Agnus Dei; Francisco de Zurbarán
Ecce Homo; Mark Wallinger
Once in a while, we encounter a phenomenon that seems to impact the whole world even if we are not directly involved. 9/11 is an obvious example, the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral seems to be another. Coinciding with Holy Week, it has touched a chord that most people did not even know existed in them. What I found interesting was the many questions that have arisen since the fire: does it matter if an old church burns down when people no longer worship in it in any meaningful sense? Does God care? What are people so distraught about – the fact that a monument with artistic value is destroyed, or is the distress because it is believed to be a cornerstone of faith and ‘God’s house’? Thus far, the donations pledged have topped $1,000,000,000. One billion dollars and counting, and that is regarded as a ‘good start’. The billionaires of France have been subject to much calumny after pledging 300 million Euros on the first day: the general sense seems to be that they are hypocrites trying to buy salvation. Now, I do not know the people involved and therefore cannot assess their piety but even if I did know them, I would not presume to know what is in their heart. I am in no position to judge another man’s servant. Read more
Antidisestablishmentarianism. Confused? You will be.
Extinction Rebellion chaos at Marble Arch
Easter weekend was odd because I read about the Sri Lanka bombings just before I left for church. Those poor people, just going about their business. It was one of the few occasions when I actually stopped to consider that it is now conceivable that I might go to church one day and just never come back. Usually I just disregard the dangers but this one made me focus because I was literally at the front door when I read about it. What a world we live in. Same as in all the previous instances, these terrorists or whoever turns out to be responsible won’t even make a dent in how most of us live – the sheer pointlessness of it all is soul-destroying. My prayers and those of billions of others go out to all the people affected as well as all the others living through a nightmarish existence in so many parts of the world.
London was a lot quieter than usual – I think a lot more people went away this Easter. It was wonderful driving through the empty streets until I came across the random Extinction Rebellion closures. I’m afraid the air turned rather blue in car. Read more
Behold The Man
Agnus Dei; Francisco de Zurbarán
Ecce Homo; Mark Wallinger
Once in a while, we encounter a phenomenon that seems to impact the whole world even if we are not directly involved. 9/11 is an obvious example, the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral seems to be another. Coinciding with Holy Week, it has touched a chord that most people did not even know existed in them. What I found interesting was the many questions that have arisen since the fire: does it matter if an old church burns down when people no longer worship in it in any meaningful sense? Does God care? What are people so distraught about – the fact that a monument with artistic value is destroyed, or is the distress because it is believed to be a cornerstone of faith and ‘God’s house’? Thus far, the donations pledged have topped $1,000,000,000. One billion dollars and counting, and that is regarded as a ‘good start’. The billionaires of France have been subject to much calumny after pledging 300 million Euros on the first day: the general sense seems to be that they are hypocrites trying to buy salvation. Now, I do not know the people involved and therefore cannot assess their piety but even if I did know them, I would not presume to know what is in their heart. I am in no position to judge another man’s servant. Read more
Perchance To Dream
This should be the featured imaged. The blasted programme won’t let me set it as such. Grrrr…..
Finally back to normal- sort of. Came home after the Fair just in time to tussle with some governmental filing madness. A more paranoid person than I am could easily come to believe that the government is trying to ruin their life. What do you mean ‘where would you find a more paranoid person?’ I get no respect, truly 🙂 Spent the best part of the week trying to negotiate the halls of bureaucracy. Double blimey, that’s all I’ll say. I just pray it’s all fixed this week. I went straight back to work so I’m totally wasted; today was my first day off in about 3 weeks. The joys of entrepeneurship. Last night I finally slept the sleep of the just. It was wonderful. My lastest project is to obtain some product photographs that are not a sincere embarassment. As I am often told (thanks guys!), my photos are seriously dragging this website down. Yeah, yeah, everyone’s a critic…. Read more
Showtime
Today was great – it was sunny, it was warm, and the crowd were out to enjoy themselves. The absolute scene-stealers? The gorgeous wee lambs. The truism ‘never work with children or animals’ was manifested right before our eyes. Forget the little kids 🙂 it was brilliant watching grown men and women oohing and aahing over the little darlings. They of course gambolled and played like the precious divas they are. It increased the happiness quotient by a gazillion. The hens were total anarchists and absolutely bonkers. I could have warned them about the hens. When we were young my parents had a cockamamie plan to establish a poultry farm so I have experience of hens. I’ve loved them since then, they are nuts! Read more
The Big Reveal
We made it to Ally Pally! It has been a hectic couple of weeks- I was in New York for 4 days then back to work for a week and now a pell-mell journey to Alexandra Palace. In the midst of that, sorting out tickets which didn’t arrive, ordering last minute ingredients, we have also launched a bath line– body cleansers, handwashes, as well as hand & body creams, and lip balms, all with new fragrances, all made by hand. Totally bonkers. Read more