Billy Connoly tells a story of his time in the shipyards when, at the end of a shift, grown men, war veterans among them, would hide behind walls, gates, doors waiting for the whistle to blow in order to leave their place of very hard work. He manged to find humour in the fact that men, some who'd faced bullets in World War II, were scared to be seen awaiting the end of the shift by a suprvisor with his clipboard for fear of facing some kind of disciplinary. Some years after this workers in dirty manual jobs won the right to finish six minutes early in order to wash up before leaving their factory, shipyard, colliery. This basic right to choose to leave work in a clean state was won by those workers campaigning through their trades unions.
I remember the first time I said no to an adult. I had been asked to do something that I thought was unfair to be asked to do. I said no, explained why and was listened to and congratulated on the mature manner in which I had asserted my refusal. The adult in question was a teacher whom I respected highly and respected more afterwards. That was the first time I felt grown up and the first time I felt I'd been treated as a grown up.
Workers, professional, manual, skilled, boiler suited or pin striped are able to say no to unfair changes in their working day through their respective trades unions. It strikes me that changing a person's working life through organised and equal negotiation is a 'grown up' manner in which to do this.
However, in relation to the current rail signallers and BA cabin crew disputes the members of each of those unions have gone to the negotiating table following legally supported secret ballots and with huge backing from their memberships. Yet, according to electioneering politicos from both the main parties and the press, gutter and broadsheet, the unions are to be villified for doing what they are supposed to do; represent the stated views of their members and say no to something they feel is unfair.
The irony is that history tells us that in societies where working people don't have a legal right to say no to exploitation by their employers the result has been opression countered by revolution. Bearing in mind that many of the potential voters and media consumers are working people who are now threatened by their employers using the recession as an excuse to impose unfair working conditions it surprises me that those workers currently in dispute are being so attacked.
There are 6 Million public sector workers in the UK who, because of a combination of election inspired penis measuring by politicos and the amount of money used to bail out incompetent and greedy bankers, are now the most vulnerable to redundancies, pay freezes, so called modernisations and cuts in pensions. These are the people who empty our bins, deliver our post, educate our children and help us when we're ill. They do this for pay that fares badly compared to the private sector but has been traditionally balanced by job security and decent pensions. If those latter two incentives are removed because a banker wants a bonus or a party leader wants to flex his muscles then what should those workers do? Well, whatever Brown, Cameron, Murdoch and those of that ilk think those workers, with mortgages to pay and families to support, will do the grown up thing and use their unions to say no.
I for one would rather see my taxes being used to pay soldiers, coppers, paramedics, teachers and bin men to work rather than be used as redundancy and unemployment benefits. Sod it, I'll be grown up and say NO!!
Monday, 29 March 2010
Monday, 22 March 2010
Beckham's Foot and a Classical Education
I was sitting on the bus last week, idling away the 15 minute journey when I tuned into two lads of about 17 years discussing the latest travails of David Beckham.
'Well it was 'is Achilles wernit', opined one track suited youth.
'Gonna be an 'erculean task to get to the world cup now, innit mate', replied the equally sports geared sidekick.
The conversation went on to discuss football in general at which point I lost interest and latched on to another conversation in front of me between two ladies in their 50s discussing a trip both had apparently been part of in the summer.
'I loved that fort we went to', stated twin set.
'Which one?', enquired pearls.
'The one with the tablets,' said twin set, 'the letters home to their families'.
'Oh Vindolanda, yes that was a marvellous day, so interesting', said pearls.
'The vomitaririum gave us a giggle though', chuckled twin set.
What struck me was that within the time it took to complete a short bus trip, I had overheard two conversations laden with classical references. This set me thinking about how prevalent references to the Greek and Roman worlds are in our daily lives. Footballers have heels like Achilles, Cupid's bow is known to strike the odd lover or two, Mickey Mouse has a dog called Pluto and, though I've never actually heard anyone outside of an old Sherlock Holmes film say this, 'By Jove' is a polite way of swearing.
Most of us are aware of the plethora of Greek and Roman gods whose names adorn all the other rocks which swirl about the Sun alongside the Earth. The scourge of right wing Tories, UKIP and English Democrat nutters is an organisation named after a continent named after a Greek goddess, Europa. The 2nd string European football competition is similarly named, (Aston Villa 2, Tractor Builders of Kiev nil) and we even have a chocolate bar named after the Roman god of war.
Yet, I sit here with more letters after my name than are actually in my name and at no point in my compulsory schooling did I or my cohort (Roman reference there) get the opportunity to study the classics. Despite the amount of Latin and ancient Greek words and grammar in the English language and despite all the Greek and Roman names and references which surround our daily lives the study of Latin and/or Greek seems to have been back then and still now not available in Comprehensive schools. Why is this?
Why is the study of the classics, over and above a few references to Aesop's Fables, warnings not to 'fly to close to the Sun' and primary school Roman Day the preserve of grammar and private schools?
Why is it that despite the Roman and Greek contributions to Maths, Religion, Philosophy, Science, Sport, Drama, Literature, Music and construction did I gain more classical knowledge from watching 'Jason and the Argonauts' than I ever did from a dedicated course of study at O Level or at any other time at school.
Actually, I'm being a touch disingenuous here as Mr Iversen, my teacher in my final year of primary, opened the eyes of my whole class to the classical world with his holiday photos from Pompeii, Troy and Ephesus and his off curriculum study of mythology. However, I always had the feeling that this fascinating journey into Mr Iversen's grand tour was a guerrilla activity on his part.
Now, I will readily admit that I will always see the world through Marxist eyes and with that rider I will offer the following opinion. I would suggest that the powers that be in education in the seventies and eighties were no different from the mainly bourgoise who run it now; either they assumed we were not clever enough or they didn't want us to be that educated. After all, who needs a plumber that can quote Ovid or a mechanic enamoured with The Aenid.
However, the tide is turning. Marvel comics and films such as the X-Men, the Percy Jackson books, Terry Deary's Horrible Histories and the sword and sandal epics such as Gladiator and Troy are opening up the minds of the children of the great unwashed to the classical world. Add to this the possibility of a few more Mr Iversen's in the system and then maybe one day the idea that kids in Comps. can't handle Latin & Greek and the study of classical civilisations will be an idea that becomes mortus quod seputus*.
By the way, and this has absolutely no relevance to the subject of this blog, the two lads in track suits both offered their seats to an old couple who got on the bus part way through the journey and both thanked the driver when they alighted outside the local college. I would suggest that there went two children of the masses that would welcome more than panis quod ambitus*.
* apologies for any mistakes in the Latin here, I was doing metalwork that day.
'Well it was 'is Achilles wernit', opined one track suited youth.
'Gonna be an 'erculean task to get to the world cup now, innit mate', replied the equally sports geared sidekick.
The conversation went on to discuss football in general at which point I lost interest and latched on to another conversation in front of me between two ladies in their 50s discussing a trip both had apparently been part of in the summer.
'I loved that fort we went to', stated twin set.
'Which one?', enquired pearls.
'The one with the tablets,' said twin set, 'the letters home to their families'.
'Oh Vindolanda, yes that was a marvellous day, so interesting', said pearls.
'The vomitaririum gave us a giggle though', chuckled twin set.
What struck me was that within the time it took to complete a short bus trip, I had overheard two conversations laden with classical references. This set me thinking about how prevalent references to the Greek and Roman worlds are in our daily lives. Footballers have heels like Achilles, Cupid's bow is known to strike the odd lover or two, Mickey Mouse has a dog called Pluto and, though I've never actually heard anyone outside of an old Sherlock Holmes film say this, 'By Jove' is a polite way of swearing.
Most of us are aware of the plethora of Greek and Roman gods whose names adorn all the other rocks which swirl about the Sun alongside the Earth. The scourge of right wing Tories, UKIP and English Democrat nutters is an organisation named after a continent named after a Greek goddess, Europa. The 2nd string European football competition is similarly named, (Aston Villa 2, Tractor Builders of Kiev nil) and we even have a chocolate bar named after the Roman god of war.
Yet, I sit here with more letters after my name than are actually in my name and at no point in my compulsory schooling did I or my cohort (Roman reference there) get the opportunity to study the classics. Despite the amount of Latin and ancient Greek words and grammar in the English language and despite all the Greek and Roman names and references which surround our daily lives the study of Latin and/or Greek seems to have been back then and still now not available in Comprehensive schools. Why is this?
Why is the study of the classics, over and above a few references to Aesop's Fables, warnings not to 'fly to close to the Sun' and primary school Roman Day the preserve of grammar and private schools?
Why is it that despite the Roman and Greek contributions to Maths, Religion, Philosophy, Science, Sport, Drama, Literature, Music and construction did I gain more classical knowledge from watching 'Jason and the Argonauts' than I ever did from a dedicated course of study at O Level or at any other time at school.
Actually, I'm being a touch disingenuous here as Mr Iversen, my teacher in my final year of primary, opened the eyes of my whole class to the classical world with his holiday photos from Pompeii, Troy and Ephesus and his off curriculum study of mythology. However, I always had the feeling that this fascinating journey into Mr Iversen's grand tour was a guerrilla activity on his part.
Now, I will readily admit that I will always see the world through Marxist eyes and with that rider I will offer the following opinion. I would suggest that the powers that be in education in the seventies and eighties were no different from the mainly bourgoise who run it now; either they assumed we were not clever enough or they didn't want us to be that educated. After all, who needs a plumber that can quote Ovid or a mechanic enamoured with The Aenid.
However, the tide is turning. Marvel comics and films such as the X-Men, the Percy Jackson books, Terry Deary's Horrible Histories and the sword and sandal epics such as Gladiator and Troy are opening up the minds of the children of the great unwashed to the classical world. Add to this the possibility of a few more Mr Iversen's in the system and then maybe one day the idea that kids in Comps. can't handle Latin & Greek and the study of classical civilisations will be an idea that becomes mortus quod seputus*.
By the way, and this has absolutely no relevance to the subject of this blog, the two lads in track suits both offered their seats to an old couple who got on the bus part way through the journey and both thanked the driver when they alighted outside the local college. I would suggest that there went two children of the masses that would welcome more than panis quod ambitus*.
* apologies for any mistakes in the Latin here, I was doing metalwork that day.
Monday, 15 March 2010
Eastenders What I wrote.
The scene opens in the Queen Vic.
Den is behind the bar pouring Pete Beale a pint of 'best' and a 'sherbet ' for someone Pete has referred to as 'Treacle'.
Angie has given a pint to Dr Legg 'on the aaaase' for no explained reason.
The camera pans to a table where Ethel is sat with the dippy bloke in the glasses who, in real life supports Arsenal and is supposed to be the Square's version of Curly Watts. You know, the one Michelle left at the altar.
Ethel: How did your first day working at the Thames Barrier go then?
Dippy bloke: Great thanks Et. A lot to learn though, it's a very responsible job.
Just then Lou Beale rushes in all panic stricken,.
Lou: Cor lumme guv and all that and everything, they've just given it out on the radio, there's a tidal bore making it's way up the Thames from the North Sea, it's gonna be massive and we're done for if the barrier don't work.
All eyes turn to the dippy bloke.
Close up on his horror struck face as he pulls a key from his overalls pocket.
Close up shifts to the label on the key that bears the legend' Property of Thames Flood Barrier. DO NOT REMOVE.'
Duff, Duff, Duff, Duff, Duff.
Cue closing credits and BBC continuity announcer stating that from next week this time slot will be filled by Panorama.
25 years on and the characters Ricky, Bianca, Well'Ard, Phil, Grant and Peggy are unknown in a country where people care about their real neighbours and families rather than fictional stereotypes from a land where people disappear to Leicester or Manchester only to return years later to open a car lot.
Den is behind the bar pouring Pete Beale a pint of 'best' and a 'sherbet ' for someone Pete has referred to as 'Treacle'.
Angie has given a pint to Dr Legg 'on the aaaase' for no explained reason.
The camera pans to a table where Ethel is sat with the dippy bloke in the glasses who, in real life supports Arsenal and is supposed to be the Square's version of Curly Watts. You know, the one Michelle left at the altar.
Ethel: How did your first day working at the Thames Barrier go then?
Dippy bloke: Great thanks Et. A lot to learn though, it's a very responsible job.
Just then Lou Beale rushes in all panic stricken,.
Lou: Cor lumme guv and all that and everything, they've just given it out on the radio, there's a tidal bore making it's way up the Thames from the North Sea, it's gonna be massive and we're done for if the barrier don't work.
All eyes turn to the dippy bloke.
Close up on his horror struck face as he pulls a key from his overalls pocket.
Close up shifts to the label on the key that bears the legend' Property of Thames Flood Barrier. DO NOT REMOVE.'
Duff, Duff, Duff, Duff, Duff.
Cue closing credits and BBC continuity announcer stating that from next week this time slot will be filled by Panorama.
25 years on and the characters Ricky, Bianca, Well'Ard, Phil, Grant and Peggy are unknown in a country where people care about their real neighbours and families rather than fictional stereotypes from a land where people disappear to Leicester or Manchester only to return years later to open a car lot.
Monday, 8 March 2010
Michael Foot, the BBC and the 39 Steps
Rather a loose link of ideas this time but the past week has caused me to reflect on how today's Britain is so different from that of only 20 years ago.
A very good childhood friend rang me in the week to talk about the death of Michael Foot. The gist of the conversation was the fact that for both of us, Foot was a hero of us both and ranked alongside similar heroes from music and sport. This caused me to ponder the fact that there doesn't seem to be room any more for real political giants. When one compares the present cabinet, shadow cabinet and Liberal front benchers there is a real dearth of politicians from all sides that have that strength of intellect that seemed to be de rigeur for politicians in the 70s and 80s.
Apart from Vince Cable and , though tainted by his association with the extremes of Thatcher's cabinet, Ken Clarke the intellectual might of Foot, Tony Benn, Dennis Healey and though I loathed him, Enoch Powell just don't seem to exist. Now I'm sure that somewhere on the back benches there are decent and hard working MPs that will have been unfairly tainted by the recent expenses scandals who also have been tucked away from the public eye by party spin doctors for the 'crime' of being too 'intellectual'. If they are there then they should throw off the shackles of their respective parties and do what politicians should do, intellectualise and encourage weighty debate. That's what Michael Foot did with intelligence, wit, gorm and humour.
For proof of this try and listen to an archive recording of the 1979 no confidence debate that Callaghan's govt. faced. In this speech Foot showed how to debate, how to argue and did so with majestic put downs of his opposition rivals. Try the BBC Today programme website for a snippet of this speech, it will remind you of what ideologically driven politicians, as opposed to career driven wannabes, are capable of and why we need them back in the House of Commons to restore a sense of pride and purpose to the place.
The fact that the BBC will still have archives of recordings of the proceedings of Parliament is yet another reason why its present management should steel itself for the political onslaught it will face in the election. Mark Thompson, the head of the Beeb has already tried to head off the expected knifing of the corporation that the Tories will unleash if they win by proposing to close 6 Music and the Asian Network.
The Tory attack, as with that of New Labour over the years, is a response to the support of Murdoch's Sun newspaper and the expected payback that Murdoch (Sky TV especially) will expect.
I believe that Thompson is misguided with his proposals for the following reasons.
Radio 1 is a commercial radio station by any other name. Therefore sell off Radio 1 to the commercial sector where the likes of Chris Moyles will be at home. Use this money to keep the excellent 6 Music and the very important Asian Network as well as supporting Radios 2 to 7.
The BBC should continue to make Eastenders but again, sell it to ITV or Sky who can then make money on advertising revenue gained from its high audiences. Use this money to continue to make high level dramas and use the timeslot to air important programmes such as Panorama and other high brow series.
The public service remit should be relaxed for the commercial companies thus allowing the BBC to continue with the licence fee in order to make programmes that don't directly compete with soaps and celebrity programming of its rivals.
Glastonbury, the Olympics and the Ashes should be jointly produced and available as shared enterprises with Channel 4 but remain as high quality broadcasts available on terrestrial television.
In short the licence fee should be concentrated on Radios 2 to 7, BBC1 to 4 for the purposes of unbiased and well researched journalism, current affairs and news, new comedy, new and high level drama, cutting edge documentaries, new music and outlets for the BBC's archives of music, drama and comedy. The BBC is also the best broadcaster of big events such as the Olympics and Glastonbury across its many channels and should be free to carry on with those.
The soap and celebrity type of programmes sit ill on the BBC anyway so get rid of them and Educate, Inform and Entertain us.
Went to see the stage production of The 39 Steps at the weekend. Absolutely brilliant and hilariously funny. However, I couldn't help laughing at the warning signs that were placed by the theatre entrances that warned the fragile viewing public of gunshots, strobe lighting, haze and, I pause at the shock of this, cigarette smoking!!!!
Now call me cynical but with a novel, 3 film versions and a BBC TV adaptation I wouldn't have thought that a warning of gunshots was totally necessary as there are gunshots present in all those versions. I understand the warning regarding strobes, fair enough. But warning an audience that they may see the awful sight of people smoking cigarettes, well I'm sorry but most of us can remember when every house had ashtrays laid out on arms of chairs and sideboards as a matter of course. Seeing an actor holding a cigarette holder is not going to bring on a cardiac infarction. It reminded me of the absurdity of censors now describing films using phrases such as 'contains mild peril' as though kids might have their lives ruined by unwittingly seeing the child in the film 'Up' actually, well, go up.
A very good childhood friend rang me in the week to talk about the death of Michael Foot. The gist of the conversation was the fact that for both of us, Foot was a hero of us both and ranked alongside similar heroes from music and sport. This caused me to ponder the fact that there doesn't seem to be room any more for real political giants. When one compares the present cabinet, shadow cabinet and Liberal front benchers there is a real dearth of politicians from all sides that have that strength of intellect that seemed to be de rigeur for politicians in the 70s and 80s.
Apart from Vince Cable and , though tainted by his association with the extremes of Thatcher's cabinet, Ken Clarke the intellectual might of Foot, Tony Benn, Dennis Healey and though I loathed him, Enoch Powell just don't seem to exist. Now I'm sure that somewhere on the back benches there are decent and hard working MPs that will have been unfairly tainted by the recent expenses scandals who also have been tucked away from the public eye by party spin doctors for the 'crime' of being too 'intellectual'. If they are there then they should throw off the shackles of their respective parties and do what politicians should do, intellectualise and encourage weighty debate. That's what Michael Foot did with intelligence, wit, gorm and humour.
For proof of this try and listen to an archive recording of the 1979 no confidence debate that Callaghan's govt. faced. In this speech Foot showed how to debate, how to argue and did so with majestic put downs of his opposition rivals. Try the BBC Today programme website for a snippet of this speech, it will remind you of what ideologically driven politicians, as opposed to career driven wannabes, are capable of and why we need them back in the House of Commons to restore a sense of pride and purpose to the place.
The fact that the BBC will still have archives of recordings of the proceedings of Parliament is yet another reason why its present management should steel itself for the political onslaught it will face in the election. Mark Thompson, the head of the Beeb has already tried to head off the expected knifing of the corporation that the Tories will unleash if they win by proposing to close 6 Music and the Asian Network.
The Tory attack, as with that of New Labour over the years, is a response to the support of Murdoch's Sun newspaper and the expected payback that Murdoch (Sky TV especially) will expect.
I believe that Thompson is misguided with his proposals for the following reasons.
Radio 1 is a commercial radio station by any other name. Therefore sell off Radio 1 to the commercial sector where the likes of Chris Moyles will be at home. Use this money to keep the excellent 6 Music and the very important Asian Network as well as supporting Radios 2 to 7.
The BBC should continue to make Eastenders but again, sell it to ITV or Sky who can then make money on advertising revenue gained from its high audiences. Use this money to continue to make high level dramas and use the timeslot to air important programmes such as Panorama and other high brow series.
The public service remit should be relaxed for the commercial companies thus allowing the BBC to continue with the licence fee in order to make programmes that don't directly compete with soaps and celebrity programming of its rivals.
Glastonbury, the Olympics and the Ashes should be jointly produced and available as shared enterprises with Channel 4 but remain as high quality broadcasts available on terrestrial television.
In short the licence fee should be concentrated on Radios 2 to 7, BBC1 to 4 for the purposes of unbiased and well researched journalism, current affairs and news, new comedy, new and high level drama, cutting edge documentaries, new music and outlets for the BBC's archives of music, drama and comedy. The BBC is also the best broadcaster of big events such as the Olympics and Glastonbury across its many channels and should be free to carry on with those.
The soap and celebrity type of programmes sit ill on the BBC anyway so get rid of them and Educate, Inform and Entertain us.
Went to see the stage production of The 39 Steps at the weekend. Absolutely brilliant and hilariously funny. However, I couldn't help laughing at the warning signs that were placed by the theatre entrances that warned the fragile viewing public of gunshots, strobe lighting, haze and, I pause at the shock of this, cigarette smoking!!!!
Now call me cynical but with a novel, 3 film versions and a BBC TV adaptation I wouldn't have thought that a warning of gunshots was totally necessary as there are gunshots present in all those versions. I understand the warning regarding strobes, fair enough. But warning an audience that they may see the awful sight of people smoking cigarettes, well I'm sorry but most of us can remember when every house had ashtrays laid out on arms of chairs and sideboards as a matter of course. Seeing an actor holding a cigarette holder is not going to bring on a cardiac infarction. It reminded me of the absurdity of censors now describing films using phrases such as 'contains mild peril' as though kids might have their lives ruined by unwittingly seeing the child in the film 'Up' actually, well, go up.
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