Welcome to the Wednesday (EBD) Late Nite Radio. In 2005, while strolling on a winter evening in their native Finland, Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta Kalleinen had a flash of inspiration:
In the Finnish vocabulary there is an expression “Valituskuoro”. It means “Complaints Choir” and it is used to describe situations where a lot of people are complaining simultaneously. Kalleinen and Kochta-Kalleinen thought: “Wouldn’t it be fantastic to take this expression literally and organise a real Complaints Choir!”
As complaining is a universal phenomenon the project could be organised in any city around the world…
After the first Complaints Choir formed in Birmingham England (“the participants…understood the concept instinctively”) dozens of Complaints Choirs sprang up all around the world, from Budapest to Hong Kong to Buenos Aires to Jerusalem. The best ones understand that quotidian kvetching about small things is the whole point; others, such as the
The Tokyo Complaints Choir – “The cat that lives near my house ignores me” – hits the mark, as does tonight’s featured choir from Sweden, whose complaints – “nobody wants to buy my sofa on Ebay,” “I’m so tired of headwind,” and “cupcakes are too big” – are the embodiment of pointless kvetching. Here they are then, for your amusement: the Complaints Choir of Sundbyberg. Enjoy.
Your Reader Tips are, as always, welcome in any format in the comments.
G,
Thank you for your friend’s uninformed opinion.
This was my reply…
Dear Editor,
Please revoke spinster Moncur’s writing privileges until she learns to look into things a little before jotting down partial truths.
Mixing oranges with apples, EVs with NEVs simply disqualifies the author.
All the vehicles mentioned are trend starters and not at all typical of any current models like the Nissan Leaf and 32 others.
You may not like change, but you have no choice other than to fall in line.
Remember 1973 and the gas embargo? Refineries make us stupidly vunerable. Remember that hybrids do NOT leave your driveway when gasoline is cut off.
Better get a Nano, BYD, Miev, Renault, or Nissan Leaf if you hope to drive two blocks when gasoline is reserved for the military and emergency services.
The driving public in Brazil will not be stalled. Do you even know why? TG
LindaL @ 9:06 a.m.:
Just to be clear, the quote you repeated from my previous post re child care was a sentence I myself had quoted from a Toronto Star article, not my own comments on it. I share your skepticism.