Vicky Goes On (Again)

Tag: Life

  • Cinemas are BACK – trust me

    Just a few months ago I would have told you that cinema is in terminal decline. It’s dead as a dodo (sidenote: I WOULD LOVE TO MEET A DODO) and it’s sooo expensive and everything about it is sad and bad and terrible. But. They’re back (and air conditioned – so perfect places to escape heatwaves) and relatively inexpensive. As far as anything can be nowadays.

    I was talking to a friend about enshittification, shrinkflation, overpricing of everything. I said, surely this can all only go so far? Surely there will come a point where the system will collapse. OK, billionaires will always have the money to buy all the things but if regular people can no longer afford Primark well Primark will not make any money. We cannot (surely) get to a point where we’re just wearing rags and wandering the streets kicking stones for entertainment. My friend observed that cinemas seem to have learned this lesson and become more affordable places lately. And that’s true. £3.99 for a box of pick ‘n’ mix is doable. Sure, it’s still overpriced for what it is but it’s less than a fiver. I can handle that.

    In the news recently there was some stuff about gigs being cancelled due to low ticket sales. Consumers voted with their feet – finally! These ticket prices are too damn high. We cannot afford £700 to see some songstress. We’re trying to buy eggs FFS.
    Zayn Malik, Post Malone, Meghan Trainor… they’ve all cancelled tours. We’re broke! And look, I get it. These artists make money from touring but if your fans can’t afford it then no ticket sales and no money for you. And then when none of us can afford anything we can all kick stones for entertainment. Am I selling you on the idea of kicking stones for entertainment? I think I might be on to something. Detox from the internet with Stone Kicking™
    The 2026 World Cup is going to have some empty seats too, let me tell you. Prices range from £478 – £3,534 GBP. THREE THOUSAND POUNDS!!!!

    Photo by Mehrpouya H on Unsplash

    Anyway, go to the cinema. They’ve become reasonably priced and your feet won’t be damaged from the kicking of stones.

    I really went on a tangent there and I am sorry but there is a heatwave and I am British. And I have a boiled brain.

  • Seasonal Depression Becomes Regular Depression

    Ummm… Happy New Year?

    It’s been (and, frankly, continues to be) a long, dark Winter. We’re three months in and there’s now a war on.
    However, it is now the Chinese Year of the Horse. So, that’s good? I guess. I don’t know. I’m a dog. In 10 days it will be my birthday so I’m dealing with THAT whole thing too.
    Everything is too much and not enough. Still. Always.
    Must I forever feel feelings?

    The sun came out briefly and I was filled with serenity for a moment but, as usual, that’s gone and it’s now windy and boring and depressing and existential.

    SPRING in Bruce Castle Park
    A rude looking gull in the City of London. Probably on cocaine.

    Anyway.

    I joined the gym so I should get some endorphins one of these days. I’ll be back shortly with like amusing observations on something shortly. Maybe I’ll tell you about clubbercise.

  • Inflation. Everything costs £20

    In the olden days (anything longer than 5 years ago, but which 5 years? This could be a much longer tangent but basically, time is an illusion and everything was either “the other day”, “5 years ago (but resolutely NOT 2020), or “in the past“) I always thought of Coke (Coca-Cola) as being 50p and figuring out the cost of foreign money from that. About 5 years ago (see tangent) this changed to £1. Listen, I know we all know the Freddo cost price index but I am no economist so I used the price of a can of Coke. Now, here’s the horror: A can of Coke, when not purchased as part of a Meal Deal is £1.55. One POUND and FIFTY FIVE PENCE. In GBP.

    My friend Kelinda writes: ‘Why is everything £20?’
    And she’s right. Everything is £20. I leave my house to buy some vegetables for an evening meal and the price is £20. What are these vegetables made from? I’m not even shopping at Waitrose. This is Asda. And my wages are alright, you know? I spend £150,000 a week on food shopping and I don’t even buy the meat. Everything is either £5 or £20 or £1000.

    And here’s the kicker – it really, really doesn’t have to be this way. B&M reported earnings will be between £510m to £560m in 2025 which is an 18% decline. So fucking what? It’s still a lot of fucking money. Why is everything in capitalism growth, growth, growth? Because of the shareholders. Look, I get that the shareholders want their sweet, sweet green but you cannot seriously look me in my eyeballs and say £510 million GBP Sterling cash money is not a lot of money. You cannot talk straight out of your mouths and expect me to think, “yeah, you know what? You should be putting Coke up to £3 a can. Coca-Cola is a poor li’l company with no money at all. Won’t somebody think of the shareholders?”

    £11m was paid out to the UKs privatised water companies as part of the “water restoration fund” in April 2024. £78BILLION was paid by water companies to its shareholders since privatisation started in 1989 (with much thanks to the Private Eye for the figures). All that and approximately 590 million litres of water are lost DAILY by Thames Water alone. I pay those bitches over £50 a month. Literally falls from the sky and I pay that. (OK, I pay half but the point damn well still stands).

    What are we supposed to do? Pay £20 for eggs, bodywash, tomatoes. And then £30, £40, £700? Where will it end? When do we say, “enough. I am not paying £14 for a Freddo!”?

    A lot of companies are going bust but I wonder if it is because they’re also pricing themselves to extinction? Capitalism is supposed to be about market forces and the consumer dictating through their wallets what we want and what we are willing to purchase. But, I’m not willing to spend £4 on a tomato. And what are we left with? We do need to purchase food. We literally cannot sustain ourselves singularly. We are homo sapiens because of agriculture and tribal living.

    OK, this is too much. I’m going to get a chicken coop and some tomato seeds. BRB.

    Oh, and don’t get me started on shrinkflation. Kerrygold butter is now 50g less for the same price. The feckin’ gobshites.