the numbers game…

I’ve been reading Bill Bryson’s book “Notes from a Big Country” (published in 1998 and compiled from his regular column in the Telegraph - he’d recently moved back to the USA after living in England for nearly 20 years). In one of his pieces, he was writing about the USA’s national debt – not because he was particularly interested in the American economy, but more because of the figures involved ($4.5trillion)… “but what does $4.5trillion actually mean?” he asked.
I found his following explanation both entertaining and pretty “gobsmacking”:
“Imagine that you were in a vault with the whole of America’s national debt and you were told you could keep each dollar bill you initialled. Say, too, for the sake of argument that you could initial one dollar bill each second and that you worked straight through without stopping. How long do you think it would take to count a trillion dollars? Go on, humour me and take a guess. Twelve weeks? Five years?
If you initialled one dollar per second, you would make $1,000 every 17 minutes. After twelve days of non-stop effort you would acquire your first $1million. Thus it would take you 120 days to accumulate $10million and 1,200 days – something over three years – to reach $100million. After 31.7 years, you would become a billionaire, and after almost a thousand years you would be as wealthy as Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft. But not until after 31,709.8 years would you count your trillionth dollar…
That is what $1 trillion is.”
I’m still trying to get my head round this!
It’s a bit like someone telling you that you’ll have to wait another 700-odd YEARS before you can celebrate 1million DAYS since the birth of Christ…
Somehow, I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it.
Note: I’m aware that, in the past, “trillion” has meant difficult things in the USA and in the UK. Apparently, these days, they mean the same (one million million) – it used to be one million million million in “British English” (according to Wikipedia).

golfing at studley wood again…

Pete, Ken, Steve and I used to play golf at Studley Wood EVERY Friday afternoon… and we kept this up for about three years.
Those Fridays hold very special memories for all of us.
Sometimes (in the winter, for instance), we only managed to squeeze in four holes before it got dark – ridiculous really, but we’d made a commitment to each other that, despite our incredibly busy working lives, long hours and hectic schedules, we’d try to keep our “golf dates” sacrosanct.
Well, today, for the first time in ages, our golfing fourball rode the fairways once again!!
As I mentioned on facebook this morning, it was going to be the first time I’d have swung a club since playing in France at the start of June… and I predicted that “it could be messy”.
Well, it was rather…
Actually, I should qualify that… yes, it was very messy for me (not my finest round of golf), but the other three played really well. Unfortunately, Pete drew the short straw and played with me and we ended up losing on the 17^th green.
But, hey, the score didn’t really matter (oh no?)!!
Actually, we had a BRILLIANT time – enjoying each other’s company, being on a golf course together again… and beautiful weather.
Very special people. Very happy times.
Photo: the inevitable selfie on the 18^th green (Steve, Pete, Ken and me).

cara dillon at st george’s…

Ruth and I went along to St George’s, Bristol last night to see/hear Cara Dillon and her band perform.

She was absolutely excellent – stunning voice and wonderful musicians.
I’ve long admired her music (I play her “Hill of Thieves” CD, from 2008, pretty frequently) although, I have to admit, that was the last CD of hers that I bought…
I’d originally bought a ticket for her last St George’s concert (some two years ago?) but, stupidly and annoyingly, I forgot to turn up!! Something had cropped up late that afternoon and I’d agreed to help out… but, by the time I’d got home, it was early evening and I completely forgot all about the concert (and only remembered the following day!)…
Anyway, last night proved to be a really impressive, engaging occasion – music and a few stories (we particularly liked her story of her 5 year-old daughter insisting on attending the previous night’s concert in Frome, where they live, but ONLY if she was allowed to wear her “play high-heel shoes” - and her “Frozen” dress, of course!). Lots of negotiating apparently followed…
Actually, I had no idea that she lived just a few miles away in Frome (no doubt, lots of my Frome friends will be telling me she’s their best friend… or their close neighbour!). The other thing I didn’t realise until last night (isn’t google wonderful!) was that her husband Sam – who is a key figure in the band – is Seth Lakeman’s brother (Seth – the hugely-talented folk singing, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist). Musical excellence clearly runs in the family – and I’ve subsequently discovered that Cara, Sam and Seth (together with Kathryn Roberts) played together in the band “Equation” in 1995.
During the course of the evening, the band also played a number of instrumental pieces and Cara Dillon demonstrated her own impressive multi-musicality by playing various whistles and the bodhran (she also plays the fiddle).
One of the songs she sang last night was “Garden Valley” (which she first recorded in 2006 with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra). She explained that the band hadn’t performed it for some time until recently… and were suddenly struck how poignant the song was in the light of the recent/current Syrian refugee crisis. I agree (the sound on this youtube clip isn’t exactly brilliant, but it’ll give you a flavour).
If you get a chance to see/hear her perform “live”, then I suggest you grasp it with both hands.
You won’t be disappointed.

macbeth...

Moira and I went along to the Watershed yesterday to see Justin Kurzel’s “Macbeth”.

We obviously knew we weren’t exactly going to be in for a bright, heart-warming time… and this clearly proved to be the case (you know the story, the characters, the key lines from the play etc!).
From what little I’d previously heard about the film, I realised it was going to be a dark, bleak and somewhat bruising. It was certainly all of these things, but much, much more.
The photography/cinematography is stunningly impressive – shot on the wonderful, beautiful, stark Isle of Skye - and its dramatic, timeless setting sets the tone for the film from the very beginning on the bruising, bloody battlefield.
Actually, it was all very, very bloody!
This was definitely NOT like watching a Shakespeare play on stage (indeed the film can only be described as being “based on” the play – and a stripped-down version at that… which is fine). Normally, after perhaps five minutes, I find that the dialogue suddenly clicks in to focus (not quite the right word?) and I can thereafter hear/recognise/understand what’s being said. With this film, I have to say, I struggled to “hear” throughout – a combination of Scottish voices/accents and typically mumbled cinematic dialogue… but it actually didn’t matter. You could follow what was happening (and I think this would have been the case even if you didn’t know the play).
Macbeth (Michael Fassbender) and his infamous Lady (Marion Cotillard) are both excellent in the leading roles – a battle-weary general/tortured soul encouraged to commit regicide by his ruthlessly ambitious wife. It’s a film about murder, guilt and self-loathing…
Oh, and one of the lasting images from the film, for me, was the haunting portrayal of the witches - simply, and beautifully, depicted.
Powerful and quite brilliant.
Photo: the witches looming on the battlefield...

 

brixham drawing project...



Across from North View Steps

Fishing Boats

I was contacted by our lovely friend Tanya a couple of months ago. Over the past couple of years, she’s made very generous comments about my drawings and was now suggesting that Moira+I might like to stay at their Brixham house in exchange for some drawings of the town…

As you might imagine, it was no contest!!

Harbourside Facades



New Quay Inn, King Street

What a wonderful opportunity to spend time in a beautiful Devon fishing port - overlooking the harbourside, the marina and the rows of hillside houses (she sent us some stunning photographs taken from her property… just in case we had any doubts - we didn’t!)!

I ended up completing eight drawings in total and have, with Tanya’s agreement, posted them here in their entirely (I’d previously only posted extracts on my “one day like this” blog – double click on the individual images to enlarge).

Well, we’ve now returned from our week in Brixham and it really did prove to be a lovely time – we were very fortunate with the weather and we’d forgotten just how beautiful the town was (it was a few decades since either Moira or I had last visited!).

The views from the house’s living room windows were spectacular  – overlooking the harbour, the marina and the busy fishing fleet. It reminded us of the views from another favourite seaside upper floor living room - at Upper Saltings in St Ives (where one could happily stare out at the ocean for hours on end!). Absolutely mesmerising.

Overgang

Quay Facades

Tanya’s house was ideally located – just a three minute walk to the harbour or the marina (admittedly down lines of steep steps, but hey!) and within 10 minutes you could easily be walking along the sea wall/breakwater to the small, white lighthouse. Lots of excellent restaurants and cafés (eg. we enjoyed a very good supper at the Rockfish restaurant and an equally good breakfast at the Breakwater Café!). We also met up with our great friends Gail+Ian in Totnes and visited the National Trust’s Greenway (former summer home of Agatha Christie) – in the case of the latter, partly via steam train! Lots of excellent coastal walks too: we walked to Berry Head (30 minutes) and also beside the sea in the other direction to The Grove woodland (again, say 30 minutes).

Harbour Boats and Houses

Marina

After this very enjoyable experience, we’re now looking for more lovely friends who have properties in Venice… or Florence… or Tuscany… or the west coast of Ireland… or (as you can see, we’re not fussy!).

Life is tough.

september 2015 books

More book stuff:

In Search Of A Past (Ronald Fraser): Although I’d never heard of him before reading this book, Fraser is an internationally renowned oral historian. In this book, however, he turns his attention to his own origins. He grew up in a manor house outside London and this memoir gathers the recollections of the servants who worked for his parents (an American mother and a Scottish father) who learnt to “embrace the lifestyle of the idle local gentry”. Fraser (he died in 2012) paints a vivid picture of his life at the manor house from the age of 3 to 14 (1933-1945). It was a life he hated: “English class rigidities and inherent superiorities”. Fraser had very few friends and wasn’t allowed to play with the village children. I found it an illuminating but rather depressing book. His parents hunted twice a week and seemed to lack any interest in anything beyond their horses. His father never greeted his son; never spoke to him during meals; “not interested in my child until he can go out shooting with me”… you get the general idea! It’s an honest, revealing book of social history (with staff knowing their place).  
From The Land Of Shadows (Clive James): A book of literary-critical essays from the late 1970s/early 1980s by one of my favourite writers. Funny, pithy, intellectual… even if some of James’s essays were well beyond my comprehension (eg. the fourth section entitled “The Giant in the East” – featuring writers I knew nothing or next to nothing about, such as Nabokov, Voznesensky, Pushkin, Zinoviev and, oh, not forgetting Bukovsky!). But, as usual, I found the book hugely entertaining (and illuminating!)… James clearly doesn’t particularly rate Lord Longford, Malcolm Muggeridge and Richard Ingrams, for example, and Gore Vidal, Anthony Burgess and John Le Carre don’t emerge unscathed either. On the other hand, he’s a massive fan of Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin. One of the funniest pieces, however, is reserved for American author Judith Krantz (“who writes in the romance genre” according to Wikipedia). He completely dismantles her book “Princess Daisy” in a hilarious and thorough, academic way… but brilliantly funny. James is one of the cleverest writers I’ve ever come across (and his depth of knowledge is quite staggering)… but I do find some of his assumptions completely over-the-top. A typical example appears on P149: “Most of us have scores of Larkin’s lines, hemistiches and phrases in our heads, to make us smile whenever we think of them, which is as often as the day changes”. Well, actually Clive, I’m afraid you’ll have to count me out. Despite this (and other similar sweeping statements), I still very much enjoyed the book.
The Cement Garden (Ian McEwan): Strangely, I hadn’t come across this short novel before (first published in 1977). It’s an unsettling, dark story told in the words of a 14 year-old boy of how he and his three siblings (older and younger sisters and a younger brother) retreat into their own world after the death of their parents. The abruptly orphaned children – fearing being put into care or up for adoption - fend for themselves through a long hot summer. Their lives are in turmoil and their “instant adulthood” is played out against a backdrop of filth and chaotic isolation. It’s a compelling, uncomfortable tale.
The Mistress’s Daughter: A Memoir (AM Homes): Author AM Homes (apparently known for her “controversial novels and unusual short stories”) was adopted at birth in 1961 (her parents were a 22 year-old woman and an older, married man). She was contacted over 30 years later (via her adoptive parents via their lawyer) by her birth mother… and this book tells “what happened next”. It’s a raw, unflinchingly honest book of Homes’s somewhat frustrated journey to discovering more about her roots – her selfish, arrogant birth father, Norman, and her overbearing birth mother, Ellen, (referred to as the “dragon lady” by her father in his subsequent conversations with Homes!).
From Bow to Biennale (David Buckman): Moira+I went to an exhibition of work from the East London Group of artists at the Old Nunnery, Bow last year and subsequently bought this book (which I’ve only now got round to reading properly!). Although now almost forgotten, the ELG was a remarkable collection of artists - starting up from classes by the inspirational teacher John Cooper at the Bow and Bromley Evening Institute in East London from the mid-1920s and comprising two basic groups: first, aspiring East Enders; secondly, a smaller contingent who were Slade School of Fine Art-trained, like Cooper himself (Brynhild Parker was one of my favourite artists). An early mentor was Walter Sickert, who addressed the Bow classes and showed with the Group for a short time. The last annual Group exhibition was in 1936, although some painters remained active well beyond that. One of its artists’ most important legacies is their probably unmatched visual record of inter-war east London (Cooper had encouraged his artists to paint things “around them” rather than copying from other works of art). The paintings from the working-class East Enders were quite crude in character and technique, but have a haunting beauty - I particularly like some of the work by Harold and Walter Staggles, Elwin Hawthorne and Henry Silk. An extensive, fascinating, well-researched and very enjoyable book.

 

45 years

Moira and I went to the Watershed (for the third time in 8 days!) this afternoon to see Andrew Haigh’s “45 Years” – based on David Constantine’s short story “In Another Country”. Charlotte Rampling (Kate) and Tom Courtenay (Geoff) are about to celebrate their 45^th wedding anniversary when Geoff receives a letter telling him that the body of his previous girlfriend has been found, perfectly preserved in the ice of the Alps where she fell 50 years ago. Suddenly, everything becomes different… the rock-solid relationship of their childless marriage faces a crisis as Geoff becomes deeply affected by his news; he refers to his former girlfriend as “my Katya”; he considers travelling to Switzerland to see her body… Kate knew nothing about the relationship and can’t understand Geoff’s attitude after so many years had passed. Geoff keeps disappearing into the attic to pore over an old diary; Katya’s perfume becomes apparent around the house/attic; old slides are re-discovered… Kate feels as if she’s been living in some sort of sham marriage…
It’s a very mournful, honest and sensitive film about memories, long-term relationships and ageing. Rampling and Courtenay are both superb (although Courtenay’s bumbling mannerisms did irritate me at times!). The film contained some powerful, thought-provoking dialogue on the ageing process - for example: “She looks like she did in 1962 and I look like this” (Geoff).
Moira+I have been married for nearly 43 years, so it was quite a poignant film for us (although no skeletons-in-the-cupboard emerged during the course of our conversations walking home!!) and we were clearly able to identify with the various references to becoming old!
An excellent, stylish, intriguing, thought-provoking film… and brilliantly acted.  
PS: For me, one of the saddest reminders from the film was remembering that Radio4 formed the constant(?) background sound around the house. With Moira’s hearing problems, having ANY background noise is pretty difficult for her these days… so, she goes without her beloved Radio4 and I pick and choose my music/radio moments (earpieces work for me but, sadly, don’t for Moira).
PPS: Our good friend Sam Alexander also had a small part in the film – he played the postman!

 

august 2015 books

More book stuff:
Cultural Amnesia (Clive James): Published in 2007, this mammoth book of over 850 pages (which makes bedtime reading a little tricky!) took James 40 years to write. It’s organised from A to Z and contains over 100 essays. It’s been described as “the ultimate guide to the 20^th century” and I wouldn’t argue with that at all. The essays take the form of James’s brief biography/background context of some of the greatest thinkers, humanists, musicians, artists and philosophers of the 20^th century (and before)… from Louis Armstrong to Sigmund Freud via Frank Kafka, Marcel Proust (you get the idea), followed by one of their quotes, followed in turn by James’s own reflections – which frequently refer to such things as when he first bought a copy of a book or saw a performance or a conversation. Over the past 20 years or so, I have continued to be amazed by the massive depth of James’s knowledge… and its diversity (and, yes, I appreciate that James has never been embarrassed to show off his intellect!). Just as an example, I paused at the end of the piece on Georg Cristoph Lichtenburg, 1742-99 (yes, there were MANY people in the book that I’d never heard of!)… in it, James had made references to his first experience of seeing a Lautrec painting… which tumbled into his reflections on Barbirelli’s Berlin concerts at the end of WW2… which in turn developed into what the Greeks made of Helen’s beauty… and on to feminism in the late 20^th century… then the writings of Thomas Mann… and “The Great Gatsby”… and Solzhenitsyn, Sartre, Kingsley Amis… Chekhov etc etc. This chapter alone probably contained references to over 50 books he’d read (and quoted from) or music he “knew” intimately or… I could go on! A couple of other (slightly quirky?) observations of the book: he uses the word “humanist” or “humanism” in at least every other essay and he also frequently tries to encourage to language students – such as “students who want to make a start with Spanish could do worse than to track Vargas Llosa through his essays” (something that James had clearly done in developing his own wide-ranging language skills). James has been a long-time hero of mine… this is a wonderful book (with some minor reservations) – informative, pithy, endearing and frequently amusing.
Sentenced To Life (Clive James): Yes, another Clive James’s book (sorry) – this time a book of poems written between 2011 and 2014, after James had been diagnosed with terminal illness (“leukaemia, emphysema and kidney failure – ‘the lot’”). It’s a really beautiful, poignant, enriching book… of his guilt, his regrets, his illness, his family and life, but also about how his condition has given him time and space to appreciate things that he’d previously hardly noticed or just taken for granted – like rain and nature. Take this example from the poem “Sentenced to Life”:  
Once I would not have noticed; nor have known
The name for Japanese anemones,
So pale, so frail. But now I catch the tone
Of leaves. No birds can touch down in the trees
Without my seeing them. I count the bees.
His poem “Japanese Maple” has rightly, in my view, been highly acclaimed via the internet/social media. James has been quoted as being “embarrassed at having lived with his death so long” (he certainly hadn’t anticipated seeing much beyond last Autumn), but he’s still here and I, for one, am mightily grateful for that. A book I’ll continue to treasure for many years to come.
The Great Gatsby (F Scott Fitzgerald): I’d never read this book (or seen any of the film versions) but, encouraged by Clive James’s various comments on it, I thought I’d give it a “go”. First published in 1925, it paints a picture of a lifestyle and a decade that is both fascinating and horrific… about the American dream in a time when it had descended into decadence – an era, known for unprecedented economic prosperity, the evolution of jazz music, flapper culture, bootlegging and other criminal activity, is plausibly depicted in the novel. Loosely based on some of Fitzgerald’s own experiences/acquaintances… idolising the very rich and their seductive and exciting lifestyle… with, for some, brutal consequences. Beautifully crafted writing.
Dancing Barefoot - The Patti Smith Story (Dave Thompson): Although I’ve got her album “Land” (1975-2002), I’ve never really been a big fan of Patti Smith (or her music). I still see her as the loud-mouthed, foul-mouthed, provocative, anarchistic, geeky singer/poet she was in the 1970s/80s. She’s clearly now seen as an important figure of the rock/punk era… and probably rightly so. This biography, published in 2011, is perhaps what you’d expect from a musical journalist (well, what I anticipated, at least) – full of glib phrases and re-hashed quotes. Its saving grace is that it also fills in some of the interesting background details. It’s also made me play her music again… and, crucially, to watch some of her LIVE performances on YouTube.  
Life After Life (Kate Atkinson): This is our Book Group’s latest book. My book’s cover included the following words of description: What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right?... Would you eventually be able to save the world from its own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to?  This multi-layered, complex novel follows the story of Ursula Todd – and lives out a number of her lives starting (again and again) in 1910. This intriguing synopsis might sound somewhat bizarre, but it’s a key premise of the book. Atkinson is a hugely-gifted, intelligent and inventive writer. She has an extraordinary ability to evoke the past and also to find humour and warmth - even in life’s grimmest circumstances. I really enjoyed this clever, intriguing book. I’d previously only read one other novel by Kate Atkinson (Behind The Scenes At The Museum – excellent!) and definitely need read more of her work. Quite brilliant.

mistress america

Gareth, Eilidh, Ed, Moira+I went to the Watershed this MORNING (yes, I know AND the second cinema trip in three days!) to see Noah Baumbach’s “Mistress America”, featuring Greta Gerwig (as Brooke, prospective step-sister to Tracy and a 30 year-old “Manhattanite” with a history of enthusiasm, failed business ideas and desperate keenness to impress) and Lola Kirke (as 18 year-old Tracy, a college freshman in New York who dislikes her peers and who wants to be a writer).
I have to say that I was really looking forward to it – I’d seen Baumbach’s film “Frances Ha” a couple of years ago (also starring Greta Gerwig) – but, despite some excellent reviews the film has received, I’m afraid I was somewhat disappointed.
Gerwig is undoubtedly a brilliant, charismatic actor, but I found her machinegun-like delivery hard to decipher (and take) on occasions. Surprisingly, I found Kirke a far more convincing character.
Despite the fact that the film was very funny at times and that there were lots of impressive one-liners (none of which I can remember, of course!), I actually found it just TOO frenetic (“Friends” on drugs?). The first 30 minutes or so seemed to establish the synopsis and characters well, but then, to my mind, things seemed to get bogged down and lose the plot. It pulled itself together a little by the end… but, sadly, too late to win me over.
Maybe this kind of “in-your-face” American lifestyle and/or humour just isn’t for me… or maybe I just disliked the desperate focus on “career awareness” and need for “success”?

gemma bovery

Moira+I went along to the Watershed this afternoon to see Anne Fontaine’s “Gemma Bovery”. It’s essentially a re-imagining of Posy Simmonds’ graphic novel… which itself is a re-imagining of Flaubert’s literary classic “Madame Bovery”. I used to love the Posy Simmonds’ cartoon strip in “The Guardian” and the film proved to be a gentle, charming way to spend a wet Monday afternoon (one of the few occasions when we’ve been to daytime cinema when it hasn’t been sunny outside!). The plot revolves around an English couple (Gemma Arterton and Jason Flemyng) who move into a small Normandy village. Their new neighbour (Fabrice Luchini) is the local baker and resident Flaubert fan – who just can’t believe that his new neighbours seem to replicate the behaviour of his favourite fictional characters. I won’t give much more away – except that Gemma has a passion for younger men(!)…

Fabrice Luchini (Martin) is superb as the baker/neighbour and Gemma Arterton (Gemma) is rather beautiful (and also gives a very good performance)! When Martin gives Gemma the novel to read, her response is: "Nothing happens but, at the same time, it is interesting"… and that probably just about sums up the film.
Enjoyable and worth seeing (especially on a wet afternoon).

soaring student rents…

The headline in the leading article in today’s Observer states: “Soaring student rents push college accommodation to brink of crisis”. Half of undergraduates struggle to pay bills (‘twas ever the case?) – rents rose by 25% between 2010 and 2013; living costs outstrip loans. One of the troubles is that private developers have moved in on the student accommodation market.

There are something like 48,000 students at Bristol’s two universities – which is about a tenth of the city’s population. In the “olden days” when I was at university, student accommodation was all about spartan rooms and shared bathrooms (actually, it still seemed to be pretty much like this even when our daughters were at university 15-20 years ago!). In my first year, I stayed at digs which cost me 7 guineas(!) a week for bed and breakfast.
About a year ago(?), I remember highlighting a photograph on facebook of a “luxury student accommodation” hoarding (scandalous!!) I spotted in the centre (which I now can’t locate – the development was being undertaken by Prime Student Living)… but this excellent article by Alex Rankin in “The Bristol Cable”, from last February, summarises things perfectly. Here are some extracts:
“Within the last couple of years, a raft of new developments have sprung up across town, offering would-be students an exclusive living experience. Nowhere is this more noticeable than in the area around Nelson Street, formerly the site of the See No Evil street art gallery. It’s currently a frenzy of building activity with New Bridewell police station and the Magistrates Court razed to the ground and several other buildings in the process of being redeveloped.
One of the first to be transformed was the pre-existing Nelson House, which underwent a £3 million upgrade courtesy of Unite Students…  A single room here goes for just over £5,000 per academic year, or £125 per week, which might sound reasonable enough given its central location but other student accommodation costs a lot more.
St Lawrence House, currently under development by Prime Student Living, is set to open its doors to undergraduates in September 2015. The description of the facilities reads like a holiday brochure, with students being offered an on-site gym, 32” TVs and even their own printing and parcel distribution service. Despite claiming to offer tenants ‘affordable’ accommodation, prices start at £165 per week for a standard studio and rise to as much as £213 for an ‘extra large’ version. Meanwhile, Student Castle, who recently turned the old Pro Cathedral in Clifton into student rooms, charge even higher, with rates ranging from £139 per week all the way up to £269 for a two-level studio.
According to their website, many rooms are now booked out, but this has little bearing on the financial status of the vast majority of Bristol’s students. Tom Phipps, housing officer for the University of Bristol’s Student Union, said about these prices: “given that the basic maintenance loan is around £3,700 a year, these prices are exorbitant. Only a very small proportion of students here at Bristol will be able to afford these costs. This is a worrying trend as rents across the board are rising year on year making Bristol one of the most expensive places to be a student”.
Universities used to own and manage their own student accommodation. By the 1970-80s, Housing Associations frequently took over this role on behalf of many universities.
Crucially, Housing Associations were NON-PROFIT MAKING organisations but, sadly – largely thanks to changes in government regulation between 2010-13, today it’s the developers who have largely taken over… with the onus now very much on maximising profits for their shareholders.
It shouldn’t be like this!
PS: There MIGHT be an argument that there too many students attending university courses these days... but that's another story!

amy

Went to see Asif Kapadia’s documentary film “Amy” at the Watershed last week (Kapadia also directed the impressive “Senna” film). Obviously, like with Senna, everyone knows how the story ends… but it was fascinating to see the impressive way archive images, home movies, concert videos, news footage and clips (together with interviews with the key people in Amy Winehouse’s life) had been stitched together. She died from alcohol poisoning in July 2011, aged just 27. She was an immense musical talent with a rich jazz voice to match her idols Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan (not to mention her song-writing abilities)… but with a self-destruct button.

The film showed the media in a pretty poor light (well, at least the tabloid press and swarms of paparazzi photographers – it felt very much like Princess Diana all over again). As Winehouse’s fame grew and as her drug-taking and drinking became notoriously more frequent, so the media swarmed around her like moths to light waiting for her to fall (literally)… it was sickening and uncomfortable to watch.
Although her paternal grandmother was a huge influence in her life, Winehouse was let down by her father (who walked out on the family when she was 9 – but not a unique occurrence!) and her ineffective mother - who, it seems, brought no discipline or structure to the struggling household.
Her father later returned (as her fame/earnings grew?) and became a strange sort of intrusive driving-force and ineffective burden (even though she adored him). It was her father who crucially advised Amy against going into rehab. It seems that she had a whole stream of people (including her equally troubled and charmless one-time husband – who appears to have introduced her to hard drugs) who were out of their depth in their attempts to manage her life, her well-being or her career. By the time she was just 21, it seems that her life was a downward spiral through drugs, with almost inevitable consequences… and so it proved.
It’s a moving and powerful film. Intimate and passionate… and heart-breaking in its inevitable end. Winehouse had an extraordinary personality, a stunning ear for jazz and a gloriously rich voice… but, sadly, it was her chaotic personal life that stole the headlines.
An impressive film.
PS: The media were quick to point out that Winehouse’s  death at the age of 27, meant that she was the latest “star” to join the infamous “27 Club” (alongside Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain)… and, like them, one can only wonder what musical creativity she might have produced if she’d had anything like a “normal” lifespan (but, actually, due to her chaotic lifestyle she produced just TWO albums).
But, you could say the same about other noted musicians… Schubert died aged 31 (but had written over 1,500 pieces); Purcell, 36 (wrote well over 600 pieces); or Mozart, 35 (again, composed over 600 works); or Chopin, 39 (over 230 works survive).

richard long: “time+space”

Moira and I went along to the Arnolfini this morning to see Bristol-born Richard Long’s latest exhibition. Now I have to admit, the first time I experienced Long’s work at Tate St Ives in 2002, I was a little nonplussed. Although I was rather taken by his “walking texts”, from a graphic perspective (Gill Sans font!), they didn’t really feel like art to me.

Over the years, however, I’ve come to love his work - and somewhat strangely perhaps, in the circumstances, I PARTICULARLY like his textworks. Many of these originate from walks undertaken in the countryside around Bristol. Every walk is unique. They’re crystallised/summarised in a few phrases, together with details of mileage and timespan (and he always seems to cover very impressive daily distances – frequently 40 miles or so!).
The walks, like all his other work, represent the artist’s physical actions. He frequently uses mud taken from the banks of the Avon for his “paintings”. Nature is key to his work. Sometimes, in the constructed pieces, they might be fingerprints in the landscape. His walks are always undertaken alone; they could be seen as pilgrimages. His walks are limited by the capabilities of the human body and the body becomes the artist’s “natural material”. Long’s landscape sculptures are typically unplanned – created after a period of walking in the landscape.
For me, there’s a spiritual, poetic element within his work – Long has referred to “what you might call a state of grace” after walking close to nature. In many ways, the exhibition is a call for us all to look at our surroundings in a new way. Perhaps Long’s work is also a reminder, in our frenetic world of “instant access”, to pause and to consider, to experience and to feel.
It’s definitely an exhibition to take your time over. I really enjoyed it and I’ll certainly stop off on a regular basis to reflect on specific pieces over the coming months (it ends on 15 November).
You need to see if you can.
Photo: “Time+Space 2015” slate sculpture.

salt of the earth...

I went to the Watershed yesterday to see a film. It was being shown in Cinema 2 – the tiny cinema with seats for just 45 people. ALL 45 seats were taken.

This was very unusual, especially for an afternoon performance (there have been occasions when there’s just been me and two others in attendance!).              
The film was “Salt of the Earth”, directed by Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and Wim Wenders. It was documentary featuring the work of Brazilian photographer Sabastiao Salgado (Juliano’s father) compiled over the past 40 years.
It was simply stunning.
The audience sat spellbound for 110 minutes in absolute silence.
The film consisted of well over 1,000 black+white photographs, with simple, sparse commentary – which frequently featured head-shots of Sabastiao talking about his work and his experiences.
The images were horrific (man’s inhumanity towards man is an under-statement), haunting and tragic… but, at the same time, very beautiful and poignant. They included shots from various of his photographic projects/assignments, including: the Serra Pelado mountain goldmine in Brazil, taken in the mid-1980s; through “Sahel” looking at the famine in Ethiopia, again in the 1980s; the plight of refugees from Rwanda and Yugoslavia during their respective troubles in the 1990s. Somehow, he was allowed into the lives of utterly miserable and desperate human beings. His photographs provided a message to the world.
The film also includes footage of Sabastiao’s aged father (Juliano’s grandfather) on his drought-stricken farm in Brazil – which had once been a thriving forest (before it was felled to help pay for the education and the survival(?) of his family). Having "seen into the heart of darkness" (as Wenders puts it in his occasionally narration) for so long, a burned-out Selgado returned to Brazil and, thanks to his wife’s initiative and drive, embarked on a plan of replanting and reviving the land that he dubbed "Instituto Terra." Not only did this effort help begin to bring the farm back to life, it would spread, first to other parts of Brazil and then worldwide.
After the stream of harrowing black+white images of people’s suffering at the hands of others, greed and the destruction of our planet, it’s completely fitting that the film should end on a hugely-uplifting, positive note.
Without a doubt, this is the best film I’ve seen this year.
Photo: Sabastiao Salgado standing in front of just a few of his photographs.
PS: If you’re not familiar with Salgado’s work, I suggest you just click “Salgado” on google images… you’ll be stunned (and also sadly appalled).  
PPS: You can catch the film at the Watershed, Bristol until Wednesday 5 August.

still 7 weeks to go before the labour party gets a new leader…

At the end of a week that saw much Labour Party embarrassment over the welfare vote, it’s been fascinating reading some of the newspaper comment regarding the Labour leadership contest (which is still 7 weeks away!).

Some 55,000 new people have signed up to Labour since its crushing election defeat in May. A third of them are under 30 and their most common age is 18. They seem to be flocking to Jeremy Corbyn.

These are just a few things I’ve picked up during the course of the past couple of days regarding Jeremy Corbyn and the contest:

The 'left-wing' policies of Jeremy Corbyn the public actually agrees with (The Independent: 25 July 2015):

1.     The public overwhelmingly backs renationalising the railways 

2.     There's a public appetite for a 75% top rate of tax on incomes over £1m

3.     Two thirds of Brits want to see an international convention on banning nuclear weapons

4.     Six out of ten people want to see rents controls on landlords

5.     The public support a mandatory living wage

6.     Jeremy Corbyn wants to cut tuition fees and so does the public

7.     The public were on the same side as Jeremy Corbyn in Iraq War debate 

8.     The public were also in sync with Corbyn when it came to bombing Syria

Andrew Grice, The Independent (24 July): “If Labour members want to be part of a pressure group, railing impotently against the nasty Tories for the next 20 years, they should vote for Mr Corbyn.  If they want to change the country, they should back someone else.”
Robin Lustig, Huffington Post (24 July 2015): “Here's what I think Labour party members want: a party that speaks up for those who have least and need most; that develops policies to distribute the nation's wealth more fairly; and that believes everyone deserves an equal chance to make the most of what life offers... And here's the central dilemma: for reasons that many party activists struggle to comprehend, not enough voters seem to agree with them (a) that these are laudable objectives, or (b) that voting for the Labour party is the best way to achieve them... There's an uncomfortable, but unavoidable, truth in all democracies: however high-minded your goals, you won't get a chance even to try to reach them unless you win an election. So all those people you want to help will remain unhelped - until and unless you can persuade enough people to vote for you…
After two successive election failures, Labour is now in deep mourning. That's why it's going through the five classic stages of grief: denial… anger… bargaining… depression… and finally comes acceptance. And that's when it'll be time to elect a new leader. Unfortunately, the timetable says different, so the new leader will be elected less than mid-way through the grieving process. It's like asking someone who's just been bereaved to choose a new partner within a week of the funeral…”
Charlotte Church’s Blog (24 July): “The inverse of Nigel Farage, he (Corbyn) appears to be a cool-headed, honest, considerate man, one of the few modern politicians who doesn't seem to have been trained in neuro-linguistic programming, unconflicted in his political views, and abstemious in his daily life. He is one of the only politicians of note that seems to truly recognise the dire inequality that exists in this country today and actually have a problem with it. There is something inherently virtuous about him, and that is a quality that can rally the support of a lot of people, and most importantly, a lot of young people… What I can say is that for the first time in my adult life there is a politician from a mainstream party who shares my views and those of most people I know, and also has a chance of actually doing something to create a shift in the paradigm, from corporate puppetry to conscientious societal representation… The hysteria that has rendered certain members of the Labour party catatonic, and has the right wing press rubbing its hands together in glee, is ultimately based on nonsense. The fact is that this election is not for the position of king of kings but for the leader of a party of equals. No matter how far left Jeremy Corbyn is, if he is voted leader he will have to represent a party that is jam packed with shy Tories and Blairites. He would be dragged towards the centre ground anyway. But he would have galvanised the support of many disparate factions of society, who didn't vote in the general election, or who voted Ukip, or maybe even some of those who voted Tory”.
Editorial, Guardian (25 July): “Politics moves in cycles and some are more vicious than others. A deadly one is the spiral into irrelevance after defeat. The losing side is more interesting to its core voters than to the mainstream of the electorate, which moves on…
All candidates must turn their attention to more forward-looking alternatives. The challenge for Mr Corbyn’s rivals is to match his crusading passion while leading the debate back to a discussion of the country Labour would aspire to lead in 2020. In that sense the defenders and critics of New Labour are both right. The party needs a transition equal in scale to its 1990s journey from opposition but very different in content. If it continues down the current path of retrospection and introspection, Labour will face not just defeat but obsolescence…”
Jonathan Freedland, Guardian (25 July): “What’s needed instead, one enthusiast for Corbyn told me, is “someone who can articulate what you feel”. The key is “to have someone who represents what you believe in. Why does it matter whether other people believe it or not?... All this has consequences for those who would like to halt Corbyn’s march to the leadership. It means they have to find a different way to talk to those drawn to the rebel backbencher. Sounding like the grownups lecturing the kids won’t do it. Hurling insults won’t help either. Nor will talk of electability, if what’s at play here is a matter of identity. They’d be talking at cross purposes. Instead, Labour’s pragmatists will somehow have to match the excitement that’s been unleashed. The prospect of Labour’s first female leader could be a starting point. Having the chance to oust the Tories before today’s 20-year-olds turn 40 might be another. But ultimately those unwilling to face a lifetime of opposition will have to persuade their fellow party members that an identity built on the purity of impotence is not much of an identity at all”.
James Walsh, Guardian (24 July):  “Why are Labour voters turning towards Jeremy Corbyn? Quotes from some of the 2,500 replies sent to the Guardian on the leadership contest… these are some of the views from people who plan to vote for Corbyn:
‘If it makes Labour less likely to win then so be it’
‘He’s no messiah. But he’s perhaps the start of a debate we need’
‘I do not believe that Miliband dragged the party as far left as many would have us believe’
‘Labour has just decisively lost an election trying to copy the Conservatives’
‘Labour have become like desperate sales people who will say anything’”.

Clearly, the Tories are really enjoying the leadership contest. No doubt, they would love Corbyn to win… they’ll be able to re-use all their “Red Ed” jibes and a few more besides (although I suspect that Corbyn, if elected leader, would surprise them with the tenacity of his arguments) and, on current form, they will have absolutely no worries regarding the other candidates – who haven’t exactly shone thus far. I think this week’s poll suggesting that Corbyn is now the clear favourite to be elected leader (but, after the general election, who could possibly believe the polls?) will be a real wake-up call for Kendall, Cooper and Burnham. Thus far, the other candidates seem to have had very lack lustre (and rather mixed) messages for the Labour Party electorate… they seem hell bent on being all things to all people - trying not to offend potential supporters, but not actually appearing to have any clear vision (or passion or understanding) for either the party or the country.

They’ve got seven weeks to turn things around… and I’m not at all certain that they will.