Appearances!

It would seem that the cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland has made its appearance over Galicia. Maybe that is why the sky is so grey today! The cloud is reported to have been hanging around over the Atlantic for about three days but has now made its way towards Galicia and Portugal. The three gallego airports are keeping an eye on things in case they have to cancel flights. Poor things! There they are struggling to keep three airports going and along comes a cloud of volcanic dust to make life more difficult. They hope, however, that the wind and rain will help it move elsewhere, leaving no permanent problem for Galicia. The reports all get a little technical with discussion of how high up the cloud is and to what extent this affects flights, all rather geeky anorak plane-spotter kind of stuff. I just need it to have moved on by next Friday when we have a flight booked from Oporto (sorry, Galicia’s three airports, you just don’t do the flights I want!) to London.

Meanwhile we are left hanging, rather like a certain parliament – OK, I know the term is “a hung parliament” but I couldn’t resist. I am studiously resisting, however, the temptation to follow the last results of the election as they come in. The great media circus of the televised debates may have helped bring more people out to vote than in elections over the last ten years or more but doesn’t seem to have led to the predicted surge in support for the Liberal Democrats or a landslide victory for Conservatives either.

Whatever the final result, I wonder if the new government will be able to do anything about a fashion phenomenon that I saw reported in the Guardian newspaper the other day. A young man called Ellis Drummond narrowly escaped being banned from "wearing trousers so low beneath the waistline that members of the public are able to see your underwear". If the asbo had been granted he would have been banned from displaying his underpants anywhere in public in the borough of Bedford.

No, British justice has not gone completely mad; he had been convicted of drugs offences, violence, antisocial activities and being a general nuisance. Despite not being banned from McDonalds, where his low-slung trousers probably fit in quite well, he was given an asbo banning him from approaching anyone and seeking money or personal items of property belonging to them using threatening words or behaviour, from entering the building or grounds of Bedford College (a public school), and from using threatening, abusive or intimidatory behaviour or encouraging others to do the same. Not just a fashion-offender then!

We have almost all worn clothes which a previous generation found scandalous so it’s reassuring to know that you can’t actually be punished for crimes against fashion. I might have been locked up for the miniskirts I wore in my youth. Certainly some of the ladies I see around Vigo at the moment, not all of them so very young either, should be seriously reprimanded at the very least for giving in to the whim to buy and then, more shockingly, actually WEAR tights with outrageous patterns on them, a very “fashionable” item it seems. Now, I am all for coloured stockings but discretion has to be exercised. I was mildly offended by a pair of orange tights this week but the lady I saw yesterday sporting cerise tights, an orange jumper and a bright scarlet bag should probably be condemned to stand in front of a mirror for several years until she learns better!!

By comparison, the low slung trousers are mildly amusing. They seem to be a uni-sex item of clothing but they are probably funnier on young men than on young women. Sometimes it appears to be an excuse to let the world know they wear Calvin Klein undies! However, although I may laugh as I lay bets on how soon one of the wearers will fall flat on his face as his trousers drop to his ankles, I draw the line at the sight of “builders’ cleavages” as young men sit on a wall! A little decorum and restraint, please!

Other kinds of appearances have been commented on in the press here. New official photographs have been made of the Prince and Princess of Asturias, something to do with Prince Felipe having been promoted in the armed services! There is a small controversy surrounding them as some people think they have been photo-shopped, if not digitally enhanced then at least transposing Prince Felipe’s head from one picture to another. I would have thought that were photogenic enough not to need such assistance!

On the subject of promotion in the armed services, I always wonder when I hear about members of royal families, not just here but everywhere, receiving such honours. Is it the equivalent of an honorary degree? Is it a little like the honorary doctorate that Malaga University has just presented to Antonio Banderas, one of that city’s most famous sons? He did look rather fine, and very pleased, in his silvery grey academic gown and his quite preposterous matching hat!

Another place busy honouring its famous sons is Porriño where they are about to have their own Paseo das Estrelas” to rival the more well known walk of stars in Hollywood. In honour of the Festival de Cans, a film festival specialising in short films, they are laying paving stones with the names of the stars who have passed their way, complete with handprints just like in Hollywood. First to be honoured are two local gallego boys, Luis Tosar and Ernesto Chao. It’s all a matter of keeping up appearances!