The Long View

What a Muppet Mr Hester is.  He has at last decided to give up his million pound bonus, but the damage is already done.  The general population (including myself) is up in  arms about greedy bankers yet again, the politicians have been embarrassed and the bank's reputation has hit the floor again.  By Sunday he would have been better to have decided to stick it out.  When Barclay's Bob Diamond's bonus is announced, his £1 million will look like peanuts.  Better still he should have come out when the controversy first broke and said he will fore go the shares.  He doesn't need the money...his salary alone if £1.2 million, and last year he picked up a cool £2 million bonus.  He will never spend it.  Never.  So it's all about greed. Or willy waving in the company of other bankers who are all over paid.  Pure and simple.  If he can't even figure out that his remuneration will cause a furore then what is he doing in charge of the bank which cost as all a fortune to save?

As a side swipe, I gather the SNP wants the oil, but doesn't want the bank.  You can't have it both ways Alex.

I'm, still resisting the download revolution for my music.  CDs are the thing...and if I had my way, probably still vinyl.  The sound quality is better, and I'm still a fan of a nice album sleeve, particularly if it comes with the lyrics or any other goodies.  I've been eagerly awaiting the album from Lana Del Ray which promptly popped on to the door mat on Saturday, a couple of days before official release day.  Thank you Play.com.  I'll ignore all the controversy around her - she's not the first and won't be the last 'image enhanced' pop star; it's a very good album.  But a strange thing, if I try and put it on the computer so I can transfer it to my phone, iTunes doesn't give me the name of the songs, the artist or the album title.  Assuming that Apple hasn't taken ag'in' her, I can only assume its because the data doesn't go on to the database until 'official' launch...I wait with baited breath for tomorrow.



It was a busy weekend for the youngsters - they were busy escorting parents and potential pupils around the school on Saturday.  One of the tasks was to help the arrivals park (parents not small children) and it's interesting that even at this stage, the parents were showing signs of stress...hurling abuse at the sixth formers when all the parking spaces were full.  Nice.  It wasn't like that in my day, and I don't think it should be like that now.  Don't you fear for the teachers if these kids get in and then need to be disciplined?

A splendid view across London towards The Shard - standing heads and shoulders above everything else.

Whilst The Boy was at his girlfriend's mother's birthday lunch, we took The Cat for a National Youth Theatre audition down in Dulwich.  I know the area only as a place to pass through (and for a few parties that that are best not mentioned), and had forgotten just how hilly it is.  I thought it was Rome that was built on hills, not London.  Once we'd abandoned The Cat, we headed up a steep slope to go to The Horniman Museum.  And what a splendid place it is...a real mix of stuff.  We had expected to stay for an hour, but I think we left three hours later....stuffed animals, musical instruments and an aquarium had obviously held our attention.  We were the only people without children in tow...so had to try and restrain ourselves from barging in front when we wanted a closer view of an exhibit.  It was all very middle class and lovely, but I couldn't help but feel there were whole swathes of kids who would thoroughly enjoy a trip, but will probably never get the chance even though it's all free.

There was a marked contrast between the parents of Dulwich and the parents of Loughton.  Dulwich prefers that carefully contrived look of casualness...jeans, baggy jumpers and no make up, whilst in Loughton parents are lathered in pancake make-up, bleached hair and designer labels on everything.  For the Loughton kids, it's a trip to 'Cakes and Shakes', for the Dulwich kids a trip to the museum.  Different, very different worlds.