Category: Uncategorised

I’m currently stuck in a typically modern dystopian loop.

Since my driving license expired, a few weeks ago – and despite immediately sorting a new one, which has now (after approx’ two weeks) finally arrived – I’m unable to deliver for Amazon. Currently my only income.

The utterly ridiculous scenario is this: my account has been ‘temporarily disabled’. To re-enable it, I must submit photos of my new driving license. But I can’t do that – the Flex app simply won’t do it – until my account is reinstated.

Or put another way, to re-activate my account, I’m asked to do something I simply cannot do, until my account is re-activated. Say wha’!?

I’ve called Amazon’s off-road support team three of four times in the last 24 hours. And, just like trying to submit my photos – which isn’t working via the app or via the suggested alternative (the Flex support email) – it’s exactly like banging my head against a brick wall. Painful, and getting me absolutely nowhere.

The continually repeated automated robot response to my telephone calls – including repeated requests that the issue be ‘escalated’ – is to upload photos via the app. But I can’t do that!

I’ve been doing this job for about two years now. And throughout that I’ve maintained a near perfect record, on the ‘Standing’/Dashboard.

In a job with zero security, this scenario hardly makes one feel valued. And, as so often in recent times, it triggers my depression, leaving me at my wits end.

We’re watching The Rings of Power, Season Two. And we’re enjoying it. But I do confess, I wish these movie-makers wouldn’t fuck around with their source material so much.

Or, if they really – as they invariably do – feel they have to, at least to do so in a manner more in keeping with that source material. When that source is Tolkien, I feel it deserves more respect.

But I can’t be arsed to expend any energy pulling apart the myriad ways this departs from Tolkien’s ’canon’. In some respects it’s a bastardised realisation of something I believe he wanted to achieve.

I recall reading that in creating his Middle Earth mythology, Tolkien aspired to create a form of British or indigenous alternative to the faulty weak mishmash of Arthurian type stuff.

Something more akin to the darker more complex Northern tales he studied in his philological work. And something that could be built upon by others. Well, the genie’s out of the bottle.

Quite what Tolkien would make of how his legacy is evolving, I’m not sure. I think in some respects he might be pleased. At least that folk thought his myths compelling enough to further elucidate.

But I also think he might be more than a little horrified, at having spawned rapidly evolving empires of imaginary worlds, and the rather capitalist ’product’ type nature of it all.

From Game of Thrones to what is being done to his legacy. I may be wrong. But I think, for all his stuff about ‘fairey’, that he was primarily concerned with culture. Not just entertainment.

And certainly not the hollow pursuit of big bucks.

FOOTNOTE:

It’s fascinating how much of a Tolkien’s work is being dredged through, in the search for yet more publishing bucks. Hopefully there’s also genuine love for and interest in it, as well as the relentless pursuit of profit?

Personally I’ve really enjoyed how his offspring have helped finish some of his unfinished fiction. And I’ve also loved how some of his academic work, or stuff related to it, such as the Sigurd & Gudrun stuff, has been published.

In posting this article – a review, I suppose? – I’ve become aware of yet more posthumous Tolkienian publishings, such as this:

The pictures above show the state of utter carnage that currently prevails in the shed workshop. This shed, shed #1 (so called because it’s the first shed we had, on moving in here; we inherited it) is intended to be our art studio as soon as poss’.

Pictured above, I moved a light that was previously just sat on a work surface, to the ceiling. Much better! It’s still carnage in the shed. But progress has been made. A fair amount of stuff has been moved out, or binned. And what remains is starting to be a bit more organised. Another similar blitz tomorrow ought to see things substantially improved.

So, after a delish pasta dinner (watching Portillo week-ending in the amazing city of Prague), we came out into the garden, for a fire and a coffee. A lovely way to round off the day!

SURVIVAL FOOTNOTE:

My driving license finally arrived today. We were overjoyed. I can resume work. Or can I? I’m unable to update my driving license via the Flex app, and trying to do so directly, via email, so far, has not worked either. Gaaah!

After a fairly poor night – mercifully rare these days (or ought that be nights?) – I slept till midday.

I was hoping, desperately, truth be told, that my renewed driving license would arrive in the post. Instead a letter from E-On and a late payment Dart Charge were all that appeared.

So I paid the Dart Charge. To my great relief and surprise it was only the same as I should’ve paid ‘on the day’, £2.50. And then I took the old bog to the dump.

I really need to be selling stuff, whilst I’m not delivering. But I’m unable to do almost anything. I’m permanently exhausted, with very close to zero motivation.

All I managed today, beyond the Dart Charge and Turlet disposal, was some reading, of Volume I of N. A. M. Rodger’s naval trilogy. Which is excellent.

In bed now, watching Season Two Episode Two of The Rings of Power.

Rod’s pal, plumber and guitarist Jim Daykin, came over today, and installed our new ’Milan’ toilet. Thanks, buddies.

Also over today, Paul, our friend and neighbour from Cambourne. Now retired, and consequently able to visit during the day.

As well as finishing reading Mr Gillray, our new toilet, only ordered yesterday (thanks, Dad!) arrived. The highlight of my day!

The new crapper arrived about an hour after I’d cooked myself a brunch of eggs, bacon, mushroom and garlic, on toast.

Batting bog-related texts back and forth with plumber and drummer pal ‘Dyno’ Rod Norman, lead to an exploration of the avian bird genus, Turdus. What fun!

I’d asked Rod if he could recommend a plumber out our way. And he suggested Jim Daykin. Like Rod, Jim is a very talented musician. He’s due 1 pm tomorrow, to plumb the new lavatory in.

Apart from taking receipt of the new turlet, today was a day of resting and reading. Tomorrow, as well as Jim’s plumbing visit, my aulde pal Paul, from Cambourne – just retired – is visiting. And I needs must start trying to flog stuff, due to current unemployment.

But for now, back to tonight, I’m starting on Vol I of Rodger’s epic naval trilogy, Safeguard of the Sea.

I’m massively impressed by this book.

Draper Hill, an American cartoonist, clearly had a consuming passion for Gillray. The research evident in this work, first published in the mid 1960s – added to how many (esp’ of the more obscure) Gillray artworks are ‘from the author’s collection’ – is quite astonishing.

Ever since first encountering Gillray’s incredible prints, via my interests in Napoleonic era history, I’ve been blown away by them. Learning more about the man who created these complex and now potentially obscure/hard to decipher works is utterly fascinating.

P. 155 ‘Comprehension by a later generation requires a certain expenditure of effort.’ Very true, Mr Hill.

In addition to the usual biographical stuff, that one expects on any subject – birth, childhood background, education, etc. – one of the threads of chief interest with Gillray, given his milieu, political satire, is who is ‘paying the piper’? Whose ideas are we seeing?

Draper Hill goes into as much detail as the sources available to him permit. And it makes for fascinating reading. After a youthful period of being a gun for hire, Gillray became steadily more allied to Tories, like George Canning.

Often it’s Canning’s ideas, or those of other paying clients/masters, that Gillray deploys his immense talents on behalf of. But that said, as Hill notes, a lot of Gillray’s output, perhaps more so in the general ‘social satire’ arena, as opposed to political satire, and/or propaganda, drawer on his own ideas.

I’ve had this book ages now. And started reading it I can’t even remember when. I picked it up again, as a kind of light reprieve from the N. A. M. Rodgers’ naval trilogy (I’ve literally just finished Vol II of the latter), and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.

I resumed reading it yesterday, only a few pages in. And now I’m on the final rather sad chapter, ‘Disintegration’. It’s a compelling story, to me at any rate.

It’s also very interesting, how this book connects to Vol. II of Rodgers’ naval history, the latter ending, as it does, in the era of the French Revolution and Great Wars (as the Napoleonic period was known at the time). Consequently many of the folk Gillray either has dealings with, or depicts, were also recent subjects of Command of the Ocean.

Well, if slightly floridly written – especially impressive as this is not the author’s chief area of professional competence – incredibly well researched (the more so for someone not a professional academic), this is clearly a labour of love on Hill’s part.

I love it! And highly recommend it.

*Prob’ painted for Hannah Humphreys.

NOTE

All the illustrations in the book under review are black and white. I’ve included a couple of coloured ones here, to convey a fuller effect of Gillray’s work. If the potentially interested reader seeks decent colour reproductions, a better place to go than Draper Hill’s book – first and foremost a biography – is Clayton’s much more recent work, James Gillray, a Revolution In Satire.

FOOTNOTE

This book references numerous things that excite my interest, including such things as Broadley’s catalogue of Napoleonic prints, etc. Indeed, there are a great many quite diverse things Hill refers to I’d like to explore further. One such is this, a handwriting guide, using numerous bon mots to aid the cultivation of good penmanship.

We recently visited Chartwell. What an incredible place. Mostly on account of the location. The house and nearby art studio are amazing. But the landscape and gardens are even more breathtaking. 

Anyway, ‘pon our return home, from a week in St Leonards by the Sea, with the visit to Chartwell en-route home, Teresa suggested we watch this film, again. 

It’s great.

Compared with the extreme ahistorical travesty that was Churchill, in which Brian Cox portrays a really rather pathetic version of the ‘Great Man’, this is – whilst still inserting some fiction (any is too much, in my view) – much more in line with more traditionally popular ideas of the man. 

Gary Oldman is superb. Indeed, the whole cast is terrific. There are some modern intrusions into the film, some of which are along similar lines to some of those in Churchill. But, all things considered, to much less egregious effect. 

As ever, I’m interested to learn about the historical accuracy of such things: from the role of secretary Elizabeth Layton, to whether or not Winston actually rode the underground, and as a result was late for/or even absent from a Cabinet meeting, about negotiating a peace to be brokered by Mussolini. 

It turns out the real Miss Layton worked with Churchill after the timeframe depicted. And the Underground scene is completely fictitious. I think it’s a great shame allegedly ‘historical’ films like this take these liberties.

Inevitably, many viewers will take the fabricated parts at face value and believe them to be genuine history. And that’s just not right.

Nevertheless, this is a good film. Far better and more watchable – and despite elements of fiction, still more historically faithful – than Churchill. Beautifully shot, well directed, and brilliantly acted, a very engaging film.

I ordered some cushion covers and a ‘cowboy’ style belt from TEMU. The two cushion covers arrived as expected. The belt? Wasn’t the one I ordered.

From what I’ve heard from other folk shopping with TEMU, this is normal. Apparently they then jerk you around issuing ‘credit’, instead of a straight refund or sending the correct item.

I’ve decided to leave it as is. They didn’t get much of my money. They won’t be getting any more.

All things considered, getting home is alright, I guess? Initially I felt rather deflated. Back to the same old same old…

But then Chester re-appeared. Having gone AWOL – according to Mel – for a spell, his reappearance was a real mood-sweetener.

So, we’re back home.

Antonio, who only got back from collecting Ali from NZ on Thursday, is off to Spain again today, for his work. So we’ve hardly seen him!

Our lovely neighbour, Mel, who fed and looked after Chester – inc. giving him his meds – whilst we were away, popped round for tea and a catch up.

This is the sort of thing, above, that makes home-coming less happy. Goddamn clutter!

I brought a set of shelves back indoors, that has been out in the garden a good long while. And I restocked it with books, clearing two other areas that were ‘library overflow’; namely, the upstairs landing shelves, and the shelves near the dartboard.

This in turn freed up space to use the ‘new’ (Freecycle) metal IKEA storage unit, which we’ll be using as a temporary shoe storage solution.

I guess that means we’ve been reasonably industrious for our sacred-Sunday of rest?

Oh, all this rearranging also entailed swapping the two armchairs round, so as to maintain some form of passageway, ‘twixt the chairs.