Meanwhile, here in Ennui-sur-Blasé…some recent snaps and thoughts that possibly won’t make any sense. Wes Anderson gave the name Ennui-sur-Blasé to the fictional town in his movie “The French Dispatch”. You could roughly translate it to “Boredom-upon-Apathy”. I’m thinking of typing that into my next Instagram post when they ask for the location, of course that won’t be allowed. We need to somehow convince AI it’s not artificial, I mean a real town not AI itself, that ship has already sailed. Anyhow, a sort of English Dispatch. In reality random paragraphs on whatever crosses my mind:
Human Interest News: A story of a British-Indian gentleman. At 89 years old he’d joined a London running club, the brilliantly named “Sikhs in the City”, and began competing in marathons until he was 102. He died a couple of weeks ago aged 114, ironically crossing the road from his home in India, a hit and run incident. Clearly death is suboptimal at any point in a life, I know, but what a way to go. There again, proof that it’s never too late to start something new. You have to admire him, you see people in this country barely able to walk at 59 and I can’t imagine them in 30 years deciding to start running marathons. Too busy eating them is the problem. That’s a reference to Snicker bars once being called Marathon bars in the U.K.
Travel News: We were in London for my nephews wedding, parking in Hammersmith it’s just a 20 minute tube ride to Covent Garden. Not all tube stations have escalators and instead employ lifts/elevators to transport people from the depths of ‘Hades’, understandably there’s often a huge queue to get out of the ‘Underworld’. I’ve been caught before with the staircase out of tube station death-wish scenario and yet I still announced that we’d use the stairs. They’re practically vertical and once you begin signs warn you there are 193 very steep steps, it’s supposedly an emergency exit. Too much for many, we made rapid progress, passing those years younger than me who needed to stop either struggling for breath or turning to head back down to the lift. Rather worryingly it’s an emergency exit, once again suboptimal. I reached the top nevertheless, marked it down as a small win and marched across the road to the pub. A pint and Marlboro in celebration, I’d survived, a small win. Not visiting the Underworld just yet and that’s endlessly optimal. Lifts/Elevators you can’t get into or stairs that’ll kill you, it’s as though they/Persephone don’t want you to escape.
Financial/Political News: A quick audit. In money terms I’m working on my second million. Essentially this is because I gave up on the first one. It appears I’m gradually going backwards financially. You’d think there’d be an accumulation of funds as you grow older. What a mess and I’m blaming mismanagement by the idiot in charge. Perhaps they might have me in the British Government, a shoe-in for a career move to HM Treasury. On second thoughts maybe the Foreign Office would be better. My view is the best we can do is learn from history and conclude that politically the far right or left have never worked. All those empires failed. My main concern is who’s in charge of the thermo-nuclear weapons. I saw earlier that the Trump/Putin summit in Alaska was being attended by delegations from both sides. The Russian Foreign Minister arrived wearing a casual top emblazoned with “CCCP”, what that says to me is “Nyet” to any ceasefire in Ukraine. Fingers crossed I’m wrong and their fingers aren’t on ‘the button’. Albert Einstein once said that he didn’t know what weapons the third world war would be fought with, but was absolutely certain the fourth world war will be fought with only sticks and stones.
Relationship News: Have you ever noticed how close finance is to the word fiancé? A big win could be needed for my relationships, in horse racing terms there have been too many ‘also rans’, absolutely no chance of going the distance. I needed to listen to the feed box noise, study the form. They could never be described as ‘certs’ and yet I bet everything I had on them emotionally. Some serious losses that I’m still reckoning in my accounts. As the old joke goes: “Why the long face?”. Let’s jump on that horse and return to “The French Dispatch”, a line from one of the older female reporters when asked why she was still single at her age. Her straight-faced reply: “I prefer relationships when they end”. I nodded and laughed though I much prefer them when they begin.
Wedding News: Oh well, mustn’t complain, there’s always photography. At some point as a photographer you’re going to be asked to photograph a relatives wedding. Don’t panic, it’ll be fine. If you're supposed to be a professional, a guest and watching your children simultaneously it could be a tough gig and that word suboptimal, but as it happened turned out to be a beautiful day on all fronts. The ceremony was in The Kings Chapel of the Savoy. My brother-in-law has some kind of a ‘gong’ awarded by Queen Elizabeth II, in fact once had a twenty minute audience with her, I find that incredible, just the two of them sitting having a chat, especially when I think of the people she’d met over the years. My brother-in-law could only claim meeting the Pope and Vladimir Putin. I met a bloke walking across the field the other day. Anyway, he’s entitled to use this venue. Not the bloke in the field, my brother -in-law. Special permission had to be obtained, I believe, from the Archbishop of Canterbury.
A couple of Laurie’s friends from his old school in Edinburgh arriving above and a gallery to follow. I’m not overly impressed with my photographic skills, but have to say that it was a wonderful day. I’ve been invited to the sequel wedding in South Africa the brides home country, but the aforementioned fiscal situation is preventing my attendance. I adore weddings though. The love, the future, the hopes and the absolute joy of it all. Every wedding I’ve ever attended there’s always been a tear. I know, what a romantic I am. Who knew. Of course there’s been a few tears when I’ve received the ‘degree absolute’ through the letterbox with my own marriages/divorces. I was tempted to write tears of joy, but that would be untrue and unfair. A while ago there was a Best Man who absolutely nailed it when he opened his speech at a friend’s second wedding with “Welcome back everyone”. Funny and brave. That said, I sincerely believe these two will go the distance.
Good News: Sometimes and during those periods where we feel a little sorry for ourselves, something my mum would never allow, there’s the thought: ‘I try and I try, but never seem to get anywhere, it’s exhausting’. I’d had a little of that one morning, negativity on every front and was driving Louis over to Lacock to see his friends. That harbinger of doom otherwise known as the engine management light came on and I said half to myself “Just occasionally we need a small win”. When I returned an email from Leica appeared requesting to buy (yes, actual money is being parted with) one of my photographs for use in their literature, as prints in Leica Stores for exhibitions and displays and on Leica’s social media channels. It’s interesting that the photograph they chose was from a trip to Norway that I’d already chalked up as huge win. Nevertheless, that email was a small win and really that’s all anyone needs.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. All images can be opened by clicking on the thumbnails. Not that it matters they were made using a Leica M with Summicron 28mm lens fitted. I used an Apple keyboard to type it all out.
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