If you have a strong social voice then your invoices will always be paid on time

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Monty

For those of you who are salaried and have worked for somebody else for most of your life then the content of this missive will probably be of little interest, but for the others, please read on.

Working for yourself is dangerous and a roller-coaster of success, fail, fail, fail, fail, success, fail, fail, fail, fail, success. It is an utter head-breaker, but it is worth it for the autonomy and the freedom and the spontaneous time you can spend with your family. Once you start it, you never go back… unless Bob Dylan calls offering you a job. Continue reading →

Don’t get me wrong, some of my best friends are Australian

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Monty

It seems as if the Olympics medal table is now as important to a country’s self-esteem and economy as the latest bulletin from Standard & Poor.

Naturally any clinging to this particular refuge is a place for scoundrels and idiots Continue reading →

Birds do it, bees do it, but Fifty Shades of Grey doesn’t do it

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Monty

Twitter was fantastic last Friday night as the Olympics opening ceremony unfurled in front of us. The gags came thick and fast and it was a wonderful juxtaposition of spectacle and sentiment. Amazing.

But something was missing in Doyle’s layered tableaux of Britishness. At first I thought it might have been a band missing from the shuffle list of British music, but then I got it. THERE WASN’T A SINGLE MENTION OF FIFTY SHADES OF GREY! Continue reading →

The end of innocence began in 1972 with Alan Minter's bronze and dead Israeli athletes

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Monty

The bells have just been ringing and there are 12 hours to go before the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics.

London fop, Mayor and covert anarchist Boris Johnson has become the most famous man in the world, something that the cast of Have I Got News For You still can’t believe and something it is best not to think about for too long.

His speech last night with the reference to Mitch Romney minded me of the scene in Orwell’s 1984 when the crowds in Trafalgar Square are still roaring even when it is announced that Eurasia’s previous enemy is now its ally. Boris as Big Brother? It could happen, it really could, maybe it already has. Continue reading →

How much does your building (and circular internet) weigh, Mr Foster?

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Monty

It’s good living in the countryside. Woken by birdsong and out with the dog to walk in the shadow of the Downs, aware of the seasons, aware of the light… it is good.

But it’s not exactly the place to get a decent coffee and a custard tart and it isn’t a place where you can usually see a decent independent movie or play. Continue reading →