Key Quotes

"Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist."
(Kenneth Boulding)




"Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. "

(Raymond Chandler)





"Live simply so that others can simply live." (unknown)





"I cannot live without books" (Thomas Jefferson)





"Sport is war without the shooting" (George Orwell)





"New York is a great city to live in if you can afford to get out of it" (William Rossa Cole)





The secret of a happy ending is knowing when to roll the credits (Patterson Hood)































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Friday 22 October 2010

Hammersmith Odeon, I mean Apollo.

Last night a trip across London to Hammersmith to see Gaslight Anthem in concert. Gaslight came to my notice after supporting Bruce Springsteen's tour last year. There is some similarity, both stem from New Jersey, and there is a 'New Jersey sound'. The band showed enough to suggest the 'hype' is justified, they are a driving rock band, whose music is designed for listening to while driving a car. On the night I thought the mixing was too simplistic allowing the guitars at times to blot out Brian Fallon's vocals. The material some of which came from earlier albums, was well received by a sell out audience. For me who has only heard the American Slang album it was a slightly uneven set, yet one with many highlights.

Standing on the side of the hall I remembered my first visit in 1969 to see Aretha Franklin in concert, the following years saw me witness Ike and Tina turner and Santana. In recent years I've had the pleasure of seeing Alison Krauss & union Station, Counting Crows and the legendary Neil Young. On the night however I found myself thinking back to Hammersmith's most famous night when Springsteen played there in 1975.

The concert gave rise to an immortal live album and dvd. I was wondering whether the Gaslight Anthem concert would mean as much to the younger sections of the audience who spent much of the evening in a see of movement on the floor, including a couple of crowd surfers who were ejected by security. Gaslight have most definitely paid their dues to Bruce. Brian Fallon in one of the quieter moments of the evening explained how when he first came to London he drove past Hammersmith, and asked the band whether one night they'd play there. Well they've arrived and will probably play bigger venues.

For all that perhaps it was the first concert where I've realised that I was one of the oldest members of the audience. A moment to reflect upon without doubt.

Thursday 21 October 2010

A tale of two cities

well it makes for a good headline but actually a city and a town. Having spent the last week watching the citizens of Paris and other french cities take to the streets in opposition to the plan to increase retirement age to 62, I went to Chelmsford to attend the demonstration against the Cuts in the public sector in Britain. For the three million in Paris, twenty five in Chelmsford.

Yesterday Osborne announced his so called Comprehensive Spending Review. His speech cleverly overplayed the small parcels of money given to certain politically sensitive areas such as the NHS and Schools, meanwhile the blunt of the cuts is destined to hammer those least able to afford them.

Councils revenue slashed by 7% per annum for four years, public sector workers already on a pay freeze asked to pay an extra 3% of income in pension contributions. Rail fares likely to soar, welfare benefits cut, women's retirement age raised to 66 by 2020. And so it goes on.

Sadly in Britain, there is still a sense of resignation. The main opposition party offeres little in terms of a political alternative. Their attack is simply to argue that the cuts are too deep and taking fast. There's little doubt that had Labour won the general election earlier this year, a scaled version of the same would have been introduced. The real difference is that they wouldn't have attacked working people with such a smug smirk on their face.

Five hundred thousand public sector workers to lose their jobs, plenty of private sector companies will be adversely affected as contracts from the public sector dry up. There is a crying need to leadership but the Labour movement is ill equipped to offer it.

In recent days news leaked out that Thatcher has been hospitalised with what has been diagnosed as flu, she might not be in good health but her ideas are flourishing inside the Tory Party. Those who have harboured the desire to cutback the role of the state are having a field day, while spouting that there is no alternative and "we all in it together." Hopefully soon an alternative will be heard.

A great European night



I've come to regard the Champions League nights at the Emirates Stadium as great nights out. Firstly I'm usually able to get a good seat, often in the lower tier (it's cheaper there),and the atmosphere of watching football under lights is still special to me. Some European club sides that visit the Emirates are prepared to attack, unlike many premiership clubs who assume the way to frustrate Arsenal is to stack their penalty area and hope to make something out a rare set piece opportunity.

Tuesday night's game was just that an away team who ventured forward and held out for over twenty minutes. Once Alex Song had scrambled home the opening goal , it was a matter of how many. Nasri added the second, a Fabregas penalty awarded when the referee decided to grappling and hurling the attacking player to the ground was not good defending, made it 3-0 at half time.

The pick of the goals was a delightful run and finish by Jack Wiltshere and the hard running, fully committed Chamakh made it five. Late in the game the visitors introduced Eduardo into the game. Arsenal have in recent years made an effort to welcome back past heroes, none more so than on Tuesday night. Eduardo came onto the pitch and left it to tremendous applause and the chanting of his name ringing round the ground. He made his mark by scoring a consolation goal close to full time.

Three wins out of three means qualification for the knock out stage is near certain, however I'm already looking forward to the last group stage home game against Partisan Belgrade later this year.

We are top of the League

Probably best not to gloat, wouldn't want to offend the footballing gods, but last Saturday afternoon, over 3300 watched the Dons go top of the Football Conference. Yakubu's headed goal followed at the death by a saving tackle by Ed Harris meant that the 3 points went to the Dons, meanwhile Crawley dropped points, and so AFC Wimbledon sit proudly in first place.

There's a long way to go, but for a few days Dons fans need to take a deep breath and reflect on how far we've come since Sandhurst in August 2002.

Thursday 14 October 2010

Where will it end ?

The Times today calls for the scraping of the universal provision to pensioners of winter fuel allowance. Suffolk County Council calls for out sourcing of all its services including libraries and care homes for the elderly and apparently those convicted of violent assaults may not face imprisonment as the government attempts to cut back on public spending on law and order.

Anyone who thinbks these are not ideological assaults on the public sector in the name of "the small state" and the enabling council as opposed to the council that delivers services is deluding themselves.

On Tuesday night the Lib Dems voted against the amendment to the Electoral Reform Referendum Bill in Parliament. After years of campaigning for PR, they dropped it like a hot potato. The same day the so called St Vinve abandonned his idea of a graduate tax and hoisted tuition fees in fact creating a free market allowing elite universities to price middle income students out of places.

Today I've been reading the Living Planet report of the WWF, it highlights that our current rates of consumption, we'll need another planet by 2030. Yet in his interview on Sunday, Ed Milliband calls for more growth. Sustainability and wealth distribution is what is needed, but to get mainstream politicians to see what's under their noses....

The only good news was yesterday the media were getting ready to celebrate Thatcher's 85th birthday, but fortunately and ironically that was upstaged by a group of miners !

Monday 11 October 2010

The Village that time forgot

A weekend away visiting old friends in Dorset. Now for many, Dorset is rural tranquility , a county that is really detached from the pull of London and South East. Dorchester is definitely getting bigger and the Prince of Wales creation , Poundbury, will soon join up to form a conurbation if such a thing is possible amidst the rolling hills.

On Sunday we travelled to Tyneham , a village that time forgot. Now Tyneham was suffering from rural depopulation, the school house was closed in 1933 when there were only 9 pupils remaining. However in preparation for D-day , the government decided that all remaining inhabitants should move out in 1943. The assumption was that they would be allowed to return whenever the war ended. Sadly in 1945 the goivernment already making plans for the onset of the Cold War decided that the site was too valuable to the military, and it seems the inhabitants of Tyneham were effectively tossed to the wind. In 1943 these villagers who were mostly agricultual labourers, fishermen or people who worked in the "big house" received nothing in compensation.

The homes lacked basic amenities even by the standards of the time, there was no running water and no electricity. Yet there was a post office/village store and a church. Some years back the military decided to allow visitors to see the site at weekends. The houses are but shells, the schoolhouse has been restored and the church now serves as a small museum to the village sacrificed in order to defeat the Nazis.

On one level it was intriguing to see a place locked into another time, without the tourist trappings of today. A place where families main adventure came from nature , the fields and the beach. Yet at the same time one is left considering the plight of those whose lifes must have been turned upside down by a government decision never rescinded. Many people lost their homes in the second world war I know, but not many of them in the UK were taken away by the MOD.

Tuesday 5 October 2010

Cameron's attack on the Welfare State

I'm still collecting my ideas on the snippets received at Tory party conference. I remain convinced that the cuts, in other words the assault on the public sector, are ideologically driven. The " we must reduce the deficit, we're all in this together, what a mess Labour left us in " mantra, is I'm sure a cover disguising the long held belief of Conservatives to reduce the size of the state.

Osbourne who appears to be firing the bullets, has said no one on benefits can be better off than someone who is working for the average wage. As a soundbite on the news I'm sure many would be nodding along, however life is a bit more complex. Housing benefit at present may allow poorer members of society to live in some of the more prosperous parts of the country. As far as I can the changes that Osborne is proposing will ghettoise those on benefits and affluent areas of the South will become poor free zones.

Meanwhile the decision to cut child benefit for those on higher levels of income tax has caused a stir in areas of the Tory Press. They see it as an attack on middle class mothers who stay at home. A family with one parent at work earning £45K no benefit, the house next door with two working parents 2x £40K they receive benefit. Now I think child benefit needs a review, it needs weighting and to needs to taper , however the most interesting comment came from Rupert Reed, who argues that this attack on universal benefits is part of a strategy to detach the middle class from the welfare state. The Tories want to devalue the welfare state and by restricting it to those on middle incomes or lower is the first step on this road.

I've been thinking that once high earners feel they are not part of it, why shouldn't they ask for tax rebates for services that they don't use, why pay for the NHS when you have private health care or state education when you send your kids to private schools. I sense that the child benefit issue still has legs, and I sense by the end of October other universal benefits will come under attack by the Con Dem government.

Monday 4 October 2010

Win, Lose and Draw

The weekend is admirably summed up in the above phrase. After a Friday night sampling the delights of local ale from the Brentwood Brewing Company at the White Hart , in conversation with old friends Nige & Kim. I should write more in support of local breweries, and how lucky we are to have a local micro brewery producing such good beer.

On Saturday I really wanted to be in Manchester for the Rugby League Grand Final but was convinced that for a number of reasons we needed to visit my mum and therefore allowing us to get to the Dons v Forest Green Rovers match. The first five minutes fizzled with goal mouth action as corner followed corner, however the ball never entered the net, and when FGR scored with their first real attack it seemed that it would be a bad day. Christian Jolley who seems to improve with each game, scored great equaliser in the second half but a share of the points was the best the Dons could do.

Saturday evening was initially blighted by a crash on the M25 but if nothing else it ensured that cooking was replaced by a visit to the chip shop as we settled down to watch the Grand Final, Wigan v St Helens. There's no better rivalry in Rugby League. This season Wigan have literally blown teams away in the opening minutes of games, and Saturday was no exception. That Sam Tomkins was to reach out and score the try in the second half that broke the Saints resistance was just reward for a player who has lifted Rugby league in the last 18 months. Sadly Pat Richards, recently voted Man of Steel, left the field wirh a severe leg injury, otherwise his conversations might well have stretched Wigan's advantage.

My interest in League has developed with Sky's coverage, and I imagine that many others living away from the sport's heartlands have become enthusiasts as a result of the televised game. In the early 90s Wigan dominated the competition but over the next decade they were caught up and overtaken, so on Saturday I , for one, could rejoice in the reemergence of the Cherry and Whites.

Sunday was all about Chelsea v Arsenal. Since 2003 and the arrival of the dodgy Russian at Stamford Bridge, Arsenal have struggled to compete on the field with Chelsea. The building of Emirates Stadium has also restricted player purchase at Arsenal. On Sunday Arsenal minus several regulars through injury, competed admirably yet could not break through the home defense. That Chelsea scored goals just before half time and full time left a feeling that we'd given them our best shot, but in spite of appearing to be "on the ropes." Chelsea hit the Gunners with sucker punches. Good but not good enough.