Weeks without wi-fi.

I recently spent a week with family and friends in the Brecon Beacons at the 2018 Green Man festival. It’s a relatively small independently-run music festival that is a bit different to the behemoths like Reading or Glastonbury. We spent the first three days walking, playing tig in the dark and making tie-dye t-shirts. The last four days are generally spent camped out in front of a big stage listening to whomever turns up. Usually it’s people I’ve barely heard of but am usually pleasantly surprised by – Baxter Drury, Anna Calvi and War on Drugs were probably favourites this year.

The kids love it – this is the second year we’ve been and towards the end of it Katie noted that she’s looking forward to going home to the wi-fi, but she hasn’t missed it as much as she thought she would. I think to have this time away from constant access to the online world (I know other people’s fancy mobiles still allow them access, but none of that for me or Katie – at least until she’s older) is crucial. I embrace the possibilities and the promise of the Internet as much as the next person, but to be away from it all is so refreshing. Even if I do enter modern times and eventually get a posh phone I still want to make a point of disconnecting when away on holiday, because there is a positive mental, emotional and physical effect of leaving all that behind, especially at the moment with so much of it being toxic.

Multiple people shared a story on various social media platforms recently about how those making their fortunes in tech that we all consume so avidly strictly limit their own children’s access to that same tech, ensuring their childhoods are spent in the physical world. One of the most sought-after schools in Silicon Valley has a total technology ban for under 11s. I don’t know how much of that is true (after all, how far can you trust something shared over social media?), but it isn’t something that would surprise me.

Unplug. Go to a gig. Get lost up a mountain or in a forest for a day. Spend a week away. The circus of fools will still be here when you get back.

Newish occasional feature: Ending with a song relating to the post:

Animals: We Gotta Get Out of This Place. “There's a better life for me and you.”

We might be in a lot more trouble that we think.

It might just be the negative effects of social media. It might not be as bad as it can sometimes seem. But it might be that our democracy is being dismantled right in front of us.

Let’s start with America. It’ll be hard to catch you up if you’re new to this, but, to summarise, it seems with the recent indictment of 12 Russians for interfering in the election of Drumpf that the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller has uncovered some pretty damning evidence that Putin was heavily involved in installing the orange cockwomble in the Whitehouse. Cambridge Analytica appears to have been involved, stealing the data of many, many Facebook users. Hundreds of thousands of fake social media accounts were set up in Russia to spread untruth and cloud the issues. Twitter has, only recently, starting to delete these profiles – thousands of them at a time. That’s a good thing, but it’s also a bit late, and I expect they’ll be replaced before long.

Republicans have been warping democracy for some time however, and the most damaging of these arsemaggots has been Mitch McConnell. Mitch is, to put it mildly, a huge fucking arsehole. A hateful shit of a man so far in the pocket of the corporate and ideological interests he serves in place of actual people that if there is such as thing as a soul, his is no longer anything more than a wank stain on Bernard Manning’s bed sheets. The Supreme Court of the United States, when it needs to appoint a judge, has that judge selected by the sitting President. Obama’s choice was denied a place because McConnell had control of the Senate and delayed the hearing until after the election, which Drumpf won. The spot Obama was not allowed to fill has therefore now been filled by a Republican nominee, needless to say of a hard-right persuasion. I’ve heard a number of times that this is not legal. But I don’t get it – if it is illegal, why has it been allowed to go on, and why was nobody arrested. Is it illegal or not?

The Republican’ts’ (see what I did there?) dodgy tactics has meant some wins for them at the Supreme Court, not the least significant is the Court’s decision to allow them to continue gerrymandering. This means using your knowledge of what people are most likely to vote for in a geographic area and using that knowledge to draw constituency boundaries to give one party an unfair advantage. In many places, because of gerrymandering, constituency boundaries look utterly bonkers, Democrats require a great deal more votes to get elected, and the newly Republican-favouring Supreme Court shut down a motion to prevent it. Even better, one of the more moderate judges is now retiring, meaning it’s possible McConnell could get another hard right judge on the court, potentially paving the way to overturn the historic Roe vs Wade, making abortion illegal again. In 2018. Even better, the latest nominee doesn’t believe a sitting President should be investigated or impeached, and should basically sit there like some kind of emperor, immune to law and judgement. So Mueller’s investigation could be halted at any time, leaving the whole corrupt lot of them free from criminal prosecution. I keep reading people dramatically tweeting that the Republicunts (see what I did there?) will be remembered on the wrong side of history, as if at the end of all this America won’t just be an annex of Russia, with democracy and actual freedom and independence a thing of the past. They still assume they’ll win, but from what I can see, that is somewhat up in the air.

But why should anyone in the UK care? First of all, because that attitude of not caring about anyone except ourselves is what’s got us in the current mess we’re in. Secondly, like it or not, America does have a large impact on world events, and the current clusterfuck in the White House will have far-reaching effects for everybody, not just Americans and their brown-skinned neighbours.

But mostly, because there is some evidence that Russia also had a significant impact on the vote to shoot ourselves in the foot leave the EU. The same Russians that have been involved with the U.S. election, were involved with Farage and the Vote Leave campaign. Cambridge Analytica were involved, as was Facebook, who has recently been fined the maximum amount possible for violating the Data Protection Act during the time of the election. And then trying to cover it up. The only place this appears to be being investigated is at the Guardian, by award-winning journalist Carol Cadwalladr. It’s being picked up by American newsgroups but nobody else in the UK is covering it. I’d expect that of the Fail and the Scum, but not even Channel 4 is really covering it. It does appear that the Leave camp broke electoral law, but it still doesn’t seem to matter. So many people are so disengaged that either they don’t know or don’t care.

Or is it something else? Have I actually got nothing to worry about? Is it nothing more than a conspiracy theory that has snagged me and some of the people I follow on social media? Am I worrying that democracy in the U.S. and, by extension, here too, is being dismantled by a hostile foreign power and some collaborators in country unnecessarily? I kind of hope so. And you can tell it’s a truly messed up state of affairs if I hope my mental state is a bit off rather than what I’m seeing and reading being true.

But if it is true, and Rees-Mogg, Farage and BoJo force us to leave the EU without a proper deal (leaving them free to inflict all manner of right-wing ideology on us – has this been the plan all along?), and the band of reprobates over the water continue to push America to a lesser, more insular and racist version of itself, then hopefully enough people won’t roll over and let them do it, and will continue to resist.

Operation Don’t Die: Update.

The bike is still in working order and the cycling to work has been continuing fairly steadily for 2 days a week most weeks. Still doesn’t seem to be getting any easier. In fact, there is a bugger of a hill that I used to be able to manage but can’t seem to conquer at the moment (for those of you familiar with my whereabouts geographically, it’s the hill that leads up from Oakengates to the Domino’s Pizza roundabout). It’s annoying that I’m not noticeably getting fitter.

I suppose it doesn’t help that I’m really not a morning person. I stay up too late and resent having to get up. When you include a 4-mile(ish) bike ride up some pretty shitty hills before even starting work it doesn’t improve matters. I suppose I should do even more, but by the end of the week I tend to be so knackered (not just the cycling, but everything else as well) that there’s little room in the weekends for it.

I guess I should just keep on keeping on though – it’s got to be better for me than not doing it, hasn’t it?

Getting older? Sure. Wiser? I couldn’t possibly say.

I just had a birthday. 39. Thirty-nine! How did that happen? It’s a weird kind of hinterland age – half the people I know insist it isn’t old at all, while half are either too polite to agree or are in the same boat with me.

It’s strange, because I still feel like the same person I’ve always been – you don’t feel older exactly – you just are. Sure, you have more experience so might have made different decisions knowing what you know now, but that’s hardly something new.

I am making a bit more of an effort to take joy in the moments and places I can find it, because it feels like it’s more important at the moment in a world where too many people seem bent on making life as joyless as possible. So I took some time off work, bought some new CDs and Blu Rays and soaked up as much of the best parts of my life as I could. Went to the beach with my family on the weekend. The sun was shining but the sea was most definitely still cold. My eldest loves the water though, so I allowed her to convince me to get in, and had a great time just spending time not as a parent, but as a play mate, just remembering the simple yet potent joy of being young and spending a day at the beach.

I felt a few things wrapped up in a towel drying off afterwards. One of those things was cold. However, another was refreshed and enlivened. It seems that the way to stop myself feeling old is to act as though I’m still young! Is that wisdom? I don’t know. Sounds a little bit like it.

New occasional feature: Ending with a song relating to the post:

Oasis: Stay Young. “Stay young and invincible.”

How much is art really worth?

Well, it’s worth a great deal, clearly. It helps us get through what is, for many of us, an increasingly shitty day-to-day existence. Like contact with loved ones, music, film and other more traditional forms of art nourish us in ways we can’t quite put into words. But, I think there is a line.

This thought came to me while writing on my other blog about Rain Man (although pieces written by Empire’s current editor Terri White, Sali Hughes and Dylan Farrow (as well as a follow up written in Vertigo) had already put this somewhere in my mind. Molly Ringwald has also recently revisited the films she made with John Hughes though the #MeToo filter, giving yet more food for thought regarding favourite films). I recalled how Rain Man’s star, Dustin Hoffman is one of the many sullied by the recent outpouring of sexual harassment cases following the implosion of Harvey Weinstein’s career. I think it can’t fail to have an effect on how you react to a film when one of the people involved with it is someone with a somewhat murky moral character.

Sometimes, it might be possible to still enjoy some films, if it was more of a collaborative effort. Regarding Rain Man, I noted in the review that to completely disregard it now would be to disregard the great work of co star Tom Cruise and director Barry Levinson, as well as the others involved in its making. The same is true of Baby Driver. To refuse to watch it due to the presence of Kevin Spacey is to stick two fingers up at the huge amount of work Edgar Wright put into realising this glorious vision where driving, walking, talking, shooting and fighting is done to the sound of music. It’s a marvel and to dismiss it due to Spacey’s involvement feels somehow disingenuous.

Then there are other times where it is impossible to turn a blind eye. Last Tango in Paris, for example. The infamous butter-as-lube anal sex scene was allegedly sprung on poor Maria Schneider without her knowledge. While they didn’t have sex for real, she still suffered the indignity of having Brando smear butter around her arse and writhe about on top of her. What you’re seeing in that scene is a genuine sexual assault. Brando and director Bernardo Bertolucci claimed the pursuit of authenticity to justify their decision, as if Schneider would not be able to act the scene and the reality gives it a truer feel. Turns out Schneider never really recovered from the ordeal and for their ‘art’ Brando and Bertolucci ruined a career and a life. Sali Hughes wrote a much more eloquent article (linked above), but my sentiment is much the same as hers: fuck that. Shit like this is why I hope the #MeToo movement burns all the rot from Hollywood (and every industry) where men abuse their power over women. The excuse ‘but it’s art’ washes not at all.

Then there’s Woody Allen. You can’t separate Woody Allen from a Woody Allen film. The same is true of Roman Polanski. I suppose there is the possibility that Allen didn’t sexually assault a seven year old (and there’s the rub – as it can’t be proved, who gets the benefit of the doubt? The men so you can continue to enjoy their films? The girls/women because fuck me if there’s one thing victims of sexual assault need it’s to be trusted and supported?). But…what if he did? There are some Woody Allen films I love, and actors and actresses I love are still falling over themselves to be in his films. But I don’t know now if I can (or should) bring myself to watch them. To do so feels too much like supporting his alleged actions and the rancid system that exists to protect and support him and others like him. While Allen continues to deny, Polanski, on the other hand, admitted in court to anally raping a 13 year old, so for me there's little left to justify continuing to watch and enjoy, much less agree to perform in, his films. Yet people do. Because it's art.

I confess I find myself in a troubled quandary. The law, quite correctly, states innocent until proven guilty. But sexual assault, especially if committed years ago, is nigh-on impossible to prove. Shouldn’t some of these men be in prison by now? Does wealth or a reputation for being a good actor or director really put you above the law? It fucking shouldn’t and that’s the truth. At the very least it should signal an end to their career, shouldn’t it? Allen and Polanski have escaped the fate that has justifiably befallen Weinstein and Spacey, but I don’t think I can find it within me to continue to be objective to their work, to turn a blind eye to the actions of which they are accused.

What a bloody mess.

The problem with equality.

Most people appear to support the idea of equality. The idea that everyone is treated, supported and respected equally, regardless of race, gender etc. The problem is that many of these people don’t support equality at all, because if things were really equal, I mean really equal, then those people would have less. Those with more than their fair share aren’t willing to part with it to make equality anything more than a pipe dream to be paid lip service to. It’s why Liam Neeson is all in favour of men and women being paid the same, but isn’t willing to take a pay cut to make it a possibility. Does he really need $20mil per movie? Does he fuck. I know cutting pay isn’t necessarily the best way to achieve parity, but who the fuck needs twenty million dollars? Ever, never mind per movie?

It's why The Sun thinks the right thing to do is insisting women should be employed to walk around in their underwear at darts, boxing and Formula 1 events for no earthly reason whatsoever. It’s why the richest and most powerful will always, almost without exception, insist that they retain what they have, while the poorest make do with less, or nothing. If they’re famous they can always appear on Comic Relief or Children in Need, using their likability and fame to entreat the far less wealthy masses to fork out, so they can continue to exist in this wildly unequal reality that is to blame for a world in which things like Comic Relief and Children in Need continue to be necessary year after year after heart-breaking year.

It’s why The Sun (again) thinks it’s outrageous that someone should use their benefits to buy Christmas presents (should they and their children literally have to live a miserable existence because they are poor? Would that make you happy? Do you want to live in Oliver Twist?). This shit is all misdirection. If you’re getting angry at someone claiming a few quid because they’re out of work, or a disability benefit even though they might be able walk a dog, then their ploy has worked and you’ve been had. If you’re thinking it’s perfectly acceptable to spend most of your life working hard for barely anything then you’re doing their job for them. Those people that barely have any money aren’t the ones making it difficult for you. I read an analogy for this somewhere which basically compares the whole thing to a plate of 10 biscuits. Those CEOs, those off-shore money-hoarders take 9 and 9 tenths of the cookies before you even see them. To stop you from noticing, they point out that this person is cheating you of your hard-earned cookie crumb by not working themselves to death – doesn’t it make you angry? Don’t you think we should persecute them? What? The other 9 and 9 tenths? Don’t worry about them – we’ll keep them and that way a few crumbs might trickle down to you over time. But probably not. Anyway, it’s this person’s crumbs you should be fighting for. Look, even The Sun says so.

Don’t give me that bullshit about how by reducing some of the obscene profits of some people would trigger some race to the bottom we should avoid, not when in 2017 the richest 2% in America made enough to fund the entirety of America’s social programs designed to support the poor. There’s no reason whatsoever why with our current level of know-how we couldn’t have 10 billion people comfortably supported on this planet – we have the technology to feed, clothe and sustain everyone without destroying natural resources or ruining the planet’s climate. If we were able to redistribute wealth, resources, develop alternatives to the current status quo it wouldn’t even be that hard. But those that have the majority of the wealth and power are willing to literally let the world burn before tolerating equality. No, scratch that, they have a vested interest in it, and they will never stop distracting us by going on about the other humans in the same boat with different beliefs, gender, skin colour, country of birth etc. like they could in any way be to blame for this shit.

Genuine equality is not going to be within reach anytime soon, because it isn’t actually wanted, in spite of what is said. Hopefully one day. But don’t hold your breath.

Too many.

“A person is smart. People are dumb dangerous animals and you know it.” – Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones, Men in Black, 1997)

There’s a perfect world that most people have in their heads and think that if only they could arrange for certain things to happen, then that utopia would be within reach. Trouble is everyone is complex, multi-faceted and different, so one person’s perfect world is another’s hell on earth. Some might want peace everywhere, an informed and intelligent populace with a social conscience, leading to the overcoming of catastrophic climate change, poverty and a new age of enlightenment, co-operation and scientific discovery. Some people think their perfect world would be one without people that are a different colour, religion or [insert culturally-relevant subject matter here for yourself, because frankly, the list is endless]. It seems that many of those in charge of numerous countries think a perfect world is one without poor people (on the face of it, a commendable aspiration, but methods of achieving said aspiration are sadly much less commendable).

The truth of it is we’ll never see that perfect world we want to strive for, because we don’t all share common cause, and there are far too many people to be able a convince a significant enough portion of them to build the world you see. You might throw names like Ghandi or MLK in my face in response to that. Fair point, but are we really any closer to the world they envisioned? They just had MLK day on the US, where Paul Ryan posed in front of a statue of King, spinning some bullshit about how he agrees with the message of equality and peaceful resistance, which for him appears to mean spending much of his political career trying to reverse the Affordable Care Act, seemingly for no other reason than it was introduced by a black President and brokering a monster tax cut for the rich while standing by and watching while poorer immigrant families that have been living in the US for 30 years are torn apart by the Government of which he forms a major part. Then being bunged a cool half mil by some of the super-rich he’s working for. I’m genuinely baffled how someone doesn’t literally fall apart from this level of cognitive dissonance.

You can talk to people one-on-one, and maybe have a chance of each of you understanding the other’s perspective, which is a start you can build from. But how do you do that when there are so many of us, in thrall to different ideologies spouted on all forms of media with no thought as to how it might affect other people. You just can’t resolve that on a larger scale – everything from the democratic process (although technically we don’t exactly have a democracy, more an elective oligarchy or a kakistocracy, but I’m well aware I’ve laboured that point a number of times previously), through the ability to maintain an informed, educated and non-impoverished populace, or an ecology that can support us, right through to not going to war. There are simply too many of us to sustain it.

At some level, I think most of us know this (or is that my own brand of cognitive dissonance?). But as far as I can see are carrying on regardless hoping that somehow we’ll find a solution. But what to do? How do we even begin to move towards a point where we can begin to see eye to eye? To be honest, I’m buggered if I know. How can you fight such a large scale collective difference of opinion, particularly as it’s often fuelled by those supposedly in control? Abolish the politicking for personal profit that passes for democracy both at home and abroad, dismantle press outfits that demonstrably lie consistently to further a profit-increasing agenda. Make asshole millionaires and asshole companies pay tax. Smaller generation sizes. That might be a start. A big ask, and not something that I can see happening any time soon. A steadily deteriorating climate provides a ticking clock that makes it even more unlikely.

Ah well. We’ll either figure it out in time or we won’t. Take comfort in the knowledge that wider Universe doesn’t care a jot for your cares or mine, and try to find enjoyment where you can.

Newish occasional feature: Ending with a song relating to the post:

Blur: There are too many of us. “That’s plain to see.”