My council has now decided that every time its logo appears, it will carry the strapline “Working together for excellence”. So, what does that mean? Who are they working with? Themselves? And how are they defining excellence, given they were rated “poor” by the Audit Commission? It rivals for fatuity Lancashire’s “A place where everyone matters” – as opposed to everywhere else, presumably, where only a few people matter. I suspect this will run and run, as long as local government is in thrall to PR.
BBC NEWS | UK | New drink laws ‘lead to violence’
It doesn’t take genius, or a judge, to work this out. You have to question why a government originally elected as providing moral leadership (remember the ethical foreign policy that lasted, ooh, five minutes) is promoting this self-evidently disastrous policy in the face of common sense and the advice of the people who have to deal with the consequences of it. It couldn’t be that the govt is in thrall to business, could it?
When all this was being debated last year, a former student of mine wrote to the Guardian with an excellent idea:
“During five years in Australia, I never experienced the kind of binge drinking-fuelled public disorder that Tony Blair appears to want the alcohol industry to “manage”, as much as eliminate.
When Queensland police arrest people for being drunk and disorderly, they find out where they were overserved and then fine the bar staff responsible £1,000 and the licensee £15,000 – ergo, it rarely happens. All but the tamest happy hours and promotions are illegal.
Guy Redden”
If we must extend the licensing hours, let’s have this as well.
BBC NEWS | Education | Chaucer’s tales become rap songs
This depresses me. Why does everything have to be made “relevant”? The excuse given here is that Chaucer’s language is difficult to understand. Yes, it is. Get over it. These children will go away saying they’ve “done Chaucer” – but they haven’t, no more than someone who’s seen “West Side Story” has done Shakespeare. Chaucer – in its original form – has been taught successfully to generations of children. Now, we have to dumb it down though.
This blog has just returned from a holiday spent far away from internet access for the most part, and all the better for it. Boris the Topsyturvydom mascot cat seemed to enjoy his stay at the luxury cat hotel, but, like me, is glad to be back, as is his companion Phoebe, who makes her debut here today.
normblog: Apologists among us
Norman Geras has some serious things to say about the reaction of some to the London bombings. I share his view, and like him, was appalled at the sentiments expressed in the article in today’s Guardian by Dilpazier Aslam, which seems to suggest that the bombs can be excused as an expression of what he winningly calls “sassiness.” He’s a trainee, apparently. Lots more training to do, it seems.
I’m described as an “amiable Mancunian bear” here. Well, I suppose there are worse things to be called, but the diet starts here…
On a train last week, the young man opposite me ( he looked about twelve, but obviously had a full time job in advertising, as was confirmed by his full-volume conversation with a friend across the aisle) concluded his talk, not with “good bye”, “see ya” or any of those variants, but a new one – at least new to me: “in a bit”. I suppose it’s equivalent to the American “later” as a conversation concluder. He confirmed the usage when he had a phone conversation, of which his half went:
“Hey, it’s me. Listen can you bring my sandals to work? Wicked. Cool. OK, in a bit”. Don’t know what to make of it, except that my extreme old age is now confirmed by my getting irritated by things like this.
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Man used electric underpants ‘to fake heart attack’
You couldn’t make this up, could you? One of the best headlines I’ve read for years.
EWM: Letter from Manchester
Further to yesterday’s post about Manchester in art, this site is absolutely the best place to go for images of contemporary Manchester. Aidan O’Rourke (who also features in the Urbis centre) has done a great job of documenting the ever changing face of the city. To see how it was, take a look at the archives at the Local Image Collection It was browsing through there that I came across an image of my great uncle outside the family greengrocer’s on Rochdale Road. I spent a good deal of my formative years here. All demolished now, of course.
BBC – Manchester – In pictures – Picture of Manchester: gallery
This intrigued me, as a Mancunian. I’m not sure I’m completely won over by these paintings, but they certainly beat the inexplicably lauded Lowry, and offer a more contemporary view of Manchester than the Victorian visions of Pierre Adolphe Valette, e.g. this one
