8th October 2017

Did you see The Apprentice on Wednesday? What you see is what you get. This UK series is the last in a 3-year contract, Sugar's fee going to charity. When asked whether he thinks Trump, the original US host, is "up to the job", Sugar replies "Why not? I think he is up to it. Actually, if he didn't open his mouth so much and put his foot in it. He thinks he's still on The Apprentice. He chucks people out who don't agree with him."  Well, yes.  Trouble is, the show worked wonders for Trump by convincing many Americans that he was a master dealmaker.  As Sugar says "If you owe the bank $2,000, they'll shut you down and make you sell your house.  If you owe them $2bn they'll take you out to lunch!" Does Sugar see himself following in Trump's footsteps by putting himself forward as a future PM?  No, it's a thankless task, he says.  You just can't win. These days image has a lot to do with it. No good putting yourself on a stage, as May did this week, and have the letter F fall off behind you (F off?), plus images of standing in an empty market hall, contrasted with your opponent's newly-groomed image amidst cheering supporters. Nothing to do with politics then. Image is everything. Just watch the next episode of The Apprentice. As with politics, schadenfreude is all.

5th February 2017

Back in France after a whirlwind tour of all the 'scenic routes' of Birmingham. I know, I know...but so much has changed in 12 years. There were the familiar Burlington and Piccadilly arcades; turn a corner and Mars has landed. And don't even mention the University I worked at for 30 years. What's happened to the old Gun Barrels Pub on the corner? Now a sports centre it seems.
So, what's happened whilst I've been away? A terrorist attack by a machete-wielding Egyptian in the Louvre, and PenelopeGate in French politics. Seems the Conservative frontrunner, Fillon, has been paying his wife and family loads of government money. Still prefer him, though, to the alternative...And that man over the pond is still grabbing all the headlines. Despite Theresa May's charm offensive (she's the charm, he's the offensive!), to the rest of the world he clearly didn't go to presidential school nor to diplomacy college, preferring to use the old streetcred tactics he learnt on the backstreets of downtown Bronx. I picture him as the worst kind of nightclub bouncer:  no, this is my place and if I say you can't come in, you can't come in. Has much changed, then, in the week I've been away?  No. The world's still just as mad as ever.

15th January 2017

A great big tree grows near our house; it's been there quite some time
Woodman, woodman, spare that tree; touch not a single bough
This tree's a slipp'ry elm and very hard to climb, the only tree my wife can't climb..
For years it has protected me and I'll protect it now.

Phil Harris 1947

Since the storm in November I've awaited a local woodman to call and take away 3 trees that fell in our garden. But, as usual, nothing moves fast in France. At last, a lorry arrived and 3 Frenchmen scratched their heads whilst contemplating the work. At last they came to a decision: they would need to chop up the giant lime into smaller chunks before carting away. Now, before you tell me we should have kept them: it was a living tree, so therefore usable as firewood only after we've left. But they agreed to chop up the other two (dead) trees which are now safely logged and providing warmth in our salon poelle each night. Success.
Yesterday on France24 news, the Donald was spouting his own peculiar brand of 'wisdom' re building his own barrier between him and his neighbour Mexico, and with typical chutzpah, sending the bill to them! What's next: an even bigger wall along the length of Canada or between Alaska and Canada?? No, Donald. The aim of a world leader is to tear down barriers, not erect them. Whilst shaving this morning he must have been singing his own version of the Phil Harris song: 'Congress, congress, spare that wall..it's very hard to climb; for years it will protect me and I'll protect it now...'

15th May 2016

Democracy. A wonderful thing. Yet it's only now we're seeing the risks. The possibility of someone like Donald Trump as US President, and potential war and global economic meltdown with a Brexit. It's the last few days to register to vote in the referendum and in a few weeks I'll be posting my vote, but as with everything it's not easy. Morally, academically, globally the obvious thing to do is to vote In. But economically I have 2 choices. Shall I vote, as I should, to maintain the status quo in Europe?  Seems clear, doesn't it?  Yesterday the Bank of England set out its Brexit assessment: a sharp fall in the £. However, nothing in life is clear. For personal reasons we have our French house on the market to move back to the UK, and looking at the euro:£ exchange rates at present (with money rates' uncertainty) and the likelihood of even parity with the £ after a Brexit, we'd get more pounds for our euro if everyone voted Out!! Some people use songs to register their opinion like Ukraine did in the Eurovision last night. But, like Topol in Fiddler on the Roof, I've always been a '..but on the other hand' kind of person. It's all too difficult. If I were a rich man, just think what I could do.....