Illusions Shattered

[Muddypause]

Anyone else noticed that the self sufficient icon of this site (albeit in a fictional sense), Richard Briers (AKA Tom Good), is now doing a voice-over for that antithesis of self sufficiency - Tescos?

[Shirley]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

We should start a campaign to stop him doing it!!!!!

[The Chili Monster]

Yes, it's sad but true.

[Andy Hamilton]

I find myself in a bit of a quandry with this I told myself that despite it being most inconvienient I would boycott T***o. It is by far the cheapest and highly stocked shop that is close to my house. But no instead I travel across town looking for much more ethically sound purchases.

I thought that the boycott of T***o is not enough and I would start to boycott all the people who do the ads. I thought I was being clever boycotting cilla black and bruce forsyth was a blessing. But now what do I do? Is it really time to change the avatars and stop watching the good life

[ina]

That's actors for you. They take any job that pays...

Maybe you can add a meaningful caption to his picture? Or change his name to "Tom not-so-Good"?

[Muddypause]

Yeah, I think a pragmatic approach is needed. Richard Briers was a jobbing actor when he got the gig in the 70s, and he's still a jobbing actor now. It would be folly to hang our own personal aspirations on what he chooses to do. The fictional persona of Tom Good is not the same as the real life persona of Richard Briers, and I have never actually heard him say anything in support of self sufficiency as an ethos.

In a similar vein, a whole bunch of rock musicians who between them wrote the definitive theme track to my youth (and still get played to this very day) are organising a fund raising bash in aid of a cause that I am implacably opposed to. It's going to take a bit of effort to disconnect the music that I hold dear from that aspect of the people playing it, but it would be daft just to invalidate it.

[ina]

a whole bunch of rock musicians who between them wrote the definitive theme track to my youth (and still get played to this very day) are organising a fund raising bash in aid of a cause that I am implacably opposed to.

Who or what is that, if I may be nosey?

[Wombat]

The fictional persona of Tom Good is not the same as the real life persona of Richard Briers, and I have never actually heard him say anything in support of self sufficiency as an ethos.

Well put muddy! No point cutting our nose off to spit our face, it is the ideals of Tom Good rather than Richard Briers that we espouse. So let's ignore the other bit!

Nev

[Andy Hamilton]

I bet T***o payed him more for one advert than for every good life episode too. Ah well such is life, I have noticed that every single personality ends up doing an ad for something or other. I was shocked when I heard David Belamy doing domestos and Bill Oddie for B & Q. both pretty much conservationists but neither company are exacly known for there work in conservation

[Tigerhair]

Perhaps we should start a proper "supermarket" - British, recycled, low packaging, etc....? How hard could it be?

[glenniedragon]

My OH came up with a brilliant idea, it started off looking at our local farmers market- they charge £25 per stall before you sell anything so you have to make £25 profit before its really worth doing. We have a few empty shops in town and he wondered that if you had a barcode system that recorded who made/grew/bred what then small local producers could bring their wares to the shop and it would go on the shelves along with the other produce and at the end of the week/month the producers would recieve a cheque (minus comission to pay for the running of the shop)...a proper cooperative I suppose, or you'd just end up with 20 shelves of strawberry jam and green tomato chutney!

kind thougths
Deb

[Wombat]

Sounds like a BGI (Bloody Good Idea!)

Nev

[ina]

Those kinds of shop exist - can't think of one in particular just now, but I have heard and read about them. The problem is the "empty shops in town": Every town has them, but they stay empty for ages, although folk are wanting to rent one - they are just unaffordable.

An acquaintance of mine wanted to open an organic shop in Aberdeen. She spent a year (I think) trying to find a suitable shop at an affordable price. There's dozens of suitable shops empty... Finally, she found one that she thought she'd be able to pay for, with expected takings etc. Then the real trouble started... The estate agents/lawyers who had the administration of it took so long about it that in the end she lost all the funding she had been promised (I think she was going to get some from the Prince's Trust, and had another partner interested, too). Needless to say, Aberdeen still doesn't have an organic shop. (It does have shops that sell a wide range of organic stock, though.)

[Shirley]

Sounds like a really good idea that!!!


Ina.... can you recommend any shops in Aberdeen?? Will have a look next time we go in - no rush, we hardly ever venture out that way!!

[ina]

Like you, I hardly ever go up to the big town! I might go if I'm desperate for jeans (Primark the cheapest, for men's jeans). Whilst I'm there, I visit a bookshop or two (Oxfam has a good one, apart from the usual Waterstone's and Ottakar's). The Third World Shop (in the church near M&S) has a good range (clothes as well, some from Bishopston Trading). Grampian Health Food Shop has an amazing lot of stuff for the little shop it's in. (Don't have the addresses just now, but I could point them out to you on a map.)