Sunday, June 19, 2005

18/06/05 The Shame Game


satire..! :-) Posted by Hello

I have to confess to feeling a twinge of sympathy for the young scallywags who were "named and shamed (and photographed)" by the Daily Record for trying to sell their Live8 tickets on Ebay.
They were all about 18. It was definitely an unlovely act, and certainly not in the spirit of the event ; but who could honestly say that as an 18 year old, with a likely fairly low disposable income, they would not have been slightly tempted to cash in on their good fortune in securing a ticket?
In the end their actions aren't preventing any money going to the relevant charities. Live8 have already made millions through the premium rate text competition.
It always rings a bit hollow when the Daily Record sets itself up as our "moral guardians". I can't stand that paper. It's a nasty little rag.
Anyway, lots of other people will be making cash out of the event. The bands will undoubtedly benefit from the exposure in terms of record sales. The inflated price hot dog sellers around the stadium will be capitalising on the event just as much as the Ebay mob.
I don't want to sound cynical. I absolutely support the aims of the event and hope it's a total success. The reality of life is that there are always people who will benefit privately from these occasions.
The Ebay people in Scotland are just slightly unlucky in that they've been highlighted and given pariah status by the Scottish press.
I can't bring myself to criticise Geldof though. He's a loose cannon, but I don't really think that this foreign debt initiative would have gotten this far without his personality and influence pushing the politicians to get it on the agenda.
As far as I'm concerned he's the dog's bollocks, and I'm not going to join in with any petty sniping aimed at his efforts.
So anyway, Patrick, Tony and I lounged about all day on Bruntsfield Links ruminating on ideas for the show. It was a good productive session. Unfortunately, even though it was cloudy, we got zapped by the UV.
I was supposed to be doing a stand-up spot at Richard P's birthday party. However, I was knackered and sunburnt and decided to enhance the dehydration by getting fairly pissed. Richard didn't mind. He was going to do a spot but decided against it as well. Well done to Patrick though, who did actually do a spot!
We had a couple of drinks at the Old Waverly Hotel in Princes St where Patrick was staying. Although, when we got to the bar, the barman said they had no beer. No draught. No bottles. Nothing. So it was cider then....with the inevitable sore head the next day.

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