Its nearly April you fools!

Do you like my plastic surgery?

The Hopeless Romantic: A Case Study

So this is the time of year where we all get a little bit lovestruck and try and reflect on how much we love each other. For many people this will involve an over the top display of affection backed up with purchases that will please the other but will mentally have them ticking boxes.

Others will fail miserably in this aspect of Valentines day and some won't bother at all. Whatever happens it all comes back to the great ideal of the Romantic. The doddering red-tongued iconoclast of poetry and wit who flatters to deceives and woos to the groove of an imaginary drum that sounds curiously like a heartbeat. Arrogant and impossible to achieve? You bet.

So the alternative is the so called 'Hopeless Romantic', the love lorn Morrisey type who yearns for something more and somehow 'feeeels' more then the average person because they are touched by some kind of intangible loneliness that somehow seperates them out and makes them special. Cop out? You bet. There is nothing more egotistical then calling yourself a hopeless romantic. I did myself once and now i realise i was a fool.

And the reason for this is that A romantic is someone who focuses entirely on love, nature and the universe in that order and not a tool for definition. Those who use the term hopeless romantic as a construct of their identity are even worse because they wear their forlorn sighing depression like a Cherub on Ketamin.

The romantic is not something that you can define yourself as but more something other people define you as. If someone can define you as a romantic without a hint of sniggering then you are one but you cannot call yourself one. I know this because i am not one and the reason for this is because to come out and be this dogmatic excludes anyone from being given that honour.

But at least i know my place in this world.

I'm Old Gregg.

Annoying face

I don't like Hilary Clinton's face. Its so wild eyed and she's caught such distasteful floppy faced enthusiasm. It's like a disease.

In other news It was a nice weekend with lots of chores and nice weather. I'm all chored out so its good to start the week at work.

But i'm excited as the ninjitsu journey begins this week and me and Muffin begin our training. I will be learning under sensei Duncan Olby and announce my new Bujinkan rank to the world:

Jūkyū White belt.

All right.

Things to shove up your arse

· To do lists

· Ungratefulness

· Things that go bump in the night

· Shit offices

· Equally rubbish voices

· Smelly septic tanks

· Most other things

In response to the idiot McMaster.

1) That the board of every cultural organisation should contain at least two artists and or practitioners.

Most cultural organisations staff are filled with artists themselves so having a self serving artist on the board helps no-one. It is proven that artists have little or no understanding of administration and organisation in the arts so i believe it is best that instead of enforcing this rule it would be beter to stipulate that boards liase with artists whose work lies within a particular field of interest that the organisation wishes to take. This should be a requirement to ensure sound decision making.

2) That all publicly funded cultural organisations remove admission charges for everyone for one week each year to address the endemic ‘it’s not for me’ syndrome.

Seeing as the arts council has recently had its budget slashed i find the idea of making those who have actually retained their funded status bow to a free admission charge for a week inherently stupid and shows no recognition of the extra costs incurred by these organisations by doing this. Who says that just because cultural organisations receive public funding they must cut another vital source of income? I think this government really has no idea of how badly the arts need money. If arts organisations do this then the goverment must meet the costs.

3) That the ten most innovative cultural companies receive ten-year funding packages to support their ambition.

Equally insane. So you've made your decision and you have your ten most innovative cultural organisations. They've got their funding. Then what? Do you do the same next year or is this some ten year contest? If its every year how do you budget for it? If its every few years how do you stop conflict arising from those who have missed out on this golden goose? Is it not possible that this leaves many organisations out in the cold who are then left to turn to corperate funding to survive? Does this not than create some sort of league for arts organisations? It sounds like another method of control similar to the stranglehold that the Times has over education.

SO….

What to write about….

Hmmm….

Get back to you on that tomorrow.

P.S Death to the Nineties!!