Woody Grave Stone

AT EGLINTON TOLL THERE IS A MONUMENTAL SCULPTOR’S YARD THAT IS FILLED WITH EXAMPLES OF THEIR WORK.

There are many styles of tombstones or gravestones, but one which caught my eye was the one with Woody from Disney-Pixar’s “Toy Story”.

First sight of this gravestone brings a chaos of emotions and thoughts. I thought of how sad it would be for a small child to die, and how shocking such a grave stone would be to visit. Then I thought of the context — how out-of-place such a grave might be, what reactions it might cause in other people visiting other graves… unless there was a children’s area of the cemetery filled with similar scenes.

Another thought was about copyright infringement, but would Disney-Pixar sue a mother and father with a recently deceased child? Perhaps this is licensed by Disney-Pixar? Things would certainly be getting worse if promotions have moved on from McDonald’s paper cups to graves.

The World is Scary

WITH HALLOWEEN COMING UP, I THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE SOME PICTURES SENT TO US.

We do not usually do this as there are plenty of websites out there that do this sort of thing so much better. However, rules have exceptions, and this year ours are as follows:

First of all is a set of small screwdrivers.  Even given the fact that they may be made in a  non-English-speaking environment, the declaration defies a logical mistranslation-based explanation.

NOT TO BE INSERTED INTO PENIS

That is (always) good advice.

The second one caught my eye, because we are not supposed to use the word “Disabled”, so — for example, a disabled toilet is now to be known as an “accessible toilet”.

This sort of thing will surely play havoc with translations in years to come. In our next picture, we have “Deformed Person”.

The final one is the old favourite — public notices that have bad grammar or poor spelling.

What makes this one funnier is that it is black people in the USA with protest boards upon which they make reference to Martin Luther King Jr’s famous “I have a Dream” speech.

Dr King wanted black people to be educated equally with whites.  As the picture taken of a TV screen shows, black people in America are now just as badly educated as white folks.  They cannot even spell the word, DREAM on placards used in a public and televised protest. Ironic.

Things may be getting worse round here, but the world out there is a scary place too. Happy Halloween!

 

New Chocolate Marketing

IN A LOCAL SUPERMARKET I WAS SURPRISED BY THE NEW CHOCOLATE MARKETING APPROACH.

I couldn’t help myself from taking a snap on my cameraphone. Click on image to enlarge.

The top shelf, from the left has:

• Emergency Chocolate
• Bochox
• Girth Control
• 50% hers (Marital Bliss Bar)

They have got the packaging spot on, making the Bochox look like Botox, and I have to say, it made me laugh.

But then, things are getting worse when we need to find a way to sell us chocolate! Is it really necessary?

D+ Stress

I WAS STRUCK BY THIS NOTICE IN A HIGH SCHOOL & TOOK A PHOTOGRAPH USING MY CAMERAPHONE.

Click to enlarge image. It reads:

“Youth Stress Centre

Aromatheraphy Massage
Reiki
Self-Esteem
Relaxation
Reflexology
Stress Management
Anger Management

Appointments available at
Castlemilk Stress Centre
109 Stravanan Road
(above the shops)
Call us on 630 0111

MONDAY’S 6.00-8.30
WEDNESDAY’S 6.30-8.30

Funded by The National Lottery
NHS Greater Glasgow”

Where do I start? I have a problem with children going above shops for a massage.  This did not happen in my day, and I am not convinced it ought to happen today.

If  we overlook the terrible use of the apostrophe, the hours appear to indicate very early morning, before school starts.  On the other hand, perhaps it is meant to be PM  rather than AM or 24 hour clock, it is difficult to know for sure.  As Castlemilk is a very deprived and rough council estate, getting the times correct would be important, especially if one wanted to have less stress.

I do not understand how this can be part of the NHS, and yet receive funding from the National Lottery. I also do not understand how things like Reiki can be available under the auspices of either body when it is not recognised.  The Roman Catholic Church, for example, has outlawed Reiki practices as heretical and blasphemous!

• According to William T. Jarvis, Ph.D., of The National Council Against Health Fraud, there “is no evidence that clinical Reiki’s effects are due to anything other than suggestion” or the placebo effect.

Things are getting worse when school children are receiving early morning or late night hocus pocus to cope with “stress” all paid for by the Lottery and NHS. What will they do when they go to university or college — or later when they get a job? What will they do when they have real stress to deal with?

Would they not be better teaching children how to cope with their own stress, how to manage themselves without visiting a massage parlour in one of the biggest council estate black-spots in western Europe?

Curved Ball

I WAS SAD TO SEE A NOTICE REGARDING A PREMISES IN SHAWLANDS ARCADE.

It was for Curves – a workout gym for women. The poor souls could not open for business due to incompetence from Scottish Power.

Read the notice for yourself. Click on the image to enlarge.

It states:

Dear Members

Scottish Power cannot fit out new meter until Wednesday morning. We have pleaded with them to fix it sooner without success.  They have given us a timescale of 8am – 1pm . We will open immediately on installation of the meter. We are sorry for this disruption to your workouts & thank you so much for your patience. Please call Curves Paisley: 0141 887 5222 for details of neighbouring clubs you can use.

Things are getting worse when businesses can be disrupted in this way, when people (customers) can be disrupted like this.  Why do we all — domestic and commercial — put up with such poor service?

Holy Roads!

THE POTHOLE SITUATION HERE IN GLASGOW CITY IS TERRIBLE, APPARENTLY DUE TO THE RAVAGES OF THE SEVERE WINTER ON OUR BELOVED TARMACADAM.

Imagine my surprise, however, to spot a sign at Blythswood Square that simply warned me to expect more potholes!

[Please click on the photograph to enlarge image]

Things are getting worse when the council will spend money on signs instead of repairing the roads.

Brrr-Bikini

TODAY, PARKED ON SAUCHIEHALL STREET WAS A MOBILE BILLBOARD ADVERTISING A PARTY AT A CITY NIGHTCLUB.

It states:

“Free entry in beachwear before 11.30pm”

Let me remind you that this is Glasgow city centre in the wettest April on record, which is also windy and cold.  I know there’s a recession on, but really!

Things are getting worse when people to turn up and queue outside this nightclub in a bikini or trunks simply to gain free entry.

Wheelchair Stairs?

I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE A DISABLED ACCESS THAT INVOLVED A FLIGHT OF STAIRS.

Naturally, I took a photograph to show you all. Please double click on the image to see an enlarged version.

Not only is this disabled access a narrow passage which could prove restrictive to anyone coming the other way, but the entire building is atop one of the steepest hills in the city centre.

Things are certainly getting worse when signs are simply put up to comply with some obscure bit of legislation.

Bigotry Still Rife

THE MAIN HEADLINE IN A MAJOR SCOTTISH BROADSHEET NEWSPAPER CAUGHT MY ATTENTION.

“Hostility to Catholics is
‘deep, wide and vicious’”

Things are not getting better on the bigotry front here in Scotland, and that is a real shame. What can be done about this?  All we do is read articles in newspapers about how bad things are or how things are getting worse. Articles such as these:

• Council to Stem Bigot Parades, Clipped News, 2009-08-19;
• Bigotry Now All Over The Country, Clipped News, 2006-11-29;
• Glasgow Bigotry Alive and Kicking, Clipped News, 2004-11-23.

Let us not forget one of our own, high-hitting posts, IHF (I Hate Football), Getting Worse, 2 February 2008.

Some people still blame the segregated schools, but that is a red herring (see How To Manage Racism, Sectarianism and Sexism, RT1, Monday, 19 February 2007), because it seems that keeping religions and cultures apart is the best way, and that forced integration is making things worse.

Maybe the way forward is to celebrate differences and similarities, emphasise rather than hide, be proud of whatever it is you are, and keep away from “the other side” for as much as is humanly possible. It seems to work for the GAY and Lesbian community, or at least it is working better than it is for the rest of us in terms of sexism, racism, and sectarianism.

Tough Baby Change

WE ALL KNOW GLASGOW IS TOUGH.

The city used to have a reputation for gang violence, and in recent times has been known as the “Murder Capital of Europe” due to knife crime.

Nevertheless, I was somewhat surprised to see notices in the baby changing area of a local supermarket’s toilet. Please click on the image to enlarge.

The first one that caught my eye was the notice headed, “Knife and Stab Wounds”.  I thought: how inappropriate above a baby change table in an accessible toilet! Things are getting worse indeed when such notices are so clearly remind us of where we are and how we live.

They seem to be expecting trouble at this store.  Good grief! This, by the way, is the same supermarket that employs “Antisocial Lighting” in the Ladies.