Lords of Cottonopolis

Soundtrack - Velvet Underground & Nico and Thunder

We didn't find another internet Cafe which is why I have not posted for sometime. I am rather bored with both Football and The Jubliee which is probably enough to have this site banned under some form of Blasphemy law but I don't care. Blind Faith in either reduces again, any intellectual component which might exist in our society. I would consider any further comment on these as a waste of good typing time.

Something much more relevant is Simon Schama's History of Britain. He is now concentrating on the reformers alongside the monarchs. As one reviewer commented, this is because the documentation is only around for later minor characters. His last program about Victoria's reign brought my era of horror (The Great reform act - repeal of the Corn Laws etc) brilliantly to life. It showed what the Corn Laws actually meant which strangely was not obvious during my O-Level History. Get a grip on what is important, or should we make Simon Cowell the next PM?

I have a weird sense of unreality. I suppose it relates to my ideas about things changing while you are not looking at them. We all want things to carry on exactly as they are. I have just read "Trouble with Lichen" by John Wyndham in which an extract of the eponymous symbiote is found to retard normal metabolism and therefore produce an increase in the age to which a person can be expected to live. It is a very measured book with the heroes and heroines being absolutely set on the correctness of science ( An increase in average life expectancy will also lead to an increase in the expected mortality through accident or illness). This is a dilemma for those of us wanting to live longer as the very existence of such an "Anti-Gerone" will, while maintaining a human's youth for longer, also lead to huge changes in society. Things do not change on a Micro level but change vastly on the macro level.
I did get the feeling I was reading something by Fay Weldon rather than John Wyndham but I think his science is a bit more rigorous. Fay Weldon just likes to explore the social implications of science. She is certainly not a Heretic which she seems to imply with the title of her Autobiography - "Auto Da Fay" . I have not read it and I don't intend to though the picture on the front is very good - like a cross between a Paula Rego and a Stanley Spencer or one of those other 20th Century British Artists. (I know Paula Rego is not British but she does live and work in London).

Things not to talk about or watch this week :-

Jubilee
Football
Big Brother (Especially not Big Brother)
Countdown (but only because I am no good at it)