Extravaganza, almost.....

Well not as much of an extravaganza as we had hoped.  The town lit the Christmas lights tonight and this meant the museum joined in.  Marcel offered his Punch and Judy, balloons and stuff, fun and games were on offer and the Twirling lassies performed.  However it appears most who came into town were drawn away from us by the variety of attractions elsewhere.  The shop was nowhere near as busy as hoped and far too few of the regulars were around today.  This Sunday, being the first of the month has tempted everybody to put on a show at the same time and left us all bereft.  Enough came to make it worth their while and we were happy chatting to those who arrived.  Much of the early morning was spent attempting to get three 'pricing guns' to work. I feel we failed at that!  How is it that something that is so easy to operate is impossible to reload?  Not one person had any idea, and four of us were at it at one point!  They still don't work, probably caused by the bashing they received.  

They would not let me on the train!  Pity, I like trains and as a kid always thought these roundabout wonderful attractions.  The other open with  variety of transport on board used to fascinate me, especially if we could climb upstairs.  The kids love them still, and only £2 a go, we used to pay 3d if I remember right.  

The girls attempted to do the Majorettes thing in spite of the cold sunshine.  Few were watching bar passersby heading into town, probably to the coffee stalls.  The girls appeared happy enough and I am told get around the country doing their show.

Some of the usual stalls appeared, all the way from Italy, via north London I expect.  Vast array of goodies on show which are beyond my miserly pocket.  This is a shame because all the fattening bread they and others offer I find delightful.  Mind you it does cost over £3 a go!  

  
I reckon this van did itself a lot of good today.  Both they and the fudge stall next door must have loosened a few purse strings, especially as they were right in the centre of activity.  Parents were pulled this way and that by eager kids, an occasional balloon would escape the owners hands flying, Helium powered, high into the sky, leaflets were shoved into unwilling hands for this and that, stallholders cries were renting the air, machinery ground away as turntables ran their course and almost smiling security men wandered, alert, through the throng.  It was good to see happy families with the kids, well cared for it appeared, occasional adolescents in the throes of first love strolled shyly hand in hand, six foot snowmen and furry animals greeted young children while the balloon seller wandered abroad with twenty balloons high above him leaving me wondering why he does not take off?  I left early as there were plenty of peoples to deal with things and headed home for the football, about which nothing shall be said.  The rest entertained with a choir, offered hot punch and lit the lights on the tree outside.  The council enlivening the decorations with blue lights on the town centre trees as opposed to an actual Christmas one (which of course has nothing whatsoever to do with Christmas!).  They looked good and I went out in an attempt to picture them.  

 
The night pictures are not too successful tonight as I did not take the time, too much clearing up going on and vehicles knocking me over were a bit of a nuisance.  However the roundabout was not too bad.

The place is quickly bereft as folks race home to eat their fill.  The kids grasping those balloons, some shaped by Marcel into dogs, spacecraft or swords, mum wondering if they are going to sleep with their faces painted like tigers or clowns, parents happy to get their feet up and watch trash on the telly.  For many an enjoyable day out.

Silly Season

I blame the 'silly season' and the sun!  Nothing much is running through my head these days. Nothing new anyway.  The sun (how I love it!) has shone continuously until today and burned the brain cells, hindered sleep at night (not that the sun shines here at night) and left an undercurrent of weary brain.  Not that this makes much of a change you say, but add to this the end of parliament throughout the western world for the holidays and major news stories tend to die away as the politicians holiday with either families, girlfriends or those who will line their pockets or improve their parliamentary careers.  The papers fill this with tales of islands, boats, houses and the like up for sale.  This is to make the reader jealous of how multi millionaires live. This will encourage them to buy lottery tickets in the vain hope of emulating the rich, several lotteries are advertised on TV these days alongside the National Lottery.  If jealousy or celebs divorces do not provide enough 'bread and circus' for the masses the media will offer health advice, even if dubious, and lots of stories of women's sufferings, trauma and pain.  All to keep the people docile.

Everything appears a little flat round here, even the shows were not very busy, the local market unexciting and daily routine is the order of the day.  The TV is of course rubbish, although watching the 'Tour de France' had its moments.  Another 'Brit' as the press insist on calling him, will win it tomorrow.  That's two years running, although it was a different man last year.  The Golf is continuing in the usual ponderous golf manner, the commentators just want to mention Tiger Woods or any 'Brit,' as usual.  Any controversy however will be exaggerated into a major story, as they do.  Never been that keen on golf, another rich mans sport in spite of being Scottish in origin.   Yet while the first signs of the new football season have sprung up I am far from excited.  The close season is to short for me these days, I long for a three month break to make the mind desperate for a return to life on the pitch.  We are back too soon and even worse, the season ahead will be a long hard one for us.  Success is assured, but struggle will ensue.  And I am too keen on more hot weather to consider rain drenched football!

Maybe I need a holiday?  Texas, Singapore, Maldives or India.  Possibly Portugal or Argentina beckon.  Hmm, I think I will just look out the bus pass instead........

Oh and a word re the Liquorice Allsorts, I have chipped a tooth, I think they weakened it......  

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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!