27.08.10

Missed a good night out…

Posted in Blogroll, Fun Time, Random Thoughts at 5:29 pm by liviu.tudor

…damn!

Permalink Comments

Disclaimer

3 views

(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Loading ...

19.08.10

Why do I blog so much?

Posted in Blogroll, Random Thoughts at 9:39 am by liviu.tudor

I’ve been prompted recently by a few with regards to my recent blog entries as it became apparent that I’m blogging a lot and very often recently. It’s not because all of a sudden I find myself with so much more time on my hands – if anything my schedule has become busier nowadays! – but rather the fact that as I signalled previously in my blog, I have finally installed a wordpress app on my BlackBerry which allows me to blog “offline” now on my way to and from work. I used to reserve this time for twittering (yup, I got a twitter app on my BlackBerry as well!) – however that only works if you got a signal (call to mobile developers out there – myself included: how about writing a twitter app which saves your tweets locally then sends them in a batch when you get a network signal?) Which meant every time I was underground my twittering had to stop.

The wordpress app however allows me to save my posts as drafts on my mobile and post them later on – so I can write them on the underground and when I come out the other end I can simply post them to my blog! All of a sudden a boring journey becomes productive in terms of my blogging!

Hence my recent “flood” of blog posts. It is not the case that all of a sudden I have more time therefore (like I said my spare time is just as non-existent as before), nor is it the case that all of a sudden I have realised I’ve got so much more to say (these are things that have always been on my mind, only I just finally got around to saying them). It’s simply the case that I know finally have the tools to make use of what previously was “dead time”. One can argue that really that means I have more time on my hands but I’m not going to enter this battle of semantics.

Another thing that has become apparent as well is the fact that I swear more in my blog – and that “is not nice”. Really? Don’t read it then! To quote from De Niro in “Analyse This”: “people who know me know that I mean no disrespect”. I swear because I get sometimes passionate about things I say and strong language is only meant as an enforcement for the statements I make. Some think it’s vulgar, other get the message. I am not writing a PhD thesis and therefore my blog is not addressed to everyone – like all blogs its addressed to that minority that feels or thinks similarly. As such I’m not trying to wrap everything up nicely – I’m not blogging about fashion or some other “pretty” subject where every other word has to be “lovely” – I’m just saying it as it is and as I feel that moment. And since most of my blogging is done nowadays during my daily commute sometimes it’s true that my ranting is probably augmented by the crowded carriage I’m in or the delays incurred. It’s a fact of life which we apply it to our daily interactions in real life (how many times did you arrive in the office late, sweaty and pissed off with everyone else and that had a knock on effect on your talking to your colleagues?). And my blog only mimics my behaviour in real life – it is after all just a “log” right?

I’m not going to change my tone – I find it liberating that I can swear at subjects I’m annoyed with and since its my blog no one can tell me not to! In fact I will probably do more of that from now on – if you’ve never read “Fleurs du mal” by Baudelaire and you haven’t learnt that “garbage” can generate still solid content then don’t read anymore. I’ve got a new toy which “unleashes” my blogging on my daily commute and I’m gonna fucking use it from now on!

Permalink 1 Comment

Disclaimer

5 views

(4 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)

Loading ...

04.07.10

The Anonymous Heroes

Posted in Blogroll, Random Thoughts at 4:40 pm by liviu.tudor

I guess this post is long overdue — I was going to blog on this a few days ago when Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, announces the plans for reducing costs; as it happens all sorts of other things kept me busy at the time and it’s only now I find myself with a few moments to spare on this.

As you all know by now, the government’s new budget outlines significant cuts in the public sector — which does reflect upon the likes of the British Museum, National Galleries and such. Each museum was asked to outline the impact of 25-30% public funds cut would have on their activity and also plans for coping with such cuts. This is where I’m making assumptions, granted, but I’m making assumptions looking at the standard trend in today’s market when cuts have been introduced — which resulted nearly immediatly in tons of redundancies, increase in pricing which leads overall to a degradation of the service really. My assumption was that the director of the British Museum could have done the same and make a decision within seconds to introduce an admittance fee, get rid of half of personnel and maybe not worry too much for now about the regular maintenance that the pieces exhibited are subject to. He would have probably positioned the museum within the bracket proposed by the government and lived happily ever after knowing these targets were hit.

But no, he didn’t succumb to that — instead I found out reading from the papers that he was (and still is I’m sure) doing his best to keep the museum free — being prepared for instance to sacrifice some of the opening hours in exchange for that. Obviously perfectly conscious of his position, and his role (which involves ensuring art is made publicly available to the British public) and even more, of the impact his decision would have upon the contact of the average person has with arts, this man I think made such an important decision — to which I’m sure other have or will rally.

In my ignorance I will confess to the fact that I didn’t actually know Mr. MacGregor’s name prior to this — and while I have learnt it recently, for many of us he will probably remain one of the silent and anonymous heroes though, operating in the background, unknown to many yet despite that acting with such verticality and taking these decisions. Well done, sir!

Permalink Comments

Disclaimer

2 views

(4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)

Loading ...