Mr Holmes To You, Sir?

The fact that televsion is "democratic" seems to account for the fact that it is so repetitive and predictable, I think. I don't know if you have seen the interview that Dennis Potter did with Melvyn Bragg but I'm sure it's somewhere on the Internet.

"http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/dennis-potter"

The disappointment Potter felt with the failures of such a marvelous media was very sad and made me realise at the time that I would never feel tempted try to get involved with the Machievellian powers that run the show.

There is an illusion of democracy because shows with casts of thousands, peak audiences and vast expense is involved.

If the recession continues, my next cutback will be to get rid of TV.
The only value it has here is that I get to see films without the invonvenience of going to the cinema.

Back to Normal

The past few years have been very instructive. Thanks to the ongoing recession I have the freedom to continue to keep this blog going and learn new photographic techniques.

The thought of gainful employment in a structured institution now seems so horrifying that I can't imagine how I managed to work so hard for years in the past. Friends who stuck the official workplace out are starting to retire and while I thought that this would offer the opportunity to renew old links, the differences in our ways of living now seem to make this unlikely.

Baby Boomers are the World's travel junkies. Try to meet for coffee? Sorry... would love to, but just about to board a long distance flight for China... or South America.

From the limited amount of time I spend listening to the radio, most of the active workforce is furious and obsessed with mortgages. They have my sympathy in trying to ends meet, as the 1980's remain in my experience as the time when an unreparable rift occurred between winners and losers in the society which I had once hoped would be egalitarian. Journalists get to meet a lot of different people in different contexts and while the work was piecemeal for a freelance, it gave a freedom that was not possible to many other trades.

Finally, however, the human condition as she is lived on this island became a difficult reality to describe, so I just retired... like a footballer does when they are no longer fleet of foot.

It was the best decision I ever made and without the years spent learning the infuriating new technologies, I would not be able to offer readers here this little photo of a moment in the National Botanic Gardens.

As ever, many thanks to everybody who has helped me learn.