Still not much going on in the news, but I did catch some of the royal wedding. I had no real interest in it myself, but my wife asked me to record it for her since the coverage began at two in the morning our time.
As it turned out, I chose the right station, PBS, because they ran the entire six hour event without a single interruption for commercials or anything else. I have no idea what the other channels did, but my bet is they broke in to sell cars and show zillions of ambulance chasing class-action litigation ads every few minutes like they always do. And that means, had I tuned in to them I would likely have worn out the mute button on my remote.
But, as I later peeked at the screen while my spouse watched some of the replay, I realized that I'd been wrong to not have wanted to see it in the first place, because the spectacle was truly awesome. For example, while the British have always been known for their senses of taste, dignity and decorum, they managed to turn a huge part of London into a theater attended by millions, yet the crowds were controlled down to the smallest detail. In fact, some lining the streets in the front rows had been sleeping in their places for a couple of days to preserve their spots.
Then there were the military bands, some whose history went back hundreds of years, whose presence, precision and bearing was perfection itself. As were the mounted horsemen on magnificent animals used to performing their roles in front of huge crowds. Beyond that, the world-wide television audience was estimated to reach as many as 2 billion people, a third of the planet's population in almost every nation around the world.
There were many interviews of spectators who'd come from just about everywhere, and my bet is none of them were disappointed. Just seeing the cars ferrying royal and important guests was fascinating in itself, because there were vintage Rolls-Royce's, Bentley's and Jaguars, some of which dated back to the nineteen thirty's yet were polished and tuned to like-new perfection. And, the glass bubble tops on some, especially those carrying the royal family gave everyone a view of the passengers.
The ceremony in Westminster Abbey was shorter than I expected, but was certainly well done, as I guess you'd expect when run by the Archbishop of Canterbury in his own church. And naturally there were world leaders, politicians and celebrities all over the place, far too many to name, but the list's all over, so you can look it up. Yet, what I found amusing was Sir Elton John with his hymnal, standing there singing with everyone else, hardly noticed among 1900 guests.
The best thing though, was watching a replay instead of the event. Because there were many interviews over the course of the show that I couldn't care less about. So, with a simple touch of the fast-forward button, I cut all of that stuff out. And the same goes for all the talk about the clothes, hair-do's and especially women's hat's which I thought mostly looked pretty stupid.
Nonetheless, I really am glad I got to see the event, because if nothing else, it demonstrated that there are plenty of good things in life that most in the world truly appreciate. So, next week when Prince William goes back to his military helicopter base to help defend his nation, perhaps he'll feel a little better knowing that somewhere around two billion people on the globe wish him and his bride nothing but the best.
That's it for today folks.
Adios
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