Albert Camus once said that in the depths of winter, in our hearts beats the spirit of eternal summer. …. Well he said something
like that and if it wasn’t him it was someone like him. So that is my first
comment on the political events of this week.
Like most of society when faced
with a frightening situation we’ve been making jokes about it.
I think enough has been said about the episode of
the Simpsons where a certain man becomes President, enough has been said about Orange
being the new Black but there might be another wee thing going on which is
uniquely British.
In these days of looking back, retro being cool, reminiscing about the good old days before
mobile phones, when tooth extraction could be dangerous and 'like' was not the popular word in the English language, there was a TV
series in the UK for kids under fives ( and mums and dads) about a small village and their fire station. It was done in
stop motion animation, 13 episodes of 15 minutes. That was all. IT now has its own website!
Something that would stir the imaginations of those that went on to
create Wallace and Grommet.
And Philip, who is a true Staffie. Big teeth, no brain.
For something that only lasted a few episodes the
characters of this village have captured the collective British consciousness
as a shorthand for something very simplistic but of no bloody use whatsoever.
During the financial crash in 2011 the economy of this fictional toytown was used as
a model to explain the fiscal multiplier and fire fighter Dribble was laid off
due to the financial crisis.
In September 2014 a spoof twitter account with the
name of the village followed by the handle @UKIP parodied the official output
of the UKIP party.
But to tell you the truth it was very difficult to tell the
difference between the truth and the parody.
The village of course is called Trumpton.
I'll just leave that there.
Capitol Hill
At some point
in the last 48 hours every citizen in the UK over the age of 45 has had a
titter at that and maybe found themselves whistling the famous theme tune
whenever Wiggy the Orange appears.
Life goes on.
Nature stabilises everything.
From the Cairngorm Website
The Cairngorm Mountains have been there for 40 million years before the last ice age and no matter how many golf courses Wiggy the Orange builds in Scotland, he’s not going to flatten these by the power of his ego.
By a weird segway, I have ended up on a
think tank, well it's not big enough to be a tank, more a 'think goldfish bowl' for a crime writing festival set in the Highlands with a background and landscape
steeped in drama.
And death.
From the Cairngorm Website
So what are our ideas so far? Well the location of
the festival will be very near the sources of water that make the greatest
whisky in the world. So a few whisky tasting events.
There are a few micro
breweries in the area, so we’re going to do a few beer and book events.
Also
going to have a cinematic evening, at the moment the local interest is the 39
Steps but as the world expert on Hitchcock is known to us and we can bribe him
to do it it with for a bag of M&M's, it probably will be Psycho.
We are going to have a
marquee in the square with a lot of heaters, maybe a big log fore if the health ans safety will allow it, with two events with either fish
and chips at half time or a pie.
We’ve also got tabs on a local bus tour
company who will get a writer to tell the story of what happened in
Glencoe and if that doesn’t make the blood stand up on the back of your neck
goodness knows what will. ( with the exception of Wiggy)
Again from their website, I am fancying a crime event on this train!
The area is so remote that night is black, black black,and maybe
that tour should take place at midnight - which was when the massacre happened.
Oh, and they’ll be some writing events – new blood writers etc. But I suspect
if the festival does get off the ground I could do a clinical trial on the
effectiveness of hangover cures. Bring it on I say.
Caro Ramsay 11 11 2016
Caro, I think your post brilliant, thought provoking, encouraging, and, of course. humorous at every level. But by the time I read it I'd learned of your father's passing and all I can think of is how much we owe to your Dad for giving us such a wonderful gift as you. My and Barbara's thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, my love. God rest your Dad's soul.
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