So Have We Got Our TV's Set to Hypno Yet?

As it looks like my plan to completely ignore it has already failed I suppose I should talk about the celebrations to mark the Queen of England's Diamond Jubilee.

On Sunday (3/6/12) morning the Queen will take a carriage ride too and from Saint Paul's Cathedral where a service of thanksgiving will be held. In the afternoon the will be a river pageant with 1000 boats including the Queens golden Jubilee barge will sail down the river Thames. The Thames flood barrier will be closed specifically to prevent the spectacle being disrupted by something real like the weather or sea conditions. On Monday (4/6/12) there will be a special three hour Diamond Jubilee concert held at Buckingham Palace which will culminate with the 1980's ska band Madness playing on a stage on the palace roof.

This of course will all be televised and will be the first large scale Royal event since the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in April 2011. On that occasion the nation united to watch, transfixed as the happy couple exchanged their vows. That probably had something to do with the fact that the entire TV presentation which featured lots of shiny objects, repeated images of stillness and commentary delivered in a strong, calm, repetitive voice was specifically designed to induce a theta state in the viewers. Theta waves are patterns of electrical activity in the brain that are present during sleep or when a person is in a hypnotic trance. During these periods people very suggestible which is why you can get a sleep walker to do pretty much what you like and why advertisers in the UK and the US are banned from using such techniques. On this occasion though I think the Royals efforts are more focused on paying people £50 (USD80) to throw street parties in the local communities so they are socially conditioned to associate a positive experience with the Royal Family. It must be working though because recent opinion polls give the Queen 80% approval ratings despite the fact that if Britons want to know the reason for the current economic misery she'll be sailing down the Thames on a gold barge at around fourish.

Oh and obviously the Madness thing is pure republican bait. So anyone making jokes about the Jubilee taking place underneath madness will no doubt soon be finding their name on some sort of list.