New Year's Eve, and we are about to move into 2008. It is a time when many people make resolutions that have half lives measured in seconds, and a time when for some strange reason, we all hope that things will get better.
Tonight, after the consumption of vast quantities of alcohol, people will declare undying love for complete strangers, they will make promises that in the morning will be forgotten, and those lucky enough to wake up tomorrow will find that it is January 1st and that it is no different to any other day. Things only get better if you are prepared to make changes, and the only person that you can change is yourself. 2008 will see more murder and mayhem, a second coming is unlikely, as is the end of the world. Next year people will be born and people will die, the likes of Osama Bin laden will continue their mindless and cowardly attacks on innocent people, viruses will continue to mutate, and new methods of killing will be devised. People will continue to be greedy and grasping and have little time for others. The yob culture will grow, and society will continue to worship the mediocre and idolise the failures and talentless celebrities.
It will be a year like any other and in 366 days time, people will be preparing to celebrate and hope that 2009 will be a better year. I hope that your year is at least as good as this one has turned out.
Monday 31 December 2007
Wednesday 26 December 2007
Sighhhhh
Well that is over again for another year. Somehow it seems like a fence that must be crossed in order to progress to the next and final straight of the year. Today the shops will be open again and there will be queues of people hoping to get something for nothing in the post lunacy sales.
It used to be said that farmers could be held accountable for all of the ills of this world. Until there were farmers, the population of planet Earth was nomadic and life was truly nasty brutish and short. If you couldn't keep up with the rest of the family, you were left behind and soon became a vital part of the food chain. Then one day, some guys (probably) decided that as they were getting a little long in the tooth, it might be wise to settle down and start growing stuff and maybe, instead of following the herds of four legged food, they would fence them in and hence, have all that they could eat. just outside the confines of their mud huts. Of course it would be a while before health and safety, vet's bills and the subsidies offered by the EEC, but nevertheless, from there onwards they had it made. From such beginnings, began trade, money, enhanced communications, politics and the rest. People had time to sit around and make mischief for the first time in human history. People got older and it mattered not if you could no longer run behind the horse. You could sit in a corner and someone might just throw you a bone now and then.
Of course it now became possible to find time to invent really useful stuff, and to create works of art. Writing followed and before you know it we had the internet and online banking. The population soared and farmers prospered as they always have done. Their vehicles grew in size and number and the roads filled up and so on and so on. Diseases spread easily with growing numbers of people, war became trendy and with that came the need to produce new and more interesting ways of killing people. Farmers demanded ways of killing nature too. Insecticides, fungicides, mulluscicides, nematocides, arachnicides and all sorts of other nasties came from the demands of farmers. I could go on for hours but I won't.
Now of course the damage is largely complete and the farmer has had his day. The hour of the shopkeeper is upon us and we are experiencing a mass delusion that forces us into the acquisition of rubbish.
The shopkeepers are an alien species that work in cahoots with the fashion designers. They invaded Earth several decades ago and through a complex and subtle brainwashing procedure, have convinced the more malleable humans that they MUST have, whatever the shopkeepers wish to sell. They found that is was possible to palm off, oddly shaped bits of coloured fabrics, and shoes for large sums of money, and that this could be enforced by the addition of certain labels. They manufactured myriads of plastic playthings, chemicals to apply to faces, and more and more clothes that no-one really wears but that lots of people think they want.
Inevitably the people collect the rubbish and their housed fill up. Thus they need bigger houses and more and more of the farmer's land gets bought at extraordinary prices.
So in the end - the money all goes back to the farmer, who now gets paid not to grow anything. Hey I can do that quite easily.
So, as you wander through the January sales, accumulating more debris, just think of the poor farmers, sitting at home waiting for their bank balances to grow.
It used to be said that farmers could be held accountable for all of the ills of this world. Until there were farmers, the population of planet Earth was nomadic and life was truly nasty brutish and short. If you couldn't keep up with the rest of the family, you were left behind and soon became a vital part of the food chain. Then one day, some guys (probably) decided that as they were getting a little long in the tooth, it might be wise to settle down and start growing stuff and maybe, instead of following the herds of four legged food, they would fence them in and hence, have all that they could eat. just outside the confines of their mud huts. Of course it would be a while before health and safety, vet's bills and the subsidies offered by the EEC, but nevertheless, from there onwards they had it made. From such beginnings, began trade, money, enhanced communications, politics and the rest. People had time to sit around and make mischief for the first time in human history. People got older and it mattered not if you could no longer run behind the horse. You could sit in a corner and someone might just throw you a bone now and then.
Of course it now became possible to find time to invent really useful stuff, and to create works of art. Writing followed and before you know it we had the internet and online banking. The population soared and farmers prospered as they always have done. Their vehicles grew in size and number and the roads filled up and so on and so on. Diseases spread easily with growing numbers of people, war became trendy and with that came the need to produce new and more interesting ways of killing people. Farmers demanded ways of killing nature too. Insecticides, fungicides, mulluscicides, nematocides, arachnicides and all sorts of other nasties came from the demands of farmers. I could go on for hours but I won't.
Now of course the damage is largely complete and the farmer has had his day. The hour of the shopkeeper is upon us and we are experiencing a mass delusion that forces us into the acquisition of rubbish.
The shopkeepers are an alien species that work in cahoots with the fashion designers. They invaded Earth several decades ago and through a complex and subtle brainwashing procedure, have convinced the more malleable humans that they MUST have, whatever the shopkeepers wish to sell. They found that is was possible to palm off, oddly shaped bits of coloured fabrics, and shoes for large sums of money, and that this could be enforced by the addition of certain labels. They manufactured myriads of plastic playthings, chemicals to apply to faces, and more and more clothes that no-one really wears but that lots of people think they want.
Inevitably the people collect the rubbish and their housed fill up. Thus they need bigger houses and more and more of the farmer's land gets bought at extraordinary prices.
So in the end - the money all goes back to the farmer, who now gets paid not to grow anything. Hey I can do that quite easily.
So, as you wander through the January sales, accumulating more debris, just think of the poor farmers, sitting at home waiting for their bank balances to grow.
Monday 24 December 2007
Saturday 22 December 2007
Rubbish
There was a time, when the words, Made in Hong Kong, meant a lot. It generally meant that this item has been produced in a sweat shop somewhere in the far east, and is guaranteed to be utter rubbish. It will break as soon at is used or will severely damage anyone who is so foolhardy to purchase it. Then everything changed. China wanted Hong Kong back and of course, no-one was going to argue with them. Now the same rubbish is labelled Made in China.
Some people maintain that change is good, and of course if we are to evolve as a species, then we must be prepared to change in order to survive. Many species, throughout time have failed to adjust to climatic and geographical changes and have vanished forever. This fundamental mechanism of evolution works well, but it is driven by the need for change and few changes, that are made for their own sake, or through a whim, are likely to survive in the long term.
In the world of education, employees are puppets in the hands of whiz kids, promoted to a level of incompetence, who feel that in order to make their mark, they must force huge changes on the system. And so, like many other organisations, change after change, has ensured that no-one knows where they are going or why they are even moving. The systems go round and round in circles as old and established ideas resurface, time and time again.
Change is not always good and often totally unnecessary. Sharks, have survived unchanged for millions of years, largely because there has been no need for them to change. They are perfectly adapted to suit their environment. Now some species are facing possible extinction, in order to provide the Chinese with shark's fin soup.
So now we have the world being taken over by the largest and most highly populated country. They seem able to copy everything that the west produces, and do it for a tiny fraction of the cost. Alas however, in this life one tends to get what one pays for and we are now bombarded daily by the cheap, badly made and even toxic or dangerous goods that we in the west seem eager to purchase. Everyone wants something for nothing, we all seek out bargains and bogofs but we should pay heed to the likely outcome of this monumental change in economics. Industries in the west cannot compete on price, and probably never will. Therefore in the face of such a competition, the strongest and fittest will survive and the rest perish.
I suppose the result of this will be that everything that we buy will be rubbish and so no-one will be any the wiser.
Some people maintain that change is good, and of course if we are to evolve as a species, then we must be prepared to change in order to survive. Many species, throughout time have failed to adjust to climatic and geographical changes and have vanished forever. This fundamental mechanism of evolution works well, but it is driven by the need for change and few changes, that are made for their own sake, or through a whim, are likely to survive in the long term.
In the world of education, employees are puppets in the hands of whiz kids, promoted to a level of incompetence, who feel that in order to make their mark, they must force huge changes on the system. And so, like many other organisations, change after change, has ensured that no-one knows where they are going or why they are even moving. The systems go round and round in circles as old and established ideas resurface, time and time again.
Change is not always good and often totally unnecessary. Sharks, have survived unchanged for millions of years, largely because there has been no need for them to change. They are perfectly adapted to suit their environment. Now some species are facing possible extinction, in order to provide the Chinese with shark's fin soup.
So now we have the world being taken over by the largest and most highly populated country. They seem able to copy everything that the west produces, and do it for a tiny fraction of the cost. Alas however, in this life one tends to get what one pays for and we are now bombarded daily by the cheap, badly made and even toxic or dangerous goods that we in the west seem eager to purchase. Everyone wants something for nothing, we all seek out bargains and bogofs but we should pay heed to the likely outcome of this monumental change in economics. Industries in the west cannot compete on price, and probably never will. Therefore in the face of such a competition, the strongest and fittest will survive and the rest perish.
I suppose the result of this will be that everything that we buy will be rubbish and so no-one will be any the wiser.
Thursday 20 December 2007
Poem
Christmas is coming
The Rich are getting fatter
The Poor are getting poorer
But I guess that doesn't matter.
The Rich are getting fatter
The Poor are getting poorer
But I guess that doesn't matter.
Tuesday 18 December 2007
वर
Well the Christmas card barrage is well underweigh, and pretty soon the mountain of paper, card and glittery stuff will be consigned to the recycling centres, to end up as toilet paper, egg boxes or something infinitely more useful.
Every year the same happens doesn't it? We make our lists of people who sent us cards last year, and use them as a fair guess as to how the game will be played. We write the cards and then play athe timing game. Too early is a pre-emptive strike which can pay dividends as it immediately raises a profile and puts others in a tricky spot. Now they may have you on their list, but if not, their list has to be modified, and so it goes on! The best salvo comes at the last minute. Make a subsidiary list of people that dod not send a card last year and hit them at the very last post before Christmas eve, or even better, hand deliver them when you know it is too late for retaliation. That way they will feel guilt at not being able to return fire.
Every year the cards get opened and one begins to think - Gosh is he still alive? or - Who on Earth is this? or Oh God not another Round Robin! These self aggrandisations are the ultimate weapon of course, against which there are no counterpunches. Some people begin them in January and have developed the art to an extent where recipients, upon opening the said delivery, immediately evacuate the contents of their alimentary canals and literally lose stomach for the fight. I strongly believe that regular offenders of this heinous crime, should be tried as war criminals.
I find that over the years, the quantity of cards has diminished substantially. I am no longer seen as a target. The quality of cards has not improved, though I have noted with some interest that this year, a large proportion of cards have been produced in China. How suitable! The true spirit of Christmas at last.
May you - my reader, have a wonderful holiday, and be grateful that you are not spending it with me. :-)
Every year the same happens doesn't it? We make our lists of people who sent us cards last year, and use them as a fair guess as to how the game will be played. We write the cards and then play athe timing game. Too early is a pre-emptive strike which can pay dividends as it immediately raises a profile and puts others in a tricky spot. Now they may have you on their list, but if not, their list has to be modified, and so it goes on! The best salvo comes at the last minute. Make a subsidiary list of people that dod not send a card last year and hit them at the very last post before Christmas eve, or even better, hand deliver them when you know it is too late for retaliation. That way they will feel guilt at not being able to return fire.
Every year the cards get opened and one begins to think - Gosh is he still alive? or - Who on Earth is this? or Oh God not another Round Robin! These self aggrandisations are the ultimate weapon of course, against which there are no counterpunches. Some people begin them in January and have developed the art to an extent where recipients, upon opening the said delivery, immediately evacuate the contents of their alimentary canals and literally lose stomach for the fight. I strongly believe that regular offenders of this heinous crime, should be tried as war criminals.
I find that over the years, the quantity of cards has diminished substantially. I am no longer seen as a target. The quality of cards has not improved, though I have noted with some interest that this year, a large proportion of cards have been produced in China. How suitable! The true spirit of Christmas at last.
May you - my reader, have a wonderful holiday, and be grateful that you are not spending it with me. :-)
Monday 10 December 2007
लिघ्ट्स
So here it is again. Though really I suppose it has been with us for quite a while already, it seems to creep in as soon as the summer is over and makes the winter months even longer than they already seem.
I was asked the other day a rhetorical question. Why is it that December 21st is the shortest day, and yet, the 25th is the longest?
Now I know that it is early for my seasonal rant but, if you can’t beat them, join them I suppose, though joining does rather go against what little grain that I have left.
The reason for my earliness is that this year we seem to have had so many messages in the press regarding saving planet Earth, and it is good to see that people are beginning to respond, by using less plastic bags, but now we have an invasion of Griswalderie that not only erases all the good work but quite easily reverses any trend towards reducing the output of carbon.
Yes the lights are everywhere. What is more they get cheesier and more elaborate each year. Houses, trees and gardens light up with so much energy that the heat generated and the increased daylength is causing plants to flower early and birds to nest. Never have I seen such public displays of bad taste as appears at this time of year. Some do it for fun – hard to imagine what fun can be gained there – while others maintain that it is for charity.
I have a suggestion here. Why don’t they count up all the money that they spend on the lights and the electrical power, and give that to charity instead. By so doing they could help save the planet by saving vast amounts of energy, including the fuel consumed by the car loads of people that tour around laughing at their efforts and the coach loads of tourists that actually pay money to see them.
Ok I know I loathe Christmas almost as much as most other quasi religious festivals. But really this is not about religion and has not been for many years. Christmas is simply a celebration of capitalism and the greed that goes with it. Like capitalism, Christmas only survives by growing, and it seems to be growing more tasteless and tacky as each year passes.
The only saving grace that I can imagine, is that once the 26th comes along, that spring is on it’s way.
I was asked the other day a rhetorical question. Why is it that December 21st is the shortest day, and yet, the 25th is the longest?
Now I know that it is early for my seasonal rant but, if you can’t beat them, join them I suppose, though joining does rather go against what little grain that I have left.
The reason for my earliness is that this year we seem to have had so many messages in the press regarding saving planet Earth, and it is good to see that people are beginning to respond, by using less plastic bags, but now we have an invasion of Griswalderie that not only erases all the good work but quite easily reverses any trend towards reducing the output of carbon.
Yes the lights are everywhere. What is more they get cheesier and more elaborate each year. Houses, trees and gardens light up with so much energy that the heat generated and the increased daylength is causing plants to flower early and birds to nest. Never have I seen such public displays of bad taste as appears at this time of year. Some do it for fun – hard to imagine what fun can be gained there – while others maintain that it is for charity.
I have a suggestion here. Why don’t they count up all the money that they spend on the lights and the electrical power, and give that to charity instead. By so doing they could help save the planet by saving vast amounts of energy, including the fuel consumed by the car loads of people that tour around laughing at their efforts and the coach loads of tourists that actually pay money to see them.
Ok I know I loathe Christmas almost as much as most other quasi religious festivals. But really this is not about religion and has not been for many years. Christmas is simply a celebration of capitalism and the greed that goes with it. Like capitalism, Christmas only survives by growing, and it seems to be growing more tasteless and tacky as each year passes.
The only saving grace that I can imagine, is that once the 26th comes along, that spring is on it’s way.
Tuesday 4 December 2007
devastation
I am devastated today. I just found out that I missed an opportunity of a lifetime, and one that I had been waiting for for a few years. I had no idea that last march, that Loreena McKennitt came to London as part of her European tour, and I missed it. Ok i was going through an "interesting" phase of my life at the time when bookings would have been made, but it is no excuse. I missed it and will probably never get another chance. Let's face it, i am no spring chicken and come to think of it, neither is she.
Oh well there it is, another of life's disappointments and like most of the others, the tide of time will wash away the remnants and few traces will remain.
I am still mightily hacked off though.
Oh well there it is, another of life's disappointments and like most of the others, the tide of time will wash away the remnants and few traces will remain.
I am still mightily hacked off though.
Monday 3 December 2007
Atmosphere
Just back from a weekend in London. Always nice to go there for a while and even better to get away again. One thing that I cannot bear for any length of time is wall to wall noise. Everywhere is noisy, the streets, the stations, the subways, the shops, the pubs and the wine bars.
At some stage during the weekend we found ourselves in a place called Gordon's Wine Bar. It lies in the depths of Villiers St and is not easy to find. The place lies down in a cellar and there is just the one almost unmarked door that leads down to it. Stepping into Gordon's is like stepping backwards in time. It looks old, smells old and it heaves with the young and the trendy. It is not all that big, but clearly it is the place to see and be seen when out on the town. It struck me that although it has a novelty value, most people would go there for "Atmosphere" and I am trying to imagine what gives a place atmosphere. It seems that if you have this magical property you can charge what you like and people will still come flocking.
We had previously been to a trendy Tapas bar in Covent Garden. It Oozed atmosphere and clearly was so popular that we queued to get in. The food was ........ ordinary. Lots of small bowls containing mainly potatoes, with the odd bit of protein thrown in now and then. I have to say though that I was not overwhelmed by the value for money, unless you count the atmosphere of course, which was loud and made conversation difficult and of course, loud.
I came to a conclusion. Not at all scientific of course, and based on very little evidence, but I believe that the secret of success in the catering business is volume. Make lots of noise, or encourage your punters to do it for you, and Voila - you have atmosphere and it will become a self perpetuating phenomenon. I suspect also that I may have missed something.
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