Sometimes you beat the bear and sometimes the bear beats you…that just about seems to have summed up my life this week. The one thing that it has brought into much clearer perspective some thoughts I have had for sometime know. The question is whether I will act on these thoughts…watch this space I guess.
So we are at the end of a shocking week when we found out that some very dodgy characters did some very dodgy things to try and hide their possibly ill gotten gains. And whilst this has made a lot of people feel very satisfied with themselves it hasn’t really stopped the world going around. Here in the UK a number of papers have tried to be all high and mighty about the fact that the current Prime Minister has benefited from the providence of his rich father who took legal steps to ensure that the tax he paid was at a minimum. The reality is that the only things that they have been able to prove is that we now know that the Prime Minister is a rich man, which few doubted in the first place. All the hot air and froth has no substance to it because their is no evidence that Cameron’s father did anything illegal and their certainly isn’t any evidence that David Cameron has done anything illegal either.
Perhaps the good thing that has come out of this is that there is going to be more openness at the top levels of government as to just how rich Ministers and Prime Ministers are and this is information that we, the voters, should have so that we can properly judge just how important certain decisions may be to a potential Prime Minister. Of course it doesn’t get away from the feeling a lot of people have that we are all being conned by the rich and I suspect there is a certain amount of truth to that. But before we, who don’t have enough money to benefit from very expensive advice, get angry about things take a listen to the Bottom Line podcast about tax avoidance and then ask yourself if you agree with the Dutch tax lawyer right at the end?
None of us really like paying taxes and before we start shouting at the rich and famous we should ask ourselves how many times we may not have paid the full amount of tax on something or another. As Jesus said… he who is without sin cast the first stone… John 8:7. I am not saying that tax evasion is right, it is not and the people who do it should be punished, especially the professionals who come up with these schemes in the first place. It is just that these things are now so complicated, usually due to some government attempt to distort something or another, probably for the right reasons but end up with the wrong result. The road to hell apparently is not only plastered with cliches but is paved with good intentions.
Now as to the specific case of David Cameron we have all enjoyed seeing him be put under pressure but the real result of all this is that no matter what happens in the referendum in June he will be most likely gone by the end of the year. Whether that is a good thing or not is another matter but whilst contemplating that just ask yourself who will replace him? When you do that suddenly enjoying Cameron being under the cosh may not seem so much fun. Boris Johnson certainly has a much more (how can one put it?) strained relationship with the truth than David Cameron ever has. Still we’ll probably be suffering from a huge amount of buyers remorse by the end of the year to worry too much about who the hell the Prime Minister is anyway.
So there is a first, a blog entry sort of defending David Cameron…I never thought that day would arrive but as they say…events dear boy events.
As I sat in the courtyard outside of the Portland Collection gallery yesterday eating my lunch whilst taking in the warm spring sun I realised yet again just how lucky I am. All around the world shit is happening at too alarming a rate and yet here it this small part of England all was well in the world. Sometimes I really do think we need to stop and look around and say you know what life isn’t that bad (I guess that might be a bit more difficult in Homms or some god forsaken refugee camp). However, I also know that not too many years ago I was going full pelt, letting the whole thing envelope me and then paying an awful price for that.
So with the wisdom of age may I say to my younger self, chill out man, embrace the moment and as the great philosopher Tallahassee says “…enjoy the little things…”
Had another great day out visiting a new local tourist attraction the Portland Collection at the Harley Gallery in Nottingham. The pre visit bumph would suggest that the Portland Collection is a world beater and that in one sense is true, there are some incredible works of art on display. However, I did come away feeling slightly underwhelmed which I suspect is more to do with the fact that the collection might have been over sold, or certainly the works on display. There were some great pieces but when it is compared to say the fascinating Compton Verney it falls somewhat short of the mark. This, though, is unfair on the Harley Gallery as they are two very different establishments trying to do very different things.
Having outlined my slight misgivings it is still worth a visit although don’t expect to eat at the small cafe next to the gallery as this would seem to be too small for the crowds that the collection may attract. However, help is at hand as the garden centre next door has a very reasonable cafe.
It is back to school for me…I’ve had my pencil now for nearly a fortnight and I think it is time that I settled down and try to get a real feel for how I can use this new piece of kit. To do this I have decided to make a painting of the same image again and again – each time trying to learn from the last. It is hardly creative but it is good way to reinforce lessons learnt. Only problem is after a while it can get really monotonous. Are well here goes.
Yesterday this blog experiance a huge, by this blog’s standards, leap in hits and I just couldn’t understand it. However, today I noticed what was the most popular search on this blog which was rather strange subject, “simon lover 2016 blog” so I decided to Google this and suddenly all became clear as the first hit on Google for this was a Gay Porn blog. So should you have wished to have gone to that particular blog and found yourself here may I welcome you and also disappoint you – you won’t find any gay porn here just my ramblings and scribblings which may be enough to turn you off sex for ever. I suspect by now the wayward searcher may well have disappeared so goodbye to you and I hope you enjoy what you find.
After a pretty poor week it was nice at last to get out and enjoy the sunshine…a great time was had by all in London today.
Compare and contrast or variations on a theme…take your pick.
Somedays I feel like I was 18 again but those days seem to becoming less and less frequent, instead replaced by the creeping realisation that whilst I sometimes feel 18 my body certainly doesn’t anymore! I guess this is the curse of being the wrong side of 50 which all of us above (or should that be below!) that plimsol line know only too well. Little niggles and sniffles that we used to fight off with ease no longer seem to disappear as quickly; Aches and pains seem to be far more commonplace and their effects all the greater . However on the bright side I get to play with new toys such as my new Apple Pencil so things aren’t all bad.
The more I use my pencil the more I learn and the more I realise I don’t know – actually that applies to my art rather than the pencil but why the truth get in the way of bad poetry! The painting is partially completed and I think I need to step back and think about where I go from here but it has been a great learning curve nonetheless.
Well that was a fine way to celebrate Easter – get yet another cold or whatever – I think that is the third of this year alone…summer can’t get here a moment too soon. So to pass the time of day I have been working with my pencil – actually that is not strictly true, yesterday I felt like shit so I wasn’t able to do anything than sit there and flick through the TV channels – why is Fox news full of such hateful know it alls? Perhaps that was the cold talking…may be not. It is funny watching Fox news now trying to dump on Trump seeing as they helped create the monster that is Donald J. Trump. Mind you the likely alternative is by some stretch even worse – still I guess not all Canadian’s are good mannered after all.
Simon's Blog 