Arranged around circular ‘pods’ in huge airless rooms, ironically much like cogs in a machine, we are decked out in our ‘Madonna headsets’ making call after call all day to interview people on ever popular subjects like cancer and how satisfied they are with their investments. The whole office, both ‘suites’ a very erroneous term I would say in this case screams, soulless. It is run much akin to a concentration camp, there is a ‘guard’ at the door who records whether you are even thirty seconds late or if you take even a second more than your allotted fifteen and forty five minute breaks. You will have a black mark against your name if you do. They are constantly monitoring your surveys and give marks out of ten for your ‘disciplines’ or your ‘negotiation’ much like a school report card. They do make sure that you don’t reveal a hint of your personality, one supervisor even remarking to me, “We are actually just robots.”

That said however, I have put some misconceptions about this kind of work to bed. ‘Market Research’ a term which usually sends a shiver of annoyance down the spine of many individuals is actually nothing to do with selling or marketing. It is (I’ll have you know) researching different markets and the opinions and beliefs within them. I am evidently now, reluctantly in the business of ‘mining opinions’.

Striving to suck the positives out of the situations I get myself into, there are some here. We can dress however we like so you do notice the different personalities of your colleagues, from hippy to leather clad rocker. I like this eclecticism and have met really intriguing people. As far as dead-end jobs go it is actually one which challenges, which does involve many of your cognitive skills, unlike waitressing or making coffee. My communication skills are now polished to a high sheen and I have become stoically unflustered by the dreaded ‘hang up’. I have had some rare humourous and heartfelt exchanges with some of my ‘respondents’.

I am not destined nor have any will to become a high-flying ‘career’ telephone interviewer, if there is such a thing. Bearing in mind some aspects it certainly seems the closest I will ever come to joining the army and maybe I will at least learn to sharpen up my time keeping.

It is those who are tested, those who have faced unbelievable tragedy and do not falter. Those who get back up and stand tall. These are the people who live, not merely exist. These people can now breathe in all the beauty and riches life has to offer as they have breathed out its hardships.

This has nothing to do with any God or hopeless religion. It is simply the strength of the human spirit.

That is what we must believe in, that is the only thing that will save us all…

Much as the city of New York is said to be cast as a fifth character on TV’s ‘Sex in the City’, I believe, with an open mind and rich imagination, any lucky inhabitant of Edinburgh can personify it in their own life. The city is a living, breathing wonder of awe-inspiring beauty. It is like an eye drink, your eyes gulp down its multitude of beautiful vistas leaving you intoxicated and in danger of bumping into something! Edinburgh almost taunts you, challenging you to feel sad while spoiling you once again, as your head turns to witness another spectacular scene. If you are a bit of a daydreamer like myself, and are prone to retreating into your own inner world, this becomes redundant living in Edinburgh.

Coming from Aberdeen, while living there I did basically live in my head to escape the grey and the squawking seagulls. Moving just two hundred miles down the motorway, crossing the firth was like crossing worlds; my life was suddenly flooded with a golden sandstone colour and stunning, ever-changing light! The city is modelled on Rome, built on seven hills and this means it is set apart from other Scottish cities. If a feeling of sadness pervades you on a certain day, it is possible to seek solace in viewing the majestic skyline of spires, Athenian columns and copulas. There aren’t many cities, (make that no cities) where you can wander along ordered Georgian streets, then into a higgelty-piggelty maze of winding, cobbled streets, and then walk only five minutes further into the vicinity of a massive volcano!

You may accuse me of being blinkered or biased; on the contrary, I have experience of other cities. Here is my evaluation: Aberdeen is NOT the ‘Silver City’; it really is the dull ‘Granite City’ or my personal favourite moniker, ‘Aberdoom’. Glasgow’s hidden gems are just too hidden and London is just so bustling you are likely to be ‘bustled’ off your feet by an errant, frantic commuter.  Much like Goldilocks last bowl of porridge Edinburgh is ‘just right’.

Lately, I have been guilty of burying my head in the sand, retreating from such realities as heartache and looming important deadlines. Edinburgh has been ‘the sand’ in this analogy and it has been increasing difficult to come back up for air…I think I might be content to simply drown….

A £24, 000 a year exclusive Scottish school is in crisis talks about how to deal with the negative publicity surrounding a recent documentary aired on BBC 2. Glenalmond College, set in the beautiful Perthshire countryside is a very traditional private school for twelve to seventeen year olds. The school dates back from 1847 and counts actor Robbie Coltrane and rugby player, David Sole as just a few of its illustrious Alumni. The documentary is called, ‘Pride and Priviledge‘ and follows a year in the life of a selection of pupils during their time at the school, including Tom, the first pupil to receive a one hundred percent scholarship. It was made by acclaimed Scottish filmmaker, fifty six year old Samuel Barber-Fleming, who is a former pupil or ‘OG’ himself.

Growing Bad Reputation

The school has come under fire before with three distinct blows to its reputation over the past seven years. In 2001, four pupils were expelled after concocting, then drinking a homemade recipe of liquid ecstasy on the school grounds which left two of them in coma. The next disaster happened that same year, when a pupil fell twelve feet from a window after a drinking binge and had to be rushed to hospital. Third was the more recent, ‘Chav Hunting‘ video which cropped up on youtube. The video was filmed on the school grounds by a former pupil and depicted a spoof hunt in which the upper classes ‘hunted’ the ‘chavs’. This made the national news. Worries about discipline were voiced after the second incident, one parent said,

We are also dismayed by the attitude to discipline in the school. They seem to be happy to absolve themselves of responsibility. They have a duty to ins til discipline, not just to educate. Yet they just don’t want to know.

It is thought in some camps that the new documentary might have been an effort to redress the negative publicity created by these incidents along with the enrolment of the young scholarship boy. However, it just seems to have made matters worse. A few scenes showed the boy being bullied mentally and physically along with illicit drinking on school grounds and various other indiscretions. Headmaster or ‘Warden’ Gordon Woods had this to say,

The film was never intended to be fully representative of a year in the life of Glenalmond College; inevitably it is only a snapshot of a busy school.

This carries little weight in light of the fact the documentary was filmed every day over three terms which makes up a whole academic year of the school.

Reinforced Stereotypes

Some scenes seemed to confirm  the sometimes blinkered attitude towards class systems attached to schools like Glenalmond. In one scene Tom was ridiculed about his different accent and is exhaustively questioned by other pupils about how his parents can afford Glenalmond if his father is, ‘just’ a carer. Another scene depicted fifteen year old pupil and aspiring model, Tamsin stating that she would like to get married just so she could inherit an estate and then she wants to get divorced because that’s what her parents did. It was later revealed that Tamsin is a bit of a joker and was just ‘playing around’ in front of the camera not realising that what she said in that instance would be used. 

The Defence

Former pupil, Rebecca Hastings who left in 2000 had this to say,

I don’t feel it was an accurate portrayal of the school. While it did show the diversity of different characters within the student body. It failed to portray the majority of current pupils and alumni who are well adjusted individuals capable of surviving outside the private school bubble. 

A parent of three current and three alumni pupils of the school voiced her concerns, 

I think Glenalmond should have been much more careful about cameras being invited into the school grounds. There has been a degree of manipulation as to what is omitted and what is shown, it was very unrepresentative of the school I know. It did not portray the academic achievement of the school accurately, it is actually very high. I also felt that there was manipulation in the portrayal of Tom. I have been aware of everyone bending over backwards to help him and welcome him, he is actually in my son’s year.

Barber-Fleming has said,

I made it absolutely plain from the beginning that this was not going to be a spin job but we would not be digging looking for difficulties, nonsense or misbehaviour. I wanted to make an impartial series that reflected life at Glenalmond and, in a wider sense, life at public schools.

There was no one available at the school recently to comment, they claimed it was because this was a very busy time as there are a lot of pupil reports to complete. One wonders what these reports might say….

Steve McQueen standing aside his exhibition.

Controversy

Is this an effective way to commemorate the fallen soldiers? Perhaps, most arguable is the title, ‘For Queen and Country‘. Owing to the controversy surrounding the War and the questionable honour some people feel there is in it, the statement the title makes may not garner the right meaning. Not all the families McQueen approached donated a photograph, perhaps because it is too painful or perhaps because they felt their sons died in vain. Some may feel that less of a traditional memorial should be made which leaves behind the pomp and standard of the military. A viewer of the exhibition was particularly forthright in their views: ‘I do believe that it might be cathartic for the families but I think it might have been more suitable to call it, ‘For Oil and Country’. Most telling is the opposition McQueen faced  from the Ministry of Defense, who took two years to agree to McQueen’s idea. They asked why he could not just do, ‘a landscape instead’. The artist, whose usual medium is film fervently wants the stamps to be made into real stamps but this has been declined by Royal Mail chairman, Allan Leighton. 

Pride

‘Stop the War Campaign‘ charity secretary, Peter Cannel had this to say, 

There would be a few, but I don’t believe many of the families would take offence to the title or the exhibition. I think it is quite remarkable the way in which they are proud of their sons joining the army but at the same time, very critical of the government. The soldiers are still proud to be in the army but I think they are deeply unhappy about the way that pride has been used.

 

One of the stamps, Marine Christopher Maddison, Royal Marines. Died 30 March 2003.

The artist himself said,

‘The images make it neither pro nor anti-war. To those against, they are victims. To those in favour, they laid down their life in a just cause. This exhibition is about people, not politics’

A parent of one of the men depicted in the exhibition is Rose Gentle whose son perished when his truck was hit by a roadside bomb. Gentle has become a fierce campaigner against the war. Her son died due to the lack of an electronic scrambler which should have been fitted to the truck and would have stopped the bomb from going off. Even with the rage and disillusionment which must result from a tragic experience like this, Rose is an admirer of McQueen’s work. She said,

I think Steve has done an excellent job. The boys who have passed away would be very proud of the work, it is very moving. With regards to the title, whereas I do not, I think a lot of the families still believe in that so it shouldn’t be an issue in this case. I chose for my son to be depicted too.

Rose Gentle carrying Poppy wreath along Whitehall to the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day.

 

Never forgotton

Although McQueen has come up against opposition from some official camps, the public and the families touched by the tragedy have  generally been moved by the exhibition. Certainly turning these images into official stamps would be a way of etching these faces into our memory and never forgetting their sacrifice. Perhaps this is what made the Ministry of Defence so uncomfortable.

The owner of the painting, the Duke of Sutherland wants £50 million for it by the end of the year. A seemingly impossible sum of money in this financial climate. But the sum is almost reached according to sources close to the National Gallery. The campaign has attracted help from many different sources and now the public have been initiated into the scheme with an online donation form now on the National Gallery Website.,

‘We remain cautiously optimistic that the gap will be bridged.’ John Leighton, National Gallery of Scotland

Artist Tracey Emin has delivered an artist’s petition in support of the campaign signed by more than thirty well known artists like Lucien Freud and David Hockney to 10 Downing Street. One wonders how far up their agenda that petition will go….

But that is just the tip of the iceberg of the complaints I have about Craig’s performance. It is going to sound decidedly ‘nPC’ of me but Craig ‘s slightly uncouth performance and manner just do not personify the ‘upper class’ (sorry) qualities that are unavoidably attached to the role. It is just the truth of the character and I do not think Craig achieved this transformation.

I am not aiming for objectively so here goes: I don’t think Daniel Craig’s looks complement the character in any way. His appearance is so set apart from any of the other five Bonds who embodied the ideal of ’tall dark and handsome’ with aplomb! Craig looks too young, isn’t even attractive and seems to pout in a very contrived manner throughout most of the film!

Defending his performance, Craig claims he wanted to play around with the flaws of the character. He states that he remembers reading the books when he was young and found the character to be a ‘workaholic depressive’,. Apparently the charm and classic British humour of Fleming’s character was completely lost on him! Methinks he might be protesting his performance too much! I do understand the need to refresh, revamp and therefore progress a famous literary series when translating it into film but sometimes you just shouldn’t mess with what should remain innately traditional!

This is not what Bond should look like!

Diana and Acteon by Titian

A famous and beautiful painting from the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Scotland is at risk of being sold on the open market. ‘Diana and Acteon’ is one of Titian’s mythological poesie painted for the Duke of Sutherland of the painter’s time. It is a beautiful and enthralling work and Scotland’s National Collection would be left bereft without it.

The painting is on loan to the National Gallery from the current Duke of Sutherland’s Bridgewater collection but he is keen to sell it to help pay for his father’s death duties. He is offering the painting to the nation for a cool £50m claiming that he could get a lot more than that on the open market even considering the state of the economy. This tuesday the National Heritage Memorial Fund, a branch of the Heritage Lottery Fund will decide whether to contribute to this massive fee and save the painting

Visual art is such an important part of society. It brings people together, instigates debate, encourages your brain to think on a different axis and it can even be a form of therapy. It is so much healthier to go wander around an art gallery rather than engage in mind numbing activities like playing a games console or watching the television which pervade our society.

‘This work is one of the great icons of western art’ – Brian Ivory, National Gallery of Scotland

The Duke’s deadline for the sale is Christmas. So here s hoping we all get a beautiful Christmas present and Titian’s work will be saved from tumbling into the ether and be left hanging where it belongs, in our National Gallery.