Not so my recent experience, very efficient service for a cataract operation I didn’t really want, but it cost me nothing and happened way before I wanted it to. Local private initiative Eye surgery attached to the local Hospital very efficient, minimal staff, no groups of green clad dozy mares clustered around a computer doing bugger all, place was clean efficient, if it’s an example of privatisation bring it on.

The NHS needs privatising, badly.

But saying that because of the way it’s been politicised, sounds like a bad thing, it’s not.

As long as the service delivered remains free at the point of collection, privatisation would bring thenecessary efficiencies, as it would with local government, but that is a whole other can of worms.

wwaswas – Member
cut the size of Government and particularly local Government

One thing that you think either local or national government should wash it’s hands of and make redundant anyone involved in delivering?

I don’t necessarily think it should wash it’s hands of anything, but I do think there are too many levels of management, and the upper levels are vastly overpaid and under qualified for that pay. Plus take here locally, there are 59 councillors in my town although Councillors are not necessarily expensive in themselves they often have expensive habits that get re imbursed from the public purse, not necessarily VAT related I admit, but New York State has 59 councillors to deal with millions, our lot have to worry about 55,000 folk, to which end our local Council Tax is quite high, my small business before I closed it down and retired was paying £600 a month for one small Industrial unit, my house a modest enough bungalow is £200 a month. I didn’t used to notice this stuff much when working full time, but now retired fixed income you tend to monitor it all, Utilities off their face expensive and it keeps on rising, yes I had a little personal ebay account that I’d just started using to supplement the beer fund, ebay yields bugger all these days, and this, just another little 2% addition, but it’s a wind up.

I would rather cut the size of Government and particularly local Government and their officers, when did it become fine to pay the leader of Scunthorpe County Council 650,000 a year? Not that this is relevant since Vat doesn’t necessarily cover local Government, but, we have an overbloated bureaucracy, which of course we’ve blamed Europe for in the past but will now become even worse here.

VAT was introduced when we entered Europe from memory, I doubt for one moment it will be withdrawn when we leave, i would also venture that it is probably the Tax that produces most fraudulent activity from various scams down the years.

Sorry about all this, having a bad day, must stop ranting.

wwaswas – Member

Happy now?

Rhetorical question?

No I’m not happy, I’m busy preparing my vat return.

Ahem, Amazon, Starbucks, Apple, Ebay are not paying this tax people, you are, all they are doing is collecting it.

wwaswas – Member
More *correct and fair* taxation

ftfy
How you can fall in line with all the rest of the sheep being conned by this bloody Government into thinking somehow it’s right for us, the most taxed nation in the region, to have to pay more for them to waste, fiddle their expenses, give away, bloat the public sector, I do not know, why is that?

Why is it OK for a tax that began life at 8% to now be 20% and you think it’s fine? Seriously why would you?

Nobody knows what’s good for me, better than me.

I’m getting quite good online and UK phone based service from a company called CCL, they are a brokerage which at present offer UPS, UKmail (with the bags) & DHL (a bit pricier), they all baulk a bit at shipping stuff bigger than 120mtrs but I do get away with the occasional 1.60m long kiteboard.

EDit, interesting poster above has had good experience of DPD they were crap for me in another life, but one thing everyone is agreed on, Parcel force are the carrier from hell.

So, I get to say computer set my alarm, play a particular tune, would it hook up to iTunes?

Not really happy to spend a red cent with Amazon, hate the dmaned company, but… 35 quid for that much verbal control in a house full of women who mostly ignore me.

A shame it can’t be made to respond to “Computer’ do whatever.. In best Scotty voice of course.

Wheels.. even better with pneumatic tyres.

Logic does suggest to me if anything were able to survive the time necccessary to get here, likely it would have to be artificial mechanical some sort of android hopefully programmed to find out and report back and not to autodestruct. Then again whoever sent it might probably have self destructed in the time period.

Does this mean Hammerschmidt is dead then?

Very well written post GeeTee1972, enjoyed reading that.

convert – Member
I’ve been offered a Laser Vortex
What does this mean? Offered as in given for free or offered as in offered for sale? If the former yes- I’ll try anything once. If the latter no – they are a bit bobbins

Somebody I know tagged or posted a fb link, it’s for sale but not for lots of money, but it’s way up North, -hampton or Nottingham somewhere that’s bound to bring on nosebleeds.. So I think I’ll keep looking or do another self build.

I’d like a Contender, they get raced at our club, but I fear they are just too big, I don’t think vertically challenged lightweights get on with them at all well. The other option I get pointed out is the Farr 37, but my feeling about it, is that it’s too short for our wavelength and would in all probability barely hold it’s own against Lasers..

No, and that’s the issue, Solent chop is similar but not quite as large as full English channel chop.

I’ve seen lots of youtube stuff on lakes and res’s and I know a bunch of lads that used to sail them up North, Yorkshire dales I think it was, the Escrits, but not much from the south coast where I would be using it. I did think about the 600 but it’s got an absolute monster rig, to big for me, I’m 67kgs which is my problem.

Not a deal of wire experience hence thinking of this as a starter, my worry is the leeside hull digging in and pitch poling, does it happen often on this particular boat, could be a not so fun expertience out on the wire then the nose digging in.

Because my best bike keeps getting punctures, so I have to use my 2nd best which has slicks, on my normal loop which can get dodgy, lucky it’s really dry right now.

Interesting but useless fact, Slicks never puncture, no nobbles to flick up the thorns.

Always worth getting out to Dachau, if you’ve never ‘done’ a death camp, keeps a certain sense of perspective.

maccruiskeen – Member
Do you have an opinion?

Of course I do, but do you really want to hear it? 😉

Not so sure about wolves on a small island like this.

The beaver experiment worked though

We can always do with more beaver.

Embarrased to say it was the Beatles Please Please Me along with all the other girls in 1963.

I didn’t buy any more of theirs until Revolver and Rubber Soul then of course the Iconic Sgt Pepper which I still have.

It wasn’t until 64 that I could establish my rad bad biker credentials with The Rolling Stones album.

Waterski Racing, the most mental pre occupation of my life, it did turn me from a little wimp into a tough little b’stard, but jesus, 50 miles racing offshore, cross channel a couple of times both ways, what was I thinking? I barely go near a water ski these days and even when I do, ten minutes and I’m knackered, doubt if I could make two passes through a slalom course even.

We’re going to need something for the coming cod wars.

I’m glad we’ve got it, we’ve always been a naval power and have had our asses saved by that fact on a fair few occasions.

It’s all very well being high minded lefty liberal intelligentsia, but the rest of the world aint, there are still all manner of threats and although we may walk softly we still need to carry a big stick.

Don’t waste money on charcoal things, dig a hole in the ground, get those disposable one offs, charcoal for the beach, out camping whatever, at home it’s Gas, handy for when your brand new all singing all dancing electric induction hub keeps blowing the house electrics over Christmas when the entire family is down.

For many years I used to gas barbecue the Christmas Turkey (big bird for 8 of us) tasted way better than the conventional oven, we had one of those Outdoor Chefs, marvellous device.

Mercers Lake used to have an RYA set up on it so they’ll probably give you a day rate/license whatever, if you come down this way (M20, Hythe Canal) you’re supposed to have a license but nobody does and you can paddle from Hythe right through to Rye on the Canal. You can probably cowboy the Medway or the Stour in Kent, the entire coastline obviously you can do, but you ought to know about basic safety stuff, like not going out in howling offshore winds, wearing life vests and getting back in/on it if you tip it over.

PS, I love those sculptures of Count Zero’s by the way.

jimjam – Member
Kindly explain the literal meaning of this
.but remember, self expression is bullshit and subtext doesn’t exist.

Hmm explain a literal meaning where none exists? I mean that’s going some for a philistine and a fascist don’t you think?

Can’t you accept that somebody can be a complete philistine, fascist <insert whatever> yet still have an appreciation of art for his/her own good reasons?

Oh and by the way I’ve come up with a cheaper alterative for your shark requirement, have you ever considered keeping tropical fish? Here, a nice red tail shark and it moves about…

jimjam – Member
I get the feeling you’re deliberately being obtuse now for the sake of it but just in case my own knowledge is lacking, please educate me about the lack of self expression, creativity and meaning in art.

Funny, I get the feeling your trying to have a highbrow discussion about Art with someone who thinks Highbrow is bullshit. Every morning I shower, opposite the shower, is a Picasso, not an original, not one of his best, not even one I particularly like, but my daughter bought it for us as an anniversary gift, or she copied it at school, I can’t remember which, but it’s colour goes with the decor of the bathroom and it’s feature wall, also the latest bullshit I have to look at whilst I take a dump every morning, it’s currently the trend I’m told.. the feature coloured wall. Meanwhile the painting I paid 750 quid for just because i was stupidly pissed at an auction for a cause I totally forget, (except a total tosser I was with accidentally fell in the moat and broke his arm)no longer hangs where it did because it no longer goes with the decor, wrong colour, are you getting it yet? Art isn’t someone’s self expression, not to me, it’s decoration, something to look at, it might have sentimental reasons, it might not it might provoke memories, it might not. I really wish I’d bought those marbles when I had the chance and the cash as I did in those days, but sadly not, ironically they would have gone with the current decor.

I appreciate your tenacity flogging that joke but basically, if you could do what Damien Hirst does, you’d be Damien Hirst. Tracey Emin the same.

I could probably have done what Damien Hirst does long before he was around, how about going to the beach, arranging three massive industrial heaters, stop framing them, moving them again, stop framing that, then repeating it a third time up and over the swell of the shingle using a hired crane, the title of the picture ?Heatwave, it was for an Industrial heating company called ITT Reznor we probably got paid a couple of hundred quid, the airbrush artist probably got fifty it was the seventies and obviously we’re not Damien Hirst.

But whatever let’s just beg to differ, nothing you say is going to change my opinion and clearly nothing I say will sway yours and as Richmars quite rightly points out, neither of our opinions is right or wrong, they are just different opinions, what is wrong and often the case, wealth and bullshit trying to sway opinion and value in the Art world that is a fact that cannot be denied.

So the idea that art can have subtext or can be a form of self expression is “highbrow bullshit”?

Exactly that. Oh and not wishing to overly trouble you but we haven’t had the cheque yet for the pickled Shark in Perspex, we’ve had the shark a few hours now and it’s beginning to smelll, you do still want it don’t you?

Oh I nearly forgot we have a set of new clothes returned from an Emporer client of ours also due to none payment , would they interest you by any chance?

jimjam – Member
Google Charlotte Harris – marbles, the young lass from our sailing club then tell me her efforts are worth less than an unmade bed.
You’re looking at the bed as if it’s a final statement of Tracy Emin’s technical ability – it’s not. It’s just a medium she chose to express an idea. When I look at Tracey Emin’s sketches I can see a massive Egon Schiele influence, and by extension Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka. But sometimes painting or drawing aren’t the right medium to convey something.

That idea what was it again ‘I’ve been shagged a lot and don’t make the bed afterwards”?

jimjam – Member
Re the marbles. What is the artist trying to convey? What’s she trying to tell us about herself? What emotion is she trying to elicit? Is there some hidden subtext beyond marbles or is it just someone showing off how well they draw marbles?

She’s lost her marbles?

With all due respect, this is exactly the highbrow bullshit I mean, why does she have to have had to be trying to convey something other than a nice decorative painting to hang on a wall? I’ll ask her next time I see her, I missed this post or I would have asked her last night, turns out she’s given up painting only brush she’s held was used to paint the kitchen in the last two years, a tragedy if it becomes permanent. Her architect partner can afford to support them both in a very modest house in what was once the wrong end of Town, contrast that with Tracey Emins fortunes.

As I said, Art is fickle bullshit, just like life.

Google Charlotte Harris – marbles, the young lass from our sailing club then tell me her efforts are worth less than an unmade bed.

Er, just a thought, that pickled Shark, when can I expect the deposit cheque, we’ll probably have to order one in? 😉

jimjam – Member
Second, if I asked you to pickle a shark and suspend it in a glass case could you do that for me?

It’s easy to dismiss modern art because it’s not what you like, but if the sneering critic is asked to convey a mood, or an action or a theme without literally drawing those things, how would they do it?

Yes of course sir, which kind of shark would you like me to pickle?

(I became a commercial ‘graphic artist’ so something like that would not be beyond my remit I could wax for hours on any manner of crazy shit we’ve done over the years) And that pickled shark would be costed by the hour and easier for me personally than had you asked me to paint a portrait of your goodself resplendent with Beard, Hebtroco trousers and socks in sandals, I couldn’t do it, hence my admiration for those who can. Back in the day there were air brush artists commercial illustrators I kept a couple from posters we had to do, sadly long faded, but that was another skill I greatly admired, as i do the old masters the likes of Constable etc even though his subject matter doesn’t exactly grab me by the balls.
My original training was as a photographer which might also explain my philistine admiration of realism, but as I said earlier it’s an opinion personal to me as admiration of a particular style of Art is personal and OK my possibly too flippant derision of modern bullshit which wasn’t intended to offend, but Damien Hirst, That Tracey Emmen, frankly they offend my sensibilities particularly in the face of the dozens of talented artists and commercial illustrators that receive only a relative pittance for their efforts because chance or not being in that Lunnon, didn’t smile on their efforts.

Well it’s back to working fine today, but then the weather is a bit cooler and there are clouds about haven’t got a barometer so can’t check the pressure, but the winds in the South West and that cures most issues with Wifi.

Thanks to everyone who bothered, it’s still a mystery to me allan23 seemed to probably have an answer that will be enough to set me pondering about some thing else, that and my ‘submarines in space’ idea also having been quashed recently.

jimjam – Member

I’m at a loss as to how you can “grow up in the art world” and not understand why the technical excercise of painting or drawing to some degree of photographic realism isn’t held in the highest regard.

Er.. because you’re not me?

And that bit at the end about Art being personal?

Photo realism to me is the highest form of human Art Technique, pickling sheep, trashing beds, slapping paint about, is the lowest, yet their value to some is inversely proportionate to the skill required to produce them, it’s an opinion, mine, not a fact. 🙂

Art is just like the rest of life, full of bullshit, bores, fools and their money but best of all some very talented people.

I grew up in the Art world, my old man taught at Art school, went to Art college myself, we had a family Art shop.

The principle of the Art school was a guy Gerald something or other I forget his name which is a shame he could paint near photographic quality still life, and that talent to me is by far the most amazing, yet often in their bullshit world not appreciated. There’s a girl at our sailing club she won some portrait Turner prize can paint the most amazing real to life portraits I’ve ever seen, she commands 4 grand a portrait, maybe one day her stuff well be worth shed loads, who knows, it depends who she gets to paint, I keep threatening to get her to paint me then kill her to make the painting really valuable in a promising artist killed by psycho kind of way. Which sums up the whole bullshit, nobody really gets to be valued for their talent unless the ‘right’ usually talentless rich bore appreciates their stuff.

Art is mostly bullshit, but it doesn’t stop you appreciating whatever you like, I buy stuff from time to time, usually when I’m pissed at some charity auction do or other or from artists like the two I just mentioned but I do it (other than being pissed) just when I really like whatever it is they’ve painted.

So no it’s not high brow but it is and should always be very personal.

PS Salvadore Dali was a genius and my favorite artist of all time.