In which the pond shares a message of joy and hope from our Gracie this invasion day ...

Choices, always with the choices …

Go with the nattering negativity of that nabob, the oscillating fan, or seek a little uplift with our Gracie late on invasion day?

Actually the pond would rather be reading Marina Hyde, who likes to find wonders and ironies in the world …

Anyway. It was during the 2018 US visit that MBS seems to have got Bezos’s number, among those of other power players, and the pair inevitably struck up a bro-to-bro WhatsApp chat. The Hollywood visit itself was a very grand affair, with the crown prince, his entourage and his entourage’s entourages taking over the whole of the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills. Here he hosted a summit on “The future of entertainment in Saudi Arabia”.
It’s great to see the kingdom pondering these creative questions. Although Saudi Arabia is already the genre leader in the public crucifixion space, they may well want to expand their serial output, perhaps bringing the same characters back for floggings every week, or finding a way to vertically integrate their beheading content. Certainly the kingdom seemed an attractive market to the likes of the Marvel Experience CEO, who turned up at the conference carrying Thor’s prop hammer – a weapon that seems impressive but ultimately loses in a game of rock, hammer, bonesaw.
Speaking of rocks, one guest at a Rupert Murdoch-hosted dinner for MBS during his stay saw The Rock bond with MBS. According to what he stated at the time, The Rock was humbled to be told he had so many young fans in Saudi Arabia. “I look forward to my first visit soon to Saudi Arabia,” he posted. “I’ll be sure to bring my finest tequila to share with his Royal Highness and family.” 

Well yes, the pond will drink to that, and so will many of the Saudi elite, who drink behind closed doors, because there are many doors they keep closed …

But enough of all that, because it's time for that pep talk from our Gracie …

Ah yes, the good old days … and now what are we, where have we gone? Down into the mud with Oscar Wilde's rocket.

We're the reptiles' despair, and our Gracie's worry, and yet there's a simple enough reason, one that the pond hinted at yesterday when quoting our Gracie in relation to another matter.

Social media! Is there nothing it will not ruin, is there nothing it cannot blight, and woe is us, all the joy and climate denialism emanating from reptile HQ in 'leet barista sheltering Surry Hills is powerless against the social media horde, the twittering tide ...

Ah yes, it's easy, terribly easy, and the pond immediately seized on that to remind our Gracie and her readership of the best exponent of social media of them all …

And now back to Gracie, and for someone intent on promoting Goop-style energy and joy, and perhaps even vaginal scents, the next par starts off very gloomy indeed, as the forces of social media evil make life hard for the reptiles ...

Perhaps, perhaps … or perhaps we need the resilience of lies, cheating, fraudulent behaviour, deception, tyranny and dictator worship, and narcissist power mongering, ably supported by the reptiles, as they go about their denialist-peddling business …

Well joyous invasion day to all, and let's hear it for the Donald, developing gratitude for his blessing of us with his presence, and his empathy for others, and his deep spiritual awareness of those around us …yes, personal optimism, happiness and a belief that life is good and will only get better, at least until your dead, is up there with Goop, and perhaps deserves a verse of 'don't worry, be happy', or perhaps a poem …

To gov a well burnt country
A land of leaping flames
Of roasted mountain ranges
Of droughts and ember rains
Ignore her scorched horizons
Heed not her rising seas
Keep digging up her coalfields
To flog to the Chinese!

But instead the pond will settle for a few cartoons ...