I'll have A Chicken Tikka Something-Or-Other Please...

Ok, I know, it's just one of those daft stories that crops up every so often and one shouldn't put too much credence in it's veracity, but even the notion of it makes me borederline homicidal. Birmingham City Council have decided that they would like to help local restaurants by ensuring the term 'balti' can only be used by Brummie proprieters, much like the whole Champagne racket. Close reading of the piece indicates that this may be a local media construct, as the council make no strong declaration, other than to say they would look into the idea, but you know what councils are like, and how these things have a habit of spiralling out of control. Next thing you know, Glasgow will be telling everyone to think of another name for the Tikka Masala........ Do we need this parochialism? Do we need insane protectionism? Do we all need air vents in our skulls? It won't happen (just try telling Mr Adeel to stop using the fucking term on his menu, I dare you...), but it does give you a depressing insight into the mental workings of yr average local authority decision maker and the craven, arse-licking local press who justify them on a daily basis. Below are a couple of segments from a film made in the late seventies about Irish motorcycle road racing. In Ireland, they take road racing literally, in that public roads, often no wider than driveways in some places, are closed to the public and turned into raceways on selected weekends throughout the spring and summer. This is a wee tribute to Joey Dunlop, who died in a racing accident in Estonia nine years ago on Thursady last. It's a fine portrait of him as a young man, as well as a great snapshot of Irish road racing at the time (1977), which some would contend hasn't changed all that much in the intervening thirty years. Part 1 Part 2