Friday 27 February 2009

1654 Mega Christian Churches and he killed me


In the last of the present series about the future of Christianity Cheri Blair, wife of former British longest serving Prime Minister and a practicing Barrister, asked the question, why is the Christian Church failing in Europe but thriving in the USA? Only 14% of the population in the USA claim to have no belief in any form of God whereas the percentage is 44% in the UK and 69% in Sweden.

In the programme Cheri did not address the question of the existence of God, or the historical validity of the Bible and the evidence for reported life of Jesus of Nazareth. She started from the basic assumptions of faith, of people with faith attending church. She asked questions of Anglican and Catholics Leaders in the UK and then went on a visit to the USA, speaking to such individuals as the Rev Jesse Jackson and the wife of President Bush.

Three things emerged from the programme. The first was not about Christianity but about Cheri Blair. The programme confirmed my hunch that she is planning a political career, on similar lines to that of Hilary Clinton, or perhaps she is even more ambitious with being Britain’s first elected President when after the death of the Queen Elizabeth, the country decides on radical reform with an elected head of State the abolition of the House as a chamber with titles and disestablishment of the Church of England.

The second is that instead of being a traditional Catholic she is at the forefront of arguing for women to have equality in the church and indirectly she questioned the continuation of the Church of England and even more indirectly the Monarch after Queen Elizabeth. It was evident from what was said that the Catholic Church with the present Pope is retreating even more into the establishing the purity of the faith and against modernism. An old friend from her youth in Liverpool who became a priest comments that the Catholic church has always been against change and that even to day if he took his ministry to prostitutes and gays he would expect to come under fire from within the church in contrast to the reported approach of Jesus of Nazareth. One British Church Leader could offer no explanation why the attendance and active participation was significantly falling.

Cheri suggested that one explanation has been the involvement of Europe in too major World Wars, with the occupations, the impact of the bombing of the civilian population, something with was not experienced in the USA and even in Civil war citizens woman and children, the elderly and sick were not directly affected in general. One has only see to the reaction to 9/11 to appreciate the difference between the experience of the two countries such as the decision not to take action to prevent the destruction of Coventry for example, despite having advance intelligence, because to do so would have revealed the extent to which we had penetrated their communications code. Several thousand were killed and injured un addition to the destruction of the city centre. Such actions, including the holocaust would test faith although there is little evidence in fact that it did, quite the contrary in fact as the churches thrived. Cheri argued that the change in the UK occurred with the freedom of the sixties which were significant greater than girls wearing short skirts and the impact of the contraception pill. For me issues such as the development of weapons mass destruction condoned by the Christian religions, the condoning of racial persecution and intolerance, the acceptance of Western wealth and third world poverty and sickness were also factors which challenged the authority of the older generation of the old order in the UK who I felt then and still do had become hypocrites unchristian.

In the United States various factors have created a different situation with perhaps the most important being the separation of the state from religious beliefs. This meant that traditional faiths could flourish with the establishment of Catholicism as a major force with the waves of immigrants from Italy, Ireland, Poland, Central and South America. Similarly there have been influxes of people of the Jewish faith in the early part of the 20th century and then again before the Second World War commenced and afterwards. Given that many of the early settlers went to the USA in order to achieve religious freedom it is not surprising that Protestants now accounts for over 50% of the population, that there are hundreds of different faiths and that many of the major new faiths originated the USA with each having several million of followers.

There has also been a strong movement, or movements is more appropriate to bring those with different doctrinal and practice preferences together

The consequence of this has been the growth over the past two decades of the mega church community, Cheri Blair visit one which was original established by a small group of young people who were dissatisfied with the religions of their childhood. To day they have created no one but several mega church buildings which from the outside look more like shipping malls or cinema multiplexes arena auditoriums with sating for 20000, cinema seats, large screens and full amplified audio visual presentations but proclaiming the basic and original Christian messages. The establishments provide places for a comprehensive range of activities and for a major involvement in all forms of charitable works. The positive aspects are the sense of equality and opposition to racial and other prejudices and the impression that participation is for as much or as little as individuals want, but the approach is to provide a total approach for life rather than just as religious fix once a week, not different to go to a football match or rock concert, opera and other forms of entertainment sport and group experience, However the feeling that this could be a weekly injection of religion which enabled people to go on with their life as before remained.

The cultures of post World Wars I and II Britain were very different from that in the USA in the same period, but the enlargement of the European Community and globalization does provide the opportunity for new approaches to become established. However I am not convinced that the older established churches, particularly the Catholic Church and the Churches of England and Scotland are able to adapt themselves, or that there is the momentum for the same kind of developments in the UK as in the USA. It would be necessary for the Monarchy and the Aristocracy to removed from government and the disestablishment of the Church of England.

I was awake in time for the Anew Marr Show where Greg Dyke was Greg Dyke and the discussion ranged from Bankers, MI5 and Torture, Margaret Thatcher and Jane Goody. There was a good and balanced piece on the death of Ivan Cameron and the approach to disabled children and support for their parents. I also enjoyed a piece of Radio Caroline and the disbelief some young people have that there was no popular music on the BBC radio and we had to listen to Radio Luxembourg.
I watched part of the League Cup where Manchester United were not on form having rested a number of key players and Spurs had opportunities to win during normal time and then in the period of extra time, but were hopeless with the penalties kicks failing twice in the first three which Man United took successfully. Prior to this I watched Newcastle lose at Bolton 1.0 enjoying a lunch of roast pork joint and roast potatoes. Followed by grapes. Later I had a gammon salad

During the morning I had felt in the mood for Bach first with the Organ and the well known Toccata and Fugue which is the headline piece on of the first classical Long Play record in my small library, followed by a record of Cantatas, his Violin Concerto and then a two album of the Brandenburg’s. I listened to some Cantatas, a harpsichord concerto and some of the Brandenburg. I am listening to the cello suites 1-4 while writing.

Immediately after the Cheri Blair Programme I was transport to the late Victorian Countryside with Lark Rise to Candleford where the eldest sister of the dress store who was the at the cusp of polite good behaviour and scandal avoidance and the local policeman an authority figure in the community have a brief clandestine affairs during the period each year when the husband devoted himself to garden in preparation of the autumn show and his wife had taken to her bed in a form of protest at her dis-satisfaction with the state of their relationship. Mention of the dress shop reminded of an early episode when a piece of coloured ribbon was bought to brighten the life of the wife of the stonemason who was also feeling under the long marital weather and mothering. As a child I was also fascinated by pieces of coloured ribbon bought to adorn dresses made to pattern by my birth mother who became most skilled although it was an elder sister whop had stayed at home in Gibraltar to make the clothes for the family of seven sisters and four brothers. She used a pedal movement machine just after the war and then bought a small table top model which I learnt to use although only on sewing small patches of cut offs together.

The relationship is ended with the help of the younger sister and other good neighbours and other situations in the episode are nicely resolved to leave the audience with good feelings, including me.

Having complied that Lost had lost some of its integration and cohesiveness with the first episodes, last night was excellent with the back story on Locke’s suicide which was in fact a murder by guess who (Ben), and we find that Locke’s body along with the although Jack and Hurley, Kate, Sayid, Sun Hwa and Ben. The plane is hit by the white light turbulence that is moving the island in place and time and only Jack and Hurley and Kate find themselves back on the Island. In this episode the rest/some of the passengers have crashed on the island and one of them meets up with a female who has been under the custody of Sayid on the plane and mentions that she has found Locke who did cores not member being among the passengers. He says the last thing he remembers is dying. He then flashes back to when we last had knowledge of him after returning as part of the Oceanic six survivors, in Tunisia where he is contact by Charles Widmore who explains that he was on the Island but ejected by Ben and that the six need to return in order to prevent catastrophe with Ben at the heart of the trouble and offers to help him find and persuade the others to return together, giving him a false identity and a helper. Locke meets resistance from everyone contacted and then his helper is killed, (he learns by Ben subsequently) who comes to hospital where he has been taken after the shooting and subsequent car accident and where he is the process of committing suicide. Ben stops this, is given information by Locke where upon Ben strangles Locke and fakes his death as the suicide he was originally attempting. Back on the Island after the crash Locke goes to see some injured survivors and this includes Ben. One of the other passengers asks, do you know and him and Lock utters what will become of the great lines of TV drama. Yes. He killed me!.

1090 TV Watching while in ScotlandToday was six days ago when I had an odd assortment of experiences with much unplanned television viewing.

Today was six days ago when I had an odd assortment of experiences with much unplanned television viewing.

I decided on a morning excursion to .Stirling, but the traffic was a nuisance, with Lorries heading for the Kincardine Bridge, and then, a slow, to stop, build up of traffic, as the outskirts of the town was reached. There had also been several showers, some heavy, so I decided to visit what appeared to be a recently built and opened 24 hour Azda for some shopping at Alloa, but made a mistake, and found myself in a retail park with a Morrison's, so decided it would do. It was here I could not resist buying two cream apple turnovers, eating one in the car park before setting off, and having recently taken to eating fresh pineapple mixed with chunks of watermelon I bought two pineapples for £1.50 whereas back home the cheapest at Azda over the past couple of weeks has been £1.68,and a watermelon. However one reason for the visit was to buy pens which I forgot, so I decided to call in at the Azda as well where I also purchased what was advertised as a single movement travel chair which folds into an over the shoulder bag, much like a shooting or fishing bag. Last summer if I did not arrive early enough for the July concerts in the park, I had to make do with the grass. This could be an ideal solution.

I became unusually tired after a prawn salad lunch and made little progress with my work so turned to television of Morse and Midsummer murders both previously seen, to turned to two programmes which were new to me. One is a games show in two phases were it is theoretically possible to achieve a monthly cash sum for life totalling close to £700,000. For this one has to uncover white as opposed to red lights. The amount of the monthly sum is determined in the first phase and then length of payments in the second with the additional twist that your partner is in a booth with the ability to watch the progress of the game and all a halt if they think the luck of the other is about to run out. This has the advantage that if they are right you take away the amount gained when the partner calls halt but if they do and you continue successfully then you lose any further winning period. It is therefore essential that the couple has agreement on what to do beforehand otherwise it is likely that any winnings will go to paying the lawyers.

The second diversion was of more lasting interest, I had bracketed Castaway along with a number of other heavily edited competitive reality adventures but was impressed by the plea statements by the remaining competitors to continue as the final approached. Each individual appeared to have genuinely expanded themselves by living as a group in primitive and challenging situations. The programme reminded of a series when a group of men participated in the life of a monastic order, and of others where one group of participants attempted to recreate medieval living and another Victorian household experience. Although he was not an immediately likeable character I had a hunch about who would win castaway and for once I was right.

I usually shy away from programmes about cooking, even those featuring personalities, because they always make me feel more inadequate than usual. In this instance seven chefs were competing to prepare a sweet pudding for a banquet to be held in Paris by the British Ambassador to promote the excellence of our culinary art. The judges made Simon Cowell into a gentle sympathiser and I would have loved to have tried even those puddings which they slated. It is time to tackle being a fatty with greater seriousness though.

I seemed to be having more naps than usual and less and less inclined to attend to work so it was unsurprising that my attention then focussed on programme about the rise and fall of the red guards in China. I was already familiar with the subject and previously studied the rise of Communism. What I had hoped for was some indication of how the switch to a mixed economy, based on significant help from international capitalism, had been achieved since the deaths of Chairman Mao and the Prime Minister, and the deposing of the hated wife of the Chairman. There and something like 1000 new cities to be created involving a controlled shift from countryside into an industrial revolution like no other and with the consequence of China leading the world economy before the end of this century.

The only obstacles to this new revolutionary March of the Chinese people appears to be international terrorism and if we succeed in destroying the planet at a faster rate than presently prophesied. Both subjects were covered during the day.

The first was an alarming programme which purported to reveal that the CIA/USA security services were torturing suspects at secret camps in Europe and elsewhere. The programme appeared to prove that secret rendition flights had operated into Poland adjacent to a secret camp and in a stop over rest and recreation centre on Majorca. The film centred on what is alleged to have happened to three terrorist suspects, adducted. moved to different locations where they were tortured, with one former English resident, but not a British subject now moved to Cuba, a German subsequently dumped in a forest in a mid European country and a Canadian whose story appears to have been accepted by the Canadian authorities as authentic. The programme concluded with the information of a series of lawsuits and the intention to bring war crimes charges against senior US government figures as well as those who are said to have undertaken the physical and mental torturing of individuals.

The subject was also aired on Question Time with former Deputy Prime Minister, Michael Heseltine talking sense about the balance that is needed between the roles of the state to protect against terrorism and ensuring that measures taken do not create the kind of society which the terrorists seek to force upon everyone. I have always liked Michael Heseltine, despite his politics, from the time as politician terrible when he seized and swung the Mace into his new role as a charitable elder statesman. Despite my understanding of the nature of power and government, I find it difficult to believe that senior politicians authorised let alone have been aware of the use of torture which cannot then be used to bring individuals to justice outside of the USA arrangements for those in Cuba, and presumably held elsewhere. It is understandable that the movement and location of captured terrorist will be kept secret from concern of organised break outs and terrorist reprisals on supporting governments. It is the responsibility of those who live in democratic societies to set the limits on the measures to be taken to stop terrorist activity.

The impact of the development of the Chinese economy on global energy supply, and its consequence for the environment are mind bending especially as it means that China will eventually have the financial means to explore beyond our solar system, and may become the first people to visit other communicating species, if such species have not already been in contact with human life on our planet before now.

It all makes the latest decision by the British Government, with support from local authority representative bodies to plan reducing the weekly collection of non recyclable waste, to bi- weekly more suspect. The presented argument is that this will force the public to give more attention to recycling as much as possible in the alternate weeks and reduce the quantity going to land fill sites. However the likelihood is that this will only increase the number of private cars taken household waste to the specialist council centres where the present emphasis is on recycling, and the disposal of white goods, batteries, tyres, metals and building materials. The suspicion is that this is yet another switch from a general local tax to pay as you go, but at least the scheme does not appear dependent on yet another computer system. Another fiddling while Rome burns?

1651 Power and wealth always corrupt


Wendy Richards, the actor, whose death was reported yesterday was someone loved and known to almost every household in the British Isles but will be a name unknown beyond these shores unless devotee of the British TV soap drama series Eastenders or the situational comedy show, Are you being served?

She was born in Middlesbrough during World War 2 and her parents moved around the UK. Her father committed suicide in 1954 and her mother died of cancer in 1972. Nothing further is immediately available about her family life except that she went to schools in West London and Rickmansworth Hertfordshire and then to the well known Italia Conti Academy stage school, the oldest in the UK and now with various establishments in greater London from those taking pupils age 9 years to graduate acting and art courses.

Internationally the most well known graduate is likely to be Noel Coward and them the actress Gertrude Lawrence. Among those who made a name for themselves in the cinema as well as stage were Anthony Newley and Nanette Newman, Anton Rogers and Googie Withers. More contemporary names include Leslie Ash, Peter Bayliss, Russell Brand, Johnny Briggs who appeared in the soap rival Coronation Street, William Hartnell, the first Dr Who, Bonnie Langford, the child star who continued into adulthood, Martine McCutcheon who also appeared in Eastenders and who went on to have a career as a singer and in film as well as stage, the much loved comedy actor Leslie Phillips and Anton Rodgers, Nadia Swalhalia who also appeared in Eastenders before becoming a TV presenter, the internationally known comedy actress Tracy Ulman and the former child star Lena Zavaroni and who died at the age of 35 after losing a battle with anorexia nervosa.

In the 1970’s Are you being served Wendy Richards became well known as the store assistant Miss Brahms, a show which gravitated to the London stage over Christmas, one of several during that era and which I would take my birth and care mothers to see on New Year visits as I they came to stay over Christmas. She had appeared in a TV soap before in the 1960’s and had appearances in dad‘s Army, Up Pompeii, the vehicle for Frankie Howard, and two Carry on Films, one with Barbara Windsor who also became and established actor on Eastenders. She commenced in Eastenders as a young married woman to Arthur with a tyrant of mother in law, and graduated into a fine character actor, although there was something negative in the character she was required to play in later years. She is reported to have fallen out with the series managers when asked to remarry again and she left the show after twenty years 2006. For the past two years she made several appearances, and a TV advert for the Post office despite having been diagnosed with breast caner in 1996 and a further development in 2002. Although given a clean bill of health in 2005 last year it was found that there had been a widespread development from which she was unable to recover.

Wendy was married twice before living with John Burns, a Painter and decorator, twenty years her junior from 1996, and marrying in 2008. She had no children.

This year I did not tune into the Master chef competition until the Final two programmes when the three contenders cooked for 400 staff at Buckingham Palace and 200 competitors and dignitaries, including Royalty, at the Burghley Horse Trials annual dinner, for half a dozen International Chefs with 16, Michelin stars between them. Then before the final three course meal cooked within two hours they were sent individually to three of the top ten restaurants in the world. The impression gained from the first programme and the first part of he second is that there were two outstanding amateur chefs, with one the eventual winner Matt, the most creative. His limitation was a lack of finesse in presentation.. His interest was in combinations of natural ingredients and hearty food. He is big man with a soft heart who was in tears of joy on several occasions when master chefs expressed their appreciation for his work.

Married with three children, born in New Zealand to British parents who moved back to the USA and the oldest of winner at the age of 42, he had previously worked by day as an IT engineer. His transformation even during the last two of 24 programmes in the six week series, but which involved several months in actual work and filming, was breathtaking. I have reservations about the justification for creating dishes which can involved thirty processes and a similar quantity of ingredients and are then delivered with prices for a three course meal of £100 upwards before the wine. This is because food is such a basic to human existence and millions do not have sufficient and continue to die from starvation and the illness associated with under nourishment.

However as with fine wine there are those with the financial means and the interest to develop the palette to appreciate the various mixtures of flavours and textures as well as eye catching presentations.

For the record the winning meal comprised a starter of a trio of pieces of rabbit with nettles and pancetta crisps. We used to eat rabbit as this used to be a cheaper dish than meats and at one time my birth mother bought two rabbit with the intention that they would bread, but they just got fatter and father until taken to the butchers as she could not eat to eat them.

The main course was a was a spider crab thermidor with mussels, foraged sea vegetables and a side dish of large chunky chips.

The pudding consisted of cream lavender and blackberry moose with honey comb and blackberry sauce.

I had a soup, two brown finger rolls with thick pieces of cold gammon and a seer and black pepper mustard with earlier a pork chop and apple sauce with new potatoes garden peas and whole carrots.

After the failure of the national cricket team to fail to win the last Test yet scoring over 500 runs in their first innings and then having the opportunity to insist that the West Indian team should follow on, because of injuries to bowlers’s they bated themselves but deciding to go to a lead of 500, only for the opposition to bat on with the help of some rain breaks, I debated watching the start of the 4th test. When England won the toss and got off to an excellent start and by close had scored another 300 runs for the lost of three weeks.

In the afternoon there was a visit to the dentist to see the dental hygienist, something which required mouth open contortions.

I listened to Tina Tuner, art artist I have enjoyed seeing in an arena twice, on video and listening on CD two of which I posses. I have seen the film based on her life and read the book. I also have an Ike and Tina turner tape compilation. Addicted to Love, Golden Eye, River Deep Mountain Eye, I don’t want to fight, When the heartache is over, Cose Bella Vita, Whatever you need, Something Special and Paradise is Here. Better be good to me and What’s love got to do with it, Complicated Disaster and In your Wildest dreams, Open Arms and In Great Spirits.

I went to sleep during a two hour, well one hour fifty minutes to be accurate dramatization of the last days of Margaret Thatcher as British Prime Minister. Previously there was a dramatization of her rise to power, an amazing story in which she overcame the prejudice of a Tory party which preferred to see woman stay in the home looking after children, or being restricted to professions such as teaching and nursing rather then taking an active role on politics, which still believed there was no role for women in politics After winning the nomination she won the General Election and commenced to rule her party, the Government and the UK with a clear vision of Britain competing on equal terms with the rest of the world. She was adamant about a number of issues which she held in black or white alternatives and where compromise was not a word she recognised. She was respected by senior members of the Labour Party more than many of her political colleagues and she was also hated by them for the policies she was able to push through Parliament. They secretly cheered as she paved the way for them to break free from enchainment to the trade unions, and many were as hostile as she to the role of social services and social welfare, and to the public services, wanting everything not only to be run as a business, but to be in non governmental hands. She might have succeed, especially after the success of defending the Falkland Islanders which contrasts with the reaction to Tony Blair who led the British participation and where the number of service personnel killed and wounded are broadly the same. What did for Mrs Thatcher was the change in the system of financing local government in much the same way that the abolition of the ten pence income tax rate nearly did for Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

With hindsight the evidence is that she would have won a fourth election as despite the strength of feeling against her, the middle class remained worried about the implications of having a Labour government. As the programme highlighted she was with four votes of winning the first ballot outright. She was the author of her own downfall expecting loyalty with the House of Commons Party and failing the personally court votes. The problem she faced was the combination of hatred within the Parliamentary Party from those she had excluded from Government and the cowardice of those who feared loss of their livelihoods at the following General Election. The snake in the grass was John Major who successfully courted both wings of the party to gain the leadership once the majority of her Cabinet colleagues told her they would not support her if she insisted on standing in the second ballot. This was the reality of British Party politics. Power and wealth always corrupts

Wednesday 25 February 2009

1649 Zoe and Sam Wanamaker


Who do you think you are? is now in its seventh series and I look forward to each new exploration of a family history but also cannot resist feeling it would nice if I had been able to have the research support which enables the personalities to uncover their backgrounds. This was especially so this evening as Zoe Wanamaker was able to uncover all the questions she had about her ancestry.

In 1895, in the Ukraine, then part of Russia, and where anyone who was Jewish was required to live in the towns and cities of the South West and where they were restricted in the work which could be undertaken as well as how and where they lived. Most records from this time have not survived but in a drab municipal building in what became an important industrial and naval city of Nikoleav, situated at the confluence of two rivers as they enter the Black Sea, Zoe was able to be shown the birth record of her paternal grandfather, and what remains to day of the area of the town where those of the Jewish faith and life were required to live in cellar like one room dwellings with only half a window above ground.

It was not surprising therefore that when the USA opened up her borders for a new workforce to fuel its rapidly developing economy millions of Russian people and from the central European nations grasped the opportunity. In the instance of her great father, his wife, her grandfather and their other children made the journey by train across Europe to Antwerp where they took ship to Canada, where shipping records show they all spent time in a hospital before making the rest of the journey to the United States and to Chicago where another relative had earlier settled, saved and sending the family the travel tickets, and was presumably available to greet them when they arrived in the city with their clothing, a few other possessions, their hopes and dreams, speaking only Russian and Yiddish.

In one sense the family were lucky because on arrival in the USA everyone was required to have a medical and anyone with a serious condition was not allowed in and returned. Two weeks after arrival the mother was rushed to a local hospital where later a telegram was sent to announce that she had died from a heart attack. Zoe was able to visit the cemetery where Jewish people were buried, and where the administrative officer took her particulars as her great grandmother’s grave did not have a contemporary relative listed and where although in the charity section there was now a tall headstone at the base of which could be seen the word mother chiselled from the stone.

An elder sister of Zoe lived in another part of the USA and through another relative Zoe received a typed copy of the story of her Grandfather’s early life which he had written in his forties. From this she learnt the moving story of the death of his mother and the grief of his father so soon after arriving in the country. Then after gaining work at a local factory and in his early twenties, he had become engaged in a long and fruitless strike against a reduction in wages.

I break off because the picture of an emigrant society is similar to what is happening in the UK and other developed parts of Europe over the past decade and in India and China. Then the USA was wanting to develop its economy to be increase self sufficiency and reduced dependence on the more expensive imports from Britain, Europe and the rest of the world. With the abolition of slavery it was necessary to encourage the hard working and ambitious poor from elsewhere to come to the country where they would undertake production work for long hours and low pay. And because they could be replaced by others more desperate to get a start if wages and condition had to be reduced.

This has also become a necessary development for developed Europe today as production processes which do not require skilled labour can be out sourced in China, India and other developing nations, and where in India for example the average wage is about £350 a year, and where in the world there are estimated to be a billion others who survive on half this amount.

The Chicago strike lasted for several months. One striker was killed in a battle with the police while another, a young woman died of starvation, but in the end the workers returned because the union no longer recognised the action and stopped giving food and clothing relief. The effect of the strike was the development of the a new union, nationwide which became the Garment worker’s union, and ZoĆ«’s paternal grandfather had become the equivalent of a shop steward and commenced to meet a wide range of people as he recorded in his notes. The programme did not disclose the rest of what was written in the notes, but it was sufficient to explain why her father Sam had become a Communist in his youth. It was also understandable that as an individualist he decided to leave but retained an active interest in a number of organisations concerned with civil rights.

Zoe was able to learn of this involvement for the first time because under the USA Freedom of information laws she was able to view the CIA file on her father and be given a copy for the family record. This does not include the names of informants and employees who are still living.

Prior to the Second World War her father, Sam Wanamaker had trained as an Actor at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and had helped build the stage of Peninsula Player’s Theatre in 1937. He travelled the USA establishing himself as an actor and when working on Broadway in 1940 he married a Canadian radio soap star Charlotte Holland and who also became a stage actor.

In 1943 he played the part of a Russian Soldier in the play Counter Attack at the National Theatre Washington and as a method actor he had engrossed himself in the life of the character, was attracted to the ideals of communism and joined the USA Party. He also attended Drake University before being drafted into the Army in 1953 leaving in 1946 moving to Hollywood in 1947 and leaving the Communist party at that time.

Once allies of the USA Russia now became the main enemy as they Cold War developed over the control of Berlin and Germany, and the continuing Community belief that only through a world communist led coalition could the communist system be effectively established and private capitalism ended.

This led to concern in the USA that with such a large emigrant population from Russia, the country was vulnerable to spying and to the provoking of unrest. This concern was reasonable given what had become known about the activities of some German and Japanese residents and what would have been known then about the tactics of the Communists and Trotskyites’ and such groups in particular, however the methods of the Senator McCarthy led Committee were crude and the consequences of being blacklisted or refusing to given evidence at he Committee meant the loss of livelihood and had social consequences.

Less than a decade later I had become a single issue revolutionary, but committed to non violence because of my fundamentalist Catholic background and because I had read Satyagraha and All Men are brothers The United Nations published Life and Thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi (bought on 1st December 1959) I was not a subversive or Enterists, in that everything I did , I did openly, and was prepared to accept and take the consequences of my actions. I was also fortunate to have developed a friendship with someone who explained the nature of state capitalism in communist states and I had also had early direct experience of the position of the Socialist Labour League and their approach to weapons of mass destruction and to industry. In 1960 I been invited to man a bookstall at a London annual meeting/ conference of Socialist Labour League to which Pat Arrowsmith had been invited to address.

I left the stall unattended to enter the conference to which I had to complete a card giving my address and other details to listen to Pat and then had stayed on to listen to the then leader Gerry Healey. He was an established demagogy and spent the first part of his address explaining that while he agreed with Pat about the UK abolishing the possession and potential use of weapons of mass destruction as part of the worker‘s struggle against the capitalist bosses but he was not a unilateralist and considered it essential that those representing the working classes of the world retained the maximum range of weapons especially nuclear weapons in the war against private capitalism

The second part of his operation was to explain how the ordinary workers of the UK had to be led to understand the nature of private capitalism by undertaking strikes in key industries. It was only by being on strike for prolonged periods that the true nature of state supported private capitalism would be revealed by the use of the police and army in their defence, the use of scab labour and they and their families being forced to live on hand outs and charity. The art was to use and employed genuine grievances and the tactic was enterism, infiltration of key industries with the machine tool industry their next chief target. He reviewed their success in terms of placements and strikes over the past year. It was also evident from those groups marching together as a group on successive Aldermaston marches and enquiries made at the time just how many were genuine peace orientated organisations and how many were climbing on the bandwagon taking over leaderships and with other and sometimes more important agenda’s about which they were far from being open.

What interested me was ZoĆ«’s reaction to the contents of the CIA file on her father. She appeared shocked that he had one, and that it included innocuous confirmation from a fellow female actor of his admission that he had been a member of the Communist Party, something which he admitted himself. She also appeared shocked that his membership and support for a number of civil rights organisation had been included, with notes on the reactions of the audience when he had spoken. Against I was struck by her apparent naivety and surprise that such organisations were used or fronts for those with different objectives and motives to those stated in public. At the same time there was the hint of being an apologist or being uncomfortable about his membership of the Community Party, being a socialist and a lefty. I am not being over critical because these days one is branding oneself by declaring that one has always been committed to the socialist ideas and principles recorded as those of Jesus of Nazareth and have consistently denounced the hypocrisy of a state Christianity which applauds and furthers private capitalism especially by the leadership of the Labour Party in the UK. For me it has always been a case of means being as important as the ends and not the other way round.

The reaction of Sam Wanamaker to being told he was about to be issued with a subpoena to appear before the Senate Un-American activities Committee was to effectively seek asylum in the UK, where he was filming Mr Denning drives North. He remained in England with his wife and three daughters, including Zoe working as an actor on stage and screen, as director and producer. In 1957 he was appointed Director of the New Shakespeare Theatre in Liverpool and in 1959 he joined the Shakespeare company at Stratford upon Avon and in the 1960, and 1970 he produced or directed several works in London at Covent Garden including the 1974 Shakespeare birthday celebration. It was during this period that he established a relationship with the then widowed American actress Jan Stirling.

He continued his wide range of interests appearing films such as The Spiral Staircase 1974, Private Benjamin 1980 and Superman IV in 1987 and he directed a version of Aida with Luciano Pavarotti at the San Francisco Opera House.

However his legacy is not his acting, film work and directing but his decision to found the Shakespeare Globe Trust to rebuild the Globe Theatre on its original site having discovered and been surprised at the lack of interest other than for an old plaque at a disused brewery when he had first visited the site in 1949. He obtained the site and planning permission although this is reported to have been opposed by the local council. The sum required to create an exact replica was in excess of ten million dollars

As the programme last night revealed Sam had disclosed to his daughter that he had questioned his decision to make London his home rather than accept the what would have been a subpoena, possibly refusing to answer questions about his colleagues and be sent to prison as had ten of his colleagues beforehand. She conveyed the sense of regret he felt about what he came to regard as a failure to put principles in practice when the going gets tough. It is however one thing to act when only you have yourself to consider and another when you have a wife and a young family and you could be giving up the one activity which you not only love but have spent your whole life doing.

Although I personally found it a very difficult thing to do, when I commenced to protest and returned to prison for six months knowing there was an alternative which offered complete freedom except pursing what I had been doing, I did not have a career or knew what I wanted to do in terms of work, had failed at my second choice of work and had no dependents although I was aware that my activities were having an impact on my birth and care mothers and other family members. The situation was very different when at the end of my first term at Ruskin College, I had become aware of the wonderful opportunity that had been given through a local authority further education grant and had discovered that although attending a specialist adult education college located in the City of Oxford the University opened its doors to Ruskin students in that we were able to attend various university societies, lectures and the library, and that there was a special arrangement which enabled students selected by the college to go for interview for a place at an Oxford, and in some instances, a Cambridge, College to read for a degree, avoiding the first public examination and taking three years to complete what other students were expected to do in two. Faced with such options and opportunities I elected to accept the recognisance rather than risk withdrawing of the grant and or expulsion from the college. I never considered my actions as being wrong subsequently but I did in general regret some of the changes in position and approach to issues which developed later, even those I knew intellectually that this was the right thing to do.

I had an interesting conversation when taking the bus to Sunderland yesterday afternoon. I had walked with enthusiasm to the bus station as the sun was bright and although the wind of the previous day persisted it was warm enough for the time of year. I had just missed the 35 direct route which meant a wait of close to 15 minutes and when it failed to pass by on the other side of the road after waiting five minutes after the due arrival time and one of the other routes arrived at the next stop I hurriedly made my way to that. I was soon joined by a man who I subsequently learnt was rapidly approach ninety. He had opened the conversation by commenting on what I fine afternoon it was and I mentioned to having gone out the previous afternoon to look at how the £5 million had been spent on the park. He immediately contributed by speaking of his knowledge of the park from boyhood in the 1920’s and when I mentioned the cost of a bacon roll and coffee at the Ship and Royal to that at the new facility aimed at the coach party tourist and car visitor for the day, he revealed that at the age of 15, an orphan brought up by his grand parents he had been sent to work as a live in page boy at the Ship and Royal, then a hotel. When I was pre school child spending nights in the air raid shelter ion the garden, listening and occasionally seeing the rocket bombs, he was in the navy travelling the world, he was about to tell of his visit to South Africa when he arrived at his stop. Although he needed a stick, I hope I might live as long and keep my mind so clear. He also added on additional piece of information about the Lake and the wildlife. Apparently the birds would migrate annually with the onset of Winter and then the island with trees and shrubs had been added and the birds were able to use the island over the winter, whereas previously the availability of trees and shrubs had not held them because the island being an island was secure.
I need to visit a building society and the post office before making way to the bank to deposit the return of £17.50 from the headquarters of the Vehicle and driving licences at Bristol. I have written several times about my experience working for the Middlesex County Headquarters of the vehicle and Licences Department before the service became Regional and was only later centralised. In January I was sent a form head change of photo and which required a fee of £17.50 to be paid. I had completed the form, obtained a new photo and returned with the existing licence and the parts which can include more current information. It was then all returned back a new form for those who reach 70 years and involves making various statements about heath sight. I still returned the fee as I though my new photo reflected my age. However although the photo has been included on the new licence, they are no printed in black and white, the money was returned in the form of cheque draft. On arrival at the bank I was struck that only one of the eight to ten cashier points was open and in addition to this cashier there was only one other staff member at the reception enquiry table. It was still before 4 pm. Admittedly I cannot recall visiting the city centre branch of the bank so late in the afternoon before but I wondered if it a sign of the time. I was stuck by the number of shuttered shops on my back into Shields.

The bus had gone along the coast road for part its journey stopping close to the Whitburn compressive school and which is used by some pupils who live in Sunderland in preference to the Wearmouth comprehensive at Seaburn which is in Borough and closer to where they lived by about a mile. About a dozen pupils go on the bus at the stop, mostly teenage girls and what struck me was how big of body several of them were in terms of size around the hips. We are becoming a fat nation.

The final thought for the day was to put in a request to see what was available my MI5 file for the period 1960-1964.

Sunday 22 February 2009

1647 Age of Enlightenment


Awake early meant that I was able to watch the Andrew Marr show which included Anthony Sher and a well known South African actor who are appearing in an African styled interpretation of the Tempest with a colonial occupation and freedom seeking theme, and a reminder of an earlier episode of the History of Christianity series which explained how Christianity looked the other way as millions of African were killed or survived the journey into slavery and a life long physical and sexual abuse as well as loss of their cultural identity. A second suitable subject for Sunday was the widespread abuse of their position as Parliamentarians by using he system to claim the maximum expenses allowances, and the performance of Home Secretary was pathetic as she appeared to lose the moral argument when she that the officials advised her and that anyway what she was doing was cheaper than the Grace and Favour home previous Home Secretaries were entitled to and which and been sold to help the public purse. Surely we have the right to expect that Ministers will have sufficient self confidence and personal and political integrity to challenge officials when necessary. Andrew Marr hit the appropriate nail on the head by mentioning that when he became a journalist everyone exploited expenses to the maximum and you created problems for yourself if you did not go along with the culture. What the Home Secretary and her colleagues on both sides of the House are failing to recognise is the universal public contempt for all politicians especially Labour Party Ministers who were supposed to furthering the interests of ordinary workers but have been revealed not just as putting their noses in the trough as those in the so called wealth creating activities but were directly responsible for the culture of personal wealth accumulation which has now led millions to lose their work and some their homes. The problem she and Prime Minister Brown face is that the public has seen through the argument that what happened in the UK is part a world wide development as if this was some kind of excuse instead of admission that politicians in all the countries concerned were guilty of spiritual bankruptcy as well as financial incompetence.

I have some sympathy with the fundamental Christians of the central states of the USA who attempt to retain the basic moral values of their faith until they attempt the belief that the Old Testament should be taken literally and that the universe was created over a week and have made an multi million dollar theme park which alleges that human beings were created at the same time as dinosaurs. Science versus Christianity and Christianity versus science, was the theme of this weekend’s episode of the History of Christianity.

Professor Colin Blakemore who became Professor of physiology at Oxford University at the age of 35 years and the youngest person to be invited to deliver the Reith lectures presented a balance history of how the Catholic church embraced the development of science, then persecuted and put its development and is now, to varying degrees, adjusting its view of the Old and New Testaments to take account of scientific discoveries. He showed that at first the church supported the scientific approach as it presumed it would endorse the official view of creation.

For 1500 years after the birth of Christ the belief system was that the earth was centre of the universe but Copernicus worked out that the earth moved around the sun. It was another hundred years before his work was taken up by Galileo Galilei 1564 to 1642 and his work created the present day scientific system of enquiry, observation and testing theory through practice. Unfortunately his work coincided with the threat to the power of Catholicism from the torture by the Inquisition unless he recanted heretical statements. Galileo had drawn upon the argument of St Augustine that the Bible should not be regarded as the dictated word of God but a contemporary way of explaining the nature of the Jewish and then Catholic system of beliefs. His persecution put back scientific progress until the Age of Enlightenment. This age of Reason was to have a special significance in my life as when I first went into adult education at Ruskin College Oxford I was thrust into the study of, Mozart, Hobbs, Locke, John Wilkes, Mary Wollstonecraft, Adam Smith, James Boswell, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin Diderot, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Alex De Tocqueville , Alex de Toocville, and the French Encyclopedistes, the German Adam Weishaupt to who founded the Illuminate, Spinoza, Of some 50 major figures only one Ceasre Beccaria was Italian and known for his work on Crime and Punishment which condemned torture and the death penalty, and making suicide punishable.

Professor Blakemore went to Italy and to the Papal Observatory at the Castell Gandolpho. The Papa; Summer residence overlooking a lake and where the small village is full of religious shops, pubs, hotels and churches, where on my visit, there was a wedding, the second within a couple of days witnessed, the first being at the original Monastery church of the Benedictine Order at Subacio where he spent a number of years living as a hermit in cave like cell. At the Observatory the scientist priest in charge explained that Catholics and most Christians now understood that the testaments were books of their time to communicate a faith rather than historical documents and were not the direct word of God or of Jesus of Nazareth for that matter. The Catholic mind and that of most Christian now understand the evolution of human beings from apes, as well as the known evidence of the development of earth and the universe. This does not detract from the central beliefs, moral and life systems which contemporary Christians attempt to live by. There is a gigantic gulf between them and an the Anglican Vicar at Oxford who even challenged many of the central beliefs about the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the fundamentalists in the USA who stick to creationism as a six day wonder and who argue that any scientific evidence which conforms to their values and beliefs is good and acceptable science and that anything which does not is bad science and reprehensible.

Now here is my dilemma. Most of the fundamentalist are neither mad or bad and the way that the majority live is commendable and merits approbation, but on their understanding of the origins of universe and on the writings known as the Bible they are wrong and dangerously wrong. On the other hand the way many of those who only accept the scientific view of creation live is a matter of concern as in addition to explaining what has been they are instrumental in the potential destruction of planet earth, and not its salvation.

The evil of irrationality was the subject of Lark Rise to Candleford where hatred had been built up between two villages because in a previous generation one village had accused a woman who was known to be good and truthful of stealing a hive of their bees. In fact one the older characters in the series remembered her grandmother doing so but had been too frightened and embarrassed to revealing he truth, Suspending irrationality was a prerequisite for the next episode of Lost where at least three of survivors get back to the Island although the other three had set off to do so.

1047 Lost with translation

I feel that I am a creative. I work hard at being an artist. The day is approaching when I shall seek validation from my peers, and then the critics. For a long period in my life I was a creative but not an artist, and for a long period before that I tried hard to be neither. I still believed I was a good soul, but I was a lost soul.

Some of the characters in Lost, episodes 9-16 knew that they had become failures according to the norms of a good life, and knew they their souls were no longer good. Several also knew that they were souls alone, apart from the others, unable to fully connect with individuals or with groups.

The format of Lost is excellent. There is a cold start introduction, I believe that is the correct terminology for when you are taken into an experience without introduction, and it is only after the opening event has reached a climax that the credit roll before the story unfolds. However there is a prologue which links aspects of what happened before to the specific episode. A majority of the sixteen episodes which begin the first series, there are more to follow, are about the past of an individual with some of the principal characters meriting two to date. There is a build up to how they came together on the plane and to their recognition that where they are is not normal. They have come across one survivor from a previous marooning, although she was one of larger group. Skeletons have been found in caves, in a light aircraft, and in a sea vessel, a slave trader, now located a couple of miles inland, a Tsunami perhaps? The majority continue to seek a rational explanation for their predicament.
Some, once they have overcome shock, and finding the basics for survival, are content to remain where they are until? Well rescue seems unlikely. Others are desperate to get away and try and work out how to create a sea worthy raft. Some, whether they are stay'ers, go'ers or wait and see'rs, have already resolved the big problem in their lives and are in the processing of engaging in the everyday experiences of birth, death and trauma.

I also like the fact that most episodes are self contained, but also help unravel the growing number of questions about individuals and the collective situation as well as giving broad hints about what is come.

By the way I like critics, especially those who give as much of themselves, sometimes more, than the work being considered. The great ones also analyse the work against the context of what has gone before, something of the background of the work creator and if there are participants, something of their background, and then give a honest opinion of how they regard the work and do not spoil the potential experience for others, by giving away the ending, or highlighting clues which are significant from those which are not.

I do not know, in real life terms, successful artists, although I have encountered several during my life experience, but never to know them as I have known many others. I have known a lot about many creatives because of what they have said and written about themselves or other said and written of them, and which reinforces the opinion that each individual has many perspective, usually valid and which combined begin to assemble a whole truth.

It is in the natural order of things for artists, like any other interest group to come together first at school, then during the further education college, and that a decreasing few will remain life long friends. Others will met from time to time at organised gatherings or in associations, and sometimes in the street, or across a station platform. Because creativity activity is a solitary activity, the continuing challenges and comradeship of the team game is denied, although some will gravitate into colonies or surround themselves with apprentices and acolytes. Some who want but cannot do, teach, or become critics, or collectors. A few who can do, decide not to, or become teachers, critics and collectors in addition.

I must have dozed off at the beginning of the 9th episode, Solitary. The focus was not on a creative, or was it because the former member of the Iraqi military elite appears to have become an expert at interrogation. I can confess that it was not until I had watched all episodes 9-20 that I checked the available internet info and found out how Sayid (Naveen Andrews) came to return to the fold having gone off in an understandable huff. It is in this episode that he encounters Rousseau, the last survivors, or is she, of a previous survivors group. Having already mentioned that one of the principal characters is referred to by his surname Locke, you may begin to get the drift of one aspect of the series.

This episodes also makes more explicit another aspect that of supernatural phenomena. So while I can still recall images from childhood viewings of the original Blue Lagoon and Robinson Crusoe this island is most contemporary.

Episode 10 Raised by another has at its focus the former life of Claire (real name Emile De Raven!) the young woman who is pregnant and here the supernatural aspect is pursued by her recollections of consultations with a psychic and her intentions regarding the future of her baby. An important sub plot is the awareness that one of the survivors is not listed in the passenger manifest.

Episode 11 All the Best Cowboys have Daddy Issues centres of the relationship between Jack (Matthew Fox) the chosen leader because he is a doctor, and his father also a leading doctor at the same hospital and how their relationship was shattered. However there are two other important sub plots, one of which is directly linked. This concerns Claire, the unlisted survivor and more supernatural events, and Claire's developing relationship with Charlie the former rock star druggey. Jack is able to progress his redemption because of an event concerning Charlie as Claire disappears. The episode also ends with a discovery which introducers the science fiction option.

Whatever the Case May Be, episode 12 concerns a case and its contents and the relationship of the contents to Kate (Evangeline Lilley and who has quickly emerged as a strong one with leadership qualities alongside Jack). There is a developing triangle relationship of man man v woman and man man re everything else involving Jack, Kate and the everyone agreed baddie Sawyer(Josh Holloway), and between Sayid, and the over indulged Shannon (Maggie Grace) and her brother who is not her brother. Clever calculating and emotional Shannon is translating the notes of French woman Rousseau.

It was at this point I unwittingly jumped over four episodes, and then had to catch up on Hearts and Minds. (13) Shannon's brother (Boon played by Ian Somerhalder) who is not really her brother, has joined Locke in trying to work out what it is they have discovered and which is kept secret from the rest. Shannon suspects her brother is up to something as we learn something of her background and relationship with Boone. When she attempt to find Bone and Locke the unseen monster, except perhaps by Locke, reappears, and so all the main ingredients are into play simultaneously. Other relationships and backgrounds are developing between Hurley (Jorge Garcia), the size challenged creative and the oriental dimension of non English speaking couple of Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) and Sun (Yunjin Kim) the nicest of everyone, between Jin, Sun and the Black dimension, Michael (Harold Perrineau) and his son Walt (Malcolm David Kelly)

There is a sense of a building up to something when Michael confronts Locke who is teaching his son survival skills. This episode Special 14 make explicit another possible explanation of what is happening as individual and collective projections of fears and fantasies. There is bonding between Walt and his father when Michael rescues his son from the clutches of a Polar bear after father fed up with the behaviour of the son throws a comic book he has been reading into the fire, and the camera reveals that that the story is about a polar bear. The episodes also explains how father and son had become estranged and reunited.

Homecoming (15) sees the return of Claire who cannot remember what has happened to her, although we learn that she has been held prisoner by the mysterious Ethan (William Mapother) who was not on the manifest. We learn more about the background of Charlie (Charlie and Clare, Clare and Charlie they already sound a couple) and in the dramatic finale their bonding becomes irrevocable and we witness the end of Ethan which is unfortunate because alive he might have been able to reveal sufficient to shorten the series.

The last in this series of my translation Outlaws (16) features the back story of Sawyer, and what a story it becomes with the immortal words, I have become the person I hunted, and which is the epitaph of many a devil hunter.

1032 Lost experience

Lost episodes 1-8

I was not attracted to this series when it as first shown on Sky Channel 1 and my interest developed and sustained when I discovered the main concept of the series, dimensions of time and place and of natural forces beyond contemporary acceptance as scientific possibilities note added 15.02.2009.

The first conclusion is that the series should be called Lost and Found.

One by one each the story of each survivor unfolds and we find that they all have something to regret to the point needing forgiveness and redemption.

Each episode is also self contained, enjoyable and with a satisfying conclusion but also part of a whole which is to unfold over several years.

As in all effective series of this kind, some of the characters are not likeable until we get to know their history and how they cope with their past when confronted with the threatening and challenging situation.

Having sown the seed that this place is purgatory and that have been given the opportunity to go to heaven or hell when they die, but not to return to their former lives and love ones it will be interesting to find out how the series ends, if there is resolution or continuing uncertainty.

It is now for me to learn something of the characters, perhaps at a later date the background of the actors, and to try and communicate the essence of individual episodes without spoiling the fun.

The plot is that of the survivors of part of airliner flying to the USA from Australia which crashes onto an island sea shore, There are supposed to be 46/49 survivors but only about a third of these appear to feature.
Matthew Fix is Jack a doctor who recovers falling into the jungle her meet Evangeline Lilly as Kate and these tow are to become central characters with a smouldering relationship which so far has not ignited. The opening episode has introduced us to the principal characters and to existence of something sinister, threatening, human, beast or paranormal. Whatever it is it can kill and does, There are two three key features to the second pilot in which we learn something of the background of Kate and the existence of wild and dangerous animals. However the most important discovery is the transmission of a help call from a lady speaking French.

Episode three Tabula Rosa concerns the previous life of Kate in flashbacks interwoven with the survivors as they attempt to come to terms with their predicament. She has been forced to become a resourceful lade and has this not been a man's world film she would have become the leader rather than reluctant Jack with his medical skills. It is evident from the discovered transmission that they will not be recovered quickly, well for 58 episodes at least. The plane is known to have been at least 1000 miles of course but there another explanation. On the Brightside there have been enough survival programmes on TV to have given a number of the travellers a good idea what to do to make the best of their situation. E, 4 Walkabout introduces us to the survivor par excellence Locke played by Terry 0'Quinn and we learn the miraculous nature of his experience. The remaining fuselage is burnt with the dead and a memorial service is held and a pooling of resources.
E5 White Rabbit was the only episode of the second disk which I was able to view tells the story of Jack and that people see things which should not be there? Hallucinations or what is this place then? E6 House of the rising sun refers to the background of a Japanese couple and their relationship. The cracks in relationships are stretched wide and resources such as water are fought over. A discovery leads to the party being divided between those who stay on the shoreline and those who move into caves about a mile away inland. E7 concerns a well worn pathway of a young man Charlie, Dominic Monaghan, on substance dependence as the stash is runs out. A relationships develops between he and Locke and although the outcome in predictable there are some good moments.

For me the best episode of series is Confidence Man with several good twist and memorable line, I became the man I spent my life hunting. Sawyer, Josh Holloway finds it difficult to live with him and it is evident that his redemption will take time.

A level of interest, suspense and credibility is maintained during this first half of the first series, although it is in fact not a half third.