Art Nouveau Ho

Amidst all the talk about the uncertain future of journalism, it's refreshing to have a reminder of what journalists do best. [Stolen from MetaFilter like a thief in the night.]

Peter Davies of the English Democrat Party ["Putting England First!"] was elected Mayor of Doncaster in the 8 June elections. His manifesto included various money-saving promises: to cut Council salaries including his own; to eliminate "PC jobs" from the council; to abolish translation services for non-English speakers; and to stop Council funding of Doncaster's annual gay pride day.

On his first day in office, he gave an interview with the local BBC station. He was asked some questions about how he intended to put various parts of this manifesto into action: Transcript here; MP3 recording here. It's a riot. It is possibly the best thing since Paxman v Howard in '97. Highlights include the characterisation of "PC jobs" as "all these people who are, sort of, controlling thought processes and this sort of thing".

The abstention* and defection of Labour voters in the most recent UK elections has left, not a vacuum, but a sort of political black hole, sucking any kind of crap towards the centre of gravity: witness the two BNP members elected to the European Parliament. Attention, British electorate: if you didn't vote, this is your fault. On the other hand, it is kind of a brilliant move to have sent two BNP guys where they'll be surrounded by contemptuous foreigners and powerless to do anything about it. Hmm. Maybe next election you could send them all there?


*I nearly typed "abstinence." Mm-hm.

The mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, has forbidden a planned gay pride march to take place this Saturday-- the same day Moscow hosts the Eurovision Song Contest final. He has, however, permitted an anti-gay protest to go ahead on that day.

Moscow's police chief, Vladimir Pronin, said “It’s unacceptable – gay pride parades shouldn’t be allowed.” Of course, that was before he got sacked when one of his senior officers went on a killing spree. This Times article suggests Luzhkov's head may be next on the block. Not a moment too soon, methinks.

The Dutch Eurovision entry has threatened to boycott the final if violence is used against gay marchers, as has happened in the previous two years.

The organisers of Slavic Pride speak up here.

Meanwhile, someone needs to sit the Moscow mayor down and explain a bit of history to him:

Tchaikovsky
Diaghilev
Nijinsky
Nureyev
Eisenstein
and more.

Gravelly Voice Guy: In a world where human technology has propelled us into space...

(Montage of Apollo launch, Sputnik in orbit, Skylab, Hubble telescope, Mars rover, etc etc etc)

GVG: ...Where man has reached the moon....

(Grainy archive footage of moon landing with Armstrong saying "That's one small step for man...")

GVG: ...ONE BAT chose to defy the odds.

(Closeup of tiny bat clinging to Space Shuttle fuel tank during launch. Swelling violin motif.)

GVG: And make his mark...

(Pull back to distance shot of the Shuttle; v/o countdown. Violins grow ever more inspiring)

GVG: On histor--

(Liftoff. Standard giant fiery cloud of toxic vapour as Shuttle roars into atmosphere at bone-liquefying G-forces. Violins, too close to launch site, are vaporised)

GVG: ...Ah, shit. (pause) Wanna go get a coffee or something?

The key point came about halfway through the the inaugural address:

"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake."

Strip out the political rhetoric ("light the world", whatever), and what's left is a sentiment that I've been waiting to hear uttered from a position of power for the last eight years. I can't really describe what it feels like to hear those words now.

Also, we now have a president who can pronounce the word "nuclear." Holy fuck. This really is a new era.

Only an hour-and-a-bit to go before the Obama presidency passes from euphoric potential to humdrum reality. Of course, if you're a Lego brick, the whole thing has already happened.

Meanwhile, it's time to slip on your Obama shoes and have an Obama orange! Later we can all kick back with an Obama beer from Kenya. Tastes like... victory.

Today is Edgar Allan Poe's 200th birthday. The Underpants Monster has already blogged this in superb style, so I'll be content with offering you this link describing the phenomenon that is The Poe Toaster. Okay, and maybe this other one with some good resources and images.

Meanwhile, I have saved the pearl, the pink and the prize of all my Obamalinks to liven up this dull Monday. Read on, before we all fall into the grip of boring reality:

Barack Obama and the Pirates of Wichita.

A cry went up. The Audacity had pulled astern of us, and dropped anchor, and pinned us with her swivel guns. I heard a snap of cording, and a thump, and then the man Obama stood on our deck, still gripping the rope he had swung over on.

We stared. Perhaps it was the fact that he was nine feet tall; perhaps it was his eyes, which were as gentle and compassionate and fierce as a mother bear’s; perhaps it was his armor, each chain link of which had been forged from the smoking remains of the Liberty Bell. Not even the Ronpaul’s man thought to raise a hand against him.

If that amuses you, there's more.

See also: The author reveals why he started doing this in the first place, with additional revelations regarding Obama's tears and Karl Rove's heart.

Catchy reggae Obama song by Cocoa Tea
Obama be thy Name by Kenyan singer Makadem
Viva Obama by the Mariachi Aguilas de Mexico and their big, big hats.

Bonus songs about Presidents:
Washington, Washington
And possibly the best presidential homage ever: James K. Polk by They Might Be Giants. (The instrumental solo is a singing saw!)

The Presidential campaign song is, of course, a time-honoured American tradition. There are several in this blog post, including the one that accused Martin van Buren of moving "at Satan's beck and nod". Those mid-nineteenth-century guys knew how to sling it, yes indeed.

I can't be the only one who's amused that in London, they've put the There's Probably No God posters on bendy buses. QED.

Since it's the weekend and you can't be busted for wasting time at work, today's Obamalink is a lovely little game: Super Obama World! Including silly music, lipsticked pigs and a bridge to nowhere. Apparently, the designers plan to expand it to mirror his presidency: BBC article here.

Optimism is a beautiful thing. And for worse or better, Barack Obama is surfing into the White House on a tidal wave of the stuff.

The election campaign was ingenious. Obama remade himself as a blank canvas for everyone to project their hopes onto. That he ran on hope, and not (like the opposition) on fear is to his credit. However, with all those hopes and beliefs riding on him, once he takes office and begins the work of the Presidency, any action he takes is bound to disappoint someone. By the end of the year, they say, we'll know whether we've got a good President or not. But by the end of the year, it's also safe to predict that a sizable section of the nation will be resenting the hell out of him.

So I'd say: let's all take a deep breath and savour these last few days before he, and we, have to deal with reality. In aid of this, between now and the inauguration I shall be posting some quality Obamalinks for your amusement.

Here is today's:
WE GO PLAY HOOP
[embarassing hair alert]

Copernicus's body has been found. Or rather, a skeleton interred in a cathedral where he is known to have lived has been identified as his. There's the obligatory facial reconstruction making him look like a serial murderer; for an antidote, check out the picture of young, hot Copernicus on this brief biography link.

Here's a more detailed biography with more emphasis on his writings; a good explanation of Copernican astronomy (with a nifty little animated thingy explaining retrograde motion) is here.