Everything seemed a bit grey this morning. Our first foggy morning in ages. Now that I've signed on at the dole office and wanderd up to the library to see to my jobsearching, the sun has broken out again. Maybe that's not quite world breaking news. Can I do better?

Institute Is Falling Down

Our beloved Mechanics Institute, a sort of all-purpose community centre built by the Great Western Railway in 1854, is in danger of collapse. The cellars are flooded. The roof is on the point of caving in. Parts of the building are now too dangerous to access.

This has to be the most ridiculous situation ever. It's a historic grade II listed building, guaranteed preservation by law, and no-one knows what to do with the place. It's been slowly rotting away since the 70's. The chap who owns it has made a few maintenance efforts in order not to get prosecuted but otherwise this grand old edifice has had it.

Okay, maybe that's not quite world breaking news either. Let's try something else.

Headline News

Local news is all about murder. A man was attacked and found unconcious at his home, later to die of his injuries. Naturally the locals are shocked by this tragedy. The thing is though, why are we so shocked?

We know people die by violence. The circumstances of these events make daily viewing on television news, and our entertainment thrives on stories of such activity. Whilst I would hope Swindon isn't slowly metamorphosing into downtown Mogadishu, it does seem that we block out the nastiness and create some sort of 'little world' of our own. It all happens to someone else. Until it doesn't.

Then again, whilst for Swindoners the news is disturbing and important, compared to the casualty rate in other parts of the world it's not exactly world shaking news either is it?

My World Breaking Shock Horror News

Anyone expecting me to announce before the worlds audience that I'm secretly gay is going to be disappointed here. Sorry, guys, I'm straight. So the little runt who decided to lambast me from the safety of his car will have to find someone else to sleep with tonight.

Why is this so world shaking? Because some people want it to be. because they make loud noises and a big fuss over it. Because they want to force me to admit to something, so that they gain the kudos of being able to say "We told you so". It has become, sadly, something that fills their dreary little lives with amusement.

Seems a bit odd that people aren't really interested in loss of life, culture, property, freedom, or anything else the news finds worth telling us about, but that they'd rather poke their nose into someones private lives.

I have to laugh. My private life is about as public as you can get without a crowd of paparazzi following me. You only have to read this blog to know what I'm up to. Everything you ever wanted to know about me. Until it isn't.