Well hey there!

Rather light blogging these last few days. I keep seeing things I want to put on the blog so the stack of articles and internet links is considerable. These aren't in any particular order:

Liz sent me a link to an article by Theodore Dalrymple about how bad mannered everyone is these days and now I'm sensitive to it. It's not just British people though, an American girl in the Kensington High Street Gap pushed me out of her way yesterday and it was gob smacking. She looked like a normal 20-something city girl but after slamming into me went "excuse me" in that mid west accent I know so well. Maybe she was partially sighted, I should cut her some slack, right?

From the article:

"What better way to prove your egalitarian credentials than by adopting the supposedly free and easy, utterly informal manners of those at the bottom of the social scale? The freer and easier the better, for such informality demonstrates another quality beloved of, and praised by, intellectuals: a superiority to the dictates of convention. Thus you can never be quite informal or unconventional enough."

He points out all the people who put their feet on the seat - of buses and trains and so on. I was at the V & A yesterday and this guy had his feet on the seat of the cushioned bench in the cinema, so nowhere is safe. I have, in the past, got out my lint brush and used it on the seat after going "sorry" to the person who's put their feet where I want to sit. I do it to be annoying back, plus I have a beautiful black velvet coat I want to take care of. Plus I have zero tolerance for lint as some of you know.

Here in beautiful downtown Kensington, there's a bit of a rumpus going on over the site of an old people's home. The original building was condemned and the nursing home closed down. I've heard they moved the old people to somewhere in Chiswick. Argggghhhh. So all the old dears still living in the borough are up in arms, holding enormous mass demonstrations and meetings in the town hall. Planning permission has been refused yet again, but the property developer and their financial backers Arcapita Bank are going to the High Court to appeal the decision. My favourite part in all of this saga? Arcapita Bank's decision, a few years ago, to change their name from First Islamic Investment Bank! How funny is that! We all know it's against their religion to charge interest so wtf are they doing, pushing to build millionaire penthouses on the site of a building providing a valuable public service. The report in The Cherry Tree newsletter covers the situation in much greater detail.

Campaign Magazine, 7 April 2006, should die from shame with their latest strangest publicity stunt - a review of the week's past advertising by Gorgeous George Gallowey, "MP and talkSPORT presenter". Here's what he has to say about the most recent Amnesty International press and poster campaign:

"The Amnesty International artwork is magnificent but, really, this is not about attempting to influence foreign leaders and dictators, it is about raising money for Amnesty. I have been on the receiving end of these campaigns and they do not work on me because when you have weighed up an issue and made your decision, you would have to be a fairly feeble politician to be swayed by a letter-writing blizzard. George Bush is not going to withdraw his troops from Iraq and stop torturing uncharged prisoners, and Robert Mugabe will not be scratching his chin and musing "maybe they are right" because their mailbags are full. I hope the cheques roll in, but it is not going to put a check on abuses."

George Galloway accepted money from Sodhim Hussein in the oil-for-food scandal that brutalised the Iraqi people and kept Sodhim safely in place to inflict his cruelties for years. That my trade paper would think what he had to say about anything was of value speaks volumes for the advertising industry as a whole. Sordid and misogynist - and I'm not just referring to Gerry Moira's pathetic contribution.

By the way, when he says letters don't work you know that means they really work very well, right? That's psychology 101, okay?

This past weekend redefined the word happiness for me, the glorious weather - and company - couldn't have been more delightful. I've got to finish this and focus on some other things, but I'm glad you dropped by and I'll try and make it worth your while.