TONY ON TELLY, TT#26 & MORE

Including Thursday Thirteen, Totally Optional Prompts,
Search Engine Stories and Heads or Tails.
Have you had a go yet?

I predicted a short while ago that the Crash would lead to an abandonment of targets towards carbon emissions. Well, The Guardian has reported the European Union is considering the watering down of measures to tackle global warming. You can expect to hear more of this from now on.

The eco-message is about to die.

And it will die for two reasons. First of all, Big Biz has only indulged in cosmetic measures anyway; and we’re only playing at it. And I’m afraid sentiments only flower during periods of affluence.
Of course, the planet will be helped naturally by the Crash, as there will be a downturn in industry, and we’ll use less power and oil. But as a new system rises out of the ashes of the old, it is maybe time for thinking rather than sentiment – and place proper environmentalism as it rises.

Occasionally there is a reality show I like.

One such is Strictly Come Dancing, where celebs partner professionals and learn to dance properly. The show is hosted by Bruce Forsyth, 80 years old, still nimble, and the king of the game show since the early 1960s.
Still the best compere around, he shows the younger models what it is all about. But I am really delighted with the latest series, as the female dancer who is wiping the floor with the youngsters is 56 year old actress, Cherie Lunghi.
Showing the difference between a woman being a woman, and young women being girlies, her elegance and sex appeal is winning the day. And I am so happy about this, as television seems to be being taken over by youff – and most of it is awful!
We’re told we live in more lenient times, with bigotry a thing of the past. Well, this is not so. There is a general loathing for traditions, experience and everything else that isn’t ‘young’. And it is particularly infecting television. And, apart from the occasional touch of brilliance, it is turning it from a vitally important medium, to a load of dumbed down idiocy.
Next post, Thursday. Hope to see you then.

© Anthony North, October 2008

TT #26 – LOVE IN THE CITY?

The city and civilisation go hand in hand,
our greatest creation – Oh so grand,
yet above all else, love’s what we do,
but in the city, chances are few …

Why?

We’ve got corn, don’t be forlorn,
build a city, Oh so pretty,
shrine to the gods, we look agog,
castle for defence, we’re all so tense,
factory and slum, we’re so glum,
money in the till, so much thrill,
all about trade, greed displayed

the city should be our social glue – but it’s never been built for me or you

(c) Anthony North, October 2008

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THE ‘G’ WORD – Fiction

He was stood there, the wind blowing about him, trying to think of the ‘g’ word. It didn’t come, so he thought of another – remembered …
‘Have you got any gold?’
He’d said it into the telephone repeatedly, manically. But to no avail. After all, as if gold could ground THIS economy – now. It had run on credit and confidence for so long – for so very long. They’d begun to believe the lie themselves.
But it WAS a lie. It couldn’t last. The bubble burst – but ‘bubble’ isn’t a ‘g’ word. He needed to remember the ‘g’ word he was looking for.
Greed came to mind. That was a good word – a word they could ignore, ‘cos they weren’t really greedy. The traders weren’t greedy, and the investors weren’t greedy, no one was greedy, it was all …
… just another lie. And it had ground to a halt – another ‘g’ word, but not the one he was looking for. Yet as he jumped off the building he suddenly remembered the word – it was ‘glide’.
But that didn’t work either.

© Anthony North, October 2008

MERMAIDS

This is a website as well as a blog. The pages (top) link
to lots of essays in my research archive, written and
re-written over 25 years (many are excerpts from as yet
unpublished books). You’ll find a sample below. Why not
come back when it’s quiet? Or even check out the pages.

Residents of the Hebridean island of Benbecula were gathering seaweed one day in 1830 when they saw a woman-like creature playing near the sea. Attempting to catch it, a boy threw a stone which struck it.
A dead body was found a couple of days later resembling a well-fed child with developed breasts and long hair. But most puzzling was its salmon-like lower body. Drawing a large crowd, the creature was buried in a long forgotten grave …
… read more …