An Olympic Opening Ceremony to be proud of.

If you saw it, you already have an opinion.

If you didn't see it, you missed out.

Danny Boyle crafted an experience that, in these days of internet hyperbole, was actually worthy of the word Epic.  We saw the transformation of Britain from a pastoral landscape to the Workshop of the World, and on to the future.  We saw The Actual Queen on screen with James Bond, and then apparently saw her parachute into the stadium from a helicopter accompanied by 007.  We saw Children's Literature from Harry Potter to Peter Pan celebrated.  We saw the NHS celebrated.  And it was eccentric, slightly baffling and completely wonderful.

Just like Britain, really.

Not everyone sees it that way.  The Daily Mail and a couple of other people on the right of centre have decried the nods to modern Britain and the NHS that were present.  To these people, I have quite a lot to say.  I apologise in advance for any swearing.

The creation of the NHS was a triumph.  It is in a state now because generations of politicians were determined to use it as a political point scoring mechanism instead of working out who best should run it - and here's a hint, it's neither Business nor Parliament and both groups need to shut up and back off - but originally it was a moment that Britain could and should be proud of.  A nation should care about it's people, and the fact that a government was motivated enough to realise this and then make it happen is one of the few glorious things British politicians have done.

I know multiculturalism is a worrying topic.  I've had my doubts about whether English culture could survive wave after wave of new arrivals to these damp little islands.

And then I remembered that English culture is almost entirely the result of wave after wave of immigration.  The very language I'm typing in is a Germanic import.  And I'd forgotten what this country does to people.  I should have remembered The Goon Show (The Histories of Pliny the Elder), which explores the Roman occupation, in which there is the following exchange:

Moriaritus:
I see that ten years in Britain have not changed your imperial Roman outlook, Caesar. 
Caesar:
True, Moriaritus, always a Roman eye. 
Moriaritus:
Will you take wine? 
Caesar:
No, I'll have a half of mild and a packet of crisps.


The contention seems to be that Danny Boyle showed Britain as it increasingly is, not as some people believe it should be.  It is incredibly annoying that in a country which owes any lasting world influence it wields to the hangover of Empire, people still believe that Englishness is something to be defended, when it's always been a patchwork identity put together from the influences of other cultures.  And it's always been this way. Always.  Even pre-Roman invasion, the people of this island have been influenced by - and in turn have influenced - any part of the world they had contact with.  I believe that this is because it's how people work.


Anyway, enough of the Daily Fail and other idiots.  My culture is stronger and more vital than they think and is never harmed by regular infusions of interesting ideas from elsewhere.


So, the ceremony.  Apparently we were forced to miss a tiny celebration-ette of Doctor Who because the entrance of the athletes went on for a while.  Fair enough.  This is their time and they deserved our patience and our appreciation.  Over and above the usual commercial bollocks surrounding the Olympics and the money machine it's become, it was nice to remember that this is really about the dedication, skill and courage of the men and women who will be competing.  Besides, there was a nod to the show when the distinctive sound of the TARDIS made an appearance in the 60's musical medley.  Even if it wasn't about the show and was a nod to Delia Derbyshire more or less inventing electronic music, it was a very cool moment.  In all honesty I was still squeeing about Bond and Her Majesty.


A couple of last thoughts - Ken Brannagh as IK Brunell quoting Shakespeare: lovely.  The transformation of Britain from pastoral to industrial and the forging of the Olympic rings: inspired.  The appearance of the Child Catcher (from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and a towering Voldemort: squee!


Thank you, Danny Boyle.
And to the decryers and complainers: go and have a word with yourselves, before it's too late? Please?

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Customer Service

I work in Customer Service.  I think service is important.


I've had two spectacular Customer Service Failures this week, from people connected with my finances.


They're connected too.  Here's the tale of woe.


For a little while, I played a popular MMO game.  Then I went about a month without really thinking too much about the game, so I decided to cancel my subscription.  When I made the decision I thought I might sign into the game and give away in character gold to deserving causes.  When I tried to sign in, I couldn't.  My account had been hacked.  I went through the recommended processes of recovering my account, including an exhaustive clearing of my PC - which turned out to not be at fault.  I reset the passwords for everything that I do online.  It took a week to sort out.  After that, I played with the account for a few days and then got bored and let it idle for another month.


When I tried to cancel the subscription - because I decided to donate that money to a charity instead of a service I'm not using - I discovered the account had been hacked again and now I can't recover it.  I called the company.


Their phone line informed me it was too busy, and hung up on me.


I called again.  This time, the call centre was closed due to unspecified emergency conditions.


The third time I called, I was told that the line was once more too busy.


I tried using the website.  There's no option to cancel your subscription without having an active account. 


I called my bank.  I asked to cancel the payment.  They told me in order to cancel the payment I needed to cancel my entire card.  Replacing the card would take about a week and if I needed to make any purchases in that week I could call them and they'd authorise access to my money.


Of course, this means I need to go through everything I do online and change my card details anywhere that's got a regular payment going out of it.  And it's likely to come to that, because I can't reach the game company, who have the worst customer service ethic I've ever seen.  So, just after payday this month, I'm going to bin my card and ask the bank to send me a new one.  Then there will be a complaint made to the game company, in which I'll ask how they intend to make this right.  It'll be interesting to see how they respond.  


One thing's for certain.  I'm looking into changing banks, and the game company will never, ever see another penny of my cash.

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