A Bit Of Self Realisation

As week's go, this one hasn't been easy. On reflection though, lessons have been learned, perhaps ones that needed to be learned too. My first accident in the car, my beloved 'Nell' has woke me up to the fact I have been to complacent, too cavalier in my driving of late. The fact is I have improved as a driver, and in instances when I have my old man in the car beside me I want to demonstrate that but ... there is a point where confidence crosses into folly.

Fortunately the accident was no big deal, very minor cosmetic damage to both cars. I'm not sure who was at real fault but it brought it home to me just because I am in familiar territory it doesn't mean I should let my guard down. What surprised me was how calm I was, how I dealt with it. I was more concerned initially about the other guy where I guess back in the day I would have been ready to wage war for far, far less. I'm a lot more measured these days, I don't anger easy like I did in my confused youth.

However after I decided to take a more business like approach to insurance and things but not after first being reasonable, as I write this blog I hope I am not tempting fate by saying nothing seems to have happened, both myself and the other party involved seem to have resigned ourselves to the fact if was no big deal and have rectified our own damages.

The following morning my fridge died, almost as if to throw karma in my face for later taking a defensive stance with my insurance just in case I was about to be shafted for such a petty incident. Then yesterday I thought my washer had died on me as well, fortunately it hasn't and it seemed to be fine this morning, yesterday probably being down to me overloading the washing machine drum on one side with a pillow.

The selfish fact this week was I was worried about money, it was the factor in all my thoughts, the notion that if the other guy decides to try and take me to the cleaners with my insurance I'd lose my no claims bonus for what was basically a scuffed bumper for him. As I'd bought a new sofa that day that added to my financial concern not to mention the need for a new fridge. On top of all that June looks set to be a busy month, weddings, Gary is back from Hong Kong and a plethora of other social engagements and activities.

Last night I went to play the board game 'Risk' with some friends as we usually do of a Thursday evening. I wasn't going to go, so despondent did I feel when I thought the washer had given up on me that I suspect I'd be bad company, however I really did need to escape the confines of my flat. I'm glad I do go, the company was as always excellent and Billy's theatrics , voices and prose made me smile again.

So on to the real message of this blog and why I felt compelled to type it. Tonight I watched 'How to live a simple life' (Friday BBC2 9pm) with Peter Owen Jones. I think he did something called around the world in 80 faiths some time ago, basically Peter is a parish vicar on the south coast. Firstly I have to say I am a secular humanist and not a man of faith but Peter isn't a man that constantly rams home the holy message, far from it, he's quite the humanist in his ideals. The program was basically about Peter walking 200 odd miles from Sussex to Devon living in the footsteps of St Francis, carrying no money and begging for food and shelter to complete strangers. It was a compelling piece of television and I felt humbled as I watched Peter on his arduous journey, all he had to rely on was the generosity and selflessness of others.

It hit home to me about how during this week how much I have thought and worried about money and how important it is to have friends and loved ones that give their help without question. I'm not sure I would want to embark on an adventure such as Peters but I wish I could have an adventure or road trip of sorts to give me that fire back. I seem to be lacking zest and enthusiasm for life of late. I've learned a bit about myself this week, some good, some bad and some being the odd bit of self revelation.

Dynamic Duo !

So Brown went last night, with dignity. Cameron is in No.10 with Clegg as deputy. Today I watched the 30 so minute Cameron/Clegg press conference in the gardens behind 10 Downing street in which they said they are new united coalition. I have to say, they looked good together, and despite the doom and gloom brigade constantly reminding us of yesteryear (not just you either Pat) I think they may have just changed British politics forever, possibly for the better. Yes, I am optimistic, and why shouldn't I be? In fact why shouldn't others be, after all, this was how the vote panned out, nobody won with a gaping majority, and neither do we have a majority controlling parliament, so as a nation we basically will reap what we sow.

Politics has changed over the last few days, times change, people change and where the nation moved forward under Blair when he took over, I suspect we will move forward again. It's a coalition that looks charged and ready to go, ignore the naysayers and merchants of pessimism and give them a deserved chance without hanging onto fetters of the past. There may be cuts, and it could well get worse before it gets better but with team work and a seemingly new found dynamism, hopefully something may come out of this coalition.

yours optimistically


A Hobbit in the Midlands

On It Goes

The talks go on, Clegg and Cameron have spoken by phone and in person, a clandestine meeting was arranged following the VE day commemoration. Brown like a barnacle clings on, neither voted in the first time, nor this time either, yet ironically still prime minister. Let's hope he goes soon.

Hung !

So then, a hung parliament. A huge shift to Conservative with Labour losing 90 something seats yet the Conservatives didn't get the magic number of 326 seats for a majority. Clegg of the Lib Dem's now chatting to Cameron, lots of talk of reform for the electoral system. I kind of hope Clegg and Cameron do a deal, and Brown goes.

Almost Election Time.

So, we are mere hours away from the general election and by this stage I am thinking everyone wants to vote and get it over with. I don't recall any other election with this much media coverage or hype (one sided coverage if you're part of Murdoch media of course).

The good old BBC has come through with impartial coverage, though one has to wonder if the Tories get in how much pressure the BBC will actually be under.

Anyway, on to my final thoughts and what really matters to me, what I want out of it all.

It's evident that politics is more centred these days, gone are the days of gulf's between left and right politics, sure you still have more extreme smaller parties but the main three seem very mainstream these days, as if none want to do anything to challenge convention. The irony is a time will come where a party in the future will have to deal with tough decisions as problems in our social fabric become more prevalent and out of control.

My dad said to me many years ago when I was old enough to vote that 'Any working class man should always vote Labour' and after all that time that statement has hung in my head, I will always agree with it.

Sadly I am not a fan of Gordon Brown but neither will I heap the whole of the worlds and this country problems squarely on his shoulders, because quite simply it's not all his fault. Blair irked me towards the end, I was glad he went, Brown seemed capable at first but slowly and surely he was destroyed by the press whilst the Tory party slowly but surely - rebuilt. It's all about faces these days, people are gullible and taken in by the media too much, unable to think beyond what they are told by it. Most people tomorrow will be voting Tory simply because after a few pints in the local they will be able to shout 'Yay for the Tories, I voted for the winners'.

On reflection I have much to thank Labour for. My swift surgery on the magnificent NHS, that gave me a new lease of life. Benefits I was paid whilst sick. And generally not a bad standard of living.

Tomorrow I think I can pretty much guess on what the results may be, and unfortunately I can't see Labour winning, Mr Brown sadly isn't charismatic enough for the press, and as it becomes evident our election process is becoming more American and about personalities then he obviously has a face that doesn't fit. That said, not all has been good with labour, they've made some genuine mistakes and done things very badly at times, they've also had some bad luck too. There's some complacency in there as well, some bad personnel etc. I think if they lose the election they need to go away, restructure and reinvent themselves once again, and come back better, stronger with a new face at the head of the party. How will Cameron or Clegg fare if they win, I don't really know but Brown I feel, although coming across inept at times does have more experience.

Having read chunks of all the main party manifesto's its all pretty much generic stuff, either using the other parties old practices and expanding upon them or along similar sounding themes.

All I want in my heart is for the NHS to go on, it is something I feel passionate to my very core about, as it has rescued me health wise on many occasions, from my eyesight to shiny new hip joints.

I want to see safer streets, instead of gangs of cowardly thugs seemingly roaming them at will causing all sorts of problems for all ages. Society needs to get tough because this problem will only grow with time.

I want to see honesty and fair dealing with politicians, banks and corporations.

I want to see industry grow again and jobs created, things to be built here once again.

I want to see arts and culture flourish, peoples abilities celebrated, our national esteem to rise.

I want a secular society, and no involvement at all from the church.

I want less European involvement in our affairs, and I definitely don't want to see the Euro replace the Pound.

Less encouragement/advertising for companies or websites that lend money to people that really can't afford it.

Good education for all.

All in all, I don't really want much, just society to improve and not decline, like it seems to slowly be doing.

Come the morning, I will be there early to vote, probably 7am as I have to go into Nottingham soon after. I will probably have to tactical vote tomorrow, such is our voting system here, which radically needs to be changed.

Till tomorrow then!

Chinese Comments

For some reason I keep getting Chinese comments, in Chinese, so I am clueless to their content. As much as I love China and all things Chinese, comments or links in Chinese will NOT be approved on this blog - ever.

Thanks for your interest.

Bottesford

I didn't realise how close this lovely little place was to me. Bottesford is about 20 minutes or so south of where I live, situated in the vale of Belvoir, Leicestershire, though it must be just over the border as I'm in Nottinghamshire of course.

Bottesford is a domesday village that before the Norman conquest had Danish-Saxon-Norse occupants, given the village names nearby. There's evidence of a medieval settlement there too. Though it was a farming area the Grantham canal was built through the parish in the 1790's and railway stations opened in 1850 and 1879 . Most of the village formed part of the Duke of Rutland estate till after the first world war. Later in 1920 Bottesford became a tourist attraction when on May Bank holiday of that year 700 people visited the village by train.

During world war 2 there was an airbase constructed in 1941 and Bottesford claims the dubious distinction of being the last place in Britain to be bombed, on March 20th 1945.

On Market street in the village is the Bull Inn, probably the oldest pub building in the village. It was once run by Olga Healey, sister of Stan Laurel and Laurel and Hardy did indeed visit the pub in 1955. There's lots more history to Bottesford, it's a lovely peaceful place and very typical of a middle England quaint village, it's well worth a look if you're in this neck of the woods.

Oh Dear !

Yesterday Prime Minister Gordon Brown saw his election campaign wagon derailed by a pensioner, Mrs Gillian Duffy, on her way to fetch a loaf of bread. The fault of course wasn't Mrs Duffy who asked very pertinent questions, largely about state pensions and benefits relating to herself, though she later asked, in one sentence 'Where are all these East Europeans flocking from?'

The Prime Minister handled the conversation very well, answering all her questions and basically his chat ended with the life long labour voter concluding she would again vote labour. Good television indeed you'd think.

So, Mr Brown should have been pleased, he should have got in his car and thought 'chalk that one up as a success in front of the cameras but sadly he decided to call her 'A bigot'. Personally I didn't see anything bigot related in the exchange, she questioned a relevant issue that people feel affected by. Instead though, Mr Brown wasn't pleased, he asked who picked the woman for him to chat too and claimed she was a bigot, all caught on microphone. Oh dear!

Now, we all say things like that, especially in the workplace, we vent our opinions of others after certain events, it's only human to release stress or frustration in such a way, so I don't think Mr Brown was being nasty or vindictive, though it did raise questions, many questions.

The main one being, how much is the Prime Minister in touch with 'real' people and issues? For years labour have been avoiding issues on immigration, admitting they haven't monitored figures and many other issues I could dredge up. When I've seen Labour minister Phil Woolas interviewed in the past he has often avoided many pressing issues seemingly, it's almost like the immigration issue is taboo at times.

Personally my opinion of immigration has softened, I ask myself what direct harm has it done to me?, and the answer is none at all. For the last few months I have worked with immigrants at a homeless centre in Nottingham and this has given me more of an open viewpoint into things. Also I've made a couple of friends nearer to home, Polish and Hungarian which has been rewarding and insightful. This all said, I still feel immigration needs tighter controls and monitoring. Whilst I can see why people use the centre in Nottingham, and the benefit it gives them, I can't help thinking they'd be better in their own country with support and family, as we don't have an extended structure here to deal with homeless immigrants, plus we have many of our own sadly. As a human being though I will help anyone, and that is how I see my work, helping a fellow human being, so I put any political issues aside, that is for the politicians to deal with.

A friend of mine raised the good point of what if someone from the BNP or UKIP parties said something similar to Mrs Duffy on camera, then they would be labelled 'bigots' immediately, and he is right. But, many people support those parties, and so would disagree with him, saying any comment was relevant. The difference is that people expect challenging comments from the BNP et al, it's expected, it's what they do. They are parties with direct goals, that appeal to certain people within this nation, Mrs Duffy, as a pensioner was more bothered about her pension payments and benefits than immigrants, she made a comment, and in truth who hasn't seen a change in communities because of immigration, it doesn't mean to say (as we are generally tolerant as a country) that we dislike them.

I suspect the whole immigration thing will come full circle in time, look at history from the middle ages onwards, Norman Barons, Flemish weavers, Jewish money lenders, later you had Irish after the famine, the commonwealth influx when we had labour shortages in the 50s, and so on. Now we have the east Europeans, seemingly in waves, the Polish came, many are going back, some have settled. Next it seems to be the Romanians and Hungarians, I suspect the pattern will be the same. What the above all have in common though, is when things are bad on the home front (which they are), is that we blame the minority, as we have done in history. That I suspect is why Mrs Duffy made her comment, but we have to consider that change doesn't come easy for some and there are issues regarding immigration.

Getting back to Mr Browns silly comment, well he did the decent thing, he apologised (like he had any choice?) and said he misunderstood Mrs Duffy, which is complete rubbish. It raises earlier questions about his temperament within the press, and to be clear here, Mr Brown did say later on BBC radio 2 that he thought the question was 'annoying'. Though I said earlier we all make mistakes like that in life, we often have the time to make amends, Mr Brown unfortunately doesn't have that time in the run up to the election.

The press of course have made a big deal about it, the Murdoch press will do anyway, but they should also be addressing Mrs Duffy's other conversation items other than immigration which was ironically the least mentioned.

The press were also eager to report Boris Johnson talking to 'chaotic' crowds yesterday, talking to all and sundry and even speaking Polish to impress immigrants, which is always going to look good, though talking to the public on camera is always a gamble I guess, you just have to have the savvy, which sadly I feel Mr Brown lacks.

The press have slowly crucified Mr Brown since he's been in office, and we can't squarely blame him for the financial mess, it's a world affair. I've always voted Labour, had socialist ideals but now we mainly have central politics over direct left and right, political parties look more generic than ever and it is more about personality than party these days, but then look at great leaders of the semi recent past, and its often individuals that have the more profound impact. I'm still not sure who to vote for, and the last debate is almost upon us, can Brown swing it around?

And for the pendantics and a bit of fun, the definition and history of 'bigot'

bigotn bigot [ˈbigət]a person who constantly and stubbornly holds a particular point of view etc (nothing constant or stubborn about what Mrs Duffy said).

History ....

Bigots may have more in common with God than one might think. Legend has it that Rollo, the first duke of Normandy, refused to kiss the foot of the French king Charles III, uttering the phrase bi got, his borrowing of the assumed Old English equivalent of our expression by God. Although this story is almost surely apocryphal, it is true that bigot was used by the French as a term of abuse for the Normans, but not in a religious sense. Later, however, the word, or very possibly a homonym, was used abusively in French for the Beguines, members of a Roman Catholic lay sisterhood. From the 15th century on Old French bigot meant "an excessively devoted or hypocritical person." Bigot is first recorded in English in 1598 with the sense "a superstitious hypocrite."

Centurion

So, it was off to Nottingham today, to Cineworld, a cinema in the city centre I'd never visited before to see Neil Marshall's new movie 'Centurion'. Having loved Mr Marshall's past movie 'Doomsday' and the period of history Centurion was set in, it's fair to say I was looking forward to the event.

Was I let down? Hell no, it was an amazing Romano/British period romp, lashings of action, a simple story and great actors that didn't ham it up. I like Michael Fassbender and Dominic West anyway, but the supporting cast were all damn good. Without any spoilers the story is simple, it's the story of the Roman 9th Legion (legendary handy dudes) that go up into Scotland (Or Pictland as it was then) to kick arse, and basically have their fortunes reversed, leaving a handful of desperate survivors to get back behind their own lines, and safety.

The plot is simple, there's no complicated sub plots which just let's you sit back and enjoy what is a solid little movie, with some amazing visuals, and some very scary (yet sexy) Scots in pursuit of the survivors. It's not often I enthuse about movies these days but this one is bloody good, 'bloody' being a descriptive word for the film. It's all filmed outdoors and no green screen stuff techno stuff, and I believe it was all filmed on location in the north of England/Scotland.

What vexes me is that my local cinema advertised it (Reel Cinema) then it vanished off their playlist for the following week. It also wasn't on locally at Mansfield or Lincoln either, so why are we not promoting great British films? My local cinema would rather have the now jaded Alice in Wonderland on for another week, surely it can't be taking any money by now?! It just doesn't add up, had they shown this 'Centurion' for a week, I am sure they being a multi screen affair would have made on it.

Anyway, great movie, story, cast - and thanks Neil Marshall for another great film.

[ Download ]

Sleaford

These photos are about 3 weeks old now, so still look a bit wintery, though the day was actually quite nice. Been past Sleaford many a time on my way to the coast but never actually stopped off to have a nosey around. It's a nice little place so I will drive over there in the near future again to explore further.

And so, The Election

So Gordon Brown has gone to see Lizzy (that's the Queen by the way) and got parliament dissolved for a May 6th election. I'm undecided at the point who to vote for, traditionally I have always voted Labour, however this time I am not so sure. Politics seems very generic these days with little distinction between right and left, it's all very moderate and about personalities.

One things for sure, it'll be interesting, so the stage is set, the die is cast, let the mummers enact their destiny.

Proud

Last night I attended the charity night for remembering Russell Speed (Big Russ) and raising money for MacMillan cancer support. At the time of writing this blog I am unaware how much was raised exactly but the last I'd heard it was over £1,000.

It was an excellent evening, two great bands and a packed pub. There was a real sense of community, throngs of laughter and heaps of generosity.

I've had friends pass away before but none have been so fondly and fittingly remembered as Big Russ was last night.

The staff of the Fox and Crown deserve a special mention, they worked tirelessly all night to make it such a great evening, it's a fantastic pub with genuine people both friends and staff alike.

Everyone concerned should be proud of themselves for raising money and honouring Big Russ!