My favourite waste of time

So capitalism is still collapsing, my son is away in respite and what do I do?

Slept in late, watched The Gilmore Girls. Who? The Gilmore Girls! Followed by the omnibus edition of Hollyoaks, a bath, a shopping trip for some easy drinking dry white wine and some crisps. Since the telly was already tuned into E4 I just accidentally watched Wife Swap -totally liberal parents swap with totally Christian family. Of course each of the mothers begrudgingly acknowledged they had learned something from the other while glowering at each other lest they each ...well something can't quite put my finger on. Something about mothers and their domains. Is there a fine line between matriarchy and mysogyny? Or rather the mysogynistic exploitation of matriarchs in this programme or something.

...followed by triple bill NCIS (I love the theme tune -its equal tops with the the theme to BBC's Who do you think you are), all of which I have seen before. Seems I mixed up the fact that the series which I haven't already seen is on Friday not Saturday.

This is not what I had planned for the small amount of time I have which is not devoted 24/7 to ensuring the safety and welfare of the young man I care for.

I had planned the most high-minded and intellectual pursuits. So why have I ended up in a most mind-melting televisual environment?

It seems the lofty ideal enshrined in various community care law that carers' should have a life outside caring and their wish to work, train, be educated or simply enjoy leisure activities should be taken into account is still not happening in practice. Such is the weight of caring responsibility that all I am fit for come some time off is the inanities of soapland.

There is a reasonably operational brain (just about, still) here just going to rot.

Kate Nash comes out

...for feminism.

Smashing guitars

...aren't they. Stupidly and unfortunately I did not record the series 'The Story of the Guitar' (cringeworthy -Rachel Cooke at New Statesman, 'a treat' Sam Wollaston at The Guardian). I do hope it will find its way on to an educational BBC DVD or something... all that historic footage and exquisite guitariness.

By some cruel twist of nature I love music but cannot sing a note nor possess the co-ordination to play an instrument. In recorder lessons at school I used to mime because I could not keep up with everyone else, the messages from brain to hand just got lost somewhere along the way. Sometimes the teacher would line us up and progress along the line getting each of us to play solo. I used to blow a note, shrug awkwardly, screw up my terrified crimson face and die.

I would have loved to have played the drums. I once tried guitar lessons but had the same experience as per the recorder. Rather tragic for something I loved so much.

As well as all the guitar riffs and clips in the series some of my own personal favourite guitar bits are the guitar solo in Stone Roses 'I am the Resurrection', Radiohead 'Street Spirit', also by the Stone Roses 'Waterfall', Joy Division, New Order, Muse ..oh and just about anything with a guitar in it. Once saw Nils Lofgren (Bruce Springsteen, E Street Band) on a solo tour.

Perhaps all is not lost for me though, as Radiohead sang "I want to be in a band.. When I get to heaven..Anyone can play guitar".

Photo by Derek K. Miller: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Godin_LG-Squier_Strat.jpg

The C-word

Cripes! Capitalism is collapsing around us and where am I? Holed up in meetings and Caring. Back Soon. Follow the links in The Reading Room and the Art Gallery over there >>>... plenty to keep you entertained.

Excuses, excuses

Don's excuses are way more exotic than mine.

I have been busy trying, pathetically, to ensure a voice, locally, for families caring for disabled children.

The Blame Game

Just a quick knee-jerk reaction to Cameron's speech today. If Gordon Brown is to blame for the economic situation in Britain today then presumably America's problems are his fault and so are those of France and Asia. Accusing Labour of being statist is one thing but global domination is certainly not something they would claim to have. Separating off domestic problems may make good political copy which some people might not notice the contradictions of but does not actually make any logical sense or sound policy sense.

Might it not just be something all these societies had in common?

Its definitely not, in her own sound, not over-inflated, estimation her fault.

But my especial finger-wagging, tut-tutting, judgemental raised eyebrow rests equally (I have two eyebrows) on the opposition, the true party of business and business itself for jumping up and down and being shrill every time 'regulation' is even hinted at. You can't adopt a position of objecting to every measure to humanise markets and capitalism (family-friendly, flexible working?) and then abdicate all responsibilty for creating a culture -and here, stop, pause, and think of culture as opposed to laws- of deregulation which then results in the mess we have now. Y'know, hey, these guys are risk-takers (except they're not, hedging? other products for passing off, repackaging/spreading risk? [insert country/institution] stock-market panic?), we should reward them handsomely and set them free and then bail them out when everything goes pear-shaped.

Its funny the same magnanimity doesn't apply to 'working class' 'risky behaviour'.

Ohhh what's the loud noise. Big Bang anyone? No, not the Large Hadron Collider but cast your minds back to 1986/7 and the deregulation of the financial markets. Remember they needed to be set free to take risks.It was good for us.