Creative Coffins

Thanks to The Independent for news of ‘Creative Coffins’ – a company offer off-the-shelf or bespoke coffins in what might best be described as non-traditional shapes. The print edition has photos of a guitar-shaped and a ballet-shoe-shaped coffin, sadly missing from the online version.

It got me thinking about what style I’d prefer for my final send-off. I think it’ll have to be a Dalek-shaped one – not quite sure how the mourners will take that though.

If you’re not of a nervous disposition then take a look at ‘Creative Coffins‘ website for some ideas.

Get weeding, quick

Apparently one of Googel’s Street View mobile 360 degree, panoramic cameras was in my area of town the other day. You can see the lather that the Daily Mail has got into, and a more sobre approach from the Guardian for yourself.

What really upsets me is that I’ve spent the past week or so getting my BACK garden into some semblance of order – if only I’d had some warning from Google, I’d have prioritised the front since it’s now going to be on the internet in prepetuity. I’d already missed the boat in failing to tidy the back garden before the satellite camera did its stuff for Google Earth.

I don’t think that it’s the biggest threat to our privacy but it’s another increment in our somewhat passive acceptance of a surveillance society that’s highly commericalised. It will be really important to keep on eye on those politicians who might be cosying up to a global corporation such as Google – vested interests would add a further murky depth to any future political plans to amend privacy or data protection legislation.

Bonekickers

The BBC aired eipisode one of its new drama ‘Bonekickers’ this week. The first outing of ‘Time Team’ meets ‘CSI’ reminds me more of that 1970’s stable of tea-time TV, ‘RentaGhost’. I fear that it’s an attempt at drama rather than a satire on the CSI genre – even if genuinely the latter, it fails on script, action, CGI and narrative.

That aside, there was a kernel of an interesting plot. A group of archeologists discover an important Christian relic that becomes the focus of attention for a wealthy Christian extreme-fundamentalist. Throw in some psychotic followers of this brand of Christianity, who have no compunctions about using violence to impose their religion on the public, and you’ve got a heady mix of conflicting ambitions, spiritualities and characters.

The plot of ‘Bonekickers’ – 1 might just have worked as a full-length feature film with enough time to explore the darker corners of Christianity were hate of the other is legitimsed by a particular use of apocalypticism. The power of wealthy extremist Protestant Christians when given the opportunity to exercise influence (should, for example, an important relic be discovered) is always worthy of critical consideration in a movie.

The extent to which extremists within the Christian sphere are representative isn’t the point. It’s the influence they can wield through judicious use of their wealth that is of much more concern.

Sadly, ‘Bonekickers’ missed a trick by trying to cram too a big a story into such a short programme slot.

‘Play your votes right’

Someone in the Communities & Local Government Ministry in London must have it in for Hazel Blears. Why else would they slip in a few words to her new White Paper, published today, ‘Communities in Control‘. On page 5 there’s a hint of new powers that could be granted to local authorities that would allow them to organise a prize draw as an incentive to get people out to vote.

To re-hash an old joke – first prize could be lunch with the mayor; second prize could be a whole day out with the mayor.

A throw-away half-sentence in an executive summary grabs the headlines, at least in the Guardian, and risks the proposals for strenghening local democracy being open to ridicule.

On the other hand, the prize draw idea is imaginative and gets the attention of the Press.