03/08/2008
Freedom is Relative:Gravity is Absolute.
Well , let's admit it , we've all been involved in the Porn trade; property porn that is. We were all up for it aided by the Viagara of all the television shows dedicated to buying , selling or doing up, usually all three. Goggle-eyed buyers being shown around some sunny apartment by some posh blonde. What a formula! 'Do up your Home', 'Do up your Home Abroad', 'Buy at Home Sell at Home' 'Buy and Sell at Home and Abroad'. No need to immerse yourself in the local culture, just exploit the local labour force and sell to the next fever- pitched property gourmands whilst the market is still hot. Create your Dream Home on the telly ...and the trade up!! The only fun in these programmes ( fun in a baying Roman-mob Collisseum kinda way) was watching poor hubby get browbeaten by harridan wifey into getting her way and having all his ideas shot down in flames then accepting her decisions as jointly-made . Ha ha , the poor bugger just has to suck it up . Sorry ,did I say 'fun?' I meant horror and humiliation by one human being by another. Yes , that's it. In the end though, cosmic justice is usually served because hubby, wifey and posh blonde- estate- agentey all deserve one another.
We were all scooped up in the feeding frenzy , from first- time buyers to wannabe rentier landlords. We knew that it couldn't last of course, but like St. Augustine who prayed to God to make him virtuous, but not just yet, we thought let the market boil just until we can sell on . Then aprés moi , le deluge. Indeed.
Much of this has been totally predictable , especially by the professionals monitoring the pubescent lemmings in the financial markets. After what seems to be criminal recklessness in their lending policies after the failure of which they come crying like pre -teens to Mummy, to get bailed out by the Government (that is to say you and me),this bubble seems to have somewhat burst. Just like the South Sea Bubble, Dutch Tulips, Dot Com etc.,etc.,etc.. Just how far do you want to go back? But we never learn and there will be another one round the next corner. This time I shall be ready with a great and expessive BBC programme to ride the Zeitgeist ; 'Buying and Selling Magic Beans Abroad in the Attic in the Sun.' It's a working title at the moment, but it's got legs. Talking of which I need to find a posh blonde.......
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31/07/2008
Back Again.
Hello,
This diary is back after an absence of a few months. The reason for its absence has been a family bereavement. I am not a great fan of bearing my heart to a virtual public , but cartooning recently has seemed somewhat inconsequential. Nonetheless, the world has kept turning, ( hill and beans are the two words that spring immediately to mind) which is a very good thing and I want now to get my stuff out there and amusing people again,rediscovering the joy of markmaking. No pressure!
Meantime my quest for Eastern European whimsy continues and below I give you some Varsoviana on the subject. These two examples are from the Protestant part of the Powązki Cemetary in Warsaw; one of Europe's greatest necropolae. I like these places. They are quiet, stuffed with meditative detail; mementi mori done with wit , love and sorrow. You come out having been made to know what it is to be on the journey of life as a human, which is the purpose of all great art (and I suppose of cemetaries). It's not morbid at all. You go in , have a wander and then go on your merry way about your daily business. Highly recommended!
Jan
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28/01/2008
Millionaires and Neighbours.
Hello 2008!
Like most of humanity , I fell ill over the festive period and have only just managed to get back into some sort of reality-based routine. In my delirium, I though about what we shall be seeing in the coming year , whether we like it or not.
A Roman Catholic intellectual, perhaps it was Hillaire Balloc, referred to the Reformation as a 'revolt of the rich against the poor.' He was right , I think. After stripping away the Church and throwingthe peasants off their lands the nouveaux riches then pulled the ladder up as they went. I connected this idea when I was a snivvellin' and a sneezin,' to what I watched on the telly over the holidays. I didn't have much choice , lying there on the sofa in my dressing gown. What I saw , I think we shall see more this year. There seemed to be wall to wall 'jury' programmes, you know the sort I mean; wannabees try to impress a panel of so called professionals , getting shouted and generally beasted by the pros and then getting whittled down by a phone vote from the general public ( to whit the Roman mob). Here we are in the year of Our Lord 2008 ; ordinary people volunteering to be humiliated by millionaires for the sake of entertainment. A very pretty sight. And we vote for this.
Just as depressing is what will happen around us in the very violent world we inhabit. We'll finally realise perhaps that the true weapons of mass destruction are not the bombers or the daisy cutters, but your neighbour with a grudge and a machete or an axe. Numbers count , not individuals and I think there will be more slaughter done by the low tech that the high. We could try and tally up at the end of the year, but I think this will too difficult so it will have to remain a qualitative rather than a quantitative analysis.
Oh and there will be a recessin as well..damn sure.
My remedy? There isn't one , but I'll be listening to more Beethoven and Schubert late string quartets and of course, more Morrissey. I shall try and cook some of Marco Pierre White's recipies ( who seemed to buck the above trend in Hell's Kitchen ) and generally try and not be a dilletant in the things I do.
Sorry to be a bit negative, but that's the way the word is n'est ce pas?
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28/01/2008
Millionaires and Neighbours.
Hello 2008!
Like most of humanity , I fell ill over the festive period and have only just managed to get back into some sort of reality-based routine. In my delirium, I though about what we shall be seeing in the coming year , whether we like it or not.
A Roman Catholic intellectual, perhaps it was Hillaire Balloc, referred to the Reformation as a 'revolt of the rich against the poor.' He was right , I think. After stripping away the Church and throwingthe peasants off their lands the nouveaux riches then pulled the ladder up as they went. I connected this idea when I was a snivvellin' and a sneezin,' to what I watched on the telly over the holidays. I didn't have much choice , lying there on the sofa in my dressing gown. What I saw , I think we shall see more this year. There seemed to be wall to wall 'jury' programmes, you know the sort I mean; wannabees try to impress a panel of so called professionals , getting shouted and generally beasted by the pros and then getting whittled down by a phone vote from the general public ( to whit the Roman mob). Here we are in the year of Our Lord 2008 ; ordinary people volunteering to be humiliated by millionaires for the sake of entertainment. A very pretty sight. And we vote for this.
Just as depressing is what will happen around us in the very violent world we inhabit. We'll finally realise perhaps that the true weapons of mass destruction are not the bombers or the daisy cutters, but your neighbour with a grudge and a machete or an axe. Numbers count , not individuals and I think there will be more slaughter done by the low tech that the high. We could try and tally up at the end of the year, but I think this will too difficult so it will have to remain a qualitative rather than a quantitative analysis.
Oh and there will be a recessin as well..damn sure.
My remedy? There isn't one , but I'll be listening to more Beethoven and Schubert late string quartets and of course, more Morrissey. I shall try and cook some of Marco Pierre White's recipies ( who seemed to buck the above trend in Hell's Kitchen ) and generally try and not be a dilletant in the things I do.
Sorry to be a bit negative, but that's the way the word is n'est ce pas?