R.I.P Teena Marie: Long Live the Ivory Queen of Soul

I wasn't expecting my first post on this blog in over a month to be such a sad one.

Regretfully it is - Teena Marie, aka Lady T aka The Ivory Queen of Soul and aged just 54, was found dead by her daughter on Saturday night. No cause is as yet known, possibly a heart attack; Teena was also reportedly recovering from a Grand Mal seizure she had last week.

Teena's music first came to my attention in 1980, when Behind the Groove completely sold me on her unique style. I sought out the album, Lady T, and then her previous, first album, Wild and Peaceful, produced by mentor Rick James, also sadly no longer with us. With beautiful ballads and infectiously catchy dance rhythms, I was hooked. Her following Motown albums - Irons in the Fire and It Must Be Magic cemented my appreciation of her soulful yet jazzy, powerful yet gentle, pure and classy angelic vocal.

I'll admit she lost me when she went a bit rocky and the Motown years remained with me as the Epic years passed me by. I was fortunate enough though, and eternally grateful now, that I made the trip to Indigo2 earlier this year to see and hear Teena live: Incredible doesn't cover it. She knew her audience; it was made up mostly of people like me, those who had switched onto her during her early Motown years. Whilst the latest album Congo Square did hark back to her earlier, soulful roots, she concentrated on giving us everything she had on those songs most synonymous with her: Fire and Desire; Portuguese Love; I Need Your Lovin' to name just a few. And her voice was just as stunning live, thirty years later.

I'm not particularly religious, but Teena was devout - so God Bless you Teena, and your family, and may you rest in peace, forever missed but leaving us all the richer for having shared your beautiful music.

McLaren Watch!

A terrific 2nd and 3rd place in the final race in Abu Dhabi for Lewis and Jenson respectively wasn't enough to lift them into the top 3 overall, although it gave McLaren 2nd in the constructors championship. Vettel took the win (and will have the mickey taken out of him till the day he dies, for his emotional reaction!) and the title, as Alonso, unable to get past Petrov to mount a challenge, finished in 7th place on the day and 2nd in the championship. Mark Webber took 8th on the day, enough to secure 2nd place overall.

Final leadboard:
Sebastian 256; Fernando 252; Mark 242; Lewis 240; Jenson 214

Constructors:
Red Bull 498
McLaren 454
Ferrari 396

Watch the GP in 90 seconds!

McLaren Watch

It's all over for Jenson unfortunately, even with a storming 5th place finish from 11th on the grid, the 1-2-3 for Vettel, Webber and Alonso takes them out of his reach. Lewis was 4th but is also out, bar a miracle (but we know they can happen one in a million! I mean, there's always the first corner, right?) he'd have to win and the other three not finish to take the title.

A shame, but at least they were there or thereabouts. And we can't be greedy, can we? Let Mark Webber borrow it for a year. At least, given the choice from those three, I'd like to see Mark take it!

Leaderboard: Fernando 246, Mark 238, Seb 231, Lewis 222, Jenson 199

In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull are confirmed as the winners, with 469 points. McLaren currently second on 421, with Ferrari on 389.

See the race in 90 seconds!

McLaren Watch

OK, I admit - I forgot the last one! Second place for Lewis in a rain hit and therefore event filled Korea race, in which neither Red Bull finished, put him back in touch for the championship; Jenson, finishing 12th, will unfortunately need to win as well as others not finishing. Likely as not, he'll be wing man for Lewis in Brazil (unofficially of course). Fernando took another win.

The leaderboard then: Fernando on 231; Mark 220; Lewis 210; Seb 206; Jenson 189.

Constructors: Red Bull 426 McLaren 399 Ferrari 374

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McLaren Watch - a bit late, sorry!

But brings you up to date before next week!

Vettel emphatically wins in Japan, team-mate Mark Webber is 2nd and Alonso 3rd - Jenson comes home in 4th, Lewis recovers from writing off his car in practice to bring it home in 5th. It looks like it's slipping away, with only three race left, the championship stands as follows:

Mark - 220; Seb & Fernando both on 206; Lewis on 192 and Jenson on 189. It is going to be tough. McLaren are also dropping back in the constructor's title: Red Bull on 426, McLaren 381, still ahead of Ferrari on 334.

See the race in 90 seconds!

McLaren Watch

Not such a good weekend for Lewis again, as his overtaking manouvere on Webber just failed him, and though Jenson still picked up much needed points, he's now exactly one win behind leader Mark Webber, with those 25 points covering the top 5 drivers. Alonso is the form man as we enter the last few races.

The race finished: Alonso; Vettel; Webber; Button; Hamilton dnf. The standings now: Webber 202 - Alonso 191 - Hamilton 182 - Vettel 181 - Button 177. See the race in 90 seconds!

The things they say ...

Sadly, we were watching Eastenders (Matt, for some inexplicable reason, is a fan) and Stacey tells baby Lily that she's the most important thing that's ever happened to her; Matt pipes up: "What's the most important thing that's ever happened to you?"

So I say (naturally): "Why, having you and your brother, of course!"

And he replies: "Well, no - you being born is the most important otherwise you couldn't have had us!

Flash Fiction Friday: Counting Song

I challenged my writers' group by email on Tuesday night, after being sent this press release by a friend. Come up with something, not necessarily a poem, that has the same first and last line, with the last line of each paragraph/verse being the first line of the next. I wanted results at Wednesday's coffee morning - and promptly forgot to actually write anything myself! Until the coffee was served and Peter was tapping away, making me feel guilty. So I took inspiration from something I think I'd heard on CBBC the day before and wrote this in a couple of minutes! And why am I pleased about this? Because it's the first piece of fiction I've been inspired to write in ages, having been so busy with Rochester People!

Counting Song

One, two, three, four, five
Once I caught a man alive.

Once I caught the man alive
The poor lad had no idea
What he was in for.

What he was in for
Was a major dissecting.
Of the visceral kind.
He looked scared.

He looked scared
So I gave him five seconds
To run away.

One ... Two ... Three ... Four ... Five.

McLaren Watch

A turnaround for the McLaren boys this week, as Lewis crashes out but Jenson purrs away at the start; unfortunately he's overtaken by Alonso during the pit stops but still finishes in second place - with damage to the car!

Luckily, the Red Bulls didn't take full advantage - see the race in 90 seconds here! It's still anyone's title:

Mark 187 points
Lewis 182
Fernando 165
Jenson 166
Sebastian 163

McLaren Watch!

Whoop whoop - the return of F1 after the break finds a resurgent McLaren and victory for Lewis Hamilton ahead of Mark Webber at the Belgian GP.

An excellent start for Lewis and a shocking one for Mark saw Lewis take the lead and apart from a little foray, he stayed out of trouble to the flag.

Sebastian Vettel is becoming countryman Michael Schumacher ... at his worst, being responsible for booting various other drivers off track, including our very own Jenson *boo hiss* I wonder if he'll be penalised for it next week, I'm pretty sure the 'new' drivers would be.

So it's a return to the top of the leaderboard for Lewis: he's on 182; Mark 179; Sebastian 151; Jenson 147; Fernando on 141. McLaren are now just 1 point behind Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship.