A Little Gift for Christmas
FREE MP3/sheet music to download
http://LittleGiftForChristmas.4shared.com/
If you like the music, please make a donation tohttp://www.shelter.org.uk/
A Little Gift for Christmas
Saturday 22 December 2012
Friday 10 August 2012
Tuesday 31 July 2012
Friday 27 July 2012
Olympic Buzzword Bingo
Download your sheets by clicking here.
Choose a sheet you will use.
During the Opening Ceremony tick off each buzzword when it is said by a commentator or particpant.
You could have a drink penalty for each word too.
The winner is the first to tick off everything on their sheet.
Make sure you use the hash tag: #OlympicBuzzwordBingo
http://www.4shared.com/office/VIIMyWZT/OlympicBuzzwordBingo.html
Thanks to Tracy Steadman (@lou_lou1972) for the suggestion to do this!
Choose a sheet you will use.
During the Opening Ceremony tick off each buzzword when it is said by a commentator or particpant.
You could have a drink penalty for each word too.
The winner is the first to tick off everything on their sheet.
Make sure you use the hash tag: #OlympicBuzzwordBingo
http://www.4shared.com/office/VIIMyWZT/OlympicBuzzwordBingo.html
Thanks to Tracy Steadman (@lou_lou1972) for the suggestion to do this!
Monday 23 July 2012
Sunday 22 July 2012
My 3 most viewed YouTube videos...
I have all sorts of good/interesting videos on You Tube but, bizarrely, these are the 3 most viewed:
Saturday 21 July 2012
Friday 20 July 2012
Thursday 19 July 2012
Elliot sings the eBay parody song
Elliot, 10, loves parody songs and decided to do this for his school's talent show!!
Wednesday 18 July 2012
Tuesday 17 July 2012
3 Books for Kindle
All You Have To Do Is Listen - poems about love and music
Snow Angels - a children's Christmas fantasy
Things That Go Bump In The Night - a collection of spooky poetry
Snow Angels - a children's Christmas fantasy
Things That Go Bump In The Night - a collection of spooky poetry
Monday 16 July 2012
Sunday 15 July 2012
Saturday 14 July 2012
Friday 13 July 2012
Thursday 12 July 2012
Wednesday 11 July 2012
A rather sad poem by E. Nesbit
Here's a rose that blows for Chloe,
Fair as ever a rose in June was,
Now the garden's silent, snowy,
Where the burning summer noon was.
In your garden's summer glory
One poor corner, shelved and shady,
Told no rosy, radiant story,
Grew no rose to grace its lady.
What shuts sun out shuts out snow too;
From his nook your secret lover
Shows what slighted roses grow to
When the rose you chose is over.
Fair as ever a rose in June was,
Now the garden's silent, snowy,
Where the burning summer noon was.
In your garden's summer glory
One poor corner, shelved and shady,
Told no rosy, radiant story,
Grew no rose to grace its lady.
What shuts sun out shuts out snow too;
From his nook your secret lover
Shows what slighted roses grow to
When the rose you chose is over.
Tuesday 10 July 2012
Monday 9 July 2012
Sunday 8 July 2012
Saturday 7 July 2012
Friday 6 July 2012
366/188 - A murder seems to have happened at Tesco...
A murder themed Project 366 can be found by clicking here!
Bolt - a fanfare for orchestra
A fanfare for orchestra inspired by the celebrations of the Oympics and, more specifically, the sprinter Usain Bolt!
If you're interested in performing the piece, the score and parts can be downloaded from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/126303.html
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If you're interested in performing the piece, the score and parts can be downloaded from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/126303.html
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www.robertsteadman.com
Score Exchange
Square Dance
A new piece for solo marimba
The score can be downloaded from here: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127752.html
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The score can be downloaded from here: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127752.html
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www.robertsteadman.com
Score Exchange
3 recent videos
Chasing Leaves One Morning in Fall, Central Park, New York
The score can be purchased here: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127951.html
Beautiful, beautiful, magnificent desolation
Score and parts are available from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127853.html
Père Lachaise. Rain
The score can be downloaded from here: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127231.html
The score can be purchased here: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127951.html
Beautiful, beautiful, magnificent desolation
Score and parts are available from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127853.html
Père Lachaise. Rain
The score can be downloaded from here: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127231.html
Beautiful, beautiful, magnificent desolation
"Beautiful, beautiful, magnificent desolation" was how Buzz Aldrin described the landscape of the moon.
This new work by Robert Steadman, for soprano saxophone and string orchestra, tries to put that quote into musical form.
Score and parts are available from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127853.html
The piece exists in a number of other versions each with piano accompaniment:
Soprano sax & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127485.html
Bassoon & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127486.html
'Cello & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127487.html
Euphonium & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127488.html
Horn in F & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127489.html
Oboe & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127490.html
Piccolo & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127491.html
Violin & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127492.html
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This new work by Robert Steadman, for soprano saxophone and string orchestra, tries to put that quote into musical form.
Score and parts are available from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127853.html
The piece exists in a number of other versions each with piano accompaniment:
Soprano sax & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127485.html
Bassoon & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127486.html
'Cello & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127487.html
Euphonium & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127488.html
Horn in F & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127489.html
Oboe & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127490.html
Piccolo & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127491.html
Violin & piano: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127492.html
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www.robertsteadman.com
Score Exchange
Thursday 5 July 2012
Calendars - perfect gifts
Beautiful photos on calendars make perfect gifts for Christmas or birthdays.
You can customise the following clanedars by choosing what the start month is!
Art Calendar
England Calendar
Food & Drink Calendat
Nottinghamshire Calendar
Photography Calendar
Yorkshire Calendar
You can customise the following clanedars by choosing what the start month is!
Art Calendar
England Calendar
Food & Drink Calendat
Nottinghamshire Calendar
Photography Calendar
Yorkshire Calendar
Wednesday 4 July 2012
366/186 - How long have Starburst had dares on the wrappers?
Click here for today's star-themed Project 366!
Père Lachaise. Rain - solo piano
An atmospheric new piece for solo piano
The score can be downloaded from here: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127231.html
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The score can be downloaded from here: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127231.html
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
www.robertsteadman.com
Score Exchange
Tuesday 3 July 2012
Monday 2 July 2012
Sunday 1 July 2012
Saturday 30 June 2012
Friday 29 June 2012
366/181 - Olympic Torch Relay - Derby
Today's Olympic Project 366 can be found by clicking here!
And here are my other snaps from the event:
And here are my other snaps from the event:
Thursday 28 June 2012
Wednesday 27 June 2012
Tuesday 26 June 2012
Monday 25 June 2012
Chasing Leaves One Morning in Fall, Central Park, New York
A new composition for piano.
The score can be purchased here: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127951.html
www.robertsteadman.com
The score can be purchased here: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/127951.html
www.robertsteadman.com
Sunday 24 June 2012
Saturday 23 June 2012
Friday 22 June 2012
Thursday 21 June 2012
Scrapping GCSEs
It was somehow inevitable that, eventually, Michael Gove would take a look at GCSEs and hark back to the days of the old O-level - and it was even more inevitable that many in education would rise up in indignation at what he said. It's a reflex action for many - if Gove says it then it must be wrong/stupid/Victorian.
But Gove, on this, is talking sense.
We desperately need to review the exams that students sit at 16.
When I was a pupil there were O-levels and CSEs. The O-levels were for the academic high fliers and the CSEs were slightly more practical but, largely, for those who weren't academic.
GCSEs were introduced in the late 1980s to try to have one qualification that fitted everybody. Sadly, as is the way with one size fits all qualifications, it is an experiment hat has failed.
GCSEs are tailored at the average. They are a half way house between academic and vocational and, let's be honest, in most cases fail both. They prize mediocrity and fail to stretch the academically bright whilst still being too academic for those who struggle with such forms of examination.
GCSEs have been allowed to fail for far too long.
In an attempt to make it seem that everything was rosy with GCSEs successive governments have allowed slippage in standards to an extent that actual grades in GCSEs have become meaningless.
Yes, students may well work hard for them. Yes, they may be assessed more often than in final examinations. Yes, teachers are working very hard to get their students the best grades possible.
But none of this addresses the real issue - GCSEs are overly easy for the academically able who have been failed by a system that is aimed at the average student. High fliers now coast their way through GCSEs. They aren't stretched. They're not really being prepared for A-levels, let alone degrees. They are ale to freewheel their way to an A* with little effort.
Meanwhile, the students at the other end of the academic spectrum struggle. They can't cope with the aount of academic assessment required and really shouldn't be sitting exams that are so unsuited to their skills and abilities.
Yes, when I told my O-levels back in 1981, CSEs were looked down on and sneered at. hey were the exams for "thickies" - but in the past three decades surely we've learnt that vocational skills are as valid as academic?
The left wing politicians, and even the Liberal Democrats, are opposed to re-introducing a two-tiered system for exams. Why? Every few years everything should be reviewed even if it is working, to see if it can be made to work better. Some things will be changed and improved, other things left alone. Reviewing something is a good thing.
In many ways, we already have a two-tiered system. We have GCSEs (half academic/half vocational) and we have BTECs (vocational). The problem is that too many students are taking the wrong course and there's too much crossover between the courses.
The other problem is the way that BTECs - a totally different type of course and assessment - are given "GCSE-equivalent" status - as if to say, these BTECs are all well and good, but it's GCSEs that really count. And, in order to counter the ridiculous anti-vocational lobby the BTECs have been given huge numbers of GCSE-equivalnce - which has meant that some schools have replaced GCSEs with BTECs as they will score better in league tables...
What is the problem with a course and an assessment being vocational? Vocational is good, just as academic is good. They are different from each other. They suit different students and that should be encouraged and applauded.
Surely a better system would retain the BTECs but make them more vocational and minimise the academic aspects of them, scrap the neither here nor there GCSEs and introduce a new academic qualification that will look to street those students who are more suited for that?
The other thing that needs to change is that the concept of failure needs to be re-introduced. It is pointless that everyone passes an exam. It makes the qualifications meaningless. Yes, when I failed my O-level French I felt deflated but it was the correct mark - I was hopeless at French. There is nothing wrong with being failed if it helps you focus on the things you are good at. There are whole generations of students who haven't failed at anything because it might upset them too much. Such nonsense must stop.
If someone's not very good at something they should be told.
I hope Gove looks to replace GCSEs, and that they are more academically rigorous, but I hope he brings back failure as an acceptable mark for the sake of future generations.
But Gove, on this, is talking sense.
We desperately need to review the exams that students sit at 16.
When I was a pupil there were O-levels and CSEs. The O-levels were for the academic high fliers and the CSEs were slightly more practical but, largely, for those who weren't academic.
GCSEs were introduced in the late 1980s to try to have one qualification that fitted everybody. Sadly, as is the way with one size fits all qualifications, it is an experiment hat has failed.
GCSEs are tailored at the average. They are a half way house between academic and vocational and, let's be honest, in most cases fail both. They prize mediocrity and fail to stretch the academically bright whilst still being too academic for those who struggle with such forms of examination.
GCSEs have been allowed to fail for far too long.
In an attempt to make it seem that everything was rosy with GCSEs successive governments have allowed slippage in standards to an extent that actual grades in GCSEs have become meaningless.
Yes, students may well work hard for them. Yes, they may be assessed more often than in final examinations. Yes, teachers are working very hard to get their students the best grades possible.
But none of this addresses the real issue - GCSEs are overly easy for the academically able who have been failed by a system that is aimed at the average student. High fliers now coast their way through GCSEs. They aren't stretched. They're not really being prepared for A-levels, let alone degrees. They are ale to freewheel their way to an A* with little effort.
Meanwhile, the students at the other end of the academic spectrum struggle. They can't cope with the aount of academic assessment required and really shouldn't be sitting exams that are so unsuited to their skills and abilities.
Yes, when I told my O-levels back in 1981, CSEs were looked down on and sneered at. hey were the exams for "thickies" - but in the past three decades surely we've learnt that vocational skills are as valid as academic?
The left wing politicians, and even the Liberal Democrats, are opposed to re-introducing a two-tiered system for exams. Why? Every few years everything should be reviewed even if it is working, to see if it can be made to work better. Some things will be changed and improved, other things left alone. Reviewing something is a good thing.
In many ways, we already have a two-tiered system. We have GCSEs (half academic/half vocational) and we have BTECs (vocational). The problem is that too many students are taking the wrong course and there's too much crossover between the courses.
The other problem is the way that BTECs - a totally different type of course and assessment - are given "GCSE-equivalent" status - as if to say, these BTECs are all well and good, but it's GCSEs that really count. And, in order to counter the ridiculous anti-vocational lobby the BTECs have been given huge numbers of GCSE-equivalnce - which has meant that some schools have replaced GCSEs with BTECs as they will score better in league tables...
What is the problem with a course and an assessment being vocational? Vocational is good, just as academic is good. They are different from each other. They suit different students and that should be encouraged and applauded.
Surely a better system would retain the BTECs but make them more vocational and minimise the academic aspects of them, scrap the neither here nor there GCSEs and introduce a new academic qualification that will look to street those students who are more suited for that?
The other thing that needs to change is that the concept of failure needs to be re-introduced. It is pointless that everyone passes an exam. It makes the qualifications meaningless. Yes, when I failed my O-level French I felt deflated but it was the correct mark - I was hopeless at French. There is nothing wrong with being failed if it helps you focus on the things you are good at. There are whole generations of students who haven't failed at anything because it might upset them too much. Such nonsense must stop.
If someone's not very good at something they should be told.
I hope Gove looks to replace GCSEs, and that they are more academically rigorous, but I hope he brings back failure as an acceptable mark for the sake of future generations.
Wednesday 20 June 2012
Tuesday 19 June 2012
Monday 18 June 2012
Sunday 17 June 2012
Saturday 16 June 2012
Armando Ianucci.... J'accuse!
It's awful when people you admire, people you respect, do something that completely undermines that admiration. sadly, it happens all too frequently.
Today's major let down is Armando Ianucci.
I knew Armando at university. I was President of the Oxford Revue Company and he was the star and main writer for a show that we took on a national tour and, of ourse, sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe.
As a writer, Armando did a lot of growing up during that tour. His earliest scripts were rather dull and predictable parodies of Star Trek but, as the show evolved, Armando tackled less predictable targets and his scriptwriting became better.
He has lead a very successful career with shows baring his name, to being the brains behind The Mary Whitehouse Experience and Alan Partridge, through to The Thick of It and, most recently, Veep. He's also written a great column in The Guardian and even found time to write the libretto for an opera.
He is, arguably, known as a satirist, an anti-establishment figure and, in Malcolm Tucker, he has created one of the greatest anti-establishment characters in British comedy.
In my mind, Armando is up there with Peter Cook, as one of he great satirists of the past half century.
So how has Armando disappointed me?
Today it was made known that, as part of the "Queen's Birthday Honours", he has accepted an OBE.
An Order of the British Empire - it's impossible to imagine anything more establishment. A celebration of monarchy and, of course, the evil that was the British Empire with all the evil that was done in the name of of "Empire".
Why has Armando done it?
By accepting an OBE, Armando has become part of the establishment. He has joined the ranks of the brain dead brown-nosers and shown that his judgement is poor and his anti-establishment rants, well, meaningless. Accepting an OBE is giving approval to a system of privilege and patronage. It is saying that power should be handed down via birth canal. It is saying that democracy is wrong.
Today, by sidling up with the likes of Gary Barlow, Ken Branagh and the designer of the Royal Wedding dress, he has shown that he cares more about idiotic baubles given out by a ridiculous, unelected old woman than his credibility.
It could, perhaps, be argued that a New Year's Honour is less bad in that it's not used to pimp up the horrendous Windsor family in the same way that the Birthday Honours list does, but, no, Armando has leapt in with both feet to be at one with everything he stood against.
Deep down I hope it is an elaborate joke - Armando will turn up at the palace, all suited and booted, and Old Liz will be about to give him his OBE and he'll stop her in her tracks with some amazing one-liner that brings the honours system to a crashing end. Sadly, I know he's simply sold out.
Today, Armando, you have failed a large number of people by being a traitor to the cause. How can you ever poke fun at the establish,eat again, now that you're part of that same establishment?
Armando Ianucci... J'accuse!
Today's major let down is Armando Ianucci.
I knew Armando at university. I was President of the Oxford Revue Company and he was the star and main writer for a show that we took on a national tour and, of ourse, sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe.
As a writer, Armando did a lot of growing up during that tour. His earliest scripts were rather dull and predictable parodies of Star Trek but, as the show evolved, Armando tackled less predictable targets and his scriptwriting became better.
He has lead a very successful career with shows baring his name, to being the brains behind The Mary Whitehouse Experience and Alan Partridge, through to The Thick of It and, most recently, Veep. He's also written a great column in The Guardian and even found time to write the libretto for an opera.
He is, arguably, known as a satirist, an anti-establishment figure and, in Malcolm Tucker, he has created one of the greatest anti-establishment characters in British comedy.
In my mind, Armando is up there with Peter Cook, as one of he great satirists of the past half century.
So how has Armando disappointed me?
Today it was made known that, as part of the "Queen's Birthday Honours", he has accepted an OBE.
An Order of the British Empire - it's impossible to imagine anything more establishment. A celebration of monarchy and, of course, the evil that was the British Empire with all the evil that was done in the name of of "Empire".
Why has Armando done it?
By accepting an OBE, Armando has become part of the establishment. He has joined the ranks of the brain dead brown-nosers and shown that his judgement is poor and his anti-establishment rants, well, meaningless. Accepting an OBE is giving approval to a system of privilege and patronage. It is saying that power should be handed down via birth canal. It is saying that democracy is wrong.
Today, by sidling up with the likes of Gary Barlow, Ken Branagh and the designer of the Royal Wedding dress, he has shown that he cares more about idiotic baubles given out by a ridiculous, unelected old woman than his credibility.
It could, perhaps, be argued that a New Year's Honour is less bad in that it's not used to pimp up the horrendous Windsor family in the same way that the Birthday Honours list does, but, no, Armando has leapt in with both feet to be at one with everything he stood against.
Deep down I hope it is an elaborate joke - Armando will turn up at the palace, all suited and booted, and Old Liz will be about to give him his OBE and he'll stop her in her tracks with some amazing one-liner that brings the honours system to a crashing end. Sadly, I know he's simply sold out.
Today, Armando, you have failed a large number of people by being a traitor to the cause. How can you ever poke fun at the establish,eat again, now that you're part of that same establishment?
Armando Ianucci... J'accuse!
Can the Royals get any more pathetic?
Today, for no reason whatsoever, other than to mark her non- birthday, Liz Windsor decided to make her eldest son a Field Marshall, a Marshall of the Royal Air Force and an Admiral of the Fleet!
Why? So he can wear more meaningless uniforms and ribbons? Did she feel that her family wearing military uniform for the recent Thames Pageant wasn't quite embarrassing enough? Doesn't it show that she and her nearest and dearest are more like the North Korean leadership than they like to admit?
Liz Windsor, who somehow seems above criticism from many quarters, is the head of a church that, supposedly, preaches peace and "turn the other cheek" but, because she isn't just the biggest benefits fraud in the country but also the nation's biggest two-faced hypocrite, she has lots of over paid and, clearly, under-employed service march up and down in a celebration of militarism, barbaric behaviour and, let's be honest, murder of civilians throughout the world.
Quite why this horrendous woman is above reproach is beyond me. She is little better than a mafia boss, making sure that she and her cronies maintain their life of luxury through a system of deference and patronage, even at times when some in the country she rules are having to rely on food banks to live.
I don't want a head of state that is such a hypocrite. I don't want a head of state that puts giving her son baubles ahead of the needs of the poor and hungry. I don't want this stnking, evil woman resenting me or the country in which I live.
And I don't understand why others want to bow and scrape to such an awful person and her inner circle.
It is time that Liz "Kim Il Jong" Windsor was put out to grass and all the wealth that she and her family have taken from the public returned to the state.
Vive la Republique!
Why? So he can wear more meaningless uniforms and ribbons? Did she feel that her family wearing military uniform for the recent Thames Pageant wasn't quite embarrassing enough? Doesn't it show that she and her nearest and dearest are more like the North Korean leadership than they like to admit?
Liz Windsor, who somehow seems above criticism from many quarters, is the head of a church that, supposedly, preaches peace and "turn the other cheek" but, because she isn't just the biggest benefits fraud in the country but also the nation's biggest two-faced hypocrite, she has lots of over paid and, clearly, under-employed service march up and down in a celebration of militarism, barbaric behaviour and, let's be honest, murder of civilians throughout the world.
Quite why this horrendous woman is above reproach is beyond me. She is little better than a mafia boss, making sure that she and her cronies maintain their life of luxury through a system of deference and patronage, even at times when some in the country she rules are having to rely on food banks to live.
I don't want a head of state that is such a hypocrite. I don't want a head of state that puts giving her son baubles ahead of the needs of the poor and hungry. I don't want this stnking, evil woman resenting me or the country in which I live.
And I don't understand why others want to bow and scrape to such an awful person and her inner circle.
It is time that Liz "Kim Il Jong" Windsor was put out to grass and all the wealth that she and her family have taken from the public returned to the state.
Vive la Republique!
Friday 15 June 2012
Thursday 14 June 2012
Wednesday 13 June 2012
It's time to remove nationality from the Olympics
The case of Aaron Cook is just bizarre. Cook is the World No. 1 at under 80kg Taekwondo and yet he hasn't been selected by the British Taekwondo selectors to represent Great Britain at next month's Olympics. He says one thing, they say another and it's made all the more complicated by the fact there seem to be about 10 organisations who each claim to be the national body for Taekwondo.
To me it makes no sense that competitors are chosen by national bodies. The Olympics should be about the best and having no-hopers from nations that, similarly, have no hope in some events belittles the events. Remember Edfie the Eagle? And Eric the Eel? Amusing maybe but do they reflect the Olympic ideal? How do such no-hopers live up to the Olympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius - Faster, Higher, Stronger NOT funnier, excruciating and more embarrassing.
Surely selection for events should be simple - the world's top 100 (or however many they need for a specific event) regardless of nationality. Sure, that might mean that some events are dominated by a couple of nationalities. So what? If the starting line up for the marathon had 50 Kenyans, 50 Ethiopians and no osu else what would it matter if those 100 were the best 100 marathon runners in the world? If the starters in the 100m were all either Jamaican and American what would it matter? Don't we want all the best athletes competing against each other?
And, any way, in individual sports (and even in pairs, fours and eights) why should nationality have any relevance? I know the morons who get jingoistic about such matters get all emotional about "winning gold for Britain" but why? They are winning for themselves, not for anything else. They are winning so that they can get their sponsorship deals and appearance fees over the next few years.
Even in team sports it would surely be better to have teams that regularly played together instead of teams brought together for two weeks every four years? Why not have the Olympuc football tournament competed by teams like Barcelona and Manchester United instead of the nonsense we're about to see Stuart Pearce oversee? How about the basketball and ice hockey being between the best teams not just teams thrust together by accident of birth (or grandparents' births)?
Nationalism is such a crock of nonsense. A random geographical position of a woman giving birth within artificial and random borders. Why does anyone feel pride in a nation? It's just bollocks.
I fear the forthcoming Olympics will be, as the recent idiotic Jubilee was, a chance for the right wing press to fuel xenophobia and encourage the proles to continue supporting anachronistic systems and a 19th century world view.
Nationalism has no place in the modern world. It is the fuel for hate. The Olympics needs to be above such nonsense. It is time to drop national committees. It is the for a new internationalist approach to the world and I see no reason why that can't start with sport.
To me it makes no sense that competitors are chosen by national bodies. The Olympics should be about the best and having no-hopers from nations that, similarly, have no hope in some events belittles the events. Remember Edfie the Eagle? And Eric the Eel? Amusing maybe but do they reflect the Olympic ideal? How do such no-hopers live up to the Olympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius - Faster, Higher, Stronger NOT funnier, excruciating and more embarrassing.
Surely selection for events should be simple - the world's top 100 (or however many they need for a specific event) regardless of nationality. Sure, that might mean that some events are dominated by a couple of nationalities. So what? If the starting line up for the marathon had 50 Kenyans, 50 Ethiopians and no osu else what would it matter if those 100 were the best 100 marathon runners in the world? If the starters in the 100m were all either Jamaican and American what would it matter? Don't we want all the best athletes competing against each other?
And, any way, in individual sports (and even in pairs, fours and eights) why should nationality have any relevance? I know the morons who get jingoistic about such matters get all emotional about "winning gold for Britain" but why? They are winning for themselves, not for anything else. They are winning so that they can get their sponsorship deals and appearance fees over the next few years.
Even in team sports it would surely be better to have teams that regularly played together instead of teams brought together for two weeks every four years? Why not have the Olympuc football tournament competed by teams like Barcelona and Manchester United instead of the nonsense we're about to see Stuart Pearce oversee? How about the basketball and ice hockey being between the best teams not just teams thrust together by accident of birth (or grandparents' births)?
Nationalism is such a crock of nonsense. A random geographical position of a woman giving birth within artificial and random borders. Why does anyone feel pride in a nation? It's just bollocks.
I fear the forthcoming Olympics will be, as the recent idiotic Jubilee was, a chance for the right wing press to fuel xenophobia and encourage the proles to continue supporting anachronistic systems and a 19th century world view.
Nationalism has no place in the modern world. It is the fuel for hate. The Olympics needs to be above such nonsense. It is time to drop national committees. It is the for a new internationalist approach to the world and I see no reason why that can't start with sport.
Tuesday 12 June 2012
366/164 - Dinner: Tomatoes & Egg Fried Rice
Today's China-linked Project 366 can be found by clicking here.
Monday 11 June 2012
Sunday 10 June 2012
Saturday 9 June 2012
Friday 8 June 2012
366/160 - Support England... with American beer and Belgian lager...
Today's Project 366 photo was taken in Tesco, Beeston.
Thursday 7 June 2012
Wednesday 6 June 2012
Tuesday 5 June 2012
REVIEW: The Jubilee Concert
Clearly, if my Twitter timeline is to be believed, there were royalists who watches a different concert to the utter shambles I witnessed yesterday evening. And I hope some of those spouting pro-monarchist platitudes and "proud to be British" nonsense have woken with a guilty feeling and some common sense once their hangovers have passed.
Yes, there were a few reasonable acts: Stevie Wonder and Kylie Minogue clearly stole the show, while Madness did well up on the roof of Buck House despite the poor sound engineering that blighted many acts. Tom Jones, with his reptilian skin clearly shined for the occasion, was surprisingly ok and Ed was blandly alright. Beyond that few did their careers any good and the likes of Annie Lennox, JLS and Jessie J may as well not have bothered.
But, oh dear, there were some embarrassing and career-ending performances to mark Luz Windsor's 60 years of lauding over us ordinary mortals, doing very little and taking lots of money from the poor.
Elton John clearly thought he was auditioning for a new musical about the Elephant Man with awful annunciation and a dreadful singing performance. Paul McCartney did what he always does by making everyone realise he was only ever the third most talented Beatle (and only there because of Ringo's general ineptitude). Shirley Bassey was as abominable as ever. Cheryl Cole proved she is a dancer and not a singer - and that she is totally lost without autotune (how can she ever "mentor" contestants on a talent show after this evening?).
As for the Take That boys: Gary Barlow showed he is a sycophantic dullard without any sense of occasion. Robbie Williams simply scattered the ashes of his career around the foot of Queen Victoria's statue.
Astonishingly Ed Sheeran's bland musical wallpaper was one of the stand out performances of the night - that's how bad things got!
One of the more bizarre acts, amongst an evening of underperformances was Grace Jones (yes, really) singing her hit from over 20 years ago whilst hula-hooping for the duration!
The running order was just bizarre. Each time the party atmosphere was picked up there'd be a classical act to dissipate the moment and lose the audience. I gave nothing against classical musicians, obviously, but an event that includes pop, rock and classical all together needs careful organisation, not just a random order (if it wasn't random there is something even more wrong with Barlow's artistic judgement than previously thought).
Cliff Richard was simply excruciating, as we're most of the comedians who provided links - Miranda Hart proved once more that she is just not funny, as did Peter Kay. Rob Brydon was cringeworthy and Jimmy Carr should have known better (let's hope the size of the cheque made it worth it eh Jim?). The worst was Lenny Henry who, having got Rolf Harris to pad for time by singing "Two Little Boys" decided to cut him short before the final chorus - just as the crowd were getting behind him and joining in the impromptu performance.
Is it written into Lenny Henry's contract that wherever he performs he has to point out to everyone that he's black? It does seem to be so.
The biggest let down has, of course, been well advertised (with its own primer one documentary last night) - "Sing" was co-written by Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber and featured performances from musicians from the Commonwealth as well as the ghastly Military Wives Choir - Gareth Malone, j'accuse! Even with a huge assortment if global talents Barlow managed to make it all sound like a treacly non-event unworthy if a school fete let alone a Diamond Jubilee.
The whole event was a shameless overblown nonsense that, at a time of national austerity, must have a few budgets very stretched.
The dull facade of Buck House was used to good effect as a screen for some effective projections - though they were rather A-level Media Studies in imagination.
And then there was Charlie Windsor's speech. Truly diabolical, and yet many on Twitter thought it great. I do hope those people watch it again when sober to see just how ridiculous it was.
The whole Jubilee weekend has been one big, expensive con trick. It's deflected the proles from the real issues in this country and the wider world, and it's been done to garner support for the anachronism that is monarchy.
Maybe they're just setting the bar really low for the Olympic Games ceremonies? Because almost anything will be better than this evening's parade of the undead.
I do hope we never see the likes of this event ever again. Or if we do it is for something worthwhile - nit just an old lady living a privileged existence at vast economic, social and moral cost to the rest of us.
Happy Jubilee! May it be the last!
Yes, there were a few reasonable acts: Stevie Wonder and Kylie Minogue clearly stole the show, while Madness did well up on the roof of Buck House despite the poor sound engineering that blighted many acts. Tom Jones, with his reptilian skin clearly shined for the occasion, was surprisingly ok and Ed was blandly alright. Beyond that few did their careers any good and the likes of Annie Lennox, JLS and Jessie J may as well not have bothered.
But, oh dear, there were some embarrassing and career-ending performances to mark Luz Windsor's 60 years of lauding over us ordinary mortals, doing very little and taking lots of money from the poor.
Elton John clearly thought he was auditioning for a new musical about the Elephant Man with awful annunciation and a dreadful singing performance. Paul McCartney did what he always does by making everyone realise he was only ever the third most talented Beatle (and only there because of Ringo's general ineptitude). Shirley Bassey was as abominable as ever. Cheryl Cole proved she is a dancer and not a singer - and that she is totally lost without autotune (how can she ever "mentor" contestants on a talent show after this evening?).
As for the Take That boys: Gary Barlow showed he is a sycophantic dullard without any sense of occasion. Robbie Williams simply scattered the ashes of his career around the foot of Queen Victoria's statue.
Astonishingly Ed Sheeran's bland musical wallpaper was one of the stand out performances of the night - that's how bad things got!
One of the more bizarre acts, amongst an evening of underperformances was Grace Jones (yes, really) singing her hit from over 20 years ago whilst hula-hooping for the duration!
The running order was just bizarre. Each time the party atmosphere was picked up there'd be a classical act to dissipate the moment and lose the audience. I gave nothing against classical musicians, obviously, but an event that includes pop, rock and classical all together needs careful organisation, not just a random order (if it wasn't random there is something even more wrong with Barlow's artistic judgement than previously thought).
Cliff Richard was simply excruciating, as we're most of the comedians who provided links - Miranda Hart proved once more that she is just not funny, as did Peter Kay. Rob Brydon was cringeworthy and Jimmy Carr should have known better (let's hope the size of the cheque made it worth it eh Jim?). The worst was Lenny Henry who, having got Rolf Harris to pad for time by singing "Two Little Boys" decided to cut him short before the final chorus - just as the crowd were getting behind him and joining in the impromptu performance.
Is it written into Lenny Henry's contract that wherever he performs he has to point out to everyone that he's black? It does seem to be so.
The biggest let down has, of course, been well advertised (with its own primer one documentary last night) - "Sing" was co-written by Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber and featured performances from musicians from the Commonwealth as well as the ghastly Military Wives Choir - Gareth Malone, j'accuse! Even with a huge assortment if global talents Barlow managed to make it all sound like a treacly non-event unworthy if a school fete let alone a Diamond Jubilee.
The whole event was a shameless overblown nonsense that, at a time of national austerity, must have a few budgets very stretched.
The dull facade of Buck House was used to good effect as a screen for some effective projections - though they were rather A-level Media Studies in imagination.
And then there was Charlie Windsor's speech. Truly diabolical, and yet many on Twitter thought it great. I do hope those people watch it again when sober to see just how ridiculous it was.
The whole Jubilee weekend has been one big, expensive con trick. It's deflected the proles from the real issues in this country and the wider world, and it's been done to garner support for the anachronism that is monarchy.
Maybe they're just setting the bar really low for the Olympic Games ceremonies? Because almost anything will be better than this evening's parade of the undead.
I do hope we never see the likes of this event ever again. Or if we do it is for something worthwhile - nit just an old lady living a privileged existence at vast economic, social and moral cost to the rest of us.
Happy Jubilee! May it be the last!
Monday 4 June 2012
Sunday 3 June 2012
366/155 - Guindillas
Click here for today's Project 366 which I probably should have called "Jubilee Guindillas"!!
You can also find the meaning of cunctator ....
You can also find the meaning of cunctator ....
Saturday 2 June 2012
366/154 - Inside the Luminarium
Click here to see today's Project 366 photo, listen to The Swan and find the meaning of "bosh"!
Friday 1 June 2012
Thursday 31 May 2012
REVIEW: Moonrise Kingdom (12A)
There are those who will dismiss Wes Anderson's latest movie, Moonrise Kingdom, as a pointless periphery - quirkiness for the sake of it, rather like the briefly amusing, but ultimately irritating, Stella Artois Cidre adverts ("C'est Cidre not cider").
Moonrise Kingdom is a celebration of young love in the naively innocent America of the mid-1960s. It is both charming and exquisitely filmed giving a sense of period and a picture postcard view of the islands where it is set. There are plenty of Wes Anderson's trademark panning shots - moving from one room to another - and clever use of texts and letters that show an awareness of the possibilities of cinema without having to resort to CGI effects or 3D to achieve visual interest and effects.
Moonrise Kingdom is set in New Penzance, a small New England coastal town, in 1965, in a little coastal town in New England called New Penzance. Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) are two bright but unpopular kids who fall in love. Sam, an orphan, is a member of the Khaki Scouts. Suzy reads sci-fi and the music of Françoise Hardy on her brother's portable record player. She spies on people - her parents and their friends - using a pair of binoculars.
Sam and Suzy decide to run away together and the ensuing crisis highlights the problems in the lives of Suzy's lawyer parents (played by Bill Murray and Frances McDormand). Ed Norton is the ridiculous leader of the scout troop, and Bruce Willis is the lonely police chief, but they all pull together in fear and of the social services officer (Tilda Swinton) who is overly keen keen to pack Sam away into an orphanage.
The movie is gently comic throughout, with touches of the absurd and the exaggerated. There are few outright belly laughs, but they wouldn't seem at home amongst the quirkiness and oddity of Anderson's cinematic style - full of small town America and simple lives torn apart by more modern events and sensitivities all of which seem awkward and alien to the world of New Penzance.
The soundtrack is a fascinating mix of, amongst other things, period songs by Hank Williams and a variety of pieces by Benjamin Britten (including his Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Simple Symphony and Noye's Fludde - which becomes particularly significant towards the end of the movie).
I thoroughly enjoyed Moonrise Kingdom - it is simple storytelling at its best, with some fantastic performances from all involved (but notably the two young stars in their first movie). Sadly, as is so often the case with the slightly off-beat, it has had a limited release and will be forgotten amongst the Special FX of all the blockbusters being released this week and next.
Moonrise Kingdom is a celebration of young love in the naively innocent America of the mid-1960s. It is both charming and exquisitely filmed giving a sense of period and a picture postcard view of the islands where it is set. There are plenty of Wes Anderson's trademark panning shots - moving from one room to another - and clever use of texts and letters that show an awareness of the possibilities of cinema without having to resort to CGI effects or 3D to achieve visual interest and effects.
Moonrise Kingdom is set in New Penzance, a small New England coastal town, in 1965, in a little coastal town in New England called New Penzance. Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) are two bright but unpopular kids who fall in love. Sam, an orphan, is a member of the Khaki Scouts. Suzy reads sci-fi and the music of Françoise Hardy on her brother's portable record player. She spies on people - her parents and their friends - using a pair of binoculars.
Sam and Suzy decide to run away together and the ensuing crisis highlights the problems in the lives of Suzy's lawyer parents (played by Bill Murray and Frances McDormand). Ed Norton is the ridiculous leader of the scout troop, and Bruce Willis is the lonely police chief, but they all pull together in fear and of the social services officer (Tilda Swinton) who is overly keen keen to pack Sam away into an orphanage.
The movie is gently comic throughout, with touches of the absurd and the exaggerated. There are few outright belly laughs, but they wouldn't seem at home amongst the quirkiness and oddity of Anderson's cinematic style - full of small town America and simple lives torn apart by more modern events and sensitivities all of which seem awkward and alien to the world of New Penzance.
The soundtrack is a fascinating mix of, amongst other things, period songs by Hank Williams and a variety of pieces by Benjamin Britten (including his Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Simple Symphony and Noye's Fludde - which becomes particularly significant towards the end of the movie).
I thoroughly enjoyed Moonrise Kingdom - it is simple storytelling at its best, with some fantastic performances from all involved (but notably the two young stars in their first movie). Sadly, as is so often the case with the slightly off-beat, it has had a limited release and will be forgotten amongst the Special FX of all the blockbusters being released this week and next.
Wednesday 30 May 2012
Tuesday 29 May 2012
COMMENT: Why no memorial for Emily Davison?
This weekend, alongside the ubiquitous Jubilee "celebrations", Epsom racecourse will host the Derby. One of the pinnacles of the horse racing calendar made all the more significant by what happened 99 years ago.
On Derby Day in 1913, Emily Wilding Davison stepped out from behind the railings at Tattenham Corner into the path of Anmer, one of the king's horses as part of the campaign for "Votes for Women". She died four days later from her injuries. Davison was the only suffragette to die in pursuit of the campaign.
Shockingly the Epsom racecourse has no memorial to Emily Davison - no plaque or statue, nothing to identify the place where she stepped out in front of the galloping horses. Her selfless act of protest, and one of the most significant acts of protest in recent British history, is forgotten by the race horsing community, the racecourse owners or even Epsom council. and yet there are statues of horses that won the Derby (including one who won the race as recently as 1991 and whose statue was erected in 1995).
I used to live near Tattenham Corner and find it shocking that so much money was pumped into the tiny, under-used rail station (because the Queen uses it once a year) and not a single penny was put towards anything to mark the 1913 protest.
Surely it's time for a monument at Tattenham Corner? A blue plaque perhaps? Something to mark one of the most heroic acts of campaigning for civil rights this country has ever seen.
Next year is the centenary of Davison's death, the lack of appropriate recognition is something that needs to be addressed in time for that anniversary.
On Derby Day in 1913, Emily Wilding Davison stepped out from behind the railings at Tattenham Corner into the path of Anmer, one of the king's horses as part of the campaign for "Votes for Women". She died four days later from her injuries. Davison was the only suffragette to die in pursuit of the campaign.
Shockingly the Epsom racecourse has no memorial to Emily Davison - no plaque or statue, nothing to identify the place where she stepped out in front of the galloping horses. Her selfless act of protest, and one of the most significant acts of protest in recent British history, is forgotten by the race horsing community, the racecourse owners or even Epsom council. and yet there are statues of horses that won the Derby (including one who won the race as recently as 1991 and whose statue was erected in 1995).
I used to live near Tattenham Corner and find it shocking that so much money was pumped into the tiny, under-used rail station (because the Queen uses it once a year) and not a single penny was put towards anything to mark the 1913 protest.
Surely it's time for a monument at Tattenham Corner? A blue plaque perhaps? Something to mark one of the most heroic acts of campaigning for civil rights this country has ever seen.
Next year is the centenary of Davison's death, the lack of appropriate recognition is something that needs to be addressed in time for that anniversary.
Monday 28 May 2012
Opinion: Let's leave FIFA and UEFA
Nobody was happy that Qatar, a nation without a single football stadium, was awarded the 2022 World Cup and there are many questions about bungs and corruption. Similarly, many questioned the extent to which the Russian oligarchs helped win their country the 2018 tournament and, after this evening's BBC Panorama programme, many now wonder how on earth Poland and Ukraine were given the right to host next month's Euros.
The solution is simple...
We should leave FIFA and UEFA and set up a new organisation, with rival tournaments and rival administration that aims to eliminate corruption, racism and everything else that's wrong with football at the moment.
It might only take one nation with guts and principles and the rest would follow - as long as they met strict suitability criteria.
Then countries can choose to take part in the clean or corrupt tournaments - they can join in the World Cup of hate or the friendly World Cup.
And please, don't think the UK is any better than Ukraine or Poland. We may have fewer racists on the terraces but the FA isn't anywhere near harsh enough with the racists and drug cheats on the pitch. Racism, cheating and corruption must be eliminated everywhere. Consistency is vital.
Sadly, I doubt the FA is sufficiently robust to stand up on principle, but I live in hope. I'd happily accept we miss a tournament occupying the international wilderness waiting for sufficient others to join.
The solution is simple...
We should leave FIFA and UEFA and set up a new organisation, with rival tournaments and rival administration that aims to eliminate corruption, racism and everything else that's wrong with football at the moment.
It might only take one nation with guts and principles and the rest would follow - as long as they met strict suitability criteria.
Then countries can choose to take part in the clean or corrupt tournaments - they can join in the World Cup of hate or the friendly World Cup.
And please, don't think the UK is any better than Ukraine or Poland. We may have fewer racists on the terraces but the FA isn't anywhere near harsh enough with the racists and drug cheats on the pitch. Racism, cheating and corruption must be eliminated everywhere. Consistency is vital.
Sadly, I doubt the FA is sufficiently robust to stand up on principle, but I live in hope. I'd happily accept we miss a tournament occupying the international wilderness waiting for sufficient others to join.
Sunday 27 May 2012
Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises (a piano sonata)
Here's a new piano sonata "what I wrote"!
The title comes from Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and will also be the inscription on the bell at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The sheet music is available from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/126960.html
The title comes from Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and will also be the inscription on the bell at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The sheet music is available from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/126960.html
Saturday 26 May 2012
366/147 - Pool Balls
Click here for today's Project 366 - which includes my favourite if this year's Eurovision Song Contest entries...
Friday 25 May 2012
Hoe Down - for piano
A little piano piece I wrote this evening.
Yee-Ha!
The sheet music is available from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/126793.html
Yee-Ha!
The sheet music is available from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/126793.html
Thursday 24 May 2012
Rain - for solo piano
Today's the hottest and sunniest day of the year so far...
... so this morning I wrote this piece for piano called "Rain".
The sheet music is available from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/126705.html
... so this morning I wrote this piece for piano called "Rain".
The sheet music is available from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/126705.html
Wednesday 23 May 2012
My Score Exchange page!
I've now got lots of new (ish) pieces available for digital download on Score Exchange.
Just CLICK HERE and take a look at the catalogue.
There's songs, piano pieces, solos for flute, clarinet, violin, a brand new piece for orchestra and a new rock number for brass band.... and much, much more!!
Just CLICK HERE and take a look at the catalogue.
There's songs, piano pieces, solos for flute, clarinet, violin, a brand new piece for orchestra and a new rock number for brass band.... and much, much more!!
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Lulla, lulla, lullaby - for SSA choir & piano
A new Christmas carol - for SSA choir and piano.
Score is available from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/126581.html
Score is available from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/126581.html
Monday 21 May 2012
Talány - for percussion duo
A duet for multi-percussion.
Each player has their own pair of bongos, a snare drum and a glockenspiel.
The 2 performers face each other and must be in reach of each other so that the stick hitting can be done!
All the rhythms derive from the Morse code of the names of the 2 performers for whom it was written. These rhythms are then taken through various transformations - moving their position in the bar, retrograde, etc.
The score is available from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/126523.html
Each player has their own pair of bongos, a snare drum and a glockenspiel.
The 2 performers face each other and must be in reach of each other so that the stick hitting can be done!
All the rhythms derive from the Morse code of the names of the 2 performers for whom it was written. These rhythms are then taken through various transformations - moving their position in the bar, retrograde, etc.
The score is available from: http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/126523.html
Sunday 20 May 2012
Saturday 19 May 2012
OPINION: Why the G8 is bad for all of us
The G8 are meeting at Camp David this weekend. The world's leading industrialised nations supposedly sorting out the economic woes of the world and finding a path to recovery following all the turmoil of recent years.
But they won't.
The G8 is a club. It is a club of capitalists and all they will achieve over the next few days are a few bland and, ultimately, meaningless statements, some nano disagreements to make it look like they explored a range of ideas, and then a plan which will anoint to nothing more than papering over the cracks and then continuing with the same failing policies.
There will be no vision for a better future, because the imbeciles who attend benefit personally from more of the same no matter what hardship it imposes on the rest if society.
The G8 needs to accept that capitalism and consumerism have failed. They fail every few years. They fail more and more often and each time is worse. Each fail is more detrimental to the majority of people but the G8 leaders don't care. They adopt policies that protect themselves from the fallout of their own failures and, in doing so, they divide all societies more and more.
And they not only divide their own societies, they also divide the world further. Sure, each G8 nation makes token contributions to the third world but they won't ever do anything to balance the inequalities of nations. Why would they? It might mean their personal power and wealth would be dissipated.
The G8 fear democracy. In the UK we, supposedly, have 3 major political parties, but, in reality, they are different wings of the same capitalist/consumerist party. They have no interest in making things better for society. All they care about is appeasing the proles so that they don't rise up and overthrow the abhorrent system that keeps them in the lap of luxury.
The Eurozone crisis is a perfect example of the inequality of nations and the evil of the big ones. It shouldn't be seen as Greece's problem, or Spain's, or Italy's. The solution is simply but, to the greedy parahias of the G8 elite, it would make the champagne and caviar in their stomachs to go rancid.
We need to accept that capitalism has no future. It makes a few wealthy whilst shackling the majority of people, and nations, to a yolk of virtual slavery.
All debt needs to be cancelled. After all, money is purely notional. Let's just zero it all.
BUT we can't then just go back to the nonsense of capitalism. A different, fairer international system beefs to be used. It must enshrine equality of all people and it must make sure that no one is living a life of luxury while others starve.
Yes, we need, at the very least, genuine socialism but, better still would be a global communism. Not soviet style communism (that wasn't real communism) but everyone working together for the better, to genuinely improve everyone's lot
Sadly, I accept that the public are too blind and too stupid to act. They will continue to elect clones of the same politicians who will run their nation and the world for their personal benefit.
It is time for a revolution. It is time to throw capitalism on a bonfire of greed. It has no place in a modern world. Capitalism fails. Let it die.
But they won't.
The G8 is a club. It is a club of capitalists and all they will achieve over the next few days are a few bland and, ultimately, meaningless statements, some nano disagreements to make it look like they explored a range of ideas, and then a plan which will anoint to nothing more than papering over the cracks and then continuing with the same failing policies.
There will be no vision for a better future, because the imbeciles who attend benefit personally from more of the same no matter what hardship it imposes on the rest if society.
The G8 needs to accept that capitalism and consumerism have failed. They fail every few years. They fail more and more often and each time is worse. Each fail is more detrimental to the majority of people but the G8 leaders don't care. They adopt policies that protect themselves from the fallout of their own failures and, in doing so, they divide all societies more and more.
And they not only divide their own societies, they also divide the world further. Sure, each G8 nation makes token contributions to the third world but they won't ever do anything to balance the inequalities of nations. Why would they? It might mean their personal power and wealth would be dissipated.
The G8 fear democracy. In the UK we, supposedly, have 3 major political parties, but, in reality, they are different wings of the same capitalist/consumerist party. They have no interest in making things better for society. All they care about is appeasing the proles so that they don't rise up and overthrow the abhorrent system that keeps them in the lap of luxury.
The Eurozone crisis is a perfect example of the inequality of nations and the evil of the big ones. It shouldn't be seen as Greece's problem, or Spain's, or Italy's. The solution is simply but, to the greedy parahias of the G8 elite, it would make the champagne and caviar in their stomachs to go rancid.
We need to accept that capitalism has no future. It makes a few wealthy whilst shackling the majority of people, and nations, to a yolk of virtual slavery.
All debt needs to be cancelled. After all, money is purely notional. Let's just zero it all.
BUT we can't then just go back to the nonsense of capitalism. A different, fairer international system beefs to be used. It must enshrine equality of all people and it must make sure that no one is living a life of luxury while others starve.
Yes, we need, at the very least, genuine socialism but, better still would be a global communism. Not soviet style communism (that wasn't real communism) but everyone working together for the better, to genuinely improve everyone's lot
Sadly, I accept that the public are too blind and too stupid to act. They will continue to elect clones of the same politicians who will run their nation and the world for their personal benefit.
It is time for a revolution. It is time to throw capitalism on a bonfire of greed. It has no place in a modern world. Capitalism fails. Let it die.
Friday 18 May 2012
REVIEW: The Dictator (15)
It seemed somewhat appropriate going to see Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy about a tyrannical despot on the day that the British monarch entertained several of the world's most evil oppressors as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
I've not always liked Sacha Baron Cohen's creations: Borat was a sketch stretched to breaking point to fill a movie and Brüno was just boring but I have to say I really enjoyed The Dictator.
Yes, it has many tasteless jokes and pushes the boundaries of what's acceptable, and, yes, there are moments when you'll be asking yourself "Did he really just say that?" but, somehow, it all sits comfortably within the plot.
The film opens with a graphic saying "In Memory of Kim Jong-Il" and, superficially, it is the world's autocracies that are the butt of MU h of the humour. However, the real target is America, American politics and the greed of global corporations. For me the funniest scene is towards the end of the movie when Aladeen gives a speech saying about how bad democracy is compared to a dictatorship - but all the positives of a dictatorship are things carried out by recent American presidents.
The actual plot owes a lot to Eddie Murphy's Coming to America - it's the whole fish out of water, lost in New York story again - and, quite frankly, the romance storyline could be ditched, but the plot has direction and is more than just pegs to connect comic skits, which, ultimately, was Borat's downfall.
The Dictator is only 83 minutes long too. It does what it does without being dragged out unnecessarily.
Some will find it offensive, others will love it. I really enjoyed it.
I've not always liked Sacha Baron Cohen's creations: Borat was a sketch stretched to breaking point to fill a movie and Brüno was just boring but I have to say I really enjoyed The Dictator.
Yes, it has many tasteless jokes and pushes the boundaries of what's acceptable, and, yes, there are moments when you'll be asking yourself "Did he really just say that?" but, somehow, it all sits comfortably within the plot.
The film opens with a graphic saying "In Memory of Kim Jong-Il" and, superficially, it is the world's autocracies that are the butt of MU h of the humour. However, the real target is America, American politics and the greed of global corporations. For me the funniest scene is towards the end of the movie when Aladeen gives a speech saying about how bad democracy is compared to a dictatorship - but all the positives of a dictatorship are things carried out by recent American presidents.
The actual plot owes a lot to Eddie Murphy's Coming to America - it's the whole fish out of water, lost in New York story again - and, quite frankly, the romance storyline could be ditched, but the plot has direction and is more than just pegs to connect comic skits, which, ultimately, was Borat's downfall.
The Dictator is only 83 minutes long too. It does what it does without being dragged out unnecessarily.
Some will find it offensive, others will love it. I really enjoyed it.
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