Congestion Charge III

Well, it is rapidly being realised, The Congestion Charge creates Congestion - I was listening to Vernon Kay on Radio 1 SAT02DEC2006 on the way to my great niece's christening, when who should be on the radio commenting about the charge by Jason Kay and guess what? He doesn't think it works. What a surprise.

What is more, London councils are charging for 4x4 NOT being on the move - charge a car for being parked up, and guess what - it is going to move around. You fuckwits!!

When does it all cross the line into social manipulation and psychological Warfare? Oops, are we already there?

The worst thing is I don't think these arsy civil servants really could ever acknowledge the consequences of their actions - they aint got the smarts. And that means they aren't qulaified to do what they do, so we all have to watch out for ourselves. In other words you could argue their style of government is bringing about anarchy...

JUST CAME OUTA HOSTAPUL

I just had an operation on my shoulder to resolve a pain I have had for a year, from an injury I suspect that came from much further back. The staff were so professional and caring, but the fact it was the NHS nearly screwed everything up.

I needed x-rays which weren't taken, and it took a year before I was operated on.

Why is the NHS so poor?

Because it is run by bueaucrats to pay bureaucrats, while a lot of dedicated professionals have their good work obscured by the rest of the shame surrounding this political football. If ohmly the NHS could die a rapid death then a proper healthcare service dedicated to keeing people fit and strong could try to appear, otherwise it will always be like roads in the UK - a great big hole that gets dug to be filled in again repeatedly. The Highways Agency cause more congestion and pollution than any other single entity on the road. The Miracle of Buraeucracy. Don't you hate it? If it wasn't for civil servants, we would not have had the R101 disaster, or the enforced nationalisation and loss of the British Motor and Air Industries, or a thousand million thousand other lamentable things....

BOYCOTT THE NATIONAL LOTTERY VOLUNTARY TAX

FRIG THE LOTTERY.
Up in CONISTON, they wan to rebuild the Bluebird, but the NATIONAL LOTTERY doesn't think so. It seems Donald Campbell's memory isn't worth it, and the fact that occasionally people in this beleaguered country STILL TRY to do something extraordinary seems to be something best ignored by the LOTTERY TAX COLLECTORS. Lets put it this way, all kinds of crap get lottery funding, money which we all pay to get a prize, and to back causes not funded by the government, but the project to restore and have BLUEBIRD fly again, the bluebird project, was turned down: guys, why are we funding this scheme which pays out a pitiful percentage in prizes and causes, and gives the rest to government taxation and as profits to stakeholders:
BOYCOTT THEM, PEOPLE.


WIKIPEDIA on Donald Campbell

FACT - Film, Art & Creative Technology, or FICTION?

Well, I guess a firetrap combined with poor kiosk and automated ticket machine that does not want to give you your credit card back is all part of the intellectual enrichment that FACT offers our sorry Merseyside existences.

At the entrance stands a begger with a Big Issue in his hand and no Sellers ID, who gets 50p nonetheless, and lets us know that prebought tickets are obtainable at the machine.

On to the machine, just in time to see a girl get her credit card stuck in it, and the attendant find she herself has something missing in the crowd. We have our tickets issued manually by the efficient lady, who handles things well in spite of it all.

On up the stairs to the bar, hosting a long queue of people waiting to be allowed access to order a drink, and servicing the tail of a queue going up to the screening area. Is this the queue for the film, now due to start in a few minutes? Surely not, but to be sure, we'll take the lift and bypass all that if possible.

On to the second floor - where the 3 main screens are, serviced by a foyer sized about 5 yards x 5 yards. Each of those screens was showing a box office film, namely BORAT, CASINO ROYALE, and PAN'S LABYRINTH, each just released.

On to the kiosk, no bigger than a cigarette stall on the street, with a meticulously slow attendant, and stationed facing the top of the stairs to the floor, up which stand a stream of cinema goers looking to start the ritual with popcorn buying.

To the right of the kiosk is the waiting area for three films due to start within 15 minutes of each other, and CASINO ROYALE is traffic lighting people in in bundles of 30.

People not knowing what part of the crowd to push through to get to which screen, and all screen entrances being served from a common pool of confusion, standing souls with money in their pockets, and their hands full of treats, brushing against each other, easy prey for prospectors.

The melee was a tribute to the poor planning of the complex, whose structure needed repair shortly after it opening.

CASINO ROYALE, however is a great film, and I wish I had been at a picture house which would have allowed my to enjoy a dry martini as an aperitif, instead of a scrum at every turn. What a missed opportunity that place is.