This is not a post about Harry Potter, exactly...

[raven]

...but you'll probably see the connection. No spoilers, natch, because I don't know any and am looking to keep it that way.

Yesterday, I went to London through torrential rain to the BBC Power to the People aftershow party. I'm lucky, actually, that I got there and back safely - all the stations round about were beginning to flood by this morning, and some of the Underground was closed. Of course, I got soaked a grand total of four times and was stuck at Crewe for hours anyway, but never mind, I'm home with six hours to spare.

Anyway! Yes, I went to London, had a coffee with Ben where we both bemoaned our complete lack of future plan, he went off to Oxford to start rehearsals for Xenu... and I went to the party. It was being held at a painfully hip wine bar called Strawberry Moons, off Regent's Street somewhere, with cocktails courtesy of the BBC, and met up with loads of people I knew, who were all pleased to see me, and after a few daquiris was feeling very well-disposed towards the world. (My boss wasn't there - she had her baby last week and is understandably tied up at present.)

So, one of the other runners asked me what I'd been up to since, and I said, the usual, university, bookshop work, nothing much, what about you? She said, sheepishly, that through a convoluted sequence of circumstances, had got to be interpreter for the president of Brazil.

"Oh, Lula!" I said, far too enthusiastically. Off her look, I explained that I live with a cheerfully patriotic Brazilian who tells me about her country's politics on a regular basis, and of course, how can you forget a name like "Lula"? It trips far too easily off the tongue.

"Do you know what it means?" she said.

I shook my head.

"Squid."

"Brazil," I said slowly, "is led by President Squid?"

"Yep."

And they say politics is dull.

(Actually, speaking of which, I note with interest that large amounts of Brown's Cabinet have admitted to smoking pot in their teenage years. Of the twenty-one members of said Cabinet, eight are Oxford PPEists. So is David Cameron. I am choosing to draw absolutely no connection between these three statements.)

Three hours before I have to be at work. Heee.

Comments

[pinkishmew.livejournal.com]

[giggles] The first conclusion I drew was that I'm looking forward to voting for you. :)

And enjoy work! If you can, perhaps when not being rushed off your feet, maybe take some pictures of excellently dressed peoples?

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*grins* Thank you! That will be appreciated.

And of course I will. I hope people do dress up!

[biascut.livejournal.com]

large amounts of Brown's Cabinet have admitted to smoking pot

Did you see Zoe Williams (http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2130643,00.html)'s article? Oh, I love Zoe Williams.

Have fun at the party!

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Yes! Yes, that's what I was reading when stuck at Crewe. I also liked the brief diary entry which notes that none of them seem to have enjoyed the experience, and awww, what a shame. :)

[forthwritten.livejournal.com]

Ironically enough, it actually makes me like them ever so slightly more if they just own up that yes, they were pretty normal students and did as much/many drugs as pretty normal students do. But the "one rule for us, one rule for you" thing annoys me.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, me too - it makes me think they were students just like me, not special Cabinet-destined-PPEists or whatever. They're so obviously lying, too, and I wish they'd just admit it.

[biascut.livejournal.com]

And it also just intensifies that excluded-from-the-political-process feeling: apparently, the people who count think that smoking dope as a student is shameful and bad and criminal and awful. The opinions of those of us who think that it's actually fairly boring and standard (although not universal) don't count, apparently.

[biascut.livejournal.com]

Hi, I expressed that REALLY REALLY BADLY.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*laughs* I understood, and I agree. The thing that gets me, though, is that of course they must think it's boring and standard - it is, and they did do it. They're lying for purposes of impressing the electorate.

[biascut.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly - but specifically, for some weird bit of the electorate that doesn't represent me at all. And, you know - I'm white, liberal, university-educated and quite decidedly middle-class, I usually do feel very much that New Labour is espousing views and values that I recognise, even if I don't agree with them. But then someone who is only ten years older than me comes along with with all this cant about how Bad And Wrong smoking dope was, and I just think - who is this for? And if I as a middle-class professional rapidly-heading-towards-thirty woman feel that, how much more alienating is it for people younger and/or less enfranchised than me?

[forthwritten.livejournal.com]

Oh, exactly - I was reading it and thinking "what's the big deal?" I can well understand not smoking much weed - after all, I don't really, but that's because it either has no effect or makes me feel unpleasantly lethargic and I can think of much better ways to waste my money than on weed.

Reinstating cannabis as a class B would also going to cause problems and alienate the young electorate. I think it's fairly safe to say that most young people have either smoked weed or know someone who has smoked weed, and while there is some medical evidence that it can cause/enhance psychotic symptoms, they're going to have a huge problem convincing people it's that unsafe. It doesn't tally with most people's experience.

[spykeraven.livejournal.com]

The funniest thing that I recently learned about something political, is that Poland is led by twins. One is President, one is Prime Minister.

And I am so terrible, that I immediately began thinking 'RPStwincestOMG!'

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*giggles far too much* Oh, that's priceless.