Dirty Old Town

The town in Dirty Old Town is Salford which is now an area in Greater Manchester.

It was one of my first thoughts when I heard of the Teenybopper Bombing at a recent Ariana Grande concert venue. Can't believe the mass stampede, the failure of the band to instantly play something, anything. I particularly can't understand the band's failure to play the UK National Anthem which would have done wonders for crowd control. If the band were Americans touring with the star, just play My Country Tiss of Thee, Sweet Land of Liberty. Different words here in the USA but its known as God Save Our Gracious Queen in the UK. No one runs out when that is being played anymore than someone would run out during the playing of The Star Spangled Banner in America. I can't believe the star's failure to return to the stage and do something, anything! Sing, dance, chew bubble gum, take her blouse off. Anything! Eons ago Eddie Foy stayed on stage during a theater fire and told everyone that no one runs out on his act, they only walk out. He did his song and dance routine and as his jacket caught fire he took it off, when his shirt caught fire he continued with his act despite the painful burns and searing heat, but he stopped the mass panic and he made sure the band kept playing as fire engulfed the stage and searing heat burst out into the orchestra pit.

Heroism, confusion, fear, loathing, whatever. Sure the Muslim Taxi Association gave free rides to wandering children and some taxis became impromptu ambulances for the walking wounded. As usual, the authorities were giving conflicting and contradictory and often senseles instructions.

Stay Calm And Carry On. Easy to say, sometimes difficult to do. Performers and band members have obligations. It doesn't matter too much what they do or what song they play, its that they do something and do it instantly. They can play off key and out of tune, they can even play different songs but they have to strike up the band instantly. The various musicians can come in out of synch and with untuned instruments. It doesn't matter. It only matters that they strike up the band instantly for crowd control purposes. Performers have an obligation to be ready at all times for the unexpected to take place. Its not some optional choice, it is mandatory.

No amount of tweets or benefit concerts will make up for such a failure as took place that night. They were unprepared and unresponsive to the situation. Sure its a rare and utterly unexpected event, but both the venue and the performers should have been more prepared for it. It is a performer's duty and a tech crew's duty to always be prepared for trouble and to deal with it effectively rather than be immobilized or cowardly. It may prove to be ineffective but the attempt has to be made. Do something and do it pretty darn quick.

Far more Mancurians were injured by the senseless stampede than by actual bomb blast related debris.

Kimberley Ultramarathon: Possible murder charges!

Kimberley Ultra-marathon, a charity race known as Racing The Planet with 41 entrants is cancelled after four runners were trapped in a flaming gorge and received up to 80 percent burns and suffered for three hours without medical attention. The arson investigation by the Australian Fire Services is underway and race organizers have refused to comment on why the events transpired when the fire had been burning for five days prior to the start of the race and the organizers had knowledge of it. If its determined to be arson that is bad enough, but I don't see how the race organizers could have allowed this to happen irrespective of the nature of the origin of the fire. The fire is thought to have been natural in origin and as with most such fires in a remote area on privately owned land was left to run its course. The involvement of an arson investigator is not necessarily indicative of any belief that arson was involved.

Yes, the area is prone to bush fires and it is quite clear that some move exceptionally fast but it seems incomprehensible that race organizers did not monitor the situation more closely and did not have any ambulances pre-positioned even though the ultra marathoners are excellent runners and know they are in a rugged and remote area. There has been at least one prior death involving an entrant in the races organized by Racing The Planet.

A fire that has been burning for five days simply can not be considered an unanticipated event. Fires grow in strength and change direction. A 24 year old model from Ulladulla is fighting for her life in the hospital now but her income is surely gone. No "safe harbor" for her. (Ulladulla is aboriginal for Safe Harbor).

ADDENDUM: Race organizer has returned to Hong Kong without answering questions as to why local police and rescue services were never notified of the race that was to be held, why the race started with smoke clearly visible and why there were only non-English speaking personnel available when rescue services arrived. It should probably be noted that the daring helicopter rescue of the burn victims was performed by a pilot who happened to be near the area but was not a part of any organized rescue effort or trained for such extremely hazardous flying. It does seem that smoke on the horizon visible to race organizers would also have been visible to race entrants but I would think the organizers would be the ones most responsible for making a specific inquiry as to current conditions. The organizers had made previous mention of a variety of "cybertents" that would be set up to facilitate blogging about the event so it is clear that despite the event taking place at a geographically remote location access to weather information, satellite imagery and emergency services would have been unimpeded. No showing has been made who the non-English speaking persons were or why non-English speaking race officials would have been brought into an English speaking country for the race.

Correction: It appears that police in Western Australia were notified that the event was to be taking place but were not asked to provide any advice or assistance. The event is a privately staged event taking place on privately owned land. I don't know if anyone in Western Australia was specifically informed of a death involving a 31 year old runner in the Gobi Desert race involving Racing The Planet but certainly internet search services were available to them.

ADDENDUM: As expected the police determination is that the fire was not arson. The police investigation looked solely at origin of the fire and not at management of the event.