It is hard to belief that there has been a time when television broadcasting was not ruled by commercially driven, narrow minded and short-sighted media tycoons. Those were the days when groups of loonies, no not Canadian dollars, were allowed to make programs that were irrelevant, idiotic but a lot of fun to watch. 'Monty Python' was
such a group. Or still is, as there has been a revival this year. A series of theater shows. Well partly I must add because one of the original six members was beyond resurrection. The theater shows therefor were aptly named 'Monty Python Live (mostly): One down, five to go.' Howztat for self reflection. I must admit that their humor was not to
everybody's taste and inevitably viewers were criticizing
the
broadcasting organization for spending tax payers money on such
nonsense. But dare I say that those critics should have paid a bit more attention. They could have learned a thing or two. As it was, for example, the musical 'Spamalot' that opened the curtains to show a glimpse of future
consumer behavior. A lot of irritation and aggravation could have been avoided if only those critical viewers would have been less prejudiced and not so terribly pleased with themselves. And would have stayed tuned in of course, a minor detail. Saving the public from being bombarded with 'precooked meat' was not the only self proclaimed vocation.
such a group. Or still is, as there has been a revival this year. A series of theater shows. Well partly I must add because one of the original six members was beyond resurrection. The theater shows therefor were aptly named 'Monty Python Live (mostly): One down, five to go.' Howztat for self reflection. I must admit that their humor was not to
everybody's taste and inevitably viewers were criticizing the
broadcasting organization for spending tax payers money on such
nonsense. But dare I say that those critics should have paid a bit more attention. They could have learned a thing or two. As it was, for example, the musical 'Spamalot' that opened the curtains to show a glimpse of futureconsumer behavior. A lot of irritation and aggravation could have been avoided if only those critical viewers would have been less prejudiced and not so terribly pleased with themselves. And would have stayed tuned in of course, a minor detail. Saving the public from being bombarded with 'precooked meat' was not the only self proclaimed vocation.
As early as 1970, John Cleese warned the public for civil servants who do their utmost best to make life for the general public as miserable as possible. The City of Surrey has its own equivalent of the 'Ministry of silly walks' as I discovered one early morning. I was about to drive off in my PT Mobster when 
a yellow flier stuck under the windscreen wiper caught my eye. How wrong I was to think that an ambitious advertiser was the culprit behind it. That was not the case, it was a parking ticket. The obvious place to report oneself is the Police station I thought. Not in Surrey it isn't. I was advised to take my business to 'Concord Pacific', the organization in charge of all parking affairs. 'Ahh, I asked so that's the Ministry of silly walks?' The duty officer as it turned out, had been among the critics who hadn't paid due attention in the 1970's, so I had to explain what I meant. And got a confirmation. It was not the only silly rule I found out. How about the prohibition to park within 5 meters of a fire 
hydrant? Yeahh, well but that's obvious, isn't it? Not always, it seems. Put the hydrant 4,99 meters of the curb and you create a great cash machine. Toronto tops the list with one of theirs having raked in $300.000,- in six years time. The question that begs to be answered is whether the parking ticket I received was rightfully given? After reading 'BY-law 13007', 'Except when permitted by traffic control device, no person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle on a highway other than on the right side of the highway and with the wheels parallel to that side, and were there is a curb within 30 cm of that curb', I think it was not. I was parked on the right, albeit facing oncoming traffic. But that was because the car was stuck in reverse I could argue, whilst demonstratively wearing a collar to relieve the pain in my stiff neck.
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