Oxford life. Thirtysomething challenges. Music leanings. Anything really.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
A great news week
What a wonderful week of news. It's been like the summer emerging after a dull winter of political negativity - the slog through a couple of weeks of non-election campaigning has let us emerge into a week of wonder.
First of all Ellen came home. For 24hrs, she was the queen of the world, and then maybe it got a little too much. Fair play to her, though, I think her acheivements are amazing and any endurance sportsperson deserves adulation.
This morning the joy of Britishness was revealed when it turns out we are so obsessed with cheap furniture and the most hellish shopping experience ever conceived that Ikea's latest store opening turned into a riot. It's a sad and great story in so many ways. It has aspects of a degeneration of Englishness - we were once reknowned for our ability to queue. That's gone, apparently.
Instead, we are a nation obsessed by shopping. Why is a cheap, ubiquitous, bland piece of furnitre so important it warrants a midnight visit?
On top of the Ikea joy, then out comes Charlie and Camilla news. I don't care one bit about this, but what I am excitedly anticipating is the acres and acres of newsprint, webpages, and tv coverage to something that just seems so, well, uninteresting.
Oh, and of course, the Pope has got well. I'm atheist, making this another story that just does not engage - he's an old man, about to die. How will 60 other old people praying possibly lengthen or shorten his life?
First of all Ellen came home. For 24hrs, she was the queen of the world, and then maybe it got a little too much. Fair play to her, though, I think her acheivements are amazing and any endurance sportsperson deserves adulation.
This morning the joy of Britishness was revealed when it turns out we are so obsessed with cheap furniture and the most hellish shopping experience ever conceived that Ikea's latest store opening turned into a riot. It's a sad and great story in so many ways. It has aspects of a degeneration of Englishness - we were once reknowned for our ability to queue. That's gone, apparently.
Instead, we are a nation obsessed by shopping. Why is a cheap, ubiquitous, bland piece of furnitre so important it warrants a midnight visit?
On top of the Ikea joy, then out comes Charlie and Camilla news. I don't care one bit about this, but what I am excitedly anticipating is the acres and acres of newsprint, webpages, and tv coverage to something that just seems so, well, uninteresting.
Oh, and of course, the Pope has got well. I'm atheist, making this another story that just does not engage - he's an old man, about to die. How will 60 other old people praying possibly lengthen or shorten his life?
// posted by Andy @ 7:48 pm 
