Poor Man About Town

To my complete and utter amazement Gordon Brown has been elected leader of New Labour. In his maiden speech he said that he would address issues such as health, education and affordable housing. Given that the definition of "affordable" has been hijacked by property developers to mean "You must be having a laugh if you think you can afford this".

It is heartening to know that there are thousands of people out there earning more money than the rest of us but paying only 10% tax. Alongside the pensions bombshell, this is another fine achievement by Gordon Brown.

Labels: British Politics, New Labour, Property Developers, taxpayers

Speaking of Can People (see previous post), we have Lily Allen clutching a tin of cider at Glastonbury

Labels: alcoholism, beer can man, boozing, can people, cider

There are so many drinking schools around where I live, that the area has become Drinking Academy. You see people clutching tins of beer and strong cider. People in supermarkets buying a bottles of spirits. Then you have the wrecks who collapse anywhere in the street. As I was leaving for work in the morning, I saw what I thought to be a pile of clothes on the corner, as I got closer it was a man in a state of alcoholic catatonia clutching a beer can with another propped by his head to consume for breakfast. I guess that it is the norm around here, no doubt property developers and estate agents will disapprove and have the police move them on to somewhere else and make the place prohibitively expensive in which to live. I don't mind drunks, they keep out the rich.

Stop rising home prices, evict the rich!

Labels: alcoholism, drunks, Estate Agents, Property Development

I was subject to a new begging ploy today. Some bloke was on the bus, he had a tin cup in his hand and a placard slung round his neck - the placard announced that he was subject to various privations. He had a limp. He limped down the aisle of the bottom deck, thrusting his tin mug into the faces of stunned passengers - they obliged by thrusting coins into his mug. It was like been in church when the bag gets passed around, it was an epidemic of forced generosity. I have been in countries and have seen similar stuff. I thought there is no way I would oblige this bugger. He was coining it in. He thrust and rattled the tin mug in my face, I announced "skint", he rattled the mug now full of coins, I announced "skint" again, he did it again, I said the same again. He responded with an unhappy but knowing look. The bus came to his stop and he zoomed to the closing doors, I thought "fuck, he's quick". He get off the bus and started to limp again.

Labels: Beggars, Begging, buses

There has been a new development with parents and their small offspring - the parents shell out mucho spondooliks on these fucking mega-sized pushchairs, the size of which could easily fit a small hippopotamus, yet these idiots insist on loading these contraptions onto a crowded bus. Baby buggies are ok, they are small and light, but these new monsters seem to have been designed by idiots who are more minded to design armoured vehicles. Can't these idiots realise that small is beautiful.

Labels: buses, pushchairs, transport, travelling

When I go to work in the morning Beer Can Man is alive and kicking - 8:20 there are these guys sucking on beer cans and quite pissed with it. The party is over when the money runs out. I Googled "Beer Can Man" and shit there are numerous references to him even on You Tube, here is one sample - I love expression "Rip and Sip"

Labels: alcoholism, beer, boozing, can people, public, street drinking

I have been following the Paris Hilton thingy with morbid interest. It's that kind of horrible interest where if one was around in biblical times you would want to see a stoning of an adulterer, usually the woman (according to the bible men don't usually adulterate). Yet, here we have a young woman who earns her money by having a good time. Nice little earner. It's a big irony that Ms Hilton did not want to check in as a guest to one of Sherrif's suites. I have heard that the food is not very good (no top of the art Frenchy doing the cooking) and her fellow guests are soooo...Well she did not like it...her family and lawyers bursting with bucks told the maitre-de-hotel that there was no room service and as for the en-suite facilities, this was bound to cause the fragile young girl some mental health problems - she could be on some powerful psychotropic drug for the rest of her life.

What I find extremely surprising is that Hilton's legal team asked the Sherrif for her to be discharged. Taking a calculated guess, it would seem that this is not the way to go about things. If a judge has made a sentence, then it is for another to judge, court or governing politician to decide whether the sentence is appropriate, not the Gaoler. Some lawyers, huh?. You know how weasly lawyers can be, but her firm should know better than go behind the back of the justice system to get their client released. That's worrying. Fortunately, justice prevailed and Paris is back in the Hotel. The judge sounded extremely pissed off and quite rightly.

Paris could have made a virtue of this, campaigning for prisoners' rights and penal reform - a worthy cause, showing that the young lady has some dignity, she could have wrote a book about her experience - but oh no, she wanted to her weasle her way out.

hilarious video youtube

Labels: Paris Hilton; celebrity

These were the opening lines of "A Day in a Life", the Beatles much-hackneyed song from the Sgt Pepper album. I heard it again on Johnny Walker's radio programme. It then occurred to me how each verse, albeit surreal, sounded like a blog entry. Commentary on the news and then commentary on how someone got really smashed while smoking (a joint?) on the top deck of a bus "somebody spoke and I went into a dream" roll on the dreamy music. It registered that Lennon-MacCartney were making something akin to blog entries - the toying with the news and reflecting on the day's most salient points. With this in mind, I listened to the track again with fresh ears and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Labels: Beatles, Blogs, Music, news