wonderful ridiculous Britain - an oxymoronic little place

My affection for Britain was given a good old boost this weekend after a wonderful couple of days in the Capital. Sunday was Flora London Marathon day and this year I had a friend running it. Last year the weather paid no tribute to those some 35,000 people participating and it rained cats and dogs. This year however, joy of joys, the sun made a guest appearance! It was GLORIOUS! The atmosphere around the course was palpable and seeing all those people achieve something you know they have been training for for months and months was actually really emotional. People came from all over the country and the supporters were brilliant (even if I do say so myself). No animosity what so ever; everyone made sure that if you had someone coming past the supporter barriers soon, you were at the front and able to shout, scream, clap, wave your banner until you were sure your runner could hear you no more. Then it was a quick dash, challenge Anneka style, to the tube and on to the next point of the race where you'd do it all over again. We were so lucky, we managed to cheer our friend at 3 different points of the race and then wait for her at the end at Buckingham Palace. And for once, I thought London actually managed to organise something really well (I still wait with baited breath to see how on Earth we manage to organise the 2012 Olympics when usually we couldn't organise a picnic for Woodpeckers in Sherwood Forest). In true British style, we then made the most of the weather and headed to the nearest beer garden. Brilliant.

However, I knew it wouldn't be long before something brought me back to reality and if the sound of the torrential rain hitting my window pane today didn't do it then by the time I'd read the news this morning I was confronted with the verisimilitude of Britain.



I'm outraged that this ad would be banned from being aired on TV. Of course the ad is shocking; it absolutely needs to be to raise awareness of the dire plight some women have lived and continue to live through every day. Abuse of any kind is completely unacceptable and if it takes a famous actress and this odious content to make people take notice then so be it. I'm not saying it should be shown on the ad break between In the Night Garden and Peppa Pig on Cbbeebies but after a watershed I don't see how Ofcom can justify the ban.

Oh and of course the British media are doing a stellar job of making sure we all know that we're going to die of Swine Flu.