Step forward Green Bristol Blogger, Chris Hutt …
Despite the red trousered public school twit being out of the country prancing like a tit around Europe on his August Grand Tour, there’s no respite for Cancer readers from George Ferguson’s tedious and self-regarding By George column.
Instead George takes the opportunity to lend his er, usual unique reflections on art, life, culture and any other snooty bollocks he can think of off the top of his head a certain wanky European flavour.
Last week the red trousered low carbon, fuel-efficient bandwagon rolled into the Italian city of Siena where George witnessed the famous Il Palio horse race. Obviously impressed, the city’s greatest living columnist immediately began musing, as usual, at great length:
Could we introduce the equivalent of the annual Siena Palio to Bristol? There are many such equivalent traditions in other cities of Italy and Europe.
They are clearly a strong catalyst for community cohesion and identity as well as a major magnet for tourist income.
When we planned ‘Harbourside’ I suggested we built in a special Bristol annual event of an equivalent nature – without cruelty to animals.
Maybe it could have made a virtue of great skateboarding or rollerblading skills – or better still made use of the water?
All ideas are welcome for an annual Bristol event that would harness community rivalry and bring people from far and wide to visit our very special European city.
Cue Mr Hutt who appears in the comments with this little suggestion:
How about an annual contest between developers to see who can get the most toadying support from the City Council for proposals to incorporate public parkland into their developments?
I should have added “my money will be on the guy with the red trousers”.
Clap clap clap!!!
How about an annual event that involves local communities competing with each other to identify and pull down the most ugly, unnecessary and overly public funded private development in their area. Fun and games would then follow with the relevant developer/consultant/parasite. This would involve all the family and draw visitors from miles around. For Ferguson I’d recommend placing him in some stocks beside the bikepath in Easton, covering him in out of date mouldy chocolate, and leaving him out to be visited by the local wild & insect life.
Failing that I’m just gonna have to start attending anger-management courses.
Bristol used to have a fantastic cultural event – Ashton Court, whereby people from all backgrounds came together to celebrate Bristol life, including a ‘ceremonial’ walk over Brunel’s suspension bridge. It helped mark the summer and I wish the Council would resurrect the event by funding the original organisers because they really knew how to run this festival, unlike the naff attempts by later sponsors!
Martyn,
Hear-bloody-hear!
I become irrepressibly depressed (if that’s possible) when the 3rd weekend of July comes along.
The best weekend in Bristol managed to survive on a shoestring bringing joy and oblivion to Bristolians for decades.
Then Bastard Labour with their fucking Licensing Act came along and that was that.
Apart from the dire state of public transport in this city, the fact that Labour policies did away with the Ashton Court Festival is the single main reason that I will never, ever vote Labour again.
I don’t know how long old Red Trews has been in Bristol, but when I first moved here over 3 decades ago, we had sporting events with plenty of thrills and spills. There was speedway and greyhound racing at Eastville (site now buried under Ikea’s dreadful blue shed) and powerboat racing in the docks.
Perhaps these events could be reinstated, with, for example, speedway events being held on College Green, which George would no doubt classify as a ‘worthless piece of grass’.
If anyone is interested in having a word with the red-trousered one, he will be speaking (in public) at the Arnolfini tomorrow (4th September). FFI: http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/690895