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	<title>Comments on: Crap towns: British humour?</title>
	<atom:link href="http://daviding.com/blog/index.php/archive/crap-towns-british-humour/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://daviding.com/blog/index.php/archive/crap-towns-british-humour/</link>
	<description>David Ing, at large ... Sometimes, my mind wanders</description>
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		<title>By: szaleniec</title>
		<link>http://daviding.com/blog/index.php/archive/crap-towns-british-humour/comment-page-1/#comment-33399</link>
		<dc:creator>szaleniec</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2009 15:07:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://daviding.com/blog/index.php/archive/crap-towns-british-humour/#comment-33399</guid>
		<description>It has been said that only the British could not only publish a bestselling book called &quot;Crap Towns&quot;, but then release Crap Towns II because so many people complained that their own town wasn&#039;t in the original book.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It has been said that only the British could not only publish a bestselling book called &#8220;Crap Towns&#8221;, but then release Crap Towns II because so many people complained that their own town wasn&#8217;t in the original book.</p>
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		<title>By: Martin</title>
		<link>http://daviding.com/blog/index.php/archive/crap-towns-british-humour/comment-page-1/#comment-21</link>
		<dc:creator>Martin</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Apr 2006 10:03:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://daviding.com/blog/index.php/archive/crap-towns-british-humour/#comment-21</guid>
		<description>Hmmm, I am the Martin referred to. I stand by my assessment of Manchester under conditions of anonymity! There certainly is a strain of British humour that glories in disparaging places. Sometimes it is used to express  cultural snobbery (search &#039;Chav&#039; in Google for the most recent and expressive form of this) and sometimes to express alienation with one&#039;s own environment. Usually by teenagers who have &#039;nothing to do&#039;. There is a common formula which says, &#039;The most exciting thing to come out of -- &#039;insert town here&#039; --  is -- &#039;insert name of main trunk road here&#039;. The earliest one I remember was &#039;The most exciting thing to come out of Grantham is the A1&#039;. This when Margaret Thatcher was in power and the Grocers shop she grew up in was (and still is) present and correct. Maybe &#039;exciting&#039; isn&#039;t the right word to describe her.

You also mention Slough. Now Slough is very famous in this context. John Betjamin the poet laureate (The person occupying this post is responsible for writing poems to commemorate national life) wrote a poem entitled &#039;Slough&#039;. It contains the memorable line &#039;Come friendly bombs fall on Slough&#039; precisely because it is so unremarkable. Here it is -

&lt;strong&gt;Slough&lt;/strong&gt;
&lt;em&gt;John Betjeman&lt;/em&gt;

Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough
It isn&#039;t fit for humans now,
There isn&#039;t grass to graze a cow
Swarm over, Death!

Come, bombs, and blow to smithereens
Those air-conditioned, bright canteens,
Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans
Tinned minds, tinned breath.

Mess up the mess they call a town --
A house for ninety-seven down
And once a week for half-a-crown
For twenty years,

And get that man with double chin
Who&#039;ll always cheat and always win,
Who washes his repulsive skin
In women&#039;s tears,

And smash his desk of polished oak
And smash his hands so used to stroke
And stop his boring dirty joke
And make him yell.

But spare the bald young clerks who add
The profits of the stinking cad;
It&#039;s not their fault that they are mad,
They&#039;ve tasted Hell.

It&#039;s not their fault they do not know
The birdsong from the radio,
It&#039;s not their fault they often go
To Maidenhead

And talk of sports and makes of cars
In various bogus Tudor bars
And daren&#039;t look up and see the stars
But belch instead.

In labour-saving homes, with care
Their wives frizz out peroxide hair
And dry it in synthetic air
And paint their nails.

Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough
To get it ready for the plough.
The cabbages are coming now;
The earth exhales.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hmmm, I am the Martin referred to. I stand by my assessment of Manchester under conditions of anonymity! There certainly is a strain of British humour that glories in disparaging places. Sometimes it is used to express  cultural snobbery (search &#8216;Chav&#8217; in Google for the most recent and expressive form of this) and sometimes to express alienation with one&#8217;s own environment. Usually by teenagers who have &#8216;nothing to do&#8217;. There is a common formula which says, &#8216;The most exciting thing to come out of &#8212; &#8216;insert town here&#8217; &#8212;  is &#8212; &#8216;insert name of main trunk road here&#8217;. The earliest one I remember was &#8216;The most exciting thing to come out of Grantham is the A1&#8242;. This when Margaret Thatcher was in power and the Grocers shop she grew up in was (and still is) present and correct. Maybe &#8216;exciting&#8217; isn&#8217;t the right word to describe her.</p>
<p>You also mention Slough. Now Slough is very famous in this context. John Betjamin the poet laureate (The person occupying this post is responsible for writing poems to commemorate national life) wrote a poem entitled &#8216;Slough&#8217;. It contains the memorable line &#8216;Come friendly bombs fall on Slough&#8217; precisely because it is so unremarkable. Here it is -</p>
<p><strong>Slough</strong><br />
<em>John Betjeman</em></p>
<p>Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough<br />
It isn&#8217;t fit for humans now,<br />
There isn&#8217;t grass to graze a cow<br />
Swarm over, Death!</p>
<p>Come, bombs, and blow to smithereens<br />
Those air-conditioned, bright canteens,<br />
Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans<br />
Tinned minds, tinned breath.</p>
<p>Mess up the mess they call a town &#8211;<br />
A house for ninety-seven down<br />
And once a week for half-a-crown<br />
For twenty years,</p>
<p>And get that man with double chin<br />
Who&#8217;ll always cheat and always win,<br />
Who washes his repulsive skin<br />
In women&#8217;s tears,</p>
<p>And smash his desk of polished oak<br />
And smash his hands so used to stroke<br />
And stop his boring dirty joke<br />
And make him yell.</p>
<p>But spare the bald young clerks who add<br />
The profits of the stinking cad;<br />
It&#8217;s not their fault that they are mad,<br />
They&#8217;ve tasted Hell.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s not their fault they do not know<br />
The birdsong from the radio,<br />
It&#8217;s not their fault they often go<br />
To Maidenhead</p>
<p>And talk of sports and makes of cars<br />
In various bogus Tudor bars<br />
And daren&#8217;t look up and see the stars<br />
But belch instead.</p>
<p>In labour-saving homes, with care<br />
Their wives frizz out peroxide hair<br />
And dry it in synthetic air<br />
And paint their nails.</p>
<p>Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough<br />
To get it ready for the plough.<br />
The cabbages are coming now;<br />
The earth exhales.</p>
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