The beauty of the Exeter Express & Echo letters page is that it has its regulars who you begin to build up a mental image of. There's the bored and lonely regular TA Griffin, the bored and lonely rambling LT Sargent, the bored and lonely fox-hunting crew, and the bored and lonely new breed of right-wing, anti-PC crew of Tony Parsons et al., led by the bored and lonely Colin Richey, all sat at home home with nothing better to do than write to a local newspaper (not like the busy and popular blogger who writes about them). Colin is perhaps the baddest of the bad - he delivered the line that led to the titling of this section of my blog - so you always know that when he writes, you're going to get some good old fashioned complaing about PC gone mad, bringing back the death penalty or the deportation of everyone who can't sing the National Anthem backwards.
Today Colin attacks the BBC, a nemesis of his, which nicely fits in with a PC gone mad template. Apparently the Beeb are remaking Robin Hood or something and aren't including Friar Tuck. Personally I don't see why they feel the need to bother to remake the show anyway, what with the definitive telling of the tale recently released on DVD, but hey. Colin's main thrust is that Tuck should be included so that we can laugh at him. And, as he adds,
Come on, BBC, grow up. Don't muck about with history.
Robin Hood as historical fact? Are you sure? And does it matter? It's hardly a hollywood movie of how they won everything ever, is it?
Sometimes you have to wonder the sense of perspective of the Echo letter writer. I mean, there are worst things going on in the world than a TV channel not including a fat monk. And boy, it used to be a lot worst before the war, as Jim Evans writes:
The wives struggled on one low wage with a large family, no handouts, holiday outings, school meals or new clothes, etc. There were four in one old bed and five in the other bedroom and no central heating, only a couple of thick blankets. If one of the kids was ill, the doctor charged mam a shilling.
"And when we got home from working a 25 hour day down t'mine, our dad would murder us in cold blood with his bare hands" and so on. We don't know how lucky we are, so why don't we say "good morning" to each other, asks Jim.
I walk a lot with my dogs and very few respond when I say "good morning".
The only ones who speak are the traffic wardens and dog wardens I notice hiding behind bushes, etc - dishing out tickets.
Dog wardens hiding behind bushes etc. in the park? And what are the traffic wardens doing there with them? Could this be more of Exeter's seedy sexual underbelly that has started to emerge onto the pages of the E&E?
2 comments:
Well, much to catch up with here. I now feel like I read the E&E. Which is a little odd.
The homosexual 'debate' is such a non-starter, I won't waste words on it.
The Iggy Jiggy movie is fun.
Sherwood 'Forest' actually consisted of mostly farmland at the time when the famous Robin of Loxley was supposed to have existed (1200s). Hiding in a wood is one thing, but outlaws in the open country? How crap was that ol' sheriff anyway?
Today, 'Sherwood Forest' as it then was is known as Derbyshire. The bit of land called 'Sherwood Forest' outside of Nottingham (which is comprised of a short country walk, a big tree, a visitors centre, a restaurant, a gift shop, many American and Japanese tourists and a large picture of Kevin Costner) is in fact over 20 miles north of the original boundary of Sherwood.
No Robin Hood, I am afraid. Like Batman, the Axis of Evil and God, he is just an entertaining myth.
So there, Mr Colin Richey…
Good to have you back Mr J. How daft did you look going to Washington to see Condi, when she came over here to see you?
And yes, I have had a bit of a run on the E&E. It's just kind of got hold of me recently, but it tends to come and go.
Post a Comment