Bill Bailey has a bit about watching TV in a hotel room while on tour in the US, watching the news and realising that in the 'and finally' spot where one would normally put a funny story or something upbeat, preferably involving a cute animal if possible, the producers had chosen to put - a story about something British happening. You know the kind of thing - Trooping of the Colour, the Queen having one of her (only) seemingly endless celebrations of the fact she was Queen, or one of the Princes or other opening this or raising awareness of that or being surprisingly down to earth and informal to the Other. To the Yanks, we're the planet's funny local colour.
Greece never had to endure this from Rome, you find yourself thinking. Yes, the Romans could and did patronise their Greek forebears but at least they couldn't do it televisually. But now the American Empire very much can do that to its forerunner and while I will be the first to condemn both - I did after all publish a book called England is the Enemy and my latest work is similarly critical - it still stings, man. To be insulted by these fascists is so degrading.
I am typing this while listening to the audio from a YouTube video of someone walking part of the length of The Queue.
It's a reminder that while all this is happening, while there are soldiers in the streets and so many barriers in some places that they seem like checkpoints in some Children of Men future, there are still just ordinary Londoners going about their business, people working, jogging, filming YouTube videos, advancing their own personal agendas regardless of the official narrative of the shellshocked nation.
A lot is written about the democratisation of media brought about by the proliferation of digital cameras, smartphones, wi-fi etc etc and 99% of it is hype. But in a week like this I am very aware of who is pointing their cameras at what, and why.
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