I wonder what heaven will be like if it's run by the British? I was talking about this with a friend the other day, and I do hope it's not.
It would be very marketing-led if it were; all customer satisfaction feedback forms ("Your stay in Heaven is important to us - please help us to improve by filling in this form: Cleanliness of pearly gates - very good, good, average, poor..."). And there'd be artwork sponsored by Sainsbury's and something well-intentioned by the Millennium Commission.
All in all, enough to make you want the other place!
But then again, what about if it were run by the Germans? Imagine the forms you'd have to fill out to get into the place!
If you have a candidate country who you think should be awarded the franchise, let me know...
Posted by Eurodan at May 21, 2003 9:52 AMReminds me of the old bons mots: Heaven is where the cooks are Italian, the waiters are German, the police are English (told you it was old), the lovers are French and it's all organised by the Swiss; Hell has English cooking, French waiters, German police, Swiss lovers and Italian organisation. I'm sure there are many national variations. These days, wouldn't you instantly hand the franchise to the Swedes, just for the design??
Posted by: Erato at May 21, 2003 12:41 PMOoh, yes! I hadn't thought of that! I think I would give the Swedes the franchise - after all, just think what the staff would look like! But only so long as they promised that there'd be no self-assembly furniture!
Posted by: Eurodan at May 21, 2003 1:28 PMLOL yes - "Magnus", the build-it-yourself celestial throne, coming soon to an Ikea near you...
Speaking of French lovers, did you see that Prez Chirac intends to relax the rules governing the award of medals to Heroines of the French State who have raised large families? At present they must be French, married and of good moral character; he wants to remove the first two criteria. Reaction has been predictable; Marie-José Thollot, president of the federation of medal holders, said: "If they are going to hand it out to concubines, they might as well give it to anybody, even to homosexuals!"
Concubine... now there's a word I haven't heard in a while! I hadn't actually seen that story - which is a bit alarming, seeing as I'm supposed to be keeping up with current affairs 'in the hexagon'. Still, you always were good at squirreling out the best stories from the paper.
Posted by: Eurodan at May 21, 2003 2:29 PMTjena Daniel,
Underbar sida du har. Ser mycket fram emot Midsommar!!! Du skall ju vara där när vi anländer eftersom Henrik är och samlar ihop de andra. Har du hört att vi skall gifta oss i sommar? Kramar i massor från Göteborg.
(Quick translation: "Great site, midsummer=FUN, marriage this summer, H&K from Goteborg)
Posted by: Fredrik Olsson at May 21, 2003 2:37 PM*********SMILES**********
Well as this blogs token Swede I feel honored by the idea of a Swedish frachise of Heaven......H x
Just one request:
No herring.
Ta.
Posted by: Erato at May 21, 2003 3:24 PMWell it seems that the Swedes quite like the idea of having the Heaven franchise, so unless there are any objections...?
Good... that's that settled.
I hope the Nords among you will come back later in the week, as I'm about to start up Svenska bloggen... oh yes!
Posted by: Eurodan at May 21, 2003 4:30 PMErato - what do you mean? Heaven without herring? Is that possible? .....didn't think so either....b t w, how on earth is Daniel Persson to find time to write witty epics (we don't expect less...) every day in all these languages?
Posted by: Henrik at May 21, 2003 6:33 PMDan, you must have seen a draft Customer Satisfaction Feedback Form. Below is the actual wording of the first question for a British run heaven:
Q1) What is your impression of the cleanliness of the Pearly Gates?
a) Excellent
b) Extremely good
c) Outstanding
d) Extremely outstandingly excellent
(Heaven is brought to you in association with Camelot, Capita and the British Association of Management Consultants.) Please note: Heaven is closed for essential maintenance until further notice.
Posted by: Adam at May 21, 2003 6:42 PM