I've had a nice bank holiday weekend. On saturday I went to scarborough for the day with v, who lives in a suburb of toronto called scarborough. The weather held out, and though it was mostly cloudy, it was quite warm. We walked around the town, and were saddened to see BNP activists selling some paper entitled freedom, however, all the other stalls were promoting anti-fascism as well as their own propoganda. It is frustrating to see that the BNP are getting such popular support using tactics that prey on the vulnerable and those who fear their own place in society is being trampled on.
The past few weeks I had been describing Jimmy Saville to v, so that she may in some way appreciate the 'Jimmy Saville seat' in scarborough, however, I was disappointed to find that some vandals had removed the small plaque that distinguished it as Sir Jimmy's. Walking along the sea front later in the day, I popped into the tourist info to ask where, and which one of the Bronte sisters was buried here. She informed me that it was Anne, I thought I'd enquire about Jimmy's seat too, and she told me that they were aware and were due to get it replaced soon. Then the following conversation occurred:
'Actually he was in here earlier today'
'What? Jimmy Saville was in here?'
'Oh yes, he quite often pops in for a chat when he's around'
'Jimmy Saville was in here today?'
'Yes, he's probably still around on the sea front somewhere'
Well, I was really excited about this news and the prospect of meeting Sir Jim, but alas, despite keeping a keen lookout, I didn't spy him. I wanted to ask him if he would fix it for me to have a photo with him (i bet no-one has asked him that!)
Enjoyed sitting on the beach and watching the sea come in, me and v then pretended to be King Canutecommanding the waves. Though at one point it seemed that we had control over the elements as the sea came in and surrounded us, still on a patch of dry land, it soon covered the slight sand bank on which we were stood, and a quick leap was required to save wet toes.
Update - photo set on flickr
On sunday and monday evenings I went to cliff college for their festival, and once again enjoyed the tranquil surroundings. I must admit I didn't find the sunday evening talk inspiring, but I got a lot out of a seminar looking at how to relate to our muslim neighbours. It was done in a really good way, though some of the comments from the audience showed a distinct lack of knowledge of the faith, and generalisations, which i thought the speaker handled really well. Monday evening I enjoyed the comedian, joe fisher, not that he was super funny, but I enjoyed watching people laughing a lot.
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5 comments:
sir jimmy visits the town i live as he gets his cigars at the old fashioned tobacconists. my ex almost knocked him over in the car when sir jim was on one of his epic jogs locally. he was a spectator at the local carnival a few years back and finally, i kissed sir jim when he put the finishing medal over my weary head when i did a 10k run at roundhay park...
On a random note - my wife has described my new motorbike as 'a two wheeled version of Jimmy Saville's chair'...
Quite like the association myself, not sure that i will be making anyone's dreams come true whilst riding it though, unless it's someone's dream to see a rotund Vicar on a large blue motorcycle...
Does it have a teapot that comes out of the arm?
Why do you have a problem with the BNP exercising their democratic right to promote what is, after all, a perfectly legal political party?
Would you have a problem with seeing Amnesty International promoting their terrorists' rights agenda? One of their members killed 25 innocent people in a Tube train between King's Cross and Russell Square on 7th July 2005, I don't see you lefties saying they should be banned or shut down.
And what about the tens of millions of people killed by Communists and Socialists? You do-gooders are happy to condemn the BNP yet are proud to say you are Marxists and Communists. The hypocrisy makes me sick.
(And on the subject of Scarborough, we could take you and introduce you to people who are scared to leave their homes because their lives are made a misery by gangs of knife-wielding Somali asylum seekers. But we never see you do-gooders showing any sympathy towards the victims do we?)
I don't think I did say I had a problem with the BNP excercising their democratic right to promote their party, I happended to note my sadness at their presence. Defending the BNP policies by making statements about other groups is merely avoiding the issues using deflective remarks. Of course it is a shame to hear about members of the public causing fear in scarborough, but I'm sure that you will find, unfortunately, that throughout the country individuals and groups of all ethnic groups are causing fear to other members of the public. Even those you describe as 'indiginous', whatever that might mean. I'm also pretty sure that you won't find any condoning of killing within my blog, or promotion of communism or marxism etc, which would be difficult being a man of faith. However thank you for your post, I am sure your comments will have shown the BNP in a more respectable light to my few readers, who will now fully understand your policies highlighted in the recent manifesto
For example, to take just a few short extracts:
( http://www.bnp.org.uk/candidates2005/manifesto/manf4.htm )
“5. We would abolish all departments, agencies, or other units of government whose sole and specific purpose is to deal with ethnic issues, grievances, or crimes.”
“6. We would abolish all laws against racial discrimination in employment and the government bodies associated with enforcing them.”
“10. A massively-funded and permanent programme, using and doubling Britain’s current foreign aid budget, will aim to reduce, by voluntary resettlement to their lands of ethnic origin, the proportion of ethnic minorities living in Britain, for as long as the majority of the electorate are willing to fund such expenditure.”
“11. While accepting the right of law-abiding minorities, in our country because they or their ancestors came here legally, to remain here and to enjoy the full protection of the law against any form of harassment or hostility, we will also seek to emphasise the importance of the prior status of the aboriginal people. This would be a national extension of the ‘Sons and Daughters’ policy in priority on housing and school places lists which BNP councils seek to implement at local level.”
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