my violin brings peace not war (I hope)
At the risk of sounding like a valley girl... Oh. My. God.
As some of you know, no musicians can currently take their instruments on board any flights out of the U.K. because of the security alert currently in force here in England.
Whilst googling musical instrument cabin baggage to try and find out whether or not the situation has been resolved yet (the Association of British Orchestras is currently in negotiations), since I have to fly to Australia in less than 3 weeks; I came across these articles examining this exact issue:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5273576.stm
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/16/features/tour.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4784225.stm
as well as this comment by the BAA:
The operator of the UK’s main airports, BAA, has produced in-depth guidance and advice on what items can and can’t be taken on board aircraft following the recent security alert.
The new section on their website clearly states the size of hand luggage allowed as well as detailed information on what can be packed in bags.
Cosmetics, toiletries and pastes are highlighted as items that need to be checked into the hold and any small electrical goods such as laptops will be thoroughly scanned.
The website also stresses the fact that any liquids or gels bought in shops before security have to be stored in the hold and will not be allowed in the cabin, items purchased after security can be taken on board as long as your flight is not to the US.
Heightened security on flights to the US will mean passengers have to go through a second security search, again liquids, including drinks and toiletries, are banned but food purchased in the departure lounge is allowed.
Elsewhere, on the Flybe website there is a Q&A list that may also prove useful for airline passengers set to travel in the coming weeks.
The list has been compiled by the Department of Transport and answers a variety of questions, including travelling with young children, what people requiring medications should do and the fact that no musical instruments are allowed in the cabin – even violins will not be considered as hand luggage.
It's not the articles that caused my expletives... it was this incredibly intelligent comment posted after one article in response:
I am a security guard at Heathrow. If you don't like it, don't fly. This is happening for a reason and you're quick to forget it. If we were not doing this and a bomb did get on a plane, you would be quick to complain that nothing was being done about it. Get real, there is more to life than music.Laura, Middlesex, England
I say again. Huh? Exsqueeze me? Baking powder?
Oh, but wait. Because I have this issue, clearly I am unpatriotic. Clearly I don't care about the safety of the country. Clearly I don't care about being safe on a plane when I fly.
FIRST of all. If you don't like it, don't fly.
ah Laura, if only that were possible. But we're not talking about taking the kids to Majorca and complaining about the lack of ipods in our handbags. We are talking about the orchestras that we are employed to play with having to cancel their tours because we can't take the instruments on board. We are talking about having to pull out of concerts and recordings because we can't get there with our instrument. And not all these venues are accessible by train. Some places, like Australia, you have to FLY to. And believe me, if I could get there by clicking my ruby slippers together I would. I don't want to constantly be worried about someone blowing up my plane. But when we can't work, we don't get paid. And musicians are not in a high wage bracket as it is. We aren't complaining because we are spoilt brats. Those little beshirted darlings are happily playing minesweeper and solitaire on their laptops all the way across the atlantic. We are complaining because this is totally fucking up our careers! I would be perfectly happy for them to take my violin on board and lock it away somewhere so that I can't access it for the duration of the flight. As long as it isn't in the hold. Violins cannot withstand the temperatures in the environment of the hold. With negotiation and a little thought there could be a solution. But wait... I shouldn't argue...
This is happening for a reason and you're quick to forget it.
Well, no actually. I'm all for them putting whatever security measures they need to in place. But here, Laura, oh fountain of intelligence, is the rub. They are allowing laptops and mobiles on board again now. Electrical equipment that could be rigged in any number of small but potentially explosive ways. My instrument is made of wood. Put it through an x-ray machine and you are going to see everything there is to see. Short of me coating my instrument with arsenic and forcing the cabin crew to lick it I don't think there is any way I could possibly smuggle any potentially deadly device in my 1749 viennese violin past Heathrow security... and frankly, the thought that they think that I could makes me seriously worry about the vigilance of the security staff they have put in place there. AND (I'm getting on my soapbox now) let's look at why they are allowing laptops on board. Because people need them for work and they are too valuable to be put in the hold.
Um... and what are we exactly? Instrument insurance will not cover instruments that are put in the hold because they are too valuable and too easily damaged.
If we were not doing this and a bomb did get on a plane, you would be quick to complain that nothing was being done about it.
Yes, you are absolutely right. Keep us safe. Crack down on security. Do all of it. But don't be so blind to the entire completely valid argument that we musicians have been pleading with you blinkered fools for the last few weeks. A violin is so easily examined. It is NOT a threat. And we HAVE to fly to get to the places to play the concerts to make a living. It's not a holiday. It's work. We don't have another option if we need to tour for our careers other than not being a musician. Baby's milk is going to be more of a threat than my instrument.
Get real, there is more to life than music.
Yeah, like corporate businessmen taking their laptops on planes. Like foreign policies that made us such a target in the first place.
Music doesn't bring people together. Musicians don't travel the world creating better relations between cultures. Musos are the lousy layabouts that made the terrorists want to kill us in the first place. We don't deserve to speak out and try to protect our careers and livelihoods. Oh but wait, music isn't a real career anyway.
Notice my look of complete and utter revulsion. These are the intelligent people that are protecting us.
The thing is, I'm not a total leftie communist wacko pinkie hippie whatever that this Laura seems to think that all musicians clearly are. Ok, so I'm a bit of one, but I don't disagree with restrictions on cabin baggage. I have to fly all the time and ever since 9/11 it scares me shitless every single time (which, considering I was flying every 2 weeks at one point is a lot of scared!)... and I want you guys to do whatever you need to do to get me there safely. But banning my £30, 000 instrument from the plane is not going to do it. But if the musicians union had as much money and clout as some of the big business corporations you can bet they would have settled that point by now.
Oops, that was the leftie communist wacko pinkie hippie in me talking...
As some of you know, no musicians can currently take their instruments on board any flights out of the U.K. because of the security alert currently in force here in England.
Whilst googling musical instrument cabin baggage to try and find out whether or not the situation has been resolved yet (the Association of British Orchestras is currently in negotiations), since I have to fly to Australia in less than 3 weeks; I came across these articles examining this exact issue:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5273576.stm
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/16/features/tour.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4784225.stm
as well as this comment by the BAA:
The operator of the UK’s main airports, BAA, has produced in-depth guidance and advice on what items can and can’t be taken on board aircraft following the recent security alert.
The new section on their website clearly states the size of hand luggage allowed as well as detailed information on what can be packed in bags.
Cosmetics, toiletries and pastes are highlighted as items that need to be checked into the hold and any small electrical goods such as laptops will be thoroughly scanned.
The website also stresses the fact that any liquids or gels bought in shops before security have to be stored in the hold and will not be allowed in the cabin, items purchased after security can be taken on board as long as your flight is not to the US.
Heightened security on flights to the US will mean passengers have to go through a second security search, again liquids, including drinks and toiletries, are banned but food purchased in the departure lounge is allowed.
Elsewhere, on the Flybe website there is a Q&A list that may also prove useful for airline passengers set to travel in the coming weeks.
The list has been compiled by the Department of Transport and answers a variety of questions, including travelling with young children, what people requiring medications should do and the fact that no musical instruments are allowed in the cabin – even violins will not be considered as hand luggage.
It's not the articles that caused my expletives... it was this incredibly intelligent comment posted after one article in response:
I am a security guard at Heathrow. If you don't like it, don't fly. This is happening for a reason and you're quick to forget it. If we were not doing this and a bomb did get on a plane, you would be quick to complain that nothing was being done about it. Get real, there is more to life than music.Laura, Middlesex, England
I say again. Huh? Exsqueeze me? Baking powder?
Oh, but wait. Because I have this issue, clearly I am unpatriotic. Clearly I don't care about the safety of the country. Clearly I don't care about being safe on a plane when I fly.
FIRST of all. If you don't like it, don't fly.
ah Laura, if only that were possible. But we're not talking about taking the kids to Majorca and complaining about the lack of ipods in our handbags. We are talking about the orchestras that we are employed to play with having to cancel their tours because we can't take the instruments on board. We are talking about having to pull out of concerts and recordings because we can't get there with our instrument. And not all these venues are accessible by train. Some places, like Australia, you have to FLY to. And believe me, if I could get there by clicking my ruby slippers together I would. I don't want to constantly be worried about someone blowing up my plane. But when we can't work, we don't get paid. And musicians are not in a high wage bracket as it is. We aren't complaining because we are spoilt brats. Those little beshirted darlings are happily playing minesweeper and solitaire on their laptops all the way across the atlantic. We are complaining because this is totally fucking up our careers! I would be perfectly happy for them to take my violin on board and lock it away somewhere so that I can't access it for the duration of the flight. As long as it isn't in the hold. Violins cannot withstand the temperatures in the environment of the hold. With negotiation and a little thought there could be a solution. But wait... I shouldn't argue...
This is happening for a reason and you're quick to forget it.
Well, no actually. I'm all for them putting whatever security measures they need to in place. But here, Laura, oh fountain of intelligence, is the rub. They are allowing laptops and mobiles on board again now. Electrical equipment that could be rigged in any number of small but potentially explosive ways. My instrument is made of wood. Put it through an x-ray machine and you are going to see everything there is to see. Short of me coating my instrument with arsenic and forcing the cabin crew to lick it I don't think there is any way I could possibly smuggle any potentially deadly device in my 1749 viennese violin past Heathrow security... and frankly, the thought that they think that I could makes me seriously worry about the vigilance of the security staff they have put in place there. AND (I'm getting on my soapbox now) let's look at why they are allowing laptops on board. Because people need them for work and they are too valuable to be put in the hold.
Um... and what are we exactly? Instrument insurance will not cover instruments that are put in the hold because they are too valuable and too easily damaged.
If we were not doing this and a bomb did get on a plane, you would be quick to complain that nothing was being done about it.
Yes, you are absolutely right. Keep us safe. Crack down on security. Do all of it. But don't be so blind to the entire completely valid argument that we musicians have been pleading with you blinkered fools for the last few weeks. A violin is so easily examined. It is NOT a threat. And we HAVE to fly to get to the places to play the concerts to make a living. It's not a holiday. It's work. We don't have another option if we need to tour for our careers other than not being a musician. Baby's milk is going to be more of a threat than my instrument.
Get real, there is more to life than music.
Yeah, like corporate businessmen taking their laptops on planes. Like foreign policies that made us such a target in the first place.
Music doesn't bring people together. Musicians don't travel the world creating better relations between cultures. Musos are the lousy layabouts that made the terrorists want to kill us in the first place. We don't deserve to speak out and try to protect our careers and livelihoods. Oh but wait, music isn't a real career anyway.
Notice my look of complete and utter revulsion. These are the intelligent people that are protecting us.
The thing is, I'm not a total leftie communist wacko pinkie hippie whatever that this Laura seems to think that all musicians clearly are. Ok, so I'm a bit of one, but I don't disagree with restrictions on cabin baggage. I have to fly all the time and ever since 9/11 it scares me shitless every single time (which, considering I was flying every 2 weeks at one point is a lot of scared!)... and I want you guys to do whatever you need to do to get me there safely. But banning my £30, 000 instrument from the plane is not going to do it. But if the musicians union had as much money and clout as some of the big business corporations you can bet they would have settled that point by now.
Oops, that was the leftie communist wacko pinkie hippie in me talking...
posted by mybigtoe at 7:03 PM
1 Comments:
Hey... *hug/kiss*
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