Artistic Copyright etc.
Posted: Mon 14 September, 2009 Filed under: 1BEM, Charm School Leave a comment »I still love Charlie Brooker.
This week’s summation by him of artistic integrity, rights, and copyrights is spot-on.
The arrest may not be Hirst’s fault, but sod it: let’s appropriate any resultant outrage and apply it to him anyway. Cartrain’s almost certainly a self-promoting gump and a poor man’s Banksy – but he’s 19, for heaven’s sake. He’s allowed to be an almost impossible arse.
But you’ll have to read the article to see how the above quote fits in with the one below…
In its heyday, the Radio 1 Sunday evening Top 40 countdown constituted the biggest file-sharing portal in British history, with millions of users hooked up simultaneously, mercilessly downloading content to their tape decks.
Un-fucking-Believable (Part 4)
Posted: Mon 7 September, 2009 Filed under: 1BEM, Charm School, Customer Services, National Express East Anglia, Sweary, Travel Leave a comment »Following on from the rest of the story, today was the day that NEEA put the prices way up for my ticket from Attleborough to London.
The sole explanation of this anywhere on the station platform was one sheet of A4 paper wrapped in plastic sticky-taped to one noticeboard, which explained (and I may be paraphrasing slightly here…)
Because we’re profiteering fuckwit bastards, the line between Norwich and Cambridge has now been deemed a ‘peak-line’ train, which means we’ll rip you the fuck off for a full-price ticket until 10am.
This is to bring this service in line with other services leaving London. In other words, live with it, and we’ll take your money. Suckers.
The excuse of ‘bringing this service in line with others leaving London’ would be almost fine, if it weren’t for one or two very fucking significant points.
Point the First
The line between Cambridge and Norwich doesn’t go anywhere near London. At all. To travel to/from London, you’ve got to change first at Cambridge or Norwich. There is NO direct service.
Point the Second
Off-Peak tickets for leaving london only apply (according to NEEA’s own T&Cs) for trains arriving in London before 10am. The 7.55am service gets in to London Kings Cross at – um – 10.15am. Leaving at 7.55, in fact, there is no fucking way I can get to London before 10am.
In most cases the off peak day travelcard is not available for travel on trains arriving in London* before 1000 or departing from London before 0930. Travel is also not permitted on services departing from London* between 1629 and 1834 Monday to Friday, except for travel to stations between Hatfield Peverel and Braintree inclusive on the 1636 departure from London.
So all told, it just looks like a massive profiteering move on NEEA‘s part to double the prices and grab as much profit as humanly possible.
In the meantime, I’ve complained to NEEA direct, although I’m willing to bet that they don’t even bother responding. I’ll add the complaint letter as a post on D4D™ sometime this week, just for fun. I’m also going to be writing properly, rather than just in email – and I suspect a copy might make it’s way to the local papers etc. too…
NHS Staffing
Posted: Thu 3 September, 2009 Filed under: Business, Charm School, Creativity, Cynicism, Health, News, Thoughts 2 Comments »Today there’s a lot of coverage about a suggestion to reduce the workforce of the NHS by 10% – and the resultant kerfuffle between Government, the NHS, and management consultants.
Currently the Government is saying that they have rejected this advice by McKinsey and Company, (Never heard of ’em? Me either.) which included closing 137,000 clinical and admin posts in order to save £20bn by 2014.
I’m pretty sure I could show how to save the NHS that much money by 2014, without losing a single clinical staff member.
Mind you, it would involve getting rid of shitloads of middle-managers, consultants, and fuckstick accountants. And of course that’s a plan that would never achieve approval – because it’s got to go through all those levels of shitbag middle-managers, consultants and fuckstick accountants before it can happen. And those self-serving fuckers are never going to do themselves out of a job. (Which is the same reason the “paperless office” will never happen)
I’m not suggesting getting rid of all the managers, as I think most people would agree that there need to be some of the buggers around, if only in order to make sure that the clinical professionals don’t drown in paperwork and procedures in the meantime. (Although of course if you get rid of enough of the middle-managers, you probably get to eliminate a whole host of the bullshit paperwork at the same time – sorry, it’s “streamlining” now isn’t it, not “getting rid of the shit”)
Still, wield a big enough axe, drop it from high enough, I’m pretty sure it’d still work…
Idiocy
Posted: Mon 24 August, 2009 Filed under: Charm School, Cynicism, Stupidity, Thoughts 7 Comments »Having read this story about a rescue helicopter that couldn’t land because some people wouldn’t get out of the way (and thus endangered themselves by being in the way of the rotors) I think we’re just too nice to idiots.
In this case, once people have been told to get out the way, it’s their responsibility to do so. If they fail to do so, and don’t take into account bloody great (unmissable) rotor blades above them, then they’re idiots and thus accept all responsibility for any accidents and/or damage that occur as a result.
As I see it, people need to take more personal responsibility, rather than letting others do it for them. If you do something stupid, and your excuse is “Well nobody told me not to”, then sorry, but you damn well deserve to have been hurt.
It’s Coming…
Posted: Sat 22 August, 2009 Filed under: 1BEM, Charm School, Festering Season, Thoughts Leave a comment »
Tonight, “The X-Factor” returns to Saturday Night TV. “Oh joy, oh happiness, oh bliss” etc. etc. in a suitably sarcastic tone of voice.
Not just a celebration of lip-syncing, unoriginality, freakshow auditions and an almost terminal lack of talent (in the presenters and judges as well as competitors) it’s also the first sign that yes, the Festering Season is soon(ish) to be upon us.
Fucking Hell, 2009’s going past fast…
Poll-Fixing
Posted: Fri 21 August, 2009 Filed under: Charm School, Stupidity Leave a comment »(via Yorkshire Soul)
I wouldn’t normally add a link to a hate-mongering bigoted shit-rag (also known as the Daily Mail) but in this case I will.
Go to this survey (about halfway down the page) and vote Yes. The survey asks “Should the public fund a trans-gender police support group?”
Currently, the “Yes” result is pegging about 77%. Go on, fuck with the heads of Daily Mail readers – It’s certainly not the result they were expecting…