it turned out all right in the end

here in the south west the gardens are ruined, i feel i want to do a Garbo hide away,what a lousy time of year -so what am i doing painting images of the south of France, reading the biography of Hedy lamarr the movie star an ongoing down ward spiral into poverty and tragedy until the last chapter, when the super intelligent Hedy her beauty gone, is recognised for her invention that led to mobile phone and space technology , and who then at te age of 75 learned to play the stock market and ended up rich again-- brains before beauty any day ,but her looks certainly gave her a head start, but ironically her legacy is much more than anything she did in the movies- so every time you lift your mobile thank Hedy Lamarr

lack of optimism

apparently,in one of those crazy polls that no one you know has ever taken part, in the french are the least optimistic country in Europe - well cheer up mes amis, you have twice as much space as the UK, better roads ,railways, everyone i know looks chic, has profound things to say. has more sunshine ,endless supplies of classy rose ,gorgeous weather presenters , great jeans wonderful shirts , glace fruits , places like nimes and the bouche du rhone coast - ok your restaurants aren't so hot any more , your chips have gone to dogs and the french and English navies are about to make love . and even if the french language is on the run ,you live in a beautiful place ,you have an existential intensity that gives me goose bumps, and no matter what the Franco phobes say, your the most loyal friends you can ever make ,so cheer up mes ami you've got a lot going for you and i love you ,will defend you against all comers, even if you don't love yourselves

new year

new year is one of those things that was big in Scotland maybe a viking tradition eating haggis neeps and carrot mash it then spread to England then the empire etc with robbie burns old land syne never mind we dont know what it means .new year for me well not my thing , getting snogged by poeple you've avoided for the rest of the year getting smashed ,so new years days a write off ,we also have the new years honours list this year luvvies and dodgy bankers. david suchet got one the great Pete pothlethwaite didn't. annie lennox for her charity work well if she was a real toiler in the fields we wouldn't know about it. then they give dame hood to an actress called harriet who no one knows - what a pointless farce -- new years meal 3star and didn't have to avoid any unwanted lips this year also texts and emails and phone calls from all my closest so excellent start hope all goes well for anyone reading this I'm not making any resolutions and intend to be as grumpy as ever. as for the fireworks in london an artistic triumph that knocked sydney cold - i didnt see paris so i cant make comparisons

no fool like an old fool

Vince cable business secretary gets himself trapped into criticising his own government by a very young lady reporter- no Vince she wasn't interested in you she wanted a good story , then you compound it by sounding off about Murdoch . so now your weakened made to look ridiculous . so what do you do go on strictly come dancing , an old man pawing young ladies in public - this should be your last tango Vince. time to get real ,your in responsible position in government which you hardly deserved, be grateful ,grow up ,and show us your worth it

hiver en angleterre

beautifully as anything can get , but of course we complain , roads at standstill, economy ruined, nothing works , garden ruined, it doesn't happen too often my part of England so lets relish the visual treats while they last and its not just us that cant cope, the rest of the near continent is the same

i dont get this

morissey has discovered that david cameron has always been a fan , morrissey's reaction i dont want you to like me , surely even if it is a politician you dont admire can you not take comfort from the fact that he might have been influenced by what you had to say and has at least listened to it

ice and fire

in the u.k we've had terrible weather deep snow in the north schools closed, temps of minus 15 it looks beautiful till it goes on too long ,yet it brought out the best in the British all mucking in helping each other .even the troops helped clear snow, politicians of course useless so we all helped our selves the brit spirit is alive in well ..by contrast the student riots, no one read the government proposalsas they wanted to protest anyway.socialists never listen they only want to shout everyone else down --mobs like the one in london have dark heart where primeval forces are unleashed and anything is possible, maiming of animals ,violence ,fire, mayhem desecration, what argument does it put forward as those who would quote democracy use brute force to advance their ideas -shameful of course ,stupid yes,its why i can never vote for the labour party because they do not real socialism. socialism is inclusive it encourages everyone to be better than they thought they could be .the labour party and ed milliband demonstrate their ignorance by indulgence in the class war they are as bad as blue rise tory ladies .strength of argument should be the approach yet have you ever here a labour party member wiling to examine their views. dispassionately. mindless hate, why, vandalism why, bring down the government and your turn comes next to climb the steps of the guillotine .where does it all lead do they know -i doubt it ,neither do i, but i'm frightened the black heart that emerges in the centre of every mob and dehumanises everything around it.