In Yes Minister (or it might have been Yes, Prime Minister) there’s an exchange between Jim Hacker, MP and civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby. Hacker complains that he has been presented with some insoluble problems. Appleby reminds him that every problem is also an opportunity, to which Hacker quips ‘in that case, you have presented me with some insoluble opportunities.’ That seems to sum up my life at the moment. Yesterday the estate agent came to take photos and measure up the rooms; she was a very personable Geordie who appeared to be past retirement age. I found this very heartening as I’d been expecting a young man in a snappy suit with clip-board, tablet and those little widgets you use instead of a tape measure to find the dimensions of a room. I’d spent the morning and half of yesterday whizzing round, cleaning and tidying, unsure just how tidy it should be and settling for a lived-in look (which is pretty much what I do every day when I look in the mirror.) Anyway, she did the job, we signed the contract and are now GO for sale. It should be on the market soon and it’ll be interesting to see what it looks like with those wide-angle lenses they use. I’ll probably change my mind and want to stay (not really). Once the offers start flooding in it’ll be time to head up to Scotland and start looking around for real as opposed to just online. I was very daunted by the process of selling and buying before we started but we seem to be negotiating it OK so far.
In my spare time I’ve been watching Ever-Decreasing Circles and making notes for an upcoming project (more of this anon.) There are some audio commentaries too, which are interesting and give a bit of background, as well as an episode of ‘Did You See?’ which was an intelligent programme of TV reviews hosted by Ludovic Kennedy.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0262953/
TV always used to be considered beneath serious reviewers, but I think Clive James changed all that as he cut through the crap and showed that you could talk intelligently about popular culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RIpToSafps&list=PLr7b7dDVElfQ3pspis32bKxjRg45HSLVT
It’s different now. I dislike cultural snobbery as much as anyone but I think there’s far too much dumbing-down nowadays; it’s as if we’ve confused equality with inanity. Viz: the Baftas. My son and I watched the programme the other night; it was interesting to see who won, although a lot of the programmes were unknown to us as there are so many different platforms now. But we were cringing all the way through at the commentary which was horribly cheesy and inane. Why can’t people comment intelligently and amusingly on these things? It’s beyond me. RIP Clive James, you are much missed. You were a breath of fresh air in a stale world.
Kirk out
Sarada Gray 