! Without your glasses, that face in the mirror is as smooth and luminous as a baby’s and a real bonus is that your parents can’t remember why you’re such a disappointment any more. Someone suggested we have a party and invite a celebrity or two, so we looked to see who would be celebrating fifty this May. Jeb Bush, the Governor of Florida, credited with getting his brother into the White House, could be there. Benazir Bhutto might just accept an invite and Mike Oldfield could compose a special Marshwood Vale Tubular Bells. If it gets a little dull we could get Nigel Planer to do some Young Ones routines and if Jeb gets out of hand we can get Pierce Brosnan to do a James Bond number; unless of course he’s distracted by Kim Basinger, who is also celebrating fifty this May. We ached over who to invite and eventually decided ‘Hell let’s just do it!’ – so we didn’t.