However you choose to celebrate/ignore/abhor this “Pagan Festival Adopted by Christians and Now Largely Used as an Excuse For Mass Consumption and Crap TV, in Both Secular and Christian Communities”, please do it nicely, okay?
Back soon…
My combined birthday/Christmas present from Nicola was a long weekend in Vienna, perfectly complementing our summer trip to Budapest (Habsburg history, y’know).
I didn’t actually know where this mystery trip was taking me until we were at Heathrow and she handed me a boarding card with “Vienna” helpfully printed on it. Stepping onto the plane to see our regular travel companions Howard and Lindsey, the conspiracy became clear. I’m not normally one for surprises (my control freak nature) but this revelation was well worth the mysterious build-up.
In summary… fabulous city, loads to do, barely scratched the surface, surprisingly cheap in several respects, perfect for a winter break, want to go back as soon as possible. Photos here…
Having occasionally been known to post “Have Your Say” comments on news websites, often with tongue planted firmly in cheek, I guffawed heartily at the reader responses to this story from the Surrey Comet…
Marksman called in to kill Kingston’s pigeons
What tickled me in particular was the genuine response from (presumably) an old lady, standing like a flimsy barrier of normality against the oncoming surreal flood. We’re a witty bunch down here in SW London, y’know.
Tony Blair interviewed by police
Government tactically abandons investigation into BAE corruption
Airport expansion plans but profit over environment
One day in British politics… the Prime Minister becomes the latest senior government figure to be questioned in the “cash for honours” investigation. Meanwhile, a whole new scandal emerges, regarding an allegedly corrupt deal between BAE and the Saudi air force, only for the Attorney General to call off the corruption probe. Could this be because BAE risked losing the deal to a French company? Surely our elected leaders wouldn’t put financial gain before ethical behaviour? Oh, except they did it twice in one day… the new plans for additional runways at Stansted and Heathrow airports fly in the face of environmental good sense and local opinion, all in the name of profit.
Through gradual downfall from the rosy optimism of 1997, there was always the reassuring knowledge that the Blair government could never be as bad as the last Tory government. I’m not so sure now. The combination of sleaze, irresponsible profiteering and sheer arrogance is just so reminiscent of the early 90s.
So now the only positive is that at least they’re not actually *worse* than the last Tory government… well, unless the Dear Leader happens to order the murder of all male infants during the next week or so. I mean, it’s happened before…
Remember I was moaning about Universal Music and their blinkered, litigious greed? Well, how about we move up a level through the music industry hierarchy to that noble umbrella organisation, the Recording Industry Association of America…
RIAA Petitions Judges to Lower Artist Royalties (IGN News)
Basically, the record companies (who are, according to the RIAA, truly wonderful because they “drive revenue”) aren’t earning enough money from modern music delivery technologies such as ringtones and downloads. And here’s the shining, crystalline reason for why the RIAA is called the RIAA and not the “Wonderful World of Lovely Music For All” (or something)… they decide to claw back some revenue by paying their artists less. Yep, the people who make the music, without whom there wouldn’t be a music industry.