Everybody Hurts

The star-studded remake of the R.E.M. classic, “Everybody Hurts,” hit U.K. radio last week. When I first heard it, I was unmoved at all. But I take it all back. The recently released video filled with tragic images from Haiti got my waterworks running. The video truly makes the song.

I won’t buy the CD due to a number of reasons. I have already made my own personal contributions. I prefer the original version. The CD costs £3.99 and only £1 goes to the fund. Shouldn’t be the other way round? Anyway, I do hope it will make a lot of money. According to the Official Charts Company, it has become the fastest-selling charity single this century. Well-done to those who bought the CD.

Last Thursday, David Dimbleby and the Question time panel was aired from the Warwick Arts Centre. The programme, which sources questions from the audience to be answered by a mixture of politicians and journalists, was aired on BBC 1 on the night at 10.30pm. Babe and I attended the recording of the programme. We ended up in the silent section where we were effectively told that we would neither be seen nor heard. The recording ended less than hour before going on air.

We queued at 7 pm and was allowed in at 7.45pm after going through a security check. A rehearsal with mock panellists took place. At about 8.30pm, Dimbleby and co. came on stage and another rehearsal to warm up the panellist and selected audience. The unselected section sat silently in the dark in the balcony.

And then the familiar music came on and political debate began. On the panel were the former  Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer, the shadow secretary of state for work and pensions Theresa May MP, the former Labour and now Independent MP Clare Short, the Respect MP George Galloway and the Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips.

I was very surprised that there were no questions about Blair’s Chilcott’s Inquiry and on university funding. An excellent line from Galloway when he mentioned that “Iraq was invaded because it did NOT have weapons of mass destruction, North Korea will never be invaded because it DOES have weapons of mass destruction” got a thunderous applause.

The panellists made some very interesting points on the question of assisted suicides, which I am thoroughly against. No one has the right to decide who lives or dies, and no one can claim immunity from due legal process if they assist in the taking of a life. Who decides the value of life?

Suicide in and of itself is not against UK law, murder however is. That a person should wish to commit suicide is a tragic thing, but perhaps sometimes understandable. If we let relatives, friends and loved ones assist in such events, without taking them to a court of law to determine the rights and wrongs of the case, then we risk our society becoming a place where suicide could become a social requirement. The “getting rid of granny” state if you will.

Life is sacred, please don’t downgrade it.

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On Friday, I took the bus to work cos Babe was having one of his bad days. I met AM and H in the bus and we’d a lovely time people watching. My eyes was watering like crazy when I spotted a girl putting on her mascara in a moving bus!!! According to the two ladies who commutes daily, they have even seen women having their full make-up done. A little lipstick and gloss application on the bus wouldn't phase me, but an entire face application…C’mon girls set your alarm a little earlier.

On Sunday was our usual trip to Brandon Marsh. The usual culprits was around and we made our way to the Wright Hide. We’d never seen so many Mute Swans in the reserve before. There was at least a dozen of these beautiful birds with their dazzling white plumage, orange bills and gracefully curved necks floating about in the lake.

Suddenly there was a big commotion. We saw 2 adults chasing a younger bird across the lake towards the mudbank. They caught this poor guy, pinned him to the ground and beat him!!! Thankfully, it eventually escaped. Phew!!! If they had caught him in the water, they would have attempted to drown him by holding his head under water. During the mating season the male or ‘cob’ are aggressive, raising his wings and hissing threateningly whenever an intruder approaches. So beware, you have been warned :-)

“Just because swans mate for life, I don't think its that big a deal. First of all, if you're a swan, you're probably not going to find a swan that looks much better than the one you've got, so why not mate for life?” Jack Handy (American writer and cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1991-2003)