In recent years Swindon has gotten into festivals. A couple of years ago we had a festival of Innovation, which I suspect was not entirely innovative, but since I never attended it I'll have to assume that Swindon was wowed by new and exciting stuff.

Last year we had the LEGO-fest. What? You missed it? Shame on you. The museum still has the Mario mosaic crafted lovingly in, yes, you guessed it, LEGO. Proof that Swindon is James May's natural enviroment.

Now looming on the horizon is the Swindon Festival of Gaming, which I have the pleasure of helping to organise. You just can't wait, can you? Big ciommunity events take a little time to get together. Last night we visited our intended main venue, our very own Meca, across the road from my favourite haunt, the library.

The last time I entered that building was forty years ago as a child, back in the days when it was a cinema. It was a strange experience to see that decorated curved ceiling again. Maybe I'm a bit taller now, or maybe it's because they had to put a new floor in, but the roof felt like a sort of extravagant awning rather than a roof, lower and much closer than I remember it. Actually, it felt a little cosy, an odd sensation for a venue licensed for nearly two thousand people.

Oh yes. We have plans. The Festival of Gaming will be big... BIG! ... You have no idea of the havoc we're planning. Comedians can scoff and crack jokes at Swindon all they like, but compared to the good citizens of our ridiculous borough, they're coplete amateurs.

Thinking Big

Big Society? What's that? Like many people I'm a little perplexed by an ambiguous concept put forward by our government. So perplexed I've been forced to look it up on the internet, the true source of informed opinion and debate, or at least, a good deal more understandable than a politicans waffle.

I don't like politicians. Never have. They are by nature a lot less honest than they would like us to believe. Partly that's the nature of people who put themselves forward to rule in our oligarchial democracy, partly because they're persuaded to conform to the wretched system even if they start with good intentions.

One of the reasons I despised Tony Blair, besides a bad smile, a wife with a even worse smile, and a bunch of cronies who did nothing but smile when they spent their our money for us, was his use of slogans. Cool Britannia. I mean, what was that all about? Am I paying taxes for that grinning idiot to come out with useless slogans?

Now David Cameron has resorted to the slogan too. Big Society. For some reason I don't exactly find myself inspired by that phrase. This is something that annoys me about politics. Whenever things get tough politicians invent a slogan.

Churchill did that. He wandered around an area of London demolished by the Luftwaffe and made his trademark vee sign, pronouncing proudly that "Britain can take it!", only to be put straight by an outraged housewife whose home was currently disassembled by a thousand pounder.

I once accused David Cameron of being a lightweight. Having become prime Mnister, I decided instead to give him the benefit of the doubt. But resorting to slogans? Sorry, Cameron, you blew it.