A Cure For Graffiti? & News About AOL

Over the last few years we have had a real problem with graffiti in this area.  The railway bridge is smothered in it.  But the real target has been the changing rooms at the local sports fields.  Mike takes the dogs here almost every day as do lots of people.  The council have provided doggy bins all around the perimeters so that any "accidents" can be scooped up and placed in them and so our canine friends and the sportsmen have a good relationship.

These changing rooms are not the prettiest thing to see, just a concrete block really that has always been painted white and what a magnet to those of the spray paint cans.  Lots of the graffiti has been obscene, either in words or pictures and the council have endlessly sent down workmen to repaint it.  Of course, within hours, the graffiti is back.  It has proved impossible to catch anybody.

So the police, the council and the local art college got together in consultation and came up with an idea.  How about some "good" graffiti.  If they actually painted it with something decent they were hopeful that it just might put people off from defacing it and solve the problem.

Well, a couple of months back they did one wall.  Since that day the wall has never been touched, it has been respected.  Two weeks ago they did another wall and that also has remained unblemished.  There are now two more walls to go and they are thinking about doing the four seasons on those, two on each side.

Could this be a cure for unwanted graffiti?  Time will tell but it is certainly an improvement on what people used to see there and is also very eye-catching. What do you think?

Amazing when you think all that is done with aerosol sprays but I do know that some graffiti art can be truly amazing.  At the moment it seems that it has certainly  solved the problem as well although I cannot help but wonder what new target will be found to deface.

Now for some news about AOL that was taken from the financial pages of "The Mail on Sunday" a little while ago. It remains to be seen whether any of us in the UK will ultimately be affected - particularly our journals.

*"It is already being described as a new wave of dotcom madness.  The planned sale of American giant AOL's business in the UK is leaving analysts and potential buyers scratching their heads in bafflement.

The internet service provider aims to sell the operation for £1 billion.  But it wants the service to continue being called AOL and it intends to keep control of the UK website and to retain all of the customers as AOL e-mail clients.

"It looks like they want to have their cake and eat it" said one analyst.  The buyer of AOL UK would be entitled to its 2.2 million customers and the minimum of £14.99 a month they pay for AOL's services.  But without being able to merge it with another internet business, the experts cannot see how the £1 billion price tag is justified.  "Half of that would be more like it" said another analyst.

Some say it is like a flashback to the £220 billion merger of AOL and Time-Warner in 2000.  Even then - at the height of the dotcom boom - some observers were incredulous at the price.

In the next three weeks, Citigroup will circulate documents on the next phase of the sale deal and ask for bids.  BT, BSkyB and Orange have all been tipped as potential bidders but the City favourite is The Carphone Warehouse, headed by Charles Dunstone.

One insider predicted that Dunstone would try to snap up AOL UK with a last-minute bid well below the asking price."*

Please forgive me if I do not get around to commenting on all your journals today.  What with the J-Land anniversary, making two videos of Daniel's Birthday and then having computer problems all day Friday and most of yesterday, the hours I have been spending on here have taken their toll.  My neck and shoulder are so stiff and painful so I  really need some hours away from my computer completely. I know that you will understand.

The weather is typical for the Bank holiday, overcast, threats of rain and a strong and cold breeze.  Almost September, it will be Christmas before we know it.  Take care everyone.

I shall leave you with a joke:-

A husband and wife were traveling by car from Key West to Boston.

After almost 24 hours on the road, they were too tired to continue, so they decided to stop for a rest at a nice hotel. They took a room, but only planned  to sleep for four hours and then get back on the road.

When they checked out four hours later, the desk clerk handed them a bill for $350.00.

The man exploded and demanded to know why the charge was so high. He told the clerk although it was a nice hotel, the rooms certainly weren't worth $350.00.

When the clerk told him $350.00 was the standard rate, the man insisted on speaking to the Manager.

The Manager appeared, listened to the man, and then explained that the hotel had an Olympic-sized pool and a huge conference centre that were available for them to use.

"But we didn't use them," the man said.

"Well, that's too bad," said the manager, "But they are here, and you could have," He went on to explain they could have taken in one of the shows for which the hotel was famous. "The best entertainers from New York, Hollywood and Las Vegas perform here," the Manager said.

"But we didn't go to any of those shows, " said the man again.

"Well, we have them, and you could have," the Manager replied.

No matter what facility the Manager mentioned, the man replied, "But we didn't use it!"

The Manager was unmoved, and eventually the man gave up and agreed to pay.

He wrote a cheque and handed it to the Manager.

The Manager looked at the cheque and said, "But sir, this cheque is only made out for $50.00."

"That's correct," said the man. "I charged you $300.00 for sleeping with my wife."

"But I didn't!" exclaimedthe Manager.

"Well, too bad," the man replied. "She was here and you could have."