Simon&#039;s Blog

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Two months on – were are we now?

Posted on July 17, 2010 by Guthlac

Well it has been just over two months since the new government came together and the most surprising thing it that it has not collapsed. Well that was the view of some commentators. Of course we are in very early days but they do appear to have a very convincing narrative on many subjects, deficit reduction aside. Will it last? I suspect much longer than many commentators and many on the Labour side fear – if only for the fact that should it fail then the Lib Dems will get slaughtered at the polls so having made their deal with the devil they are going to have to stick with it.

So what of Labour? I believe there is a maxim in politics that Labour governments fall when the money runs out. Well we are that point in cycle and sure enough Labour are out of office. How long for? Well that depends I suspect on what they want to offer the public. At the moment they are shell shocked and thrashing around for anything positive to say. They can’t really argue that they are full of new ideas because, well they are not and if they were why weren’t they put into action whilst they were still in government? The short answer is that the Labour party need sometime to work out where they are going to go next. This should start with the leadership election. At the moment it is nothing more than a group of ex ministers trying to pretend they know the way forward – they don’t. At least Diane Abbot has the benefit of not having been a recent minister and so is not tarnished by power. Of course that is the reason why she will never get elected or if she did she would very quickly be found out to be not up to the job.

I am still trying to work out why Labour cuts are good and coalition cuts are bad. I suspect so are the Labour party. Everyone knew that there was going to be a huge series of cuts whichever party was returned at least know we are seeing some honesty returning to the political debate. Whether the cuts are too great or too soon is an important debate – at least know they are being argued over. Before the election every party pretend that there cuts were the fluffy type that wouldn’t hurt a fly.

There is much talk at the moment about a forthcoming winter of discontent and huge protests. I am not sure this will happen. There will be some very vocal strikes but I doubt that they will have that much impact. After all the BA strikes have been dragging on now for months and does this really cause any problems. There will be some disruption in public sector but nothing that would compare to the ‘winter of discontent’.

The one really great thing the coalition is doing is starting to claw back the excessive powers of the state that have been introduced ‘to fight the war of terror’. For too long it has been acceptable to cut back on freedoms, the final straw for me was the stop and search powers under sec 44. This meant that in any designated area you could be stopped and possibly searched without the police having any reasonable grounds for this. It wouldn’t prevent an attack or the preparation for an attack on a high profile target, say the Palace of Westminster, as on any given day there are thousands of people milling around the area and the chance that the police would be able to find the one or two people who might be planning such attacks is fanciful. The best way to prevent such attacks is good intelligence not the off chance that you might get lucky. Good that felt really good to get off my chest!

So am I optimistic about the future? Well of course I am. You should never believe all these experts that predict the world is going to fall apart. We have been through much worse and survived. Will it be tough – well yes I think so but life will go on and it will always be worth living. In the end I suspect we will do what comes natural to us all – we will muddle through. Lets hope I am right.

Simon Marchini LRPS

Web: http://WWW.simonmarchini.co.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2010/jul/08/david-mitchells-soa…

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Another example of how the lack of flash support is ruining the iPad: David Mitchell’s Soap Box: Climate change | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Guthlac

Sent from my iPad

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Scream! No flash is really getting to me….

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Guthlac

So this iPad thingy is supposed to be the best web experience going…well that is unless you want to use a site that is using flash and then well welcome to HTML 1. I suppose I should feel nostalgic for those wonderful far off days back in the mid 90’s but I don’t. I just want to watch flash on mu iPad – however to do such things would be too simple for Apple. It would mean a climb down and that would never do. Instead we have to suffer for this arrogance for no clear reason other than we are Apple and you get what we want to give you. I’m a Pc anyone.

Sent from my iPad

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Street Photography

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Guthlac

There was something in the back of my mind when we were talking about street photography the other day. I knew I had taken some photographs that I just hadn’t gotten around to work on. Then it came to me where they were and I have to say to my surprise they were over a year old.

Now whether these are exceptional photographs or not I don’t know but I know that at least one of the lads on the bikes wasn’t too pleased to have his photograph taken. However, as he was cycling where he shouldn’t have been I though it was only fair that he should get annoyed. Having just read that I think that says more about me than the lad or street photography but perhaps that is the attitude you need. Just a touch of bloody mindedness or perhaps it helps if you are over 6’3″ tall – maybe that helps.

Simon Marchini LRPS

Web: http://WWW.simonmarchini.co.uk

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Lovers by the Mersey

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Guthlac

From my recent visit to the Tate at Liverpool.

Sent from my iPad

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Brushes it is so addictive

Posted on July 11, 2010 by Guthlac

Another master piece – well I think I am getting better, not very good just better. It seems that David Hockney was right, the iPad is the way of the future for the budding artist. Now I wouldn’t put myself in that category but the iPad does allow you to doodle and then rework the doodle until you get something more presentable. The main lesson I have learnt over the pays few days is that you have to start to plan ahead as to how you are going to draw something. You have six layers to play with so whatever you produce is easier to correct than a conventional drawing. It still means you have to plan ahead. With layer will carry what detail is almost as important as the final look of the drawing. Well that has been my experience but as I said above – I’m no artist.

Sent from my iPad

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Picasso and Me.

Posted on July 10, 2010 by Guthlac

Well what to say that hasn’t been already said about Picasso? I suppose the first thing is to explain how I came to encounter Picasso. I have just been to the Picasso, Peace and Freedom exhibition at the Tate North, Liverpool. So what to say next? Well the whole exhibition smelt of fresh paint. Perhaps I have become very sensitive to this as we have just redecorated part of the house. Nonetheless there it was – the smell of fresh paint. Something new about Picasso? Well perhaps.

The power of Picasso could be felt in the room. He was the giant whose talent was laid bare all around you. His predilections were also there to see but this isn’t why Picasso is so mind blowingly brilliant. I don’t actually like much of what he painted when compared to the work that really touches me. The simple things touch me. Not the massive and well publicised works but the small and simple line drawings, his way of turning just the simple thing into something so much more. These are the things that talk to me.

The exhibition itself tried hard to paper of the cracks of the force that is Picasso but failed utterly. So we read that Picasso was a communist and anti fascist yet he thrived in the Nazi occupied France and he made a fortune. perhaps much of the contradiction that is and was Picasso can be summed up by a photo of him looking very admiringly at a photo of Joseph Stalin. Kindred spirits perhaps. Picasso certainly had a great force of personality.

So what was my favourite piece? Without doubt it was a simple doodle he did on someone’s wall in London in the early 50’s. When the house was going to be knocked down the plaster on which the he doodle as well as part of the wall were preserved – no doubt by then it was worth far more than the house.

So was it worth the trip? You bet. Forget all the bumph and fluff written about Picasso he never fails to deserve every letter, syllable and punctuation mark written about him and his work.

Simon Marchini LRPS

Web: http://WWW.simonmarchini.co.uk