The People's Carnival

[poliphilo]

This was the weekend of the Oldham carnival, now renamed- in a belated echo of Nu Labour populism- "The People's Carnival". I wandered over to the park in the afternoon- and it was like tripping back in time. The rides, stalls and inflatables were the same rides, stalls and inflatables as last year- with the difference that the people- now the event had been renamed in their honour- hadn't bothered  to show up. In the central enclosure a showman was trying to whip up enthusiasm for the Battling Cumberland Giants:  there was Mighty Mick the local lad and Terrible Ted  "who has a bad reputation"; they were asleep behing a screen and we needed to shout to wake them.  I walked round the ground. The showman was really milking it. As I came away the Cumberland Giants still hadn't appeared- and a time-wasting clown called Handy Andy was doing wheelies on a motorbike with a sidecar. A couple of small boys accosted me on the road. "Is there a Carnival?" they asked. I said there was. "Is it any good?"  I gave a Gallic shrug.

Shortly after I got  home the rain began. It came down hard!  Elsewhere in Greater Manchester football stadia were flooded and roofs caved in.

Comments

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

Shortly after I got home the rain began. It came down hard! Elsewhere in Greater Manchester football stadia were flooded and roofs caved in.

What? Really! Last night? I must have been in the cinema for all of it! Though I did see some terrifying Ragnarok action on Friday.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Mid afternoon was when it struck. Around 3 o'clock. It didn't last long, but it was really heavy. There was lightning too.

[(Anonymous)]

Did you see that benefit payments will exceed income tax receipts? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5651825/Benefit-payouts-will-exceed-income-tax-revenue.html
Seems like the government have been determined to screw over the country for ages and now it's finally happening. Do you still believe in high taxation and high public spending? :)
Tom F

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do. I believe in high tax and high-public spending. The trouble is any political system depends for its success on the competence of the people administering it- and this Nu Labour gang have been disastrously bad.

[(Anonymous)]

That depends if you think that where we are currently is a result of competence or design. In any case you must see that this level of spending is unsustainable and must be heavily cut, lest we run out of money altogether.
Tom F

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

What frightens me is the level of borrowing. We long since stopped living within our means.

[craftyailz.livejournal.com]

It worries me - not least because we live on Income Support and Disability payments - if they cut it back any I don't know how we'll cope. My brother and sistrer-in-law pay more in tax each year than we get, so they say that they pay for us. They reckon it's better than their taxes going to wars or MP expenses.

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

I think it's sad, that such old entertainment is dying - carnivals and circuses are falling by the wayside due to movies and computers and such. What a shame. I still remember the carnival that used to come through our small town every year when I was a kid - I loved it.

Rather like how the old Wizard of Oz movie stopped being shown regularly every year because kids weren't interested in it anymore - it didn't have ultra-modern SFX or anything, so why bother?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The Wizard of Oz- for all its creakiness- is still one of the best children's movies ever made. I can't think of better one.

ET perhaps?