Skip to main content

Seasons around the world



Well, it had to happen. A journalist somewhere was bound to announce that we have had all the seasons in one day. Now despite this, some of the other seasons tend to often get neglected, and in an attempt to bring you some of them, here they are:

We’re used to hearing about the Camping Season, which for Scouts runs from approximately 31st March to 31st October each year, although for Alan Carr, the camping season lasts all year. Accompanied by extremely terrible jokes.

Then there’s the Caravan Season, where Jeremy Clarkson spends 6 months with high blood pressure as he tries to overtake them on the A38 in an excruciatingly expensive and completely unnecessary car that no one can afford.

The Japanese have their Scientific Season, which is a series of sporadic weeks where they slaughter endangered whales for scientific research, the results of which seem to be a closely guarded world secret. This season now looks set, thanks to a group of spineless land-locked countries threatened by the Land of the Rising Scientific Research with paying more for their Nintendos and PlayStations, to last until the final whale is wiped off the face of the oceans. I have written to the Japanese Embassy four times now seeking details of exactly what the result of this never-ending research is without eliciting even as much as a “Go away you Eeeengrish” - silence seems to mean they must have something to hide. Or perhaps all those Japenese businessmen stuffing themselves silly with Sushi that just happens to be, by a total co-incidence, whale meat, are too embarrassed. Sorry, can’t stop now to discuss this further – I’m in my Toyota.

The press have their Silly Season, traditionally in tandem with the 6-week school summer holiday period, where hard and decent news is at a premium, resulting in even the dimmest of PR practitioner gaining valuable column inches, nay even front page news, for the likes of the insurance industry where they declare that Kevins are the worst drivers and people in red cars are more prone to crash them on the M42 on a Thursday than they are on the M62 on a Friday.

The opera buffs enjoy their early winters with an Opera Season, where various rotund ladies and even more rotund chaps scream “Go Compare” in their attempt to prove its all over when they fininsh singing. Or at the very least complete an insurance quote.

And of course, the entire UK is always on the verge of entering a Simon Cowell Banking Season, thinly disguised as a television entertainment programme called either “Britain’s got Cretins”,  or the "X-Rated Factor", complete with dancing frogs, musical coffins and singing children who maybe should have been left to the mercy of Father O’Brien in the vestry.

Meanwhile,the Northern Irish Marching Season is traditionally and rather cunningly held during July and August when there is lower likelihood of people taking part getting wet. Unless the authorities introduce water cannons. The Marching Season sees people called Orange-men, predominantly Protestant (well 100% predominantly) donning Miss World sashes, strapping large bass drums to themselves and taunting Catholics by marching through their areas singing inflammatory songs lauding King Billy who was in charge of the oranges. In return, the Nationalists, predominantly Catholic (well 100% predominantly) then march through Protestant areas dressed in balaclavas singing inflammatory songs about the Easter Rising and bemoaning the fact that the current Pope didn't hail form the Falls Road.

However, while we infidels enjoy all our various seasonal activities, those gentlemen of superior social standing and skills, the Taliban, start their traditional “Fighting Season” (I kid you not), where they like to maim and murder Americans, non-believers, women who don’t submit to wearing the traditional dalek outfit, men with beards that are too short, people who listen to Take That and more,  only to then head off and encourage some misguided rural bumpkin to do either a bit of bomb-belting or infidel-stoning.

Why the Talibannies have to have a Fighting Season while the rest of the world has plain, simple, stupid yet harmless recreational seasons, is totally beyond me.

I must be missing something.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Season for all men

Well, we’re used to hearing about the Camping Season , which for Scouts runs from approximately 31st March to 31st October each year, although Graham Norton’s camping season lasts all year. Then there’s the Caravan Season , where Jeremy Clarkson spends six months with extremely high blood pressure as he tries to overtake them on the A38 in an excruciatingly expensive and completely unnecessary car. The Japanese have their Scientific Season, which was a series of sporadic weeks where they slaughtered endangered whales for scientific research, the results of which seem to be a closely guarded world-secret. This season now looks set, thanks to a group of spineless, land-locked countries threatened by the Land of the Rising Scientific Research with paying more for their Nintendos and PlayStations, to last until the final whale is wiped off the face of the oceans. I have written to the Japanese Embassy four times now seeking details of this research (email address info@l...

"Q". My name is Bond. Oh. not THAT Q.

I was sent a story today by a friend who knows my feelings on the subject - that is, about one of the consummately greatest of all British activities, namely, queuing. It seems some Danish Professor or other has come up with the theory that those who queue the longest should actually be served the last. He claims it makes purchasing something altogether more efficient and smooth through the idea of 'contra-queuing' (whatever the devil that may mean). 'Serve the people at the back of the queue first', he says, with profound wisdom. Altogether very professorial, albeit demonstrating a somewhat keen lack of understanding of the purchasing psyche. The Nobel Prize-chasing Prof suggests that if, for example, a popular entertainment act was to announce a tour, with tickets going on sale at 11am one morning, using the theory of 'contra-queuing', no one will want to be first to buy said tickets. So no one will turn up 14 months in advance and venues will...

"Pre-" . . . . . good grief!!!!!!!!!

I was looking through the Guardian this morning and noticed a position being advertised that I thought I'd take a closer look at. The first sentence, when clicking the link to apply was: "If you are registered, please log in and we will pre-fill this form for you." What is the current fixation with the prefix "pre" . It is everywhere, turning perfectly reasonable statements into total and utter gibberish! I would have thought that for one of our major quality newspapers, instead of "please log in and we will pre-fill this form for you" it would have been much more sensible to have something along the lines of "please log in and your details will be automatically filled in for you". It is the rip-off Britain merchants who have embraced this particular prefix with a vengeance. They have nonsensically slapped it in front of the word " order " so that the moment an overpriced games console, war game for that console, phone,...