The anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuations comes round to its 70th iteration today and the “little ships” are setting off from Ramsgate to commemorate the remarkable events that have entered very much into the very psyche of the Brits.
For me I cant help but think about Mrs Miniver when I hear about the ships setting off. Walter Pidgeon departing from the, very, middle class boat club leaving the absolutely lovely Greer Garson to fend off marooned German fliers. But since last Sunday it will also make me think of The Snowgoose. The BBC ran a Neglected Classics scheme as part of its Book Club programme where they asked listeners to vote for a neglected classic book from a list of nominations recommended by a number of authors. The winner was The Snowgoose by Paul Gallico as recommended by Michael Morpurgo and the prize was to have the book dramatised for radio as part of the Classic Serial series. The marvellous production was a tremendous vindication of the competition. At TESCAPE we are very much of the view that there is a rich vein of forgotten classics out there and we intend to bring them to the fore in the coming years. So hip hip huzzah for the little ships and a well done to BBC for reminding us of the fact that it doesn't have to be famous to be good.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
It's Just a Ride
I had the immense good fortune to get a ticket for “American – the Bill Hicks Story” on its opening day Friday 14th (thank you lovely wife) at the GFT and haven’t stopped laughing since.
The film, for those than don’t know, is the story of Bill’s life which was tragically cut short by pancreatic cancer at the age of 32. It is a fantastic insight into the development of his work and includes snatches of the act that made him such a legend. I still remember that feeling of jaw dropping astonishment when I first saw him perform at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal. In an instant you realised you were in the presence of genius, pure Rock&Roll. I took every opportunity to see him from that point on and I was privileged to see him on his final UK tour when his act was absolutely at its zenith and though that show was filmed I have seen very little of it air on TV – just a bit too edgy for general consumption even now.
I can’t recommend the film highly enough and once you have watched it go out and buy all the DVDs of his shows. Bill was a prophet and seer, a truth seeker and speaker, a burster of hypocrisy bubbles and an inspiration, and if laughing is as good for you as they say then he was a fitness guru to boot.
Thanks Bill and like you say man – “it’s just a ride!”
The film, for those than don’t know, is the story of Bill’s life which was tragically cut short by pancreatic cancer at the age of 32. It is a fantastic insight into the development of his work and includes snatches of the act that made him such a legend. I still remember that feeling of jaw dropping astonishment when I first saw him perform at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal. In an instant you realised you were in the presence of genius, pure Rock&Roll. I took every opportunity to see him from that point on and I was privileged to see him on his final UK tour when his act was absolutely at its zenith and though that show was filmed I have seen very little of it air on TV – just a bit too edgy for general consumption even now.
I can’t recommend the film highly enough and once you have watched it go out and buy all the DVDs of his shows. Bill was a prophet and seer, a truth seeker and speaker, a burster of hypocrisy bubbles and an inspiration, and if laughing is as good for you as they say then he was a fitness guru to boot.
Thanks Bill and like you say man – “it’s just a ride!”
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Get out (of Islington) more
Lots of commentators and members of the chattering political classes – of which I guess I am one – are getting very snobbish about the the BBC boat during the election coverage last week, Andrew Neil played host with a suitably piratical air to a group of “celebs” who made comment on events unfolding through the night.
Rachel Cook, in her article Ship of Fools in the New Statesman, is the just the latest in a long line of critics. Now I though it was a rather daft exercise but I am at odds with what seems to be the general criticism. Generally the view of the nay sayers is that the “celebs” were uniformed or were giving opinions about “weighty political issues” that were judged on superficial or trite considerations rather than some forensic examination of manifestos.
I am not in the slightest surprised that the vast majority of voters are not obsessed with these matters and vote on the basis of what people like Rachel might think are unimportant considerations, and often blind tribalism. That's the way it is, that is democracy.
What I found rather disturbing about it was that the BBC thinks that the views of “Celebrities” should be any more important than the man in the Clapham omnibus who cleary hadn't been invited into the HellOK crew. For me “celebrity obsession” is far more depressing than the foibles of universal suffrage.
Rachel Cook, in her article Ship of Fools in the New Statesman, is the just the latest in a long line of critics. Now I though it was a rather daft exercise but I am at odds with what seems to be the general criticism. Generally the view of the nay sayers is that the “celebs” were uniformed or were giving opinions about “weighty political issues” that were judged on superficial or trite considerations rather than some forensic examination of manifestos.
I am not in the slightest surprised that the vast majority of voters are not obsessed with these matters and vote on the basis of what people like Rachel might think are unimportant considerations, and often blind tribalism. That's the way it is, that is democracy.
What I found rather disturbing about it was that the BBC thinks that the views of “Celebrities” should be any more important than the man in the Clapham omnibus who cleary hadn't been invited into the HellOK crew. For me “celebrity obsession” is far more depressing than the foibles of universal suffrage.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Spoken word a winner - again!
David Attenborough has won the Sony Radio Award for Speech Broadcaster of the Year. Described as “a masterclass in story-telling, a truly compelling listen and a classic example of vivid mind pictures created through beautifully crafted words, and delivered with a mesmerising and re-assuring voice” I assume this is for his contribution to A Point of View on Radio 4 – but I could be wrong. It is a fabulous collection of spoken word material and is a tribute to the man’s versatility given his most well recognised achievement in a remarkable life has been producing extraordinary visual material – albeit with a distinctive voiceover. The splendid thing about it is the way it is unmistakably Attenborough, and the anecdotal style is wonderfully intimate. And for anyone who thinks this is easy stuff well Attenborough himself says radio is tougher than TV and you only have to listen to Simon Schama recent efforts to see how easy it is to come very unstuck – sorry Simon.
Hat tip the ongoing success of Doctor Kermode in the same awards. On ya mate!
Hat tip the ongoing success of Doctor Kermode in the same awards. On ya mate!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Time and change
It seems very likely that one of the outcomes of today’s election is that I will shortly be living in a country whose prime minister is younger than I am. This is surely a right of passage that has to be marked – but how? My immediate thought would be to go out and have a serious bender – but that is surely to juvenile behaviour for such an elderly citizen. Perhaps, as I have become a more senior (read old) figure, I should retire. A nice prospect in some respects but economically unsustainable. Something of a quandary then. Well lets just say that blogging on the subject is sufficient recognition and down play the “old” bit by not dwelling too long.
The event itself has some simpler to solve conundrums. My general contempt for politicians has always had echoes of youthful rebellion, the days when it was positively expected (an apparently evolutionary determined) that you should rebel against all and any form of establishment and authority. As I clearly don’t qualify for this anymore how else can I justify my scorn for politicians? Ah yes, wet behind the ears, un worldly and unruly children. They clearly need a stern word.
Problem solved!
:o)
The event itself has some simpler to solve conundrums. My general contempt for politicians has always had echoes of youthful rebellion, the days when it was positively expected (an apparently evolutionary determined) that you should rebel against all and any form of establishment and authority. As I clearly don’t qualify for this anymore how else can I justify my scorn for politicians? Ah yes, wet behind the ears, un worldly and unruly children. They clearly need a stern word.
Problem solved!
:o)
Thursday, April 29, 2010
The truth will set you free
Unlike Robert Fulghum I didn't go to kindergarten but I wholly understand what he is saying when he says All I Really Need to Know I Learned at Kindergarten. One of those maxims is “say sorry when you hurt someone” and I am pleased that Gordon Brown said sorry to Gillian Duffy, I only hope his apology was more genuine than his warm words to her before he called her a bigot!
But it does seem that we are progressively coarsening society by forgetting some of the home spun truths we learn when we are young at mother knee so to speak. There has been a trend, it seems to me, to regard any idea that has a long provenance is misguided or out of date, or not in tune with modern society. But to me many have stood the test of time, are universal and underpin a civil world and telling the truth is surely one of them.
I don't want to sound like an old curmudgeon but I am saddened by the number of media commentators who have said in the case of Gordon Brown – “There but for the grace of god go I.” Really? “We always tell little untruths don't we?” they say, “We all save peoples blushes by little white lies don't we?” they say. Really?
Well maybe it isn't entirely black and white this telling the truth idea but surely the casual and wholesale abandonment of it must be a concern. Media managers and spin doctors would deny this but they are fundamentally about peddling untruths by seeking to hide it. This is a practice that I have always found despicable in business where these days it seems telling the truth is to be regarded as entirely naïve. Lying and deceit is seen almost as macho thing and incumbent upon management as the burden of management despite the fact that it is in most cases entirely unnecessary. I have always held to the view that telling the truth is generally for the best. Whilst it can be hard it has generally worked well for me in the long run. To me it is fundamental to developing trust.
And that is what is at issue here for Gordon Brown. Its not that he called her a bigot its that he hadn't got the courage to challenge her views face to face despite the fact that he was seeking her endorsement as her representative. Can we really all say “Well we would all do that wouldn't we?” Well no actually not all of us would, because I wouldn't.
I am not making a party political point here. They are all at it. The expenses scandal seems to me the most compelling example of how this particular group of people have lost their connection to the simple maxims of the kindergarten about fairness and respect. Ed Balls brushing off the fact that he used his mobile while driving as a “fair cop”. So that makes it aright then? You can decide to risk the lives of your cars occupants and other road users by taking an unnecessary action in full knowledge that it was illegal.
The selfish and casual abandonment of Fulghums wise observation will come back and bite us I feel sure and, in the meantime, civil society will just get progressively less civil.
But it does seem that we are progressively coarsening society by forgetting some of the home spun truths we learn when we are young at mother knee so to speak. There has been a trend, it seems to me, to regard any idea that has a long provenance is misguided or out of date, or not in tune with modern society. But to me many have stood the test of time, are universal and underpin a civil world and telling the truth is surely one of them.
I don't want to sound like an old curmudgeon but I am saddened by the number of media commentators who have said in the case of Gordon Brown – “There but for the grace of god go I.” Really? “We always tell little untruths don't we?” they say, “We all save peoples blushes by little white lies don't we?” they say. Really?
Well maybe it isn't entirely black and white this telling the truth idea but surely the casual and wholesale abandonment of it must be a concern. Media managers and spin doctors would deny this but they are fundamentally about peddling untruths by seeking to hide it. This is a practice that I have always found despicable in business where these days it seems telling the truth is to be regarded as entirely naïve. Lying and deceit is seen almost as macho thing and incumbent upon management as the burden of management despite the fact that it is in most cases entirely unnecessary. I have always held to the view that telling the truth is generally for the best. Whilst it can be hard it has generally worked well for me in the long run. To me it is fundamental to developing trust.
And that is what is at issue here for Gordon Brown. Its not that he called her a bigot its that he hadn't got the courage to challenge her views face to face despite the fact that he was seeking her endorsement as her representative. Can we really all say “Well we would all do that wouldn't we?” Well no actually not all of us would, because I wouldn't.
I am not making a party political point here. They are all at it. The expenses scandal seems to me the most compelling example of how this particular group of people have lost their connection to the simple maxims of the kindergarten about fairness and respect. Ed Balls brushing off the fact that he used his mobile while driving as a “fair cop”. So that makes it aright then? You can decide to risk the lives of your cars occupants and other road users by taking an unnecessary action in full knowledge that it was illegal.
The selfish and casual abandonment of Fulghums wise observation will come back and bite us I feel sure and, in the meantime, civil society will just get progressively less civil.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
ANZAC Cove
Sunday was the anniversary of the beginning of the Dardanelles campaign – or Gallipoli as it is commonly referred to. Being married to a kiwi and having lived for some time in Australia I am very aware of how this event profoundly influenced those countries and shaped both their sense of nationhood and their place in the “Empire” as it then was. It was also a seminal moment in the development of modern Turkey as the old Ottoman empire collapsed, and Kamel Attaturk built his record as a formidable military commander.
The place itself is an extraordinarily beautiful location. Turquoise sea and timber clad coves, but the hillsides are still cut with the remains of slit trenches and redoubts now overgrown. Yet it has that sense of place so beloved of poets that even if you were unaware of its history you would detect that momentous and significant events had taken place there. For me visiting it for the first time, more than 20 years ago now, was a very affecting experience. I was lucky to be visiting with a small group of friends most of whom were Australian and New Zealanders. Ironically I was the only the only person from the group to have any relation involved in the campaign, and I had carried my grandfathers polished steel field mirror with me on the trip. We arrived late in the eventing and slept on the beach in Anzac Cove lighting a fire and talking late into the night. Before dawn we swam out into the cove and watched the sun come up from our vantage point out in the water. The silence and beauty of it all seemed so at odds with the knowledge of the carnage noise and death that we knew had happened there. For me it was a very moving and spiritual event and one that will always remain a solemn but treasured memory. As a reminder of the impact of war and, for me, the futility and waste of conflicts such as these, it has little to equal it.
When I visit an RSA in NZ and the lights are dimmed at the moment when we pay our respect to the fallen my mind often goes back to that place, to its peacefulness, its beauty and the terrible loss of life. We will remember them and their sacrifice.
The place itself is an extraordinarily beautiful location. Turquoise sea and timber clad coves, but the hillsides are still cut with the remains of slit trenches and redoubts now overgrown. Yet it has that sense of place so beloved of poets that even if you were unaware of its history you would detect that momentous and significant events had taken place there. For me visiting it for the first time, more than 20 years ago now, was a very affecting experience. I was lucky to be visiting with a small group of friends most of whom were Australian and New Zealanders. Ironically I was the only the only person from the group to have any relation involved in the campaign, and I had carried my grandfathers polished steel field mirror with me on the trip. We arrived late in the eventing and slept on the beach in Anzac Cove lighting a fire and talking late into the night. Before dawn we swam out into the cove and watched the sun come up from our vantage point out in the water. The silence and beauty of it all seemed so at odds with the knowledge of the carnage noise and death that we knew had happened there. For me it was a very moving and spiritual event and one that will always remain a solemn but treasured memory. As a reminder of the impact of war and, for me, the futility and waste of conflicts such as these, it has little to equal it.
When I visit an RSA in NZ and the lights are dimmed at the moment when we pay our respect to the fallen my mind often goes back to that place, to its peacefulness, its beauty and the terrible loss of life. We will remember them and their sacrifice.
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