It’s been a funny sort of day so far. First of all, I switched off my alarm and woke up about an hour later! I think what woke me finally was a series of pings on my phone. One after another came four notifications, all telling me that my AIRBNB verification code was …. a series of four numbers. Each time the code was different. Of course, I haven’t made any AIRBNB bookings. Is somebody somewhere waiting for a code they have not received?
To add to the weirdness, I then had a phone call, purporting to be from the USA, thanking me for using their telephone verification service and trying to give me yet another code! I hung up before thy could fire more numbers at me.
So my day began rather later than planned. I didn’t go for a run. But it’s actually a beautiful day, quite warm and sunny. I shall have to go for a long walk later.
Further to my comments the other day on Lucy Mangan declaring her disappointment on discovering that Bruce Springsteen wears pyjamas (But does he sleep in them? Or are they just to wander about in over breakfast or to relax in to watch telly?) here is a link to something about the madness of fans.
Fans are paying thousands of dollars/pounds to get VIP tickets to performances. This gives them the chance to be right at the front, close to the stage. Now, I can appreciate wanting to be close to your much-admired singer or band. The very best concert I ever attended was Leonard Cohen at the Manchester Opera House, which is quite a small venue. Quite by chance we had seats about only four rows from the stage. Absolutely brilliant! But the tickets cost less than £50. Mind you, that was back in 2008. I doubt that tickets even for a small venue are so cheap nowadays!
However, wonderful as it is to attend live music events, it’s hard to justify the prices of tickets nowadays. They try to justify such prices by saying it compensates for singers and bands losing revenue as sales of CDs have plummeted. Even so, I can think of better things to spend thousands of pounds or dollars on.
It may be that those big spenders are doing the right thing, living for now, enjoying concerts while they can. After all, the political leaders of the world seem to be heading madly towards a possible armageddon!
A friend of mine used a similar argument to justify spending an inordinate amount of money on a walking holiday in the mountains of Canada. And to justify flying hime business class. Spending her children’s inheritance, she said, having helped her various offspring financially through university and later to purchase houses! So now she feels she can treat herself to expensive adventures.
Fair enough! Maybe there will be no family arguments about inheritance. Family arguments are never good. Just look at what is going on with the Windsors, the Spencers, The Waleses and the Sussexes. Maybe it’s time to stop digging up old grievances and just get on with life.
The Guardian runs a feature they call something like ‘The Pet I’ll Never Forget’, in which people wax sentimental about a long lost family pet. In contrast they also have ‘The Pest I’ll Never Forget’. Here’s a link to one article about someone suffering from rats and a link to another about infestations of mice. I was transported back to my student accommodation in my second year at university. My bedroom was separated from the kitchen by a flimsy partition, which did not quite reach the ceiling. If friends and I had had fish and chips, late in the night I would hear mice scrabbling through the chip papers. If I stood on the table I could look down at them scurrying around the kitchen. All my food was kept in well-sealed tins. Eventually I moved out when I woke to find a cheerful mouse on my pillow!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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