Muted approval

I have been watching The West Wing - Complete Season 1-7 [DVD] (I really should put a link to the boxed set on Amazon to get a few pence if anyone clicks through it and buys this after I mention it....but sometimes, some things are not easy enough. Hang on - will have a go at this again, means I have to remember yet another login and password combination.... argh.)

I have watched series 1-6 so far (for the third time) and it is now at the part where the campaign for the next President (they call it their General Election). It turns out to be race between Alan Alda (Arnold Vinick - Republican aka Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H) versus Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits - Democrat).

It is great TV with engaging characters and some absolutely brilliant dialogue - but you really have to pay attention or you miss it, so those of you browsing on your smartphones or tablets and allegedly watching it a the same time - you're missing it. What continues to astonish me is how so very far away it is from how things are done in the UK (are things really like that in the USA? - ed)

Do we as a nation get that excited about politics and particularly our politicians? Yes, if you read the newspapers or peruse the political blogs you can see some of the commentators frothing and foaming at the mouth about politics and what politicians should or shouldn't be doing to sort out 'Da Issue of Da Day' (tm)

However, my gut feeling is that we as a nation (England) just don't get that excited about politics and in particular the Prime Minister (PM) (for those overseas  in the UK that is currently one David Cameron, not that he has much sway over Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales any more, so maybe he is simply representing the English, that is where most of the votes for his party came from in the last few elections). I feel that we seem them as a necessary evil.

However, as many commentators have mentioned, PM's have been getting more Presidential and that may be partly because they can sell themselves as the person you are voting for, whilst as a matter of fact you are only voting for your constituency MP - who may or may not have voted for the leader of the party!

Where is this leading, well one Anthony Blair did his best to make the PM Presidential, even down to having his own team inside No. 10 but outside of his government to try and bypass the Civil Service and get things done. Not much success there then Tony.

However, what Tony must have done was read a book called Bring Home the Revolution: The Case for a British Republic by Jonathan Freedland. Now, I read this some time ago and it was interesting to say the least and it seems that some of those ideas have percolated into the political classes, as we now have a Supreme Court, votes for Police Commissioners, votes on having Mayor's and so on, giving us more democracy is the theme. To take what is best from the US and bring it on home to Blighty. Worth a read if you like that kind of thing.

(Muted approval anyone - ed) You mustn't rush things, really you mustn't, I am getting there - just you wait and see. So moving on. There is a wonderful book called Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour by Kate Fox- one of my must read again books that captures the essence of Englishness (other opinions are purchasable - ed). I think she has done a great job of getting to the heart of what it means to be English and this is where the title comes in (finally - ed).

As a nation the English  give only muted approval to politics and to their politicians, because we just don't seem to get excited by them, we don't like or trust them. (Note I can't speak for the other nations in the Union, not that it will be a Union for much longer if the Scottish vote to leave. Don't understand why the English don't get a vote on it?).

Is there another Second Law of Politics coming, "Whether you vote or not, whichever voting system is used we all lose as the politicians still get elected"

There might be a later post on where we would be if there were no politicians at all, but that seems a little far off at the moment.

King of all he surveys

Well, I could have put King of the Jungle, but lions don't tend to live in jungles. Please correct me if I am wrong, but don't they roam the great plains of Africa, Kalahari being one of them? They also roam or walk in constrained environments of many a zoo around the world, looking not quite so majestic and generally a little sorry for themselves, or is that me just anthropomorphising?

BTW highly recommend the BBC Africa series, the first episode with the fighting giraffes is quite astonishing. Fabulous photography and the lovely tones of Mr. Attenborough to add the appropriate gravitas.

So why this lion theme? Well I cam across a photo the other week of a lion on 500px in fantastic orange-ish light. Have to be honest not sure that he is in the desert or not, but the colour is great (but it does matter how you look at the photo, on my laptop, not orange-ish at all.

So I thought I would attempt a real great cat, after having done, what I have been told is a great cat Loki back before Christmas (a Maine Coon cat - big and hairy - (sounds like your sons - ed)),.Saturday afternoon I had a lion-goggling search through 1000'a and I really do mean 1000's of lion pictures for the one picture I wanted to use as the basis for my painting, namely Lion by Alan Hinchcliffe.

 I will apply for and get an artistic licence for my representation, but Alan has taken a fabulous photo, go and buy a copy from him.

What I have ended up with so far is the initial cut and then a bit of filling in to give me this. Now this (obviously - ed ) needs a bit more work, I feel it is a little all over the place. Going to make the lion appear to be on a large rock, with the plains of the Kalahari off to the left, maybe with a hint of a herd of zebras. We shall see. But not happy with his body, reckon I might have to add a rear leg coming into view as his body just doesn't look right. Also have to work on his Mohican, wasn't bad for a while, then I bodged it a little and now not at all happy with it. Whether I like the result or not, I will put a link to the 'finished article' probably here at some point in the future.

Postscript

The lion painting has moved on a little bit, closer to completion than it was. Can you splot (or spot) the deliberate error, obviously for artistic licence..

And through the wire

Well I set out yesterday to paint something (and it was tough trudging through the snow to the studio, had to fend off large cats intent on making me feed them, but with wooden tennis rackets attached to  my feet, ski mask and goggles - and not much else -  I made it from the living room to the front room. Bit of a close shave but with fortitude and a strong cup of tea, anything is possible.).

Now I was fairly sure the painting was going to be of an interesting log, photographed the other weekend whilst going on a long circuitous walk in the mud - how swiftly the ground changes from muddy bogs to a frozen, snow and ice covered wasteland, the UK weather, I ask you!

However, it turns out that I didn't want to paint the log at all. I had a close look at the photo. Then looked at it again, blew it up to see its sheer graininess but somehow it just failed to catch the sheer knottiness, the contours and the depths (and meaningfulness of the log - ed) of the actual log. So threw that idea away for the moment. (Does that mean you might have another go another time? - ed). Might pick it up again, but will need to go and see and feel the log out there on the hills (what are you talking about - ed) to get to grips with its sheer logginess.....

So, then what? Had another think, a pause for thought you might imagine, whilst my imagination rampaged through all the ideas streaking through my head (didn't take long as the brain seemed to be lacking in ideas). Finally, after not a single hoo or haa, I decided  and  I was going to paint an orchid for one of my Sister-In-Laws for her Birthday (that'll be Clare, not Maria or Heather in case the other two were wondering).

So found the photos I took of the orchid, did a quick pencil sketch, put in the paint by numbers numbers, then proceeded to fill in the areas as per the instruction manual. (Some of that is not true - ed)

Well this is how it turned out, Orchid in Clare's Kitchen as it is currently named. Might end up being Orchid on Clare's Kitchen Window Sill - I mean, why use fewer words when you can use more, quite like the Welsh/German languages ideas of making the word describe the thing in full detail.

Postscript 

Obviously I have applied for and got an artistic licence from the Lord Chancellor's office as per The Artistic Interpretation Act 1965 - Section (v) - subsection (iii) - paragraph 1 sub-paragraph 2.13. Luckily for me they have not increased the price of the licence with inflation since the original act, so 1s 6d turns out to be 7 1/2 p in modern money - absolute bargain if you ask me.

Hoops

When I was a kid (child, sub-teen) I used to love spaghetti hoops. That was when hoops were real hoops and not man made regulatory monstrosities (Is this the start of another rantette (small rant) this time about government regulations? - ed). Perhaps, I will see where this vein takes me.

Da Government (tm) always have to be seen to be doing something for each and every difficult question that is raised by Da Meeja (tm) or by Da Peeple (tm).

Now, in my head, I see the inner workings of Da Government (tm) in terms of the Industrial Revolution (Victorian era), where there is a cavernous central room with huge dials, levers, sirens, steam issuing forth from pipes (for no apparent reason but it looks and sounds great), with large numbers of men with overalls and soot on their faces (to show that they are labouring) and behind them a set of pin-striped, bowler hatted, umbrella wielding managers directing which levers should be pulled and how far. (Note there are no women in this picture - as at that time in the UK and most of the world they were down-trodden, ignored and irrelevant to power.  We do appear to have progressed since then).

(Now what has any of this to do with hoops? - ed). Don't rush me, I am setting a scene, building a threads of thought to weave into a rich tapestry.....

OK, what was it, ah yes hoops. Since they, 'Da Goverment' (tm), have to been seen to be doing  something for every problem or issue that occurs each and every day that has caused or will cause headlines in the papers or even makes the six or ten o'clock TV news. So what is it that they do to be seen to be doing something....

This something generally this involves the current Speaking Dead (surely Head - ed) Minister (SDM) rabbiting on about investigating this, getting to the bottom of that, reviewing the current legislation, generally the word 'thorough' is used to show how seriously this is being taken, The Dead Minister will nod sagely to the reporters incisive questioning on the topic and do their best to say absolutely nothing of any value.

If the reporter happens to be one Jeremy Paxman - then he might just ask the same question again and again like a broken record, until the politician actually breaks down and tells the truth (that would be a first - ed). [BTW - worth looking up and listening to John Humphrys destruction of the last Director General of the BBC in a Today radio interview last year, not only did the DG drown, Mr. Humphrys kept throwing him heavier and heavier weights to help him go under. There was not a life belt in sight!]

Now of late, rather than actually do something, SDMs are seen to be doing something (Yes Minister flashback - ed) by spending our (hard-earned) money on reports, investigations by learned judges, commissions, some of them Royal, which can kick most of the problems into the long grass (after the next General Election), or be safely ignored or buried when they report, as the news-cycle has rotated on to the next issue of the day, week, month.

[Hoops - what about the hoops - ed) Sudden thought that makes me think of one of Newton's Laws - "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" - apparently his Third Law of Motion. Maybe this is also a profound Political Law - maybe it is David's First Law of Politics - "For every real issue, there is an equal and opposite bit of legislation that totally fails to address that issue"

Look I am getting to the hoops, just that the thoughts are wandering down the rich seams of precious ideas foaming (frothing - ed) in my mind.

Definition: Hoops -  pieces of legislation, of any size, that causes the the public to have to follow them to get something done, but which totally fail in to meet their original purpose, and/or intent. A real hoop must make going about your daily life harder. Hoops can be of any size and positioned at any height; generally the higher and the smaller the better.  The important point is they have to make life harder and more complex  (excluding the wealthy or those with power - sometimes they are one and the same) for the man on the Clapham Omnibus than it needs to be. Hoops are a main cause of the increase in stress in modern life cf fnords.

There are many hoops to be found whilst trying to access government services. There are large numbers of hoops in Big Businesses.

BBC's Snow Joke

Well the BBC are at it again. Sending reporters out across the country to stand in snowstorms reporting that it is snowing. How the traffic behind them is managing to keep going (due to gritting and snow ploughs (really - ed))), but on the side roads and minor roads it is dangerous and drivers should take care and only go out if they have to.
Why why why do they do this. Do their reporters get danger money to go out in manky conditions and state the b****** obvious. Does no-one at the BBC think for one moment that most people have the merest inkling of common sense?

They even had a guy overlooking the M5 near Taunton to show that the lane 3 (as it is technically called the reporter said - though everyone else calls it the Fast Lane; though not if you are on the M25 on AnyDay (tm) of the week during peak times) is covered in snow and that the other two lanes are open. They then bring a chap from the IAM (nothing to do with cat food, but the Institure of Advanced Motoring) to remind drivers to keep to the clear lanes and give enough space to the driver in front in case they stop suddenly. They should be doing that whatever the conditions, argh!

We love the weather in this country, I mean it was only a few weeks ago that they were sending out reporters to stand in the middle of flooded high streets in the pouring rain and tell us that it was raining and the town, village, hamlet was flooded, and that drivers should only go out if they have to.

It was only last Spring (2012) that they had reporters standing on the edge of muddy pits (reservoirs) or in the middle of bone dry reservoirs stating that the water levels were very low for the time of the year. This was the proven by the cameraman panning to show the total lack of water or the muddy puddle that was all that was left of the previous winter's rainfall.

I wonder if there is some BBC a weather pay grade that you sign up for. Can you see it, all the reporters up North will be asking to get put on the Snow Grade to report on Snow (as there is no point to be on it in the South - as we never get snow (apart from now - ed)), the reporters in the West (probably Wales) will sign up for the Rain Grade to report on Rain, the reporters in the North West of Scotland will get the High Winds in Winter Grade to report on High Winds in Winter. There is probably a Cold Winds from the Continent grade for the reporters in East Anglia and Kent.

Maybe the BBC just state the obvious to cater for the lowest common denominator.

You can tell that people are listening, as there is no milk and RawToast (tm) (aka bread - ed) available in the supermarkets!

I think it is time for a decent, harrumph. (I didn't get a harrumph from that guy in the corner - name that film - ed)

Sky, clouds, sunrise, sunset

Well, as you may have noticed, don't worry if you haven't, I am a big fan of looking up. Well, that is up, in the sense up to watch the sky, regard the clouds, ogle at the sunrise and the sunset (freely available, not supported with your taxes, or requiring charitable donations - ed) on a regular basis. I mean, it is just there, every time that you walk out of the door (ok I can think of so cases where walking out does not get you outside - but you know what I mean). Wonderful. (For a small one off fee you can join The Cloud Appreciation Society)

Now, not every day has a great looking sunrise, a fabulous sunset or interesting clouds, but it is forever changing, so take a look, a real look (preferably taking all precautions necessary - stopping whilst crossing a road to enjoy beautiful pinks of the sunset - is NOT recommended for continued life - ed)

Leaving Reading (a town in Berkshire, England, it failed yet again in 2011 to be given city status. Look here to see the typically British way this is managed. More hoops - which I will come to in due course, but not this post) on Sunday after dropping my youngest son, (the taller, hairier one than me, but then so is the eldest - hmm, so how am I supposed to  tell them apart. ) off at Reading Station.

Now we have had a teensy weensy bit of rain since the drought was declared Spring 2012 and the outskirts of Reading, in fact its flood plain, is well and truly flooded (I am so surprised they haven't built houses there - no doubt they will in due course).

I remember in 1976 - the Long Hot Summer where Da Government (tm) finally created the post of Minister for Drought and Denis Howell MP took on the role and within days there was heavy continuous rainfall so much that he was soon renamed the Minister for Rain (this was a  little before Dustin Hoffman played him in the film Rain Man (really? - ed)- and as the rain kept on falling and falling he was renamed Minister for Floods.  Mr Howell reprised this role later as Minister for Snow in the bitter winter of 1978-79 and finally due to these good works (not only these - ed), as is the wont of British politics made a life peer as Baron Howell.

There was me thinking that Da Government did not have a sense of humour (note the English spelling  - for the US audience, use the non-u pronunciation).

Lost track there, where was I, aha I was leaving Reading, heading south towards the M4 and the outskirts are not particularly attractive, as is the case with many towns and cities in the UK, wide carriageways passing cavernous modern showrooms, selling many many things that we don't need, but that is the way that things are.

The sun was setting and particularly pink - and glancing across to my right (paying full attention to the road conditions to ensure that I was not driving without due care and attention (thanks legal department - ed), there was a stunning sunset, trees silhouetted against the falling sun, and a glorious set of reflections of the trees and the sky in the still waters. However, as I was driving I could not take a photo, what a miss. It would be kind of cool if I had a CarSkyCam (tm) to capture this all  - but they are way too expensive. A cheaper thought would be to have a head cam. Hmm - will have to think on it.

Anyhow, fabulous sunset with reflections and no photo :-( . Maybe I should have a go at painting it. But then I have a number of other paintings to do first (dog, orchid, interesting log, face, ship of the line).

So, if you like the sky - then here is a set of sky photos I have uploaded on dropbox.

Unfortunately I appear in one or two, not sure how that happened, but apologies in advance for that.

Getting the hang of it

A bolt from the blue strikes me and gets through the thickness of my brain! David, you need to NOT write multiple posts in the same post separated with sub titles. The idea is surely for each thought, idea etc. to be in a separate post. Doh!

But but but, when the flow starts, I argue, you just have to go with it (NO - ed).

OK, ok, ok, ok. Now I feel really small. But I will give it a go and see how my flow manages with this very unfair constraint. (Get on with it - ed)

Only Forward

Have recently read a book 'Only Forward' by Michael Marshall Smith. It is a mix of thriller and SF, a really fine combination as it turns out. Now I have read, and do read, a lot of books, though the last 9 months or so there has been a bit of lull on the reading front (looking back again, when he should only be looking forward! - ed). But this one is a real out of left field book. Gloriously readable on a number of levels - but some of the passages are astounding in there insightfullness. If you have read any of the same books as me then you will know what I mean when I say 'I grok it'. Wow. For those who have no idea what I am wiffling (like waffling but with more mucus - ed) on about see here.

A Timely Visit

Had youngest son, taller and much hairier than me now, visit last weekend. He likes drawing anime  characters, so I suggested that after breakfast on the Saturday that he do that and I will paint.

This turned out to be a good idea, I ended up finishing an existing painting and knocking out another two. There appears to be a bit of a red theme to them.

Poppies

The first one 'Poppies' 'Poppies' was new  and was my attempt to create an abstracty splurge of poppies to match the Cornflowers one that I had accidentally created as part of cleaning some brushes when I was feeling a little hacked off with a different painting not matching my expectations.

However, the poppies have turned out too organised, too thought out, so I will have to do another one. The idea is to complement the Cornflowers.

Red Sky At Night

So after doing Poppies - had a bunch of reds on the palette. So what could I do with that. I thought about some of the sunsets that I have seen. Am I the only one who marvels at the colours of the sky during sunset? Can't be - appear to have a book of photographs of Sunsets that I received as a Christmas present a few years back.

So started with my usual technique of slopping the paint on and seeing where it took me I ended up here. Now there are a couple of things with this picture. One I failed to remember to crop it before I uploaded (for which he humbly apologises - ed), oops sorry. The other thing is that it is more pink sky at night than red. The other, other thing is that it should be @2013 - as I did it last weekend. I do know it is 2013, just the export tag in Picasa hasn't been updated. OK ok ok, will sort that out right now... mumble mutter. Am I allowed to put that off just a little while (instant prevarication - ed) - aha it appears that I have already done it. So problemette solved.

Cloudy Sunset (1, 2 3)

Well even after the Red Sky At Night, still had some red paint on the go, so decided to make it More Purply Than That (tm) (not really - ed) and see what that would turn up.

First step(s) ended up with this (ok ok - what is it with youse guys and lack of cropping - ed) , nowhere near purply enough for the clouds that I was intending. So I soldiered on (by this time Youngest Son was playing Diablo III and the pencil drawing of the anime was about half done - no focus these youngsters) and ended up with 'Cloudy Sunset'. Now you might think that you have never seen a sunset like that. I would suggest that you simply look. Remember this is ART and is MY interpretation.

On reflection Cornfield, Cornflowers and Poppies

Belatedly realised that I actually created 3 new ones and finished off the other one. This was the cornfield with cornflowers that I was doing before Christmas that needed something else to make it 'better', it appears that what it needed was poppies. Here is the Before and there is the After (but surely it is not cropped - ed).

For some strange reason I have named it as a Wheatfield. Oops again.

Falling into 2013

Belatedly Happy New Year

What happened there? It appears that December disappeared in a haze of lost time. Must have blinked, or tripped over Christmas and fell into 2013, and its already half way through the month. Did manage to write a date with the correct year on it the other day, so I must now realise a New Year is upon us.

So what has happened to me since the last post on 8th December. Well been there and back again, yes I have seen The Hobbit (1 of 3). Could give you my thoughts on it - but I am sure that there are a million other people out there who have already done that. The least I will say is that I was pleasantly surprised and would see it again (means he liked it - ed)

Have to admit I was very concerned that it would be like the first (fourth) Stars Wars film with which I had such enormous anticipation and excitement, which then failed to meet even the lowest of my expectations. So sad. Even went Up Town into Leicester Square to see it with The Chaps, ah yes, Mr C got us top notch seats at the back of the auditorium where the balcony cut off the top of the screen for added effect!

Doing Difficult Things

Prevarication appears to have been ruling the roost. When there is a problem ahead of you and you have no option but to face it and deal with it, do you just get on with it and get it done as soon as possible, or do you put it off until the last possible moment? There is a half way house where you keep nibbling away at the problem here and there, but to my mind that just makes the problem elongate and come to fill all the time and space in your head.

Anyhow, the difficult thing is done, and the next one is now coming up on the horizon, luckily a day at a time so I can do my best to try and ignore it for the moment.

'A' Level Maths Revision 

Well during my blog hiatus I did more 'A' Level Maths revision papers than I expected. The eldest, tallest son was preparing for an exam a week after returning to school in 2013. The first past exam paper he attempted and I went through the paper with him to mark and help understanding, (I did 'A' Level Maths a scarily long time ago, reckon 34 years!) (Yes he is that old - ed) was very poor. It appears that the revision paper was from a different exam board, so therefore a different curriculum, doh!

Anyhow, after that wonderfully enlightening initial mistake, he got on and ending up to 2 appropriate papers a day. What was clear was that he had not been paying attention during some of the lessons as some questions elicited the teenage, 'Uh, we never did that', grunt, on more occasions than I was comfortable with.

What I have learnt from this effort is that (and in no particular order):

• Ensure that you have the correct examination board's papers
• Ensure that you have the text books that you have been taught from with you otherwise all those handy tips, hints, formula's, techniques that are in them are accessible
• Ensure that you go to all the lessons, and if you miss any, then speak to the teacher to see what was covered. Do the work and if you get it fine, if you don't go back to the teacher and get them to help you understand what it is you don't get
• Don't trust your classmates to keep you informed of what the teacher did/did not say. Not their job, it is up to you to check with the teacher
• Access all of the revision classes that you can
• Pay attention in class, being awake does help, but paying attention and getting that brain focussed on listening and understanding is key
• Do the homework that you are set - the teacher can then see which areas you are weak in and ensure that you fully understand how to go about solving the problem with the appropriate techniques.

Snow Forecast

It appears that we will be getting a good dumping of snow tomorrow, so it is very likely that the south part of the country will grind to a halt as per usual. But I have to say that the local council has doing much better since the Winter of 3 years ago when the roads were in a terrible state and they ran out of grit, even for the main roads (is that true or apocryphal - ed)

If you live up t'north they just get on with it when it snows. However, down here in the South, it ends up being carmageddon with cars abandoned left, right and centre, across the carriageways making it impossible for any of the many (few - ed) snowploughs from actually clearing the roads.

There was a guy on BBC Breakfast (Happy 30th Birthday by the way), the other day suggesting that we all buy  winter tyres for the Winter months. The problem with this somewhat sensible idea is (a) the cost of buying and fitting (b) the storage of said tyres during the Summer months (c) unless everyone does it then the roads will still be blocked by cars that have no grip (d) Winter driving (rain/sleet/snow/ice) is per se not part of the driving test. But apart from that it is a stonking (very good - ed) idea for companies that do tyre sales and fitting, and driving instructors who specialise or offer winter driving courses.