The Review: a green and pleasant land

The political parties have been asking voters to choose who should control local councils in the UK this week. I usually post nice photos of the Black Country, but much of it is ugly dereliction. Caused by a dereliction of duty by local politicians and council officials. This is England’s ‘green and pleasant land’.

One election leaflet I looked at promised to protect ‘frontline’ services; then went on to tell us they are building a new leisure centre.

The UKIP candidates constantly put their foot in it compared to the smooth talking leaders of the main political parties. Miliband reminds us about the cost of living, like we don’t know that already. He is so smooth he could sell you PPI if he worked in a bank and earn obscene amounts of commission with a bonus on top. Lloyds shareholders (the government) have voted to allow bonuses equal to 200% of basic pay for their executives and managers; whether they sell PPI or not. In fact they don’t even have to make a profit… No wonder people turned to an alternative party that at least recognises some of the problems and isn’t afraid to say so. It seems that they had a lot of support from women, but then leading suffragettes supported  the British Union of Fascists in the 1930’s. They were known as the blackshirts; not to be confused with the black shirts that David Cameron likes to wear every time he visits a hot country.

Finance Friday: Bank Holiday plans was yesterday’s post. It looks like being a wet weekend and as cheerful as a Tory councillor that has just lost his seat. The forecast for Monday seems a little better though.

Thrifty Thursday: Jersey Royals was Thursday’s thrifty post. Don’t you think that more traditional British things should be promoted more?   We have traditions in the Black Country, but local councils want exercise things and skate board things in parks. I want a pavilion and cricket matches. We should be telling the world about grey pays and bercon… Not to mention faggots…

Inspired Creativity was my Wednesday post. I’ve had a very creative week this week, that included writing and photography. I might even get my photos in the newspaper. Maybe tonight?

Photography: Events was my first photography post on Tuesday. That featured some of the photos from last Sunday’s photo shoot of horse drawn enthusiasts from Tipton having a meeting at the Fiery Holes.  Some of them were probably from Princes End where they have a new UKIP councillor.

Photography: Black Country Tradition was here on WordPress. I hope local politicians will realise what happens when you ignore tradition and the needs of local people. I don’t think the people of Tipton like being governed by local politicians in Oldbury and probably don’t like being governed by Westminster, Brussels or Strasburg either. I wonder if Tipton town hall is still there?

Psychology: apparitions was Monday’s psychology post. A millionaire walking down the street in Tipton is an apparition… That reminds me someone said that the door handles on Tipton jobcentre looked like a smiley face. That’s IDS taking the p*ss…

The Sunday Ramble: from rivers to runner beans was my usual Sunday ramble through the narrow passages of my mind. My runner beans are growing slowly, it’s too cold for them. We have had the rain, now we need the sunshine. I hope to be picking fresh runner beans through June, July and August.

Today’s post will be in the category ‘local’ which now has a new importance. I am changing the configuration of a zillion ideas so that every time I do a ‘local’ post; the sidebar changes and publicises something local. It could be a local event or business. I might do something similar on this WordPress blog too. I want to publicise Black Country Day and the carnivals. It’s Tipton Carnival next month. Will all the local councillors turn up or will a few just turn up for the photos?

I’ll be writing a Sunday ramble tomorrow, hopefully with a bit of humour in it. There isn’t a lot to be cheerful about this wet weekend. I might win the lottery tonight. Would I desert the community I live in and buy a mansion somewhere posh? Nah, I’ll just keep pointing my camera at the pretty bits of the Black Country…

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