Shut your North and South

Listening to Lovelife by Lush

I'm not really a fan of costume dramas. Usually you will find me with my head in a book muttering at the unreality and anachronism in some flouncy, Austen thing. However, I have to say I was glued to North and South the past few weeks. It might be that I think it was mentioned quite a bit in Nice Work as the archetypal Industrial Novel which it obviously is. North and South in book form is now safely residing in the place up to now taken by Ulysses and my regular forays into the shed of hell are brightened by the chance that Nice Work will turn up sometime. Nice Work was adapted for TV some years ago and was so close to the book that I have trouble sorting out images from my head and those from the film but well worth a reading anyway.

I suppose its all those dark, satanic mills and consumptive coughs which took North and South above the normal dramas of manners. I have to do a rethink here because the Films of Sense and Sensibility and Emma were very good and gained me points with my wife because I started opening the car door for her again after seeing them. Apparently there is an accepted system of points which husbands are able to gain for doing various things for their wives. From what I remember, the allocation is not as logical as you might think with small things gaining more points.

Anyway, now that I have gone all Mr Darcy on you, some big ideas. I watched the documentary about the making of the Band Aid 20 single (got yours yet?) and I thought about all the various famous people who lend their names to all sorts of causes around the world. There are obviously common themes to a lot of these causes so how about a meta-cause, a look at the root causes of everything that needs people to say that something is wrong. Its not as if anyone can argue that most of the campaigns and things are wrong. Political Freedom, Freedom from Hunger, justice etc; they are all things that unless you were pig-headedly anti-social cannot be described as unnecessary. They all come about through inaction or as side-effects of other things. Remember when Bob Geldof was trying to talk to Mrs Thatcher (Any time soon Elvis!) and she tried to justify the Government's actions? We can remember Bob Saying "people are dying now" but what did Mrs T reply? No idea! It was just complicated twaddle designed to try and maintain a safe and comfy position for - well whomever. My wife humbled me again last night when I went off into this rant when she said that I am always complaining rather than actually doing anything. I think the suggestion was to join Amnesty which has me thinking. I managed to restrain myself from setting up a whole-salary direct debit there and then but she is so right. Watch out for this self-righteous prig. Someone is coming to get you.