Wednesday 17 July 2013

The Shows!




Ah the 'Shows.' the funfair to you, has arrived.  Dodgems, Ghost rides, and burger Bars have already begun to set up shop.  Shortly afterwards the overpriced smaller stall will offer us the chance to be robbed blind.  I know things will be charged too high as the posters all around inform the victims that 'All Rides Half Price!.'   Half price?  What price were they before then?  Now I have no problem with this lot, they have been here before, and the chances of me going on any of the offerings is zero, however if there is opportunity to whine and complain I see no reason to give it a miss!  
However what I remember of the 'Shows' when they arrived in Edinburgh all those years ago was then bright lights in the dark night and the tremendous noise given off by the huge growling lorries that supplied power for the attractions.  'ERF,' 'AEC,' and other large lorries going back to the thirties I suspect rumbled away all night, the cables offering huge opportunities to break necks as we passed by.  The modern ERF appears too clean and nice in comparison with the growling engines of the fifties.  The noise and pollution is less, but only just, but the atmosphere offered in those dark far off days (oh how far off) is better than what we have tonight.



These two stuffed dummies offer up the local news programme on the BBC, 'Look East.'  I rarely watch it, especially as the ITV version usually has real people on offer, but the local news anywhere is always dreary.  It appears to me nothing happens often, so often that 'Look Eats' fills the programme with visits to the NHS.  Almost every night they are pounding the corridors of a hospital looking for a sob story (how difficult is that?)or possibly a GP or local health unit, maybe a woman suffering some illness, anything related to health to fill the programme.  Tonight I switched this on, they offer unsafe hospitals,  woman with a disease and... I then switched off!  How do these folks get away with this?  It is time to reduce such programmes to ten or fifteen minutes and put on something worthwhile, and not anything to do with Health!    


5 comments:

Lee said...

We still call shows "shows" down here, Down Under.

Our local showground is just across the way from where I live. The second Sunday of every month the markets are held there.

The local show is on in September (our spring). It only a day or two in duration and is mostly equestrian events and the local artists display their creations; as do the local ladies showing off their baking and preserving prowess; with a couple of entertainments thrown in for the kiddies.

On the Saturday night of the show there is a fireworks display and my two four-legged furry rascals hide under the bed for the duration. Actually, it's always a good fireworks display for such a small area as Tamborine Mountain is.

Funny...we have some dummies like that on our TV, too...I wonder if they're related!

The showgrounds do make a lot of money throughout the year with the Show Society folk hiring it out for different events etc.

alan1704 said...

Nothing quite like the fair coming to town, you either love it or hate it!

Mike Smith said...

Most of the news stories these days are quite depressing. As Reginald D Hunter said, if the news approached you walking down the street you would cross over to avoid it...

Unknown said...

Methinks that the BBC would do well to follow you around for a week with a camera crew. I mean, come on, how could there be a more heroic character in all of the land? For you do battle on a daily basis with pestilence, plague and ruffians in the park--all with a brilliant smile glowing under your stiff upper lip!

Adullamite said...

Lee, TV dummies appear to breed everywhere.

Alan, That is true. It seems to be going well tonight.

Mike, News is always bad, but local news worse!

Jerry, Smile......?