A good RSA call earlier in the week on the topic of the Green Economy.
Speaker was Per Espen Stoknes and title was How to Create Healthy Green Growth (another book I think) - I liked the upbeat presentation and Per came over as a very likable person - Why is that folks from Nordic countries generally have such well balanced approaches and are so capable in non-native languages?
And in UK politics there have been reports that the BBC are
actively avoiding calling out PM Johnson’s lies and I am afraid that I’m of the
school of ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ in terms of a report on the Tory Government's handling of Covid -19.
The conditions we're in has given me the opportunity to watch 'Films' (albeit on DVD) the most recent 'Classic' we watched was Gaslight and a great reminder of where the bandied about term Gaslighting comes from.
The film was not the greatest transfer and it was decidedly short on explosions and CGI but it packs a punch and the man who wrote the play it was developed from was Patrick Hamilton who wrote a few great novels and plays (Rope made a film by another Hollywood great, Hitchcock) - I read a biography of Hamilton some time ago, he was it seems not a happy soul a heavy drinker (reminds me of Patricia Highsmith who I've read a recent biography of and it's back to Hitchcock again).
Anyway I'm straying from the point two of the other films we've watched are the ' Classic' Sunset Boulevard and Fedora both from the Director/Writer Billy Wilder (a hero for sure) who I've recently read a biography of (Nobody's Perfect) and the fictionalised re-telling of the making of Fedora 'Mr Wilder & Me' by Jonathan Coe (possible another hero- for me a great contemporary writer).
So I'll try and get back to my point - as you find out more about your heroes, inevitably there's a reveal that they're not perfect, the things you like about them are part of them - for Wilder I liked that he'd escaped Austria/Germany ahead of WW2, worked as a Gigolo ( rather disappointingly I discovered that here the term was more a dancing partner to wealthy women) was a collector of Modern art (and something of an artist himself) he stood with John Houston against McCarthyism and made great films of various genres (from Film Noir Double indemnity to the iconic Rom-Com The Apartment) but he was human, he recognised he was a guilty party in the failure of his first marriage .
So it's important to cut ourselves some slack when we try to be our own heroes and realise that we are none of us without fault.
Yesterday I was on an RSA 'Zoom' call about ‘Supercommunities’
– I thought at first it was a bit slow but reflecting on it today I realise that it
had real value, it was about the 'Nuts & Bolts' , the mechanics that are needed to
make the bigger plans work. Seems these days the regular stuff is belittled in favour of flashes and bangs but if we don't keep an eye out for what makes things happen the whole circus can fall apart - perhaps there's an element of that with Brexit happening, taking for granted the mechanics means that when they start to struggle we are wrong footed.
I’m intrigued by how much of a pull
Winston Churchill’s character with some sections of the English –remains, some say as well as a wartime leader I get the impression he was a
difficult man heavily dependent on Alcohol who felt rejected by the British
electorate at the Ballot box after WW2?
Was he a racist? Almost definitely even
by the mores of his own time but seems it is sacrilege to say this and to consider
that as a country we should look critically at the collective past.
My reflections following 2020’s Museums
Association ‘virtual’ conference – BLM was very much a live issue and the cultural
implications were being looked at by the sector of course – personally sympathies
were with those who I heard saying that context was all – we need to explain
the histories of those benefactors who benefited from Slave trade (and
indentured labour too) but not deny their existence.
On a recent Zoom call looking at how images of materials and lessons can be delivered it was very informative on some of the challenges
educational establishments are facing, seems that both Zoom and Teams have their own strengths and advantages. For me having seen and used the two I find that from my limited knowledge Zoom handles 'breakouts' well and it feels quite intimate but of course there are inherent delays in all these applications causing some talking over one another - always good to mute when you're not talking and if you're not needing to be seen then bandwidth should be surrendered.
Gather Zoom is not so secure but has some areas of advantage for people who are located in China.
I was quite heartened by the commitment educationalists are showing and I must say it angers me to hear the Education Minister (Gavin Williamson who continues to deserve the Frank Spencer nickname)
indulging in ‘Culture Wars’ agenda rather than supporting Teachers &
Students in the crisis but I suppose it’s what we might expect.
The Woman presenting made the
statement that she was ‘Not expecting to go back to the previous Normal’ and for me
it’s probably worth keeping in mind across the board.
As we thunder along in what some would say is a Technically Deterministic future it seems that there are real dangers that we might fail to recognise moral and economic issues until after it becomes significant.
Yesterday I was able to witness a discussion that highlighted what issues could become significant in a few years as research around the human brain's activity then Brain reading Technology will bring new fields of data into the world of AI/I.T.
As the brain becomes better understood and more precise monitoring around abnormalities that may cause fits (amongst other things) is used to improve lives a 'genie' is released that allows data about specific brains to become available the parameters should be set on what is legitimate for health professionals and commercial interests to know - Gene technology has perhaps provided some of the overall concepts we need to judge on - a 'Google' or other technical behemoth should not be allowed free reign.
Ahead of the RSA talk I was able to view a performance that captured some of the tension of the issues - have a look
For a few years now (7 or so?) I've pursued perhaps somewhat laconically a probing brief into the world of Philosophy - it's a big old world and I might have started rather late but it does offer me some insights and areas of specific interest.
[In fact on further reflection and at the risk of ridicule, I realise that engagement started around the Alain de Botton talks I first attended probably about 15 years ago}
The main place (but not only) that I have been able to take classes is London's City Lit, it has been an adventure and good to be able to experience different teachers and approaches.
What I have specifically liked of late is the introduction of themes like Art, Freud, Guilt and now Politics.
I do find myself wondering if earlier engagement would have benefited me (and others) at times it feels like there's the sort of 'excitement' from discussion and thinking about the ideas that Chemistry and Electrical experimental kits once gave me, and the great thing is that many 'Philosophical' experiments are 'thought experiments' that you need no equipment for save a comfortable chair.
What I am enjoying even mediated via Zoom are the exchanges with other participating students and follow ups from our course leader who is enthusiastic and wide ranging in his influences.
My next aim is to find out more on Ayn Rand who seems influential amongst the 'Right' thinkers and also to float the idea of Universal Basic Income as a trojan horse for the left - more as it happens
British Library has been obliged by circumstances to make their recent 'Classic Album Sundays' Home of the Brave a virtual event.
The recent talk (yesterday) with Laurie Anderson was (for me) fascinating, although Laurie has not been immune to the passage of time the twinkle remains and she continues to be both thoughtful and playful .
Recollections of John Peel asking for thousands of copies of 'Oh Superman' and driving her into the arms of Warner Brothers and talk of how she came to work with (amongst others) Nile Rodgers were close to spellbinding.
One of the areas of her life I would like to have found more about was her family , Laurie seemed to have had rather a 'hothouse' childhood recalling her mother sending her off to school with the word 'Win' as her instruction - more on Laurie here.
Of course Laurie mentioned her late husband Lou Reed who she confessed that she had thought of as a 'Brit' before she knew him.
A talk with Laurie would be incomplete without her playing the 'techie' and chroma key and vocal gymnastics were there tio be enjoyed - I'll be going back to the concert VHS to remind myself of her creativity and now have some extra understanding of the 'choreography' and deployment of her percussive mechanisms.
Well the signs of change brought about by 11 very odd months are undoubtedly mixed and it'll take some time before we're sure which are embedded and which more transitory, perhaps some of the things we've made the effort for will be preserved?
Plenty of people still carrying their takeaway coffees (not me), Cash economy just about gone I've not withdrawn any money since last March (if not before), main cash transactions being with Window cleaner and I've pretty much stopped watching the TV News (for a mixture of reasons - main one being it makes my overall mood worse) .
The way accidents happen means inevitably we'll lose things we are attached too and so it was the other day my Quaker Oats Porridge bowl (also used for Soup) came crashing to the ground and broke into something more, I estimate than 100 pieces - well I couldn't find an exact replacement so I've gone upmarket and am putting more faith in something that perhaps reflects 'worth' - will see what it's like when it (they arrive) - but if you know where I can get the Quaker bowl do let me know. (email ealingtim@gmail.com)
It's round about a year since I regularly blogged but have thought fleetingly about resuming and the benefit that many ascribe to 'journaling' in one form or another - it seems that the credits of the habit far outweigh any reported downsides.
I hope to include a picture or two and note things of interest (the pictures may well appear on my twitter @tjbourne too) .
So after such a long gap there'll be some stuff that I've been harbouring for a few months as well as relatively new stuff)
Picture adjacent was taken Saturday morning and sky is a bit foreboding - it's odd that almost a year with very limited travel I still find pictures I want to capture around me .
Topic 1 GameStop/Wall Street Bets
Speaking with a friend (last week I think) I heard for the first time about the GameStop story - it seems to reflect a sort of spoiler for Hedge Funds -and has a sort of resonance with Spread betting.
If you were politically inclined it's easy enough to see it as a pointer towards some of the inherent failings of modern day capitalism (remember how all those sophisticated financial 'Instruments/products' were identified as being part of the 2008 readjustment).
From my point of view this seems to be very much an abstraction of 'traditional' business where a 'Capitalist' uses capital to acquire some form of plant to produce goods for the market with the gap between costs and sale revenue hopefully being positive and creating a return on investment for dividend or further investment. This type of 'risk' playing is not going to lert you see a bunch of lathes spinning and sprockets tumbling off the ned of a production line.
What has now become the method of generating profit is very often highly speculative, the people from Wall Street Bets (WSB) are not traditional traders and have subverted mechanisms which challenge the status quo being drawn into trading by 'free trading' possibilities.
RobinHood appealed to young unconventional traders with it's 'game- ified' experience and the introduction of free trading.
I anticipate that I'll be looking into this further -but until here's a video about RobinHood to get you updated.
