The Gripes of Wrath

Another Bloody Post About Thatcher

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:14:00 +0000

I still can’t quite bring the words together cogently to make any sort of intellectual reflection on the death of Margaret Thatcher. Unlike some of my friends and acquaintances, I can’t quite get the emotional distance that they appear to have attained. For me the enmity is still fresh, the damage done still an open (indeed freshly re-opened) wound. I put this down to two significant things: I grew up working-class poor and I grew up gay. Thatcher affected me materially and personally.

Growing up working-class poor is hard to quantify - but it’s different to growing up middle-class poor, very different. I grew up in a council house at the furthest edge of one of the oldest council estates in the UK. My mum worked part-time, perilously close to full time, but never quite there – meaning she didn’t enjoy full employee rights until she’d been working for some time. Money was always tight. I remember hiding behind the sofa from the insurance man and the rent collector; my piggy bank was frequently raided to buy food. As a child, noticeably when I was at primary and middle school, this wasn’t really an issue -everyone lived like that: my peers were all drawn from the same catchment area. Most people were from families that “got by,” or “made do,” or just plain struggled. It wasn’t unknown for kids to turn up at their neighbours’ houses to be fed when the month exceeded the money - it’s just what people did, no. Certainly, we “made do” and no more. Some people didn’t even manage that: we might have been poor, but increasingly, as unemployment rose, there were people with even less living in the same street. If it sounds picaresque or quaint, then I apologise: it wasn’t - we were just broke.

Secondary school exposed me to the middle classes for the first time. People who had more than enough (or at least their parents did) and brandished it your face, Harry Enfield “Loadsamoney” style, emblazoned with emblems and symbols of brands and labels; who believed they had a right to speak out, even if they had nothing to say; people whose expectation was to be the centre of everything.

More than the acquisition of things, this sense of ownership, of expecting success, of having a right to be heard (and to take part, and to take…) was the thing that seemed most remarkable. I never went on the school trips (unless shamefully-yet-discreetly subsidised), never took part in the French exchange (setting aside the cost, where would an exchange student have stayed? The box room at the back with no door, or my room with the rotten windows, the damp patch on the ceiling and a hole in the wall?), didn’t go to activities weeks, or after school clubs, I never learnt to ski, or paint or throw pots… and I certainly didn’t go on holiday. Anywhere. Ever. I felt like an alien. My experiences really could have come from a different world.

They might seem like small and petty things, but as I grew older these small divisions seemed to get wider. The differences deepened. Attitudes more entrenched. The haves and the have nots had far fewer common grounds. Doors were shut to neighbours kids at dinner time; the groups of young people that used to just hang out in the streets became gangs; those who struggled before, began to sink. Thatcher’s pronouncement on society felt like a self-fulfilling prophecy. It wasn’t true at the time she said it, but the focusing on self -and identifying any lack of wealth as being a personal failure and not the product of a distorted political system – made people believe it.

This doesn’t even cover the tiniest fraction of how it felt growing up working-class poor under Thatcher - but I can say that for me I saw the world of opportunities getting smaller, not greater. Society, community and working for the greater good were never dirty words to me - but the false belief of individualism and entrepreneurialism made it seem so.

Growing up gay is easier to describe: Section 28 made being gay at school a nightmare. Teachers - even if they wanted to - couldn’t teach about homosexuality without fear of prosecution (even though in the end no prosecutions were ever made under Section 28: the fear of prosecution in a profession already being assaulted on all fronts was far more efficient than any court of law). One of the insidious effects of this was that homophobic bullying went unchecked.

I can remember clearly several occasions where this affected me directly: walking home from school I was kicked to the ground and spat on by a group of girls and boys while being called a “fucking dyke” - the school’s response was to tell me to be less “different” and keep my head down. I had short hair and didn’t wear make-up. That’s it. At the time, I wasn’t even sure I was gay; I just wasn’t girly at a time when blue eyeliner and a spiral perm was the norm. On another occasion during a lesson (somewhat ironically, a social science one) a group of students in the same class started a ceaseless, insidious chorus of Tom Robinson’s “Glad to be Gay” just loudly enough for me to hear. It was an accusation and a sneer, not a protest anthem. When the teacher finally noticed his response was to laugh. Possibly most confusingly, a couple of teachers once pulled me from an assembly wanting me to speak with another student they suspected might be gay to offer support. Their reasoning was that they “couldn’t, you see? We might get the sack.” I had no support myself, was barely out to myself, let alone my friends and family and I panicked. I felt singled-out, terrified and wrong - and the expectation that I needed to be “braver” than these two grown men perplexed me - but this was the best they could think of. When I got properly “queer bashed” by some strangers when coming home from meeting friends it’s probably of no surprise to learn that I told no-one - after all, who’d be on my side?

The ongoing effect of this sort of isolation, victimisation and bullying is to make you doubt and lose value in yourself, make you think that you deserve it all. You internalise the hate. When that hate is sanctioned by government, you feel hopeless. These feelings linger.

Homophobic bullying in schools hasn’t necessarily got much better, but now at least it can be tackled. LGBTQ relationships can be discussed, taught, considered along with any other relationship; same sex couples can’t quite get married, but Civil Partnership at least recognises most of the same rights as marriage - and without Section 28 we could have got there much sooner, with far less damage to people’s lives.

I won’t mourn Margaret Thatcher’s death -without even taking into consideration the devastating deindustrialisation of the UK, the ripping apart of communities, the favouring of tyrants, the wholesale selling off of public assets, the kneecapping of the unions, the growth and growth and growth of greed, her policies hindered and damaged me and countless others like me - and I did my celebrating in 1990 when she was kicked out of power by her own party. I’ll save my energies for fighting the current lot of greed merchants, exploiters and false patriots.

May she burn or rot (we all do one or the other in the end) I’ll look forward to her becoming nothing more than a post script in history.

"It is required you do awake your faith"

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 12:42:00 +0000

For a fortnight, along with much of the rest of Britain, I lost my snark. I watched the Olympics (and shut out as many of the c*** Oily MPs as I could) and was overtaken by a sense of awe. Firstly at Danny Boyle's opening spectacular, thumbing his nose at his LOCOG paymasters and creating a vision of Britishness that connected with far more than just the flag waving jingoist few that many feared it might, then at the feats of the sportswomen and men taking part in the games themselves.

Awe is entirely the right word. I can barely comprehend the commitment and dedication the athletes and competitors showed in order to compete. Gruelling ritualistic training. Nutritional control. Hours and hours of repetition, drills, practice. For some, reaching the games was its own reward. To be able to compete with the sporting elite as an equal in front of a crowd - and what a crowd - made the pain worthwhile. For others, nothing less than victory would do: you could see them crumpled and spent in defeat, husks of women or men, a hollowness in their eyes even when holding on to their silver or bronze medal.

I can't pick out a single moment as the greatest. It seems to cheapen the effort of all the other participants. But there were moments of greatness, lasting greatness, where people pushed themselves to the limit and saw those limits crumble. Redefining moments. Londoners, known for surliness, became friendly and welcoming; British sportswomen and men, known for defeat, became champions; emblems of aggression - that damned, sullied, right-wing hijacked union jack - became benign.

Danny Boyle's opening borrowed from Shakespeare's The Tempest (not Prospero, but Caliban - slave, illegitimate, unmagical, human), "be not afeard, the isle is full of noises" but for a fortnight at least, Paulina in The Winter's Tale seemed more appropriate to me. Revealing the living breathing Hermione (disguised as a statue) to her husband who believes her to have been dead for 16 years, she prepares Leontes, "It is required you do awake your faith." Likewise, grey old Britain was revealed as vibrant and hopeful - but only as far as sporting achievement is concerned.

Monday hit hard. The news bulletins returned to murder, war and crises; tax dodging and backhanded contracts; recession still holding us vice-like; our Government still self-interested, venal and toxic; big corporations and bankers still holding all the strings and us still seeming like puppets tied to our puppet masters. We have no faith that any of them at all know how to get us out of this mess.

For a fortnight, we saw nothing but good - and there is hope - and I don't just mean the Paralympics (which I await with an unexpected eagerness). If we work together, if we share our common good, if we celebrate the achievements of others and work together to help others achieve, if we believe we can be better and work hard to be better, then we can make a Great Britain out of this selfish, self-serving mess. However, it is required we do awake our faith.

Have The OilyMPsc Games Commenced Yet?

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 14:41:00 +0000

And not forgetting

Jeremy Hunt almost hits woman with Olympic bell end

Pavlov's Daughter

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:26:00 +0000

One Monday a couple of weeks ago, maybe ten minutes after I’d got home, the phone rang. It was my father.
“Now, don’t worry, but…”

That phrase guarantees a Pavlovian response.

It would seem that my father had woken up and found himself on the floor, unable to get up and with no recollection of how he got there. After a couple of hours, he’d managed to drag himself to his front door and get the attention of a neighbour. It had shaken him a bit, but he ignored it until he woke up a couple of days later unable to get out of bed. He was phoning to let me know he’d got himself an alarm button and a key safe, so if a stranger were to call me about him, not to be worried.

My father is not a likeable man. He is also not a good man (for several reasons, none of which I want to go into here). As a combination, it’s probably fair to say he is isolated and for the most part, that’s not a bad thing. I speak to him a scant twice a year, and even then I feel angsty. Nonetheless, I don’t want to ever receive the phone call telling me my father’s remains have been found in an advanced state of decomposition, so in part I felt an immediate sense of relief (at least someone will be checking in on him) and the kidney punch of guilt (it’s supposed to be me).

Continuing with my reluctant daughterly responsibilities, I asked him if he’d seen a doctor. No, he said, he hadn’t. The Pavlovian worry thing kicked in once more - because of course temporary paralysis and memory loss are perfectly normal things to experience! Why would anyone want to see a doctor about those? I did my best to convince him to see a doctor. He reluctantly agreed. I asked that he let me know what the doctor said. He promised he would. I put down the phone and sat for a bit, contemplating what the hell I should be doing. Should I be doing more? Should I be doing anything at all? Is there really a should in this?

A few days later and still he hasn’t phoned, so I call him. He sounds frail and wavering. He’s not pleased to hear from me. I ask if he’s seen a doctor and he says he has, but I’m not convinced. I ask what the doctor says and he says nothing much. He needs to lose weight. And that he might have “a touch of Parkinson’s”.

This sets alarm bells ringing. My medical knowledge is as good as any online hypochondriac, but even I know that if you are suspected of having developed Parkinson’s disease it is not generally diagnosed as “a touch.” I ask further questions; any tests or assessments planned, follow up appointments, can you still drive? The answers? No, no and yes. I am now more certain than before he hasn’t seen a doctor, or if he has, the doctor is in idiot. He ends the conversation hurriedly and I am stuck with another round of what should I be doing? whirling in my head.

Another few days pass and I get home to a message on the answering machine: “Hello, I’m calling from Community Alarms. It’s about Dad…” My heart sinks.

My immediate response is, “-whose dad? Yours? Mine? The man has a name: calling him “Dad” is making a whole heap of assumptions I don’t really want to debunk right now. Who trained you not to use a person’s name? To attribute them to a role that they may or may not fulfil?” This makes me angrier than I could have imagined. I have no idea why that of all things is making me angry.

The news isn’t quite as bad as I’d immediately feared, but nevertheless worrying. He’d used the alarm service three times in a day, unable to get up and feeling dizzy and shaky so was waiting for a non- emergency ambulance. Might be a few hours. Not to worry.

Still, I phone my father and he’s still waiting. He doesn’t want to talk about it. He hangs up quickly.

What should I be doing?

My father phones me later to let me know that they’re not keeping him in, he needs to eat more regularly, maybe speak with the doctor about side effects to the new medication he’s been put on (yes, he’d missed that bit out each time I’d asked ). He’ll be sleeping in his chair tonight as he pulled the curtain rail off when he fell. He’s fine. No need to worry. Yes, of course he’ll see a doctor. He’ll keep in touch.

That was over a week ago and no word. I know I could call, but I still don’t know if I should.

Needless to say I am, of course, still worried.

But what would Hippolyta wear?

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:34:00 +0000

The Amazons of mythic fame were renowned warriors. To improve the accuracy of their archery, they severed one breast to allow them to fire arrows with greater ease. Me? I must be a modern descendent of the Amazons -albeit quite naturally: I have one breast far, far smaller than the other - and I don't mean a bit smaller, I mean at least 3 cup sizes smaller, maybe more. (Yes, I see what you're doing with your hands...that much smaller.) Oh, and the other one? Well, it's big. Not "Jordan" big, but if it were to form the template for a soup bowl it could feed a family of four. Quite.

Until recently, I have had little choice but to wear bras that can only really be described as middle aged and miserable. They come with despair drenched names like "Doreen" and descriptions such as "Soft Cup Firm Support". The colour palette is a uniform black, "nude" or white- the sexiest thing about them is arguably the box. (Alternatively, the sexiest thing about these miserable bras is what fills them, but I digress...). They also have a sort of drooping sadness about them (-the bras, not the breasts. They have a more resigned mien, not sad per se, but life-worn, which they are I suppose, so it fits....). Nothing pert, playful or perky can reside in these fabric fortresses where everything is locked away and safe from wandering hands or prying eyes.

I'm not perhaps the vainest of people. I think a fair number of my clothes are older than my friends' children, I have shoes from the previous century and a haircut that is reminiscent of that shorn from a DJ in the late 80s. The last time I wore make-up on a regular basis was when I was in 6th Form (and even then it was a shit, proto-goth monochrome). But there remains part of me that wants to wear sexy underwear, that wants to be have a girly side to show off to my best girl, that wants to have age appropriate lingerie while I'm young enough to appreciate it (and for that matter, while I'm lacking in impairment enough to put the buggers on without mechanical assistance...)

So, with some light encouragement from my wife to be, I set out to attempt to buy a bra that didn't fill me instantly with doom. To continue the mythic theme, Odysseus would have balked at such a quest...

I'll spare you the details of the changing room puppy wrangling, the game of "guess the size" and the improvised prosthetics manufactured to try to create a sense of equilibrium - but you get the picture. It was not easy and it sure as hell wasn't fun. I have, however, ended up with a sort of sexier underwired number (in *gasp* crimson) that means I have breasts that appear far more "up and at 'em" than they did previously. Through the magic of modern manufacture, the balancing prosthetic (not so much a chicken fillet, more a whole chicken...) isn't noticeable, or worse, moveable and so, for once, I look less like an Amazon and more like amazingly average (ish).

But, (and here comes my point...) I know I'm not the only woman in the country with different sized breasts. Indeed, for most women one breast is larger than the other (most commonly the left is largest, trivia fans) and yet there are no off the rack (no pun intended) bras to accommodate us asymmetrically busted beauties. There aren't even that many bespoke services -even the bras available to women who have undergone mastectomies are woeful. For many women breasts are emblematic of female sexuality. They are an outward signifier of femininity.They are more than just functional, they are fun -but where is this reflected in the choice of bras available to the "imperfect" body?

I've never hated any part of my body - it's mine, it's the only one I've got and although I might misuse it from time to time, my mind and body have grown to have a comfortable understanding - but I do hate how fashion makes me out to be a freak, unworthy of clothes that make me feel good, just because I don't fit into their mould. Trying to find a less oppressive bra has made me into an angry bird (*groan*) but I'll continue trying not to let it get on my tits.

AAARGH! Christmas...

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:51:00 +0000

Doesn't it just creep up on you (like a mugger...)?

Anyhow, apart from the seasonal greet about "where the hell is our funding notification from the Scottish Govt?" and other such fare, I haven't got much to say (or rather I have LOTS to say, but am too angry/depressed/ranty to even begin to discuss how truly awful the current Westminster Govt is, or how they are creating poverty and social inequality so deep it will take generations to repair, or how whenever I watch the news of TV my immediate thought is "what fresh level of hell now..." Ach, you get the gist.)

Instead, here's one of the few tolerable Christmas themed songs I know.

Seasonal whatevers, folks.

40 - Love

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:50:00 +0000

So, I am now exactly 40 years and 1 month old. It takes a little getting used to. A sort of "oh, holy shit, I really am that old" kind of getting used to. Not bad, just, "oh" & "holy shit".

Of course, it comes with the requisite, "but what have I done with my life?" moments (answer: more than some, less than others *shrug*) and "what will I do with my life?" moments (see previous answer...) but I would have to confirm that becoming 40 was indeed a blow lessened by being taken to Paris by my most significant - indeed, affianced - other. I think all difficult moments in life could be improved by being taken to Paris (Parisians might want to go somewhere else, perhaps, but probably not...). Positive moments in life could also be made even more shiny and gilded by being taken to Paris. Paris, je t'aime indeed.

The photographic evidence is below, for your delectation.

Spot the Mona Lisa...

Il n'y a pas des bossus

Like Blackpool, but bigger

'But where's the inverted pyramid? Where's the inverted pyramid?'

Otherwise, well, I suppose now that I have finished studying (I am now a fully qualified "manager". Don't ask what it means, I haven't a clue...) I probably should return to this blogging mallarky. I'm sure I have things to say. I mean, I must have, mustn't I? Hmmm...

Crap Dads

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 17:02:00 +0000

Just got off the phone with my dad. (It's his birthday as well as FD). I now feel like a drink (and nothing stronger than Vimto has passed my lips since Hogmanay...)

So, here's to all of us with crap dads.
Where's our day, eh? Eh? *sigh*

posted from Bloggeroid

Not what you usually get from a Poet Laureate

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:12:00 +0000

A CUT BACK, by Carol Ann Duffy

It’s no go the LitFest, it’s no go up in Lancaster,
though they’ve built an auditorium (still quite wet, the plaster)

a bar, a bookshop, office space … well, they won’t need wheelchair access.

All we want is a million quid and here’s to the Olympics.

London’s Enitharmon Press was founded in 1967,

but David Gascoyne and Kathleen Raine are writing now in heaven,

with UA Fanthorpe, John Heath-Stubbs; dead good dead poets all.

The only bloody writing now’s the writing on the wall.

It’s no go the national art, it’s no go cake with icing.

All we want are strategic cuts, it’s no go salami slicing.

It’s no go the Poetry Trust, it’s no go in East Suffolk;

Aldeburgh’s east of Stratford East. As Rooney says, oh f-fuck it –

because it’s no go First Collection Prize, it’s no go local writers.

We’ve been asked to pull the plug, the rug, by coalition shysters.

National Association of Writers in Education?

No way, NAWE, children and books, the train’s leaving the station.

It’s no go your poets in schools, it’s no go your cultures.

All we want is squeezed middles and stringent diets for vultures.

It’s no go the pamphlet, the gig in Newcastle no go.

All we want is a context for the National Portfolio.

Three little presses went to market, Flambard, Arc and Salt;

had their throats cut ear to ear and now it’s hard to talk.

They remember Thatcher’s Britain. Clegg-Cameron’s is worse.

Deathbyathousandcuts.co.uk, the least of which is verse.

It’s no go the avant-garde, it’s no go the mainstream.

All we want is a Review Group, chaired, including recommendations.

Stephen Spender thought continually of those who were truly great;

set up the Poetry Book Society with TS Eliot, genius mate.

But it’s no go two thousand strong in the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Phone a cab for the Nobel laureates as they take their curtain call.

It’s no go, dear PBS. It’s no go, sweet poets.

Sat on your arses for fifty years and never turned a profit.

All we want are bureaucrats, the nods as good as winkers.

And if you’re strapped for cash, go fish, then try the pigging bankers.

(published in The Guardian, 9 April 2011)

*For them that's wondering the what and why of the form, seeing as it's not what might be considered CAD's usual style, see below - and of course, it probably has a big knowing wink to Scots Makar, Liz Lochhead's "Bagpipe Muzak" too...)

Bagpipe music

It's no go the merrygoround, it's no go the rickshaw,
All we want is a limousine and a ticket for the peepshow.
Their knickers are made of crepe-de-chine, their shoes are made of python,
Their halls are lined with tiger rugs and their walls with head of bison.

John MacDonald found a corpse, put it under the sofa,
Waited till it came to life and hit it with a poker,
Sold its eyes for souvenirs, sold its blood for whiskey,
Kept its bones for dumbbells to use when he was fifty.

It's no go the Yogi-man, it's no go Blavatsky,
All we want is a bank balance and a bit of skirt in a taxi.

Annie MacDougall went to milk, caught her foot in the heather,
Woke to hear a dance record playing of Old Vienna.
It's no go your maidenheads, it's no go your culture,
All we want is a Dunlop tire and the devil mend the puncture.

The Laird o' Phelps spent Hogmanay declaring he was sober,
Counted his feet to prove the fact and found he had one foot over.
Mrs. Carmichael had her fifth, looked at the job with repulsion,
Said to the midwife "Take it away; I'm through with overproduction."

It's no go the gossip column, it's no go the Ceilidh,
All we want is a mother's help and a sugar-stick for the baby.

Willie Murray cut his thumb, couldn't count the damage,
Took the hide of an Ayrshire cow and used it for a bandage.
His brother caught three hundred cran when the seas were lavish,
Threw the bleeders back in the sea and went upon the parish.

It's no go the Herring Board, it's no go the Bible,
All we want is a packet of fags when our hands are idle.

It's no go the picture palace, it's no go the stadium,
It's no go the country cot with a pot of pink geraniums,
It's no go the Government grants, it's no go the elections,
Sit on your arse for fifty years and hang your hat on a pension.

It's no go my honey love, it's no go my poppet;
Work your hands from day to day, the winds will blow the profit.
The glass is falling hour by hour, the glass will fall forever,
But if you break the bloody glass you won't hold up the weather.

(Louis MacNeice)

tap tap tap

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 07:49:00 +0000

Is this thing working?
One two. One two.

Ok

I'll be back in a bit...

posted from Bloggeroid

All Shakespeare needed was one word more.

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:55:00 +0000

...I have of late—but wherefore
I know not—lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of
exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my
disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to
me a sterile promontory, this most excellent canopy,
the air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament,
this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why,
it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent
congregation of vapors. What a piece of work is a man!
How noble in reason, how infinite in faculties,
in form and moving how express and admirable,
in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like
a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals!
And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man
delights not me—no, nor woman neither, though by
your smiling you seem to say so. Bastards.

(Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2 + one word)

Yep. That's how I feel right now.
People are just a pain in the arras...

My thoughts after watching the England v Germany match as expressed by someecards

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:02:00 +0000

Sounds like a plan. *weeps stoic English tears of stifled disappointment*

The Rhodes Not Taken (with Ian McEwen)

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:19:00 +0000

Wandering through "Teh interWebs" I encountered this piece of brutally honest reflective writing/lit crit:

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan.

Sometimes it helps to read a book that is relentlessly terrible. It’s energising to have something to fight against, and knowing you aren’t the worst writer in the world can lift the spirits. This book is a pile of dog’s mess. The ‘themes’ aren’t so much spoon-fed to the reader as bellowed at them with a loud hailer, the characters are dull people dismally written, their world is devoid of even the possibility of humour, and don’t get me started on the spunking scene… or the ending, for that matter — the main character’s life turns out so unsatisfactory that he ends up owning only a share of a house in France, unlike McEwan, who owns a whole house in France. Holy smoke this is a bad read. But what really makes me angry isn’t so much the book itself, it’s the way the literary establishment queued up to kiss its dreary arse. “Oh Florence.” “Oh Edward.” This book is the enemy.

I have a strange suspicion I might like Dan Rhodes. I think I might even buy one of his books. (And yes, I also felt thoroughly exasperated by the dreadfulness of On Chesil beach and dismayed at the lit establishment lapping it up... Could you have guessed that?...)

Achilles

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:34:00 +0000

Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy writes for injured David Beckham - mirror.co.uk

Let's face it, the Achilles myth is just too tempting to use...

World of Pub - brief update!

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:30:00 +0000

1. Carol Ann Duffy has gathered together some of the finest contemporary poets for this in Edinburgh: Poets for Haiti

2. The team behind "The Thick of It" are also the brains behind "In The Loop".
-And they've only gone and got Oscar nominated! (So the lovely Tony Roche who I knew at Uni is now an Oscar nominee... Hurrah for Big Tone! And... "Oh. What have you done with your life?" to me...).

That is all.

World of Pub*

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:36:00 +0000

Carol Ann Duffy's lament for the pub, for those (like me) who missed it on the Culture Show. Lovely stuff, as ever...

* World of Pub was a sitcom written by an old uni compadre of mine, Tony Roche. He now writes as part of The Thick of It team. *sigh* The pub seems like a decent place to go right now... and I don't drink. *sigh*

Ah, Britain....

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:37:00 +0000

Forced to choose eating or heating, family burns furniture to keep warm |The Guardian

I bloody hate winter, but at least I can more or less afford to heat our home and eat.

Happy new-ish year. So far, so fuck-awful...

PS: And if the utility companies haven't got you over a barrel, well, then probably the banks have, but Billy Bragg has an answer. Wearing badges is not enough in days like these, indeed.

If a 10 year old boy can....

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:24:00 +0000

...understand dissent, patriotism, freedom of speech and how peaceful protest works, why can't others? This story in the Arkansas Times (no, not a usual read of mine...) about a boy refusing to stand for the pledge of allegiance until LGBT people have true equal rights in the US, caught my attention.
- A future president or civil rights lawyer in the making? Oh, quite possibly. But even if not, it does make a change to read a positive story about young people...

FactCheck: TV charges at Selly Oak? - Channel 4 News (AKA Proof the BNP lies)

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:56:00 +0000

FactCheck: TV charges at Selly Oak? - Channel 4 News

Not that proof is needed, but nice to know, all the same.

Now, what's on telly tonight?....

In Memoriam, Margaret Thatcher - EP

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:02:00 +0000

In Memoriam, Margaret Thatcher - EP

I would really like this for Christmas (I have it on order, btw). For Halloween would be good too. As soon as you like, really. Chop chop.

Meta-blogging

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:57:00 +0000

Not Always Right | Funny & Stupid Customer Quotes � Circle Of Strife

Meerkats? Meh..

Of course, myself and a fellow Shakespearean scholar came up with our own Eastenders inspired version: "Simon of Affens"( back in the depths of my past when I was ensconced in all things Stratfordian and, in Ophelia-esque fits of madness, even used to chat to Buzz Goodbody's memorial tree in Theatre Gardens behind the Swan Theatre - its a Silver Birch, I think ... ah, the pretentious bilge I used to spout! I say used to...)

I reckon it'd work. BBC4 commission, please.

Ships that pass in the night...

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:28:00 +0000

Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions

...or indeed during the day.

I've been amusing myself with this over lunchtime - it is strangely compelling and addictive. Have I any particular need to know where a ship is at any given minute? Not really... but it's interesting... No, really. It is...Wait... Don't go... Oh.

Betrayed by a loved one....

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:40:00 +0000

Custard Creams can kill: Official • The Register

Killer biscuits? KILLER biscuits? The world is a terrifying place, I tell you - but biscuits becoming homicidal? I don't like it one little bit...

However, reading further I find that there may be grounds for exonerating the humble biscuit, for indeed it would appear that it isn't the biscuit's fault (what with it being inanimate and totally lacking in volition) No, it is the fault of stupid people....

...seven per cent of Britons have dropped a biscuit tin on their foot, three per cent have fallen off a chair reaching for vital nourishment, and an equal percentage have poked themselves in the eye with a biscuit.
Seven per cent admitted to have been bitten while feeding a tasty biscuit morsel to a pet or “other wild animal”. The most extreme example of biscuit-related mishap, however, was the case of the man who got stuck in wet concrete after wading in to retrieve a stray biccy.

Falling off a chair or poking oneself in the eye? Wading into concrete? These people do not deserve to eat biscuits. They malign the good name of biscuits. They make me fearful of the day when we will see official safety instructions and health warnings printed on the wrappers of biscuits. What other injuries can people sustain eating foodstuffs? Impaled by a baguette? Blinded by a prune? Garotted by a liquorice shoelace? I am fearful for the future of humanity, truly.

(I think I may have to have a cup of tea and ginger nut, I'm so upset. I'll eat it carefully, though, don't worry...)

Strange Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:23:00 +0000

"It seemed that out of battle I escaped
Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which titanic wars had groined..."

(My apologies to Wilfred Owen)

Today, my boss and the chair of the board will be meeting with some faceless civil servant in a vain attempt to reverse a decision regarding the ending of funding of my project. I'm not going to be at the meeting, instead I've been looking at statistical evidence to justify the continuing need for my work and will be briefing the high heid yins before they jolly off to Victoria Quay. (The statistical evidence is compelling, incidentally: essentially youth homeless figures in Scotland have remained more or less static for the past 5 years - in spite of an overall drop in the total number of young people, meaning that there is an increase in percentage of young people in Scotland becoming homeless even if the total number has dropped slightly.)

The funny thing is, one of the reasons I took this job was that I had been assured at least 3 years funding (there's not a great deal more longer-term than that in the voluntary sector, so three years is a fair whack...) and where I was working previously couldn't really assure me of more than a year. Within three years, you can make lasting changes and actually put project work into action: within one? You can't even get the paste ready to paper over the cracks.

And so, once again I am entrenched, fighting for funding, having been misguided and misdirected by management, having had meaningless promises made - and not being able to completely focus on the real work that might just make a difference because I am having to beg for pennies.

- Spare any change? Because as far as I can tell change is long overdue.

The Missing Link

noreply@blogger.com (The Gripes of Wrath) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:15:00 +0000

Heh.*

If you are one of the (very) few folk who reads my blog via an RSS reader, or other social media link-aggregator thingy, then you will be missing out on some of my fabulous links to other stuff I read.

For example, as part of my ongoing commitment to disabuse people of the idea that the Daily Mail is anything even vaguely resembling a "news" paper, I would heartily recommend checking out Daily Mail Watch and The (new) Daily Mail Oncological Ontology Project - the latter of which takes on the Daily Mail's classification of inanimate objects into two types: those that cause cancer, and those that cure it.

If you are looking for other kinds of sustenance, might I recommend The Food Pornographer (whose postings often make me wish I had a better lunch) and Cake Wrecks - ugly, down right bizarre and often hilarious cakes sold by commercial bakers and mocked beautifully by the Wreck team.

There are others, of course, who write personal blogs about things and stuff - and very well too, I might add - but I'll leave those for your own exploring. In addition, should you be a reader who would like a linky on my blog, then let me know and I'll see what I can do. No promises, mind you. I'm capricious like that.

* and if you can't see the image, well, it is VERY funny. So there.