The Euronews old boys meet-up

When the European project was pretty much at its peak - I worked for a couple of years at Euronews in France - the idea was that Europe needed an international News TV station which wasn't CNN.

A French influenced meal for a french influenced occasion

The organisation was based in Lyon and had a cosmopolitan work force of Journalists and Technicians  - fast forward on 20 or so years and several of us are still in touch and meet up when we can to reminisce and socialise.


Today was one of the days when 4 of us managed to be in the same city (London) and spend some time.


As well as a jolly meal (pretty much Steak and Frites washed down with a couple of bottles of wine) we put the world to rights (as we did last year oh yes and the year before) - it was  a blast (oh yes we did it the year before that too.)

It's not finished 

Surprisingly busy in Canary Wharf area on a Saturday with new buildings still going up- and really good meal at Le Relais de Venise.



Interestingly one of our group has already left the UK (for work in Czech Republic) and another is looking to retire (to Germany)- does it tell us something about the British experience?

Let's call it £210

Because it is

Fruiting

Well after there being a distinct lack of rainfall the situation has turned around - so weeds are everywhere but it's green.

Looking promising on the fruit front - Apples and Pears

Apples

And Pears

As I look around (and dig too) there's often some friendly birds around (feathered)

Waiting for nightfall before singing 

Not Batman 

A Plum or two?

And there might be some Cherries

You can hardly see the shed 

The money  pile

It might look the same but now £207.50

(Hockney) Well it's certainly popular

Tate does this sort of thing well

I first visited Tate (as it was then) more than 40 years ago- it's Tate Britain now and I've never been to a more crowded exhibition than the current Hockney retrospective.



I'm not always a fan of these 'Blockbuster' exhibitions and do become increasingly irritated by people who bring pushchairs to crowded adult events but it's a good show but I enjoyed looking at some of his up-to-date work a couple of years back so wanted to see a more complete view of his oeuvre .



There's something about Greatest hits that is more attractive than ploughing through all the albums to find a few elusive gems that others have bypassed - well here I'd day there were whole 'albums' I'd been unaware of - the early stuff where he was finding a style and approach are patchy but things like the four seasons videos  more than compensate.


There are plenty of portraits - noticeably direct and often uncomfortable.

On show too are his works which look at water (A bigger splash amongst them) and his sometimes witty referential adaptation of the styles of other artists show his knowledge and skill.

Tate has curated the exhibition well )as you'd expect)  and I might even try and squeeze in another visit before the exhibition ends in a few days time (29th May).

So busy - school groups and all

Oh and the special neons (measuring it's said a bout 2kM) by the Welsh artist Cerith Wyn Evans are worth a look too

Like so much that is modern it references 'Duchamp'

Leaps and bounds

There's a feeling of speeding up £205

Uncomfortable and unanticipated

The launched Labour Party manifesto is meeting far more positive coverage than was anticipated when leaked 'headlines' from the document first surfaced last week.

A bus but not a battle one

Politicians have long known that it's your colleagues you need to worry about - note how criticism from long term cabinet colleague George Osborne needs a daily paper to contain his critique of Mrs May.

Undoubtedly some of this is because of changes that have been incorporated since the 'draft' but there is also a feeling amongst some that the margin between the two main parties is slimming.

Manifesto's of course assume that the only things which will change are those they wish to change so the idea that a change in Tax burden will not change behaviour is positively as naive as the claims made around the immediate Brexit dividends (on both sides of the argument) - rest assured capital flight is not something that would help investment and unanticipated consequences will abound for all the manifesto promises from the major parties.

Watch out for moles of all types

[Also I'm getting increasingly irritated by the language used around taxing the better off - 'will be asked to pay' - don't recall that option being available as a PAYE  'contributor'.]



The internal elements within the Labour Party are in an uncomfortable position, they do not wish to appear disloyal or heaven forbid lose 'moderate' MPs who will look to regain control from Momentum and fellow travellers of the so called Hard Left.

If you think this is exaggerating splits take a look at Tom Watson at yesterday's launch - there's a question about how big a Labour defeat needs to be before the 'leadership' recognises that it has failed - already  Union boss Len  Mcluskey (he who is challenged by keeping upright and by not meddling) is managing down expectations - seems that anything over 200 seats for the party under its present control could be considered a triumph by some.

[Not sure if anyone is saying that Len was pushed by the same forces who made sure that BBC cameraman was run over!]

The Pound is sinking

Was the story but  now US dollar is having problems ..

An increasing asset - £202 50