Thursday, November 20, 2008

John Seargeant and sheep

The press in the UK has gone mad. (Again). I am not sure if this is getting world wide coverage but the nub is that there is an entertainment programme called Strictly Come Dancing in which people who you may or may not recognise are teamed with professional dancers, learn to Latin and Ballroom dance and then the public vote to get rid of one each Saturday night. Retired journalist John Seargeant was on there apparently - I wouldn't know, being the one of the three people who have not watched it. He is a very bad dancer, (Its true - I have just watched a brief compilation here.) the public loved him and refused to vote him off then he resigned.

Major outcry. He is on the front pages of every newspaper bar the Financial Times. I do believe that there are massacres in the Congo but no, the Times Leader is about John. Mad. Or is it?

Maybe we have a collective and self reflexive need for an escape valve. After endless headlines about inflation and deflation and depression and bears and bulls maybe we get to a natural point where we just say : enough. Let me pull over and take five then I shall start being worried again.

Which may explain the sheep. Ten thousand workers have drawn sheep and they are all available to view here first as little dots then the sheep themselves. They are all very badly drawn and cute as a result. But, why? Why did ten thousand people waste time doing this? Why were they not applying their minds to how to increase their productivity in a recession? Probably the same reason I pressed my Stumble toolbar button whilst eating my breakfast. The newspapers are just too depressing. I mean, what will Saturday night be without John...?

3 comments:

Garnered Stitches said...

Arrgh - the John Sergeant saga!!!! I don't watch "Strickly", but on a week-end away with "The Girls" last week-end I had to endure an episode(!) No wonder the People voted the way they did, Political parties should take note - the more the Judges critised John the more the People voted for him - surely if they had reversed this the voters would have seen him for what he was and he would have gone, if not week one, definitly week two!!
Now the Radio 5 Live phone in has been hijacked by the subject - no more please, drop this dead donkey!
best wishes

Anonymous said...

If everyone counts sheep, the nation may fall asleep.

Donna said...

I have no problem wasting time with the best of them -- I do however mind my NEWS being non-news.... DOn't know when sports, & entertainment became news -- I thought it was supposed to be information about things that mattered (workdwide, national or local)... who'se getting paid how much to make what movie, who ran how fast against someone else -- its like saying the fact my neighbor has a hangnail is news!

blood pressure rising just thinking about it -- major reason I gave up TV, have never taken the paper, and seldom listen to the radio -- the real news you still hear from people around :-)