hats tell a story

not everyone can wear a hat , if your not careful the hat wears you , on the other hand they can distinguish the wearer, also label them ,the fedora is worn by artists and theatrical types is about style as something separate from the ordinary ,almost an act of defiance against conformity the cavalier hat worn by Orlando bloom is about the ability to wear something without it wearing you , the cloth cap was once the gear of the working man ,the bowler hatted man worked in the city the baseball cap from America, is an item to wear to protect your head rather than look stylish it reeks of burgers, dumbing down American unwarranted self belief someone once said hats were a mistake, they certainly are if you want to conceal your personality traits

whats in a hat

heating up

the debate about he burka heats up in France, a scuffle in Nantes and act in the french parliament, i find it difficult to converse with anyone whose face is co vered, balaclava, hoodie, burka ,its all the same, why are you with drawing from the rest of humanity - hiding the mirror of your soul your eyes even.in most cases it men who impose this discipline on women ,not always but mostly . our own past history in England has echoes of this ,men imposed codes of dress codes cover for legs uncovered chests . as recently at he 50's in England it was not permitted for a woman to enter a church without head covered ,hats often had a token veil .now in England anything ,goes which doesn't mean its better. my only feeling is that no one should impose a dress code, especially husbands on their wives .though i do have my own level of intolerance in the cathedral at perigeaux a dutch guy wearing a hat -i was raised to go bare headed in church as mark of respect - the ignorance or was it sheer indifference to the place he was in ,was shocking for me in its own way

hopefully this is not what its about

once upon a time tennis was a game of artistry and grace .then we had McEnroe followed by Agassi
sampras ,Hewitt who saw more elegant players like Arthur ash ,Bjorn Borg etc pushed aside- now we have Rafael Nadal- Rafa to drooling sports commentators who sound like teeny girls at a pop concert , they seem unable to see what a ludicrous mess he is. once it was all white gear , here we've got Orange tee shirts, bandannas, hideous bermudas- forget elegance .this week he defeated balletic elegant roger federer in Madrid. normally roger plays elegantly but when nadal plays each match becomes a boring shoot out devoid of charm or thrills. agressive as an artillary barrage and about as destructive he doesn't smile , grimaces ,punches the air ,grunts like a hippopotamus .his ritual before he serves is extremely irritating this includes myriad ticks ,one of which involves adjusting his underwear .with his over muscled body on display he brings all the refinement of a weightlifting contest to any match he plays -no skill just brutish strength required. roger federer looked unengaged i think he wanted to play not fight. if nadal's resurgence continues were in for a summer of switch off boring slog it out tennis with artistry fled elsewhere

another france- jumilac le grand

the dordogne,is a favourite of the English where they set up crazy expat groups like cricket clubs .i can understand why they like it because the landscape is strongly reminiscent of the lake district. the architecture is Romanesque stretching back to Charlemagne , though even the greatest have suspect family trees .Charlemagne was the offspring of Pepin the short and Bertha big foot . the area has a Germanic feel everywhere huge chateaux a visit to caves at villars , perigeaux , and sarlat were worth while experiences, though the sacre ceoeur addition to the medieval cathedral in pergeoux is a monstrosity, at the same time there is a roman exhibition featuring a temple and villa which was a stunning presentation. the weather ,we should have guessed the scenery is so lush ,was wet and cold. my first love is solar france this gave me, no encouragement to change my allegiances .i love my tropical gardens ,Riviera glamour, marseille ,nimes and that's that ,i'm not fickle , however the food is great and free of interminable pizzeria's , an exemplary lunch in sarlat proved what can still be done for 14 euros -hats off to the patron at the. delicies de alice .if you like pate, duck , solid country food then your in heaven . the Simply super market was a fantastic treasure trove of rose wine, nevertheless i longed for the sun, more arid places my eyes continually drawn south and east to Provence and my particular land of lotus eating

over and out

gordon brown has gone already the gloom has begun to lift, even the labour party looks brighter. hopefully the rag bag of manipulators mandleson, lord adonis and alistair campbell will be consigned to the dust bin of history, already they are attacking the new consensus politics . they do not understand we need a new liberal approach to democracy .the good news is a lot of intrusive legislation is to be repealed allowing human decency to reveal itself once more. the new alliance hopefully catches the mood of the nation for compromise not confrontation. i cannot feel sorry for brown a man who had divided the nation ,under equipped the troops ruined pensions and the economy and who hates anyone standing in his way. you could compare brown to king lear but his own fondness for heath cliffe is better- an obsessive who destroyed everything and everyone around him ,no tears here just good riddance

Poésie, arme de résistance

I.
Donne moi dans l’oreille
Le son des eaux frappantes
Celui qui dans la joue musarde
Car te voilà Ô mon infante
Rosée au toit du monde

II.
Ton langage replié
Ton langage tordu vidé
Que je ne tends plus
Sinon pour t’imaginer
Ce langage du fin fond

III.
Et déjà ma désintégration
Qui parvient à tous encore que
Ma mémoire à peine éclose
Regagne la paume de années
De dizaine