in particular, the repetitive unlocking shakespeare trail makes me rush to the radio, for the off switch.

the poem. by the 'poet in residence' at stratford upon avon sounded more like a political broadcast on behalf of .....the banker's version of 'capitalism'. i'd love to know what jean, and others, make of the content.

on 'front row' the sonnet was read aloud, and discussed, and then followed by a review of a 'marvel' comic story, now adapted to film ..... whereas the 'front row' presenter was allowed to mention that the adaptation of 'marvel' was definitively 'right wing' (which it definitely sounded, despite the enthusiasm of the woman selling the film's alleged credibility on 'front row')...or at least very unpleasant, as in regressive, a film to miss. the poem, about shakespeare being 'a merchant' - (big deal) - was uncannily similar to the 'marvel' themes somehow.

does ws have to be quite so subject to current whims and politics, and quite so clumsily? i felt that the news that 'shakespeare competed in the olympics you know' might well be round the very next corner. was it 'poetry'? or was it effectively just an extended marketing trail-cum-sonnet, instead of poetry.....even if it was 'live & new', and from the bard's home town? why were we not privvy to what the 'olde chaps', who've apparently been 'teaching ws at stratford for decades', actually think....if they're going to be mentioned initially?

imv the proms trails sound a bit seedy, slightly spooky, summer orgy-ish. classical music has apparently long since been 'sexed up for dossiers', as others have remarked. but does the trail need to be as well?

of late, do 'they' at the beeb never think ahead, as to whether the trail narratives chosen, and language of middle management, IT and/or (yoof) marketing might jar at all? for instance if i 'drill down' a bit in terms of my own response, the sheer coincidence that some poor soul really was quite recently 'locked in a suitcase', (currently widely discussed in court, and in the media), makes the idea that shakespeare was ever 'locked in' even less convincing, metaphorically or otherwise. (i'm awaiting a statement from the met on this, though they'll probably deny it, regardless).

who ever does the beeb marketing, perhaps needs to think about the meaning of the marketing phrase 'less is more' when useing 'extra stuff' (baggage)! in their trails. ideally, adverts aren't supposed to jar quite so much, and in all the wrong ways. it's counter to the basics of advertising success..... the idea being that adverts are just smooth enough to consume whole, rather than switch off....the hallmark of 100% failure.

i feel (unusually) sorry for willy - the vehicle for so much junk to float upon.....and perhaps a similar sympathy is appropriate for proms participants, who might also dislike the trails, yet have to suffer them too and from april onwards. of course, audience response comes last - doesn't count for much ... just a target to fire random stuff at.....a bit like the victims publicly trapped in the stocks, 'once upon a time'. no one asked them what they actually thought of the avalanche of rotten garbage either, i don't suppose.