23 August 2004
rats and crashes
'I believe in my own obsessions, in the beauty of the car crash, in the peace of the submerged forest, in the excitements of the deserted holiday beach, in the elegance of automobile graveyards, in the mystery of multi-storey car parks, in the poetry of abandoned hotels'. From 'What I believe', J.G. Ballard.
'I assume that a large part of the car's appeal lies in its combination of a comparatively primitive and static technology with a decorative shell capable of generating enthusiasms and obsessions of the most extravagant kind.' - from 'Autopia or Autogeddon?', J.G. Ballard.
Weekend did not go quite as planned. We did go to the zoo, eventually, on Sunday, so rats all in order (when one gets sick, he or she waits patiently in a corner of the toilet area until recovered or dead, so as not to infect the rest of the colony).
But Saturday was filled with police and insurance companies. We crashed quite spectacularly on the way to the zoo. Infinite Grandma (78) failed to spot a driver coming from the right as we crossed a roundabout. I, however, did, but to no avail (what good is shouting 'stop!' when the pedals are on the other side of the car). So, he ploughed into us, we were shunted over the central reservation on the left side and into another car waiting to turn into the roundabout (it was a driving instructor's car as well). I FUCKING HATE CARS!!!!!! It's the third pishing car crash I've been in in the past seven years. And I don't even drive (have my licence but know I am too bad a driver to go out on the road, hmm perhaps it's genetic). We were all alright, but still, it's just not good. If anyone knows whether old folk are supposed to retake their test after a certain age, please let me know, as I'm gonna have to do some serious sorting out about what my Gran's gonna do (I say she should never drive again, but she values her independence...s'not gonna be pretty...).
So, cars (almost an anagram of Crash too, do we care about anagrams these days, ho ho). They are fucking ridiculously dangerous, and I don't care what kind of fantasies people project onto them. Make them all go away.....
