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This blog is moribund!
Wednesday 29 January 2014
Saturday 1 January 2011
Regularity
They say that most blogs die within 6 months and nibe was heading in that direction. So, although I abhor 'New Years Resolutions' I will blog more regularly in 2011.
Wednesday 18 August 2010
Compare and contrast
By chance last weekend I watched Solaris (the one with George Clooney) and Moon on different evenings. Now I'll try not to spoil it for you, but both of these are science fiction films that deal with issues caused by remoteness. In Solaris this is psychological and there is a crew on board the orbiting space station but in Moon it is supposed to be a solitary existence. Or is it?
Both are very worthy films and well worth the watch but for me Moon edges it because it deals with a very current issue that is affecting us now, but takes it to a new level. Moon is also delightfully grubby as opposed to the clean and polished world of Solaris. There is dirt on the space station in Moon, well they are trashing it for H3. And you have to imagine being a bloke on your own for three years - hoovering and cleaning might not be a priority and Gertie does not seem particularly domesticated.
Solaris wins hands down for music as it is Clint Mansell - enough said.
But if there was a desert island discs for DVD's (on the telly?) then I'd pick Moon to go alongside 2001 in my collection of discs.
Both are very worthy films and well worth the watch but for me Moon edges it because it deals with a very current issue that is affecting us now, but takes it to a new level. Moon is also delightfully grubby as opposed to the clean and polished world of Solaris. There is dirt on the space station in Moon, well they are trashing it for H3. And you have to imagine being a bloke on your own for three years - hoovering and cleaning might not be a priority and Gertie does not seem particularly domesticated.
Solaris wins hands down for music as it is Clint Mansell - enough said.
But if there was a desert island discs for DVD's (on the telly?) then I'd pick Moon to go alongside 2001 in my collection of discs.
Sunday 6 June 2010
Wednesday 26 May 2010
An unlikely hero - for me at least!
I came to local government in 1979 almost the same time as Mrs Thatcher became Prime Minister. As she found her cause in what was to be a long period of Tory rule it became clear that the deep seated philosophy of public service was to be undermined and vilified. Comparisons between local government and industry would tell those of us in the former that we were inefficient, beauracratic, and costly. The private sector was focussed on the market, ruthlessly efficient and should be the model as to how local government should operate.
We took all this and started to try and imitate what we thought was the way the private sector operates.
It was about this time that Troubleshooter series fronted by the rotund and ebullient John Harvey Jones was launched by the BBC. It didn't seem like my cup of tea. John had been a stalwart of commerce and held high position in ICI.
I missed the first few episodes but once I had watched one I was hooked. Not only was John Harvey Jones's approach brilliant and incisive but it also gave a lie to the stereotypes being traded about the private sector. Yes, they too were inefficient, set in their ways, and in some cases hopelessly mis-managed. My view of the private sector became a little more balanced!
John Harvey Jones became one of my unlikely heroes.
We took all this and started to try and imitate what we thought was the way the private sector operates.
It was about this time that Troubleshooter series fronted by the rotund and ebullient John Harvey Jones was launched by the BBC. It didn't seem like my cup of tea. John had been a stalwart of commerce and held high position in ICI.
I missed the first few episodes but once I had watched one I was hooked. Not only was John Harvey Jones's approach brilliant and incisive but it also gave a lie to the stereotypes being traded about the private sector. Yes, they too were inefficient, set in their ways, and in some cases hopelessly mis-managed. My view of the private sector became a little more balanced!
John Harvey Jones became one of my unlikely heroes.
Tuesday 18 May 2010
Memory can be a disturbing landscape
Some things just feel ingrained in the memory and hard to shift even when you are faced with opposition to their validity.
One such memory is the morning after my Grandfather had died. I must have been only 6 at the time and this was my paternal grandfather - the only grand parent I ever had. He was a very serious rotund man in many ways very similar in stature to my father but without the shock of white hair as he was practically bald! He had worked on the docks in Liverpool and had bought the family home - a very middle class semi detached house.
It was custom that each morning I would take a tray of breakfast up to 'Pop'.
I remain convinced that, despite protestations from my parents, that on that morning the tray was prepared as usual and I took it up to an empty bedroom. When I came down and told my parents that 'Pop' wasn't there they said that he had gone away and wouldn't be coming back!
The reality was that he had suffered a number of heart attacks and this one proved to be fatal.
Why do I have such a strong memory of this incident that is and remains at odds with what my parents said?
One such memory is the morning after my Grandfather had died. I must have been only 6 at the time and this was my paternal grandfather - the only grand parent I ever had. He was a very serious rotund man in many ways very similar in stature to my father but without the shock of white hair as he was practically bald! He had worked on the docks in Liverpool and had bought the family home - a very middle class semi detached house.
It was custom that each morning I would take a tray of breakfast up to 'Pop'.
I remain convinced that, despite protestations from my parents, that on that morning the tray was prepared as usual and I took it up to an empty bedroom. When I came down and told my parents that 'Pop' wasn't there they said that he had gone away and wouldn't be coming back!
The reality was that he had suffered a number of heart attacks and this one proved to be fatal.
Why do I have such a strong memory of this incident that is and remains at odds with what my parents said?
Thursday 13 May 2010
You wouldn't give it a second thought. If you were clearing the house after I've died then it would end up in a bin bag with all the other accumulated rubbish gathered over the years.
So you may wonder what exactly is it? To all intents and purposes it just looks like a rather worn handkerchief that for some reason is in my bedside drawer. On closer examination there are faint circles of colour now faded from repeated washing.
Why is it significant? It origins go back over 25 years. At that time I was managing the Bridleways Project (see last post) and I had a student called Sheena Bishop who turned out to be one of the most extraordinary people I've ever met. One day whilst we were eating our lunch I foolishly let it be known that one of the things that I had always craved, for reasons that even I don't fully understand even now, is one of those spotted handkerchiefs that are so commonly used by country folk. I had looked all over for one but had failed to find one.
Just a few weeks later Sheila turned up and presented me with a new handkerchief which was white and on which she had coloured in circles with felt tipped pen! Fantastic! Goodness knows how long it took her but it was a reflection of her generosity.
Two year ago I went to her funeral - easily one of the saddest days of my life.
Makes you think.......
So you may wonder what exactly is it? To all intents and purposes it just looks like a rather worn handkerchief that for some reason is in my bedside drawer. On closer examination there are faint circles of colour now faded from repeated washing.
Why is it significant? It origins go back over 25 years. At that time I was managing the Bridleways Project (see last post) and I had a student called Sheena Bishop who turned out to be one of the most extraordinary people I've ever met. One day whilst we were eating our lunch I foolishly let it be known that one of the things that I had always craved, for reasons that even I don't fully understand even now, is one of those spotted handkerchiefs that are so commonly used by country folk. I had looked all over for one but had failed to find one.
Just a few weeks later Sheila turned up and presented me with a new handkerchief which was white and on which she had coloured in circles with felt tipped pen! Fantastic! Goodness knows how long it took her but it was a reflection of her generosity.
Two year ago I went to her funeral - easily one of the saddest days of my life.
Makes you think.......
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