billy

aside from some spectacular and interesting dreams (but as it is a truism that other people's dreams are dull, i shan't bore you with them) the most interesting thought i have had recently has been the billy bragg movie.

there i was listening to billy singing some political songs. telling us there is power in a union, asking who is going to save the youth of america while keeping the red flag flying.
i sang (though that is very generous description) along and in the middle of mangling a chorus it struck me: billy bragg agent of the united nations.

billy does his tours, he sings his songs. he gets access to all parts of the world.
but once the last chord has echoed away and super troupers have been turned off billy puts away the guitar and protest songbook and becomes the dangerous and deadly agent of the u.n., and rights the wrongs and ensures that the ordinary citizen is freed from the tyranny of opression.
sometimes billy finds that words are not enough and he has to resort to violence, albeit reluctantly. a bish and bosh here and there and the enemies of freedom are laid out.

civil rights action movies. billy takes down corrupt capitalists.

i was liking the idea.
it was still lacking something.
then like a bolt.
a eureka i can move world's moment it struck me.
i had the answer of how to take this great idea and turn it into cinematic gold.
the answer was simple: danny dyer. danny fucking dyer.

danny dyer to play billy bragg deadly agent of the u.n.
and with that a great idea becomes a masterpiece, even without it ever being made.
danny fucking dyer as billy bragg - awesome. 

look i know you are sitting there open mouthed in awe and wonder (just how i was when i walked out of my first viewing of star wars  - brainblast man, brainblast).

sit back and enjoy your moment of being in the presence of genius.
this is what kicksstarter was invented for.

percentages

When I was growing up I hated the whole ‘do as I say not do as I do’ thing. It just made no sense to me.

When I was a step parent lo and behold there I was saying and doing. Hypocrite? Maybe, but there are times when what is right for some people isn’t right for other people, knowing the time is what being a parent is all about. 

Paternalism. 

I am guessing that is what is going through the minds of the conservative party as they consider their latest changes to employment law. (of course the cynics out there would be saying that the proposed changes are nothing more than an attack on unions and the rights of workers. They would be right).

Spurred on by the recent National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (rmt) London tube strikes over the closure of ticket offices (though cynics out there might claim that the strike was nothing more than staking a claim for bob crow’s empty office and big wage packet. They would probably be right). the Tories have decided that they are going to bring in legislation that means that a strike action can only take place in ‘essential services’ if unions can show that 50% of the membership have participated in the vote.

On the face of it perfectly reasonable. 

It could be argued that privatising ‘essential services’ was a pretty stupid thing to do in the first place if you were that concerned about them. However, as we know, ideology trumps commonsense every time with the Tories. 

Part of the rationale behind the new legislation is going to be ‘we won’t be bullied and held to ransom’ line of thought. So the Tories have to stand up to them and show them who is boss (yes cynics this is probably boris Johnson showing how tough he can be – so he’ll make a lovely prime minister). Oddly this isn’t the line taken when it comes to the city finance mob who are always bullying and holding people to ransom when it comes to their pay and bonuses. ‘oh if you are beastly to us we will go somewhere else’, ‘you will, oh ok then we’ll bend over and you can take us roughly from behind’.

 Now as much as the rmt’s strike was a bit of a nuisance most people coped with it. sure some shops and businesses lost some trade on those days, I doubt very much if the money not spent there wasn’t spent somewhere else, or just a couple of days later. While the financial crash has cost untold billions and caused distress and worry for a good deal many more people and for a great deal longer. 

Even though the financial sector is ‘essential’ what it needs is to be free of regulation.

Odd that. 

The interesting thing is the potential unintended consequence of this legislation. 50% you say. good idea, sorry boris you can’t be mayor not enough of the electorate voted. I am sure there are going to be a number of members of the European parliament who would be upset at losing out of that trough to put their snouts in. what about the local councils. Or the police commissioners?

Let’s be honest if 50% is good enough for the unions it has to be good enough for every other elected position that service the public good (which I would argue counts as an essential service). Somehow I don’t see that happening.

But then the Tories are the do as I say not do as I do party.

bog

about the most interesting that i have done for the last couple of months is sit on the bog for inordinately long periods of time. on several occasions until all feeling had disappeared from my legs and for a fleeting moment trapped on the throne (fear not kind reader all that was needed was a brisk rub and a shake or two of the foot and life restored).

pretty much the last two months or so can be written off due to a combination of flu, viral infection, mild depression and hermitic drive. not even the call of street coffee in brick lane has moved me. beyond a trip or two to well known supermarkets i have not ventured far from my shit pit.

the plan is for the rest of the year to have a little more going for it.
after all george osborne has told us we are on the way back, so i should do my bit and get me back, but not zero hours. oh like i have a choice....

so, once again, i take a metaphoric boot and apply it to my metaphoric fat arse.