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

[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.