Thursday, June 14, 2007

All a bit random, I'm afraid...

Ooh, that was a tough call the other night, wasn't it? Lenny Henry's Britain or Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain? I mean, we know that they're both going to be unbelievably intellectually stimulating and dig right into the subject matter, don't we? And by choosing Marr over the large-bottomed Midlands comic, are we breaking a fundamental rule? When did telly get so interesting and debatable? I remember a time when I could have lived without it. But no, not any more. Telly, telly, more telly. That's all I want. And it teaches me right from wrong, hence my knowledge of breaking the fundamental rule, which is how xenophobic bigots are to be described in the 21st century now that Endemol have made racism a dirty, unspeakable word. Ah, yes, I see how you've helped create an evironment for change and debate, there, Endemol, well done. Anyone else noticed that, since Emily was booted out for doing Chris Rock's routine, there's been a lot of homophobia in the house but that all of it's gone unchallenged by Big Brother and his various male and female voices behind camera? So, when is a fundamental rule a fundamental rule? Only when you're trying to make up for the previous series' monumental fuck ups?

The train journeys I make over two days allow me to eavesdrop on the conversations of all-manner of half-witted but nicely besuited business folk. There were two women on their way to an education conference the other day. One of them said that "I am trained to think ahead." Which, well, left me confused. Can't we all think ahead without the need to go on a course? Isn't the mere act of placing one foot in front of the other, albeit on a very small scale, thinking ahead? She went on, "we have tried to put in place a decision-making panel. Although to date nobody has been able to decide if they want to be a part of it." And we wonder why education is in such a terrible state.

I have been loitering on Facebook. I don't really need any more distractions or reasons to login to yet another piece of internet nonsense but everyone appeared to be at it so I made the move. And as I do now slob around the internet in a professional capacity, it's even my duty to use these things. It's a very "square", sensible and collegiate letterman jacket social network, in comparison to the anarchic mess and cluttered beyond belief appeal of Myspace, and there are very few options in terms of customising the look of the thing. It did seem rather pointless but, then, much of these things are - I can't think of one solid reason why, for instance, anyone should Twitter away about how much semolina pudding they've eaten. But they do. And I do too. The world is changing and we're all becoming obsessed with tracking everyone else's movements and displaying our own. So, fyi, I've just eaten a pack of cheese and onion crisps, my mood is triumphant, I am facing south-south west and I am walking to the top of the street at 2.30pm to meet an actor for a beer. Suddenly, Big Brother looks exciting, doesn't it?

3 comments:

Bazza said...

no

Benjamin said...

I agree that Facebook is horrible. Andrew Marr telling us that 'like it or not, rebel or not, we are all Thatcher's children' seemed in even poorer taste.

Stephen Newton said...

Well I've just gone and invited you to be my Facebook friend anyway. (I've only just signed up on it.) I think it's what Friends Reunited needed to become before the novelty wore off.