TV programmes, Snobbery, Class and well done Cheryl

I've had a bad case of the snuffles and It's a bit surprising to be reminded of how vulnerable and badly done by one can feel on having a cold.

One of many things that has improved over the last 15  or so years is the value of kitchen appliances - we got matching Prestige Kettle and Toaster at the weekend (because we could) less than £30 from Robert Dyas whilst their special offer continues (it ends Wednesday).  

A person of Prestige

Another thing (back to the cold) that's improved is the access to TV programmes at ungodly hours when one is 'suffering' two of the really cracking shows that I've caught up on are

Broadmoor (itv Player)  - perhaps it comes as a good news revelation that ITV is still showing important Documentaries in prime time slots, this certainly raises a load of questions about broken people, the cost to society and the unutterable misery of the human condition for some - the two important points I noted (among very many important significant points) were that it is  generally not  just one issue that brings these people into being a very difficult case and also one of the Doctors saying that it felt like you could say on seeing some of these troubled people at the age of 6 -'I'll be seeing you later' - the second and final  episode will air this week-  not always easy to watch but I think worth seeing.

Exposed: Magicians, Psychics and Frauds -Storyville (BBC iPlayer).

Storyville doesn't let you down and this was a gem, a story that had it all, including a good man James Randi (crazy name, crazy guy) revealed as human and the debunking of horrible 'religious' charlatans.

I sort of recall the man from the fevered days of Uri Geller (before he was a 'friend' to Wacko Jacko) bending spoons  - if you watch one thing on catch-up (UK viewers) make it this one.

Well after watching these two programmes - I was reminded how insightful Grayson Perry had been on both radio (Reith Lectures)  and TV 'Who are you?' (Channel Four TV )  so I did a search on Grayson and found that his series of documentaries around class was still available - using the old Kenny Everett catchphrase ' In the best possible taste' it brought to light what was (perhaps) something of a hidden truth (for me)  I'm a snob (not easy to say  perhaps we all think of  others as either Chavs or Snobs but in truth as many of us distance ourselves from the aspirations of our relatives and contemporaries we reveal ourselves to be distancing ourselves from our roots.

Grayson did not deny his own move from  the Essex 'Working Class' to the middle class elite of the Art world but he was able to celebrate with others the joys of the working class - those from the programme were astonishingly knowing too - looking forward to seeing parts  two and there of this series if the cold persists (or doesn't). 

Postscript

Thanks to Jules Evans for his tweet about the artist formerly known as Cheryl Cole who has used an Alan Watts quote about how we should use our lives  (What if Money was no object..) on her new album - as far as I'm concerned a really excellent message which she's bringing to a big audience who might not have thought about this - great stuff Cheryl.

Sid James Comedy Icon and More on the North Korean embassy (art)

Sid James was a fine comedy character actor, I don't think he was a comedian but I beleive he could have, if he'd lived longer moved into more dramatic roles.

A comedian's plaque

Sid was actually a South African who'd started off as a hairdresser and as one of Tony Hancock's regulars and a stalwart of the 'Carry ons' (British films loaded with 'double entendres')  his inimitable laugh was known across the land.

As you can tell I'm a fan - I even have a picture of him (a limited edition print by Chris Oxenbury entitled  Yak, Yak Yak) so as I passed Sid's former home in Gunnersbury lane it was with reverence.

Sid's former home in West London.

Well you might be wondering why and when I passed the house, well having found out that the sometimes mysterious folks of North Korea (Ealing Branch) were holding an Art exhibition of work by their own Native artists that was to end on the 7th November I decided to hot foot it down there.

I was not alone and it was a somewhat varied crowd in attendance, art lovers and nosey neighbours included but the Korean folk at the embassy were surprisingly friendly, welcoming and 'normal'

Have your picture taken with irony

No restriction on photography and the embassy looked like what it was a large-ish suburban house - held in a 1970's time capsule.

Pictures of the last two  leaders of Korea on the wall but not the present one and bookcases full of sombrely bound books.

The work on display was (to me) more about craft and technique than breaking new ground but it rose above the workmanlike and there were pictures by some of the artists of their UK visit.

The overall effect of the show was to certainly take away some of the distrust at a local level - how to do this internationally is more of a challenge

A view of a modern North Korea

London inspires a North Korean Artist

Inscrutable outside the embassy

Capel Manor reunion and Gunnersbury Avenue celebrities

On Thursday I met up with a fellow cohort from my Horticulture course and in a general catchup we strolled down memory lane (or Pope's Lane anyway)  in a physical and a metaphorical manner.

We skirted by the college entrance

 It's something over 5 years since The Capel Manor 'graduation ceremony' and about seven and a half since my initial visit to the Gunnersbury campus to find out about a Horticulture course so much to reflect on.

We'd not seen each other for a long time but it is interesting how easy it was to resume a 'conversation' after such a long break and to recall the ups and downs of studies into horticulture.

It looks like there are big plans afoot for the Park that the college sits in with funding granted but it was sad to see that the trees we had planted in Year 2 of our course had gone.

Gunnersbury Notables

It is not only Sid James that lived in the  Ealing and Acton border area, across the road from Sid's old home is another plaque

Nicholas Parson's who has just published a book about  the long running Radio 4 comedy Quiz show  he hosts 'Just a Minute''  worked as  a  straight man to a comedy partner in the 1960s.
 The  guy he worked with was called  Arthur Haynes - he failed to reach the heights that had been expected for him and died (young) in 1966.

Haynes lived (and died) in Gunnersbury Avenue.

Arthur's Paque

What was Arthur's rather splendid looking House

Also in Gunnersbury Lane away from humour is the North Korean embassy which hit the headlines a couple of years back.

It seems there's still issues around the abuse of diplomatic privileges there too.

Yes, strangely it's an embassy for the North Koreans and it's on The North Circular Road 

W3 Gallery and London Homes

Small but sweet (the gallery)

Yesterday on the way back from a CAB Financial Capability session all about Debt (a big issue for any)in White City Area I stopped off at Acton's W3 Gallery.

I'd seen an item in The Ealing Gazette about the exhibition and was really keen to see the donated Patrick Caulfield print (very good too) -he was  a local lad  who felt had been wrongly stuck in the Pop art gang.

What I will say about the Gallery is that it's rather small - the newspaper pictures did not give this impression, it does though have the advantage of being in a very central location.

There's a theme around change in the borough and some good stuff from an Anglo-Irish perspective in the South Acton Heritage Exhibition that's showing now- if you're interested in local history and in the area do pop in.

London Homes

As a starting off point for a historic photographic project I've been thinking about places I've lived in Ealing (only four) and before I got my own place in Aspen Close I stayed in Princes Road.

The Taxi was owned by the home owner too.

How lucky I was to be able to enjoy staying with two other guys,  after the flat in Hessel Road one of the party bought a house about half a mile away and we behaved there nearly as badly as before.

Now it's not easy to buy your own home at this time it was a possibility.

Housing was a big issue identified in the last London Mayoral election but perhaps beyond the scope of the job- I reckon it needs to be addressed by other  means than just 'densification' and needs to be raised up the agenda.