Diary 2011
The new decade
Welcome to the new decade! Astonishingly (because it seems a very difficult thing for people to understand), Dubai has got it right because at least they know that a new decade does not start at the beginning of the last year in the old decade!
01/01/2011
Knitting
Wool down, needle underneath, push it through the stitch away from you, wrap the wool around, transfer to the new needle, wool up, needle above, push it through the stitch towards you, transfer the stitch, keep going, knit, pearl, knit, pearl; this apparently is moss stitch; the jargon may be incorrect. I have taken up knitting! It is EXHAUSTING. Not only that, but my scarf is covered in "loving hands at home". And I’ve forgotten how to cast on. And I haven’t a clue how to cast off and Emily has abandoned me! This is probably just as well as she says things like “Granny just flicks the wool with her fingers” and “Granny holds the wool like this” and many other exhortations to improve. And, of course, the granny she is referring to is not her mother (oh, no, not a by a long way). As an aside, I've always been struck by how mummy becomes granny, daddy grandpa, brothers and sisters uncle this or auntie that. The new generation comes in and that is where the focus goes
So Madhu Bashini, be aware that my next project is booties: one pink pair and one blue pair (just to cover all eventualities) – pour encourager…
02/01/2011
Pakistan
If Pakistan becomes a failed state, or, worse, an active enemy of the non-Islamic world, I suspect that historians will have no diificulty finding the messy prints of Bush and Blair all over the piece - see here
09/01/2011
Smoking
This is a 50th birthday. All the cool cats are on the roof terrace, shortening their lives. But that's not what I care about; they all have ample education, and brains, to work out that for 35p a ciggie they can put a nice little limiter on their life chances. No, bollocks to 'em. What I'm worried about is sitting two floors down, in the doorway of Hoxton Boutique - not Spanish women watching the world but three London teenage girls, huddled in the cold, pulling ineptly at cheap cigarettes, filling their lungs with peer pressure. They sit in the half-light, the offices above them dark and empty, the street dirty, the rubbish yet to be collected, working at their habit, not yet knowing it is a habit, not understanding that from these unpromising beginnings, three will become two and then one, the kids will be stunted or worse, the money will be scarce because the 35ps add up. In the gloom, they talk, in their little huddle, about boys or clubs or clean underwear. What they do not talk about, because they do not recognize it, is the inevitability of their addiction, the inevitability of its effects and the inevitability of its final outcome. The sadness I feel (two floors up amongst fine wine, six different types of smoked fish, fillet of beef, bowls of salads) for these 17 year olds is profound
09/01/2011
Jeans
I have not a clue where to buy jeans. So, I start at Sloane Square and walk up the Kings Road. First shop: Hugo Boss. A pretty girl approaches me with a glass of champagne! Shopping for jeans can be fun. Sadly, the Boss place doesn't sell them, so the champagne remains undrunk. Moving on, women, women, cosmetics, florist, ah, I can see jeans spread out on a table - Ted Baker. The Baker dude (whoever he is) has just the pair, with buttons. Buttons are *very* retro. They are also very difficult, first to undo and then to do back up. It's easier just to pull the damn things down went you want to pee. Who am I to argue with fashion? Mrs Marrian says, a little snootily, I think, that Ted Baker is a chain; not like Paul Smith she says. Well, judging by the number of Paul Smith shops I see around, Paul Smith looks very much like a chain too. But who am I to argue with Mrs Marrian? In fact, when she's not looking, I visit a Paul Smith in Sloane Avenue - more bloody women; nearest man Paul Smith is in Covent Garden or some faraway place like that. Joseph sounds like a man and he's next door - more WOMEN! BUT, he also covers his options with a man Joseph a bit further along. This is one of those empty shops with lots of intimidating looking staff, disdainful looks written on their faces, and not a shopper in sight. Maybe that's because they charge £160 and up for a pair of jeans. I pass; Mrs Marrian won't have the pleasure of telling me that Joseph is a chain
October 1st 2011
Europe
Personally, I think de Gaulle was right. He refused to allow Britain to join the Common Market because he did not consider them to be sufficiently European. It was only after his death that Britain obtained membership
In the face of crisis it would be usual for those affected to come together and with, calm and determination, seek a way forward. Britian is, currently, a member of the European Union. Unfortunately, it does not seem to have the intelligence to understand that its national interests are best served by a smoothly running and prosperous Europe. Whinging on about its dysfunctional, if not dangerous, financial sector misses the point that if Europe's problems are not solved soon, there is not going to be a financial sector worth whinging over. A country with some intelligence, some foresight and some goodwill would have arrived at Thursday's summit with considerable energy and determination to assist in whatever way was constructive to help build a way forward. Instead that country was obstructive and petulant: a little country no longer great and unable to come to terms with that ever more obvious fact
10/12/2011