high speed tosh

as usual the protesters are out at the prospect of high speed rail through the midlands. the argument that it will despoil the country side is none sense a ribbon of rail stretched across the country with elegant trains on it what is the problem and as they are going to encase it with two million trees means well have more trees than we lose. the high speed rail between Avignon and Turin is practically invisible even though it passes through one of the most compressed spaces in Provence between the mountains and the sea. in France i live with in 300 yards of the railway its is surrounded by pines and you don't hear anything .as for the spurious argument it will only clip 30 minutes to Birmingham then add Leeds t then Newcastle finally Edinburgh and youve saved two hours. as most peoples times is calculated as being 30 quid an hour you've saved a lot of cash and you've brought the UK into the loop of 21st century transport. Edinburgh to Paris 5 hours at most whats to quarrel with. advantages in France a boom in the south less air craft and journey that is quick pleasant and gets you right in the centre of what you want to be the moaners ive heard so far haven't analysed the gain don't want to know, negative negative --campaign as much ad you like it will happen sooner or later why not sooner

entente

last November England and France signed up to merge part of their armed forces everybody laughed. Libya has proved the scoffers wrong the British and the french have worked together very well. should we be in Libya is like asking should we have intervened in kosovo or should we have gone to war for Poland, it was too nasty to watch and do nothing . i love the talk of the crusades as being an emotive word well what about the moors overrunning Spain and southern France and the desecration of the greatest shrine in Christendom hagia sophia in Istanbul ghadafis' bluster about the crusades is part of the nonsense over who did what we ought get over not that we expect him to --and think on this Arab friends ,if the west goes down who will you sell you oil to china, a much less equable trading partner than the ones you've long been used to your best enemy is sometime the other face of your best friend

gap

there has ben a gap , stinking winter ,stinking cold, twists of fate affecting both solar and polar but were back hoping to attract more notice than before

tribalism

no blogs recently the cough and antibiotics got in the way. my best Friend in France solar himself said your friends are the family you choose you family is often what you get stuck with. in England we are stuck in tribal groups. upper class lower class ,we abuse each other as toffs ,scroungers no one wants heal wounds have an inclusive society where everyone top and bottom is motivated to help each other do their best. i was told by another friend i was a romantic, a hopeless idealist-- well the tribal groups don't work I've never had Muslim friend since i was at college it was when i played hockey and i learned to forget there was such a thing as colour or race re multicultural ism and nationalism prevents getting close to different groups. Dianne abbot said to come to hackney see our rainbow culture -a rainbow is a homogeneous whole one colour dependant on the other- if that's what hackney represents i cant wait to see this version of a non tribal big society

stylists

critics would say they are a mess however the Brits produce a crop of style eccentrics its hard to beat - way back to oscar wilde our, current stylists hold up the tradition. helen bonham carter in vivien westwood at the golden globes ,like fashion car crash, she stood out amongst the blonde glamour girls who all looked the same. then we've got russel brand wild and wonderful who wouldn't dream of wearing a tight blue suit, a dandy with his own style never on best dressed list, he should be because he's an image maker legs then there is also tilda swinton who looks like shes been resuscitated again no one like her these, three have created their own image are like fashion laboratories in the round. fashion slave David beckham take note youve fallowed every look under the sun but don't have your own sense of style

Le sang bleu de l'hiver

Début d'année au coeur de l'hiver. Début d'année, plus une mort qu'une naissance, comme un goût poussiéreux d'amertume, il faut refaire le chemin vers l'hiver prochain, traverser encore celui-ci qui n'est pas encore fini, aller vers le printemps avec allégresse, celle qui fait battre aux tempes le pollen et les fruits puis arrêter le cours des choses dans le grand coeur savoureux de l'été, le grand coeur de fruit rouge entrouvert et saignant, le grand coeur de l'été généreux et offert comme une femme du sud portant haut la poitrine, le grand coeur de l'été. Mais pas encore. Pas encore. Mon cher amour de Juillet. Pas encore. Il est encore Janvier et je promène celui que j'appelle mon corps le long des bateaux du port dans une immense lumière bleue. Le vent qui lui tranche les épaules fait son malin. Alors voilà, cette lumière bleue m'apparaît comme le sang bleu d'un immémoriale bête céleste et triste, là, sacrifiée dans le ciel pâle. Et tombé vers nous, liquide contre le sol, son sang bleu, épais et glacial. Le voilà qui nous colle à l'hiver.

les faux pas

why are our leaders so ill educated about history Cameron said we were the Junior partner with the u.s in 1940 - the u.s didn't get into the war until 1942 when two turning points had been reached El ale main and Stalingrad. now sarkozy when he is in Alsace thinks he's in Germany, since the war the population of Alsace has done everything in its power to become wholly french this man is insulting, slack, and perhaps not worthy of the office he occupies