Groping and Grappling

It was one day when I walked past his office. With a cry of 'Greenie!' my boss threw his arms around my waist and held on tight making piratical noises. I squirmed until after he few moments he let me go, laughing to himself. It wasn't overtly sexual but made me feel very uncomfortable. The boss who I shall call Trevor was in his 50's, maybe younger. I was 21. It was his business, and he tended to recruit men in their early 20's. He was loud, bouncy and charismatic. Friday night drinks were a big part of the culture. But he had a habit of roughly mauling the more junior staff. He would bound up behind one and start massaging your shoulders, or playfully slapping you on the back of the neck. It was being grasped around the waist that prompted me, for the only time, to raise how uncomfortable this made me feel with a colleague. His advice was straight forward, tell him to stop. Looking back I wonder why I didn't. It was largely about the culture Trevor had created. One of my workmates, a similar age to me was being repeatedly and publicly threatened with the sack. Another guy was sacked, basically for answering back. It was true he was less likely to pick up on guys further up the pecking order. But he didn't have to. He could also be generous and charming. The pay was good, it was a lively young crowd.
So if the only alternative to confrontation was to put up well then, well take the easy route. I did not see him that often, it was not normally me he picked on. Path of least resistance.
Trevor could also be remarkably hard to get hold of if he knew you wanted something. His PA. was a charmless character who delighted in the role of gatekeeper and chief informer.
When I hear talk that the victims of abuse need to toughen up etc I do think of Trevor. He did not scar my life but he made what could have been a very enjoyable period less so. But hearing stories now about abuse in various institutions I do have some sense of what it must feel like to be a victim of that, and how easily it can thrive. Also how hard it is to change from the bottom up.

Not What It Says on the Can

The latest food scandal  is not in the horse burger league but doges say something about us as consumers.
Asda has been selling tomato purée fron China as 'produced in Italy.' This is not another example of falling education standards, fueling a Govesque  demand for a more 1950's curriculum. Asda's Italian supplier buys up perfectly good Chinese purée. By adding some salt and some water it can be branded  as 'produced in Italy.' I presume they do this because while are happy with Chinese made TV's we trust only Italy to produce pulped tomato.
This just seems a huge waste of effort. We are not talking about Champagne or Wensleydale. 

Sexual Harassment - less handwringing

Quite a few long established, in the case of the Catholic Church very long established, institutions seem to be toiling with claims of sexual harassment and the wonderfully cryptic 'inappropriate conduct.' There is lots of arm waving, some justifiable anger but not much in terms of credible solutions. So here is my starter. Sexual harassment at work is wide spread but not universal. What typifies the organisations that seem to be most mired in it right now? Ok here goes, not all will apply in every case but most will;
1) monolithic hierarchies. This enables abusers to exploit their status, and leaves the victims with nowhere turn.
2) progression based on patronage over performance. It is easy to exploit the young and vulnerable if they need the patronage of their senior to progress up a hierarchy where the foot holds are not clear.
3) aggressive macho culture. Organisational cultures that (passively or actively) encourage aggressive alpha male behaviours will reap what they sow.
4) Evil will triumph if good men say nothing. Treating whistleblowers as a problem, and focusing on worrying about the negative PR will encourage cover ups. It will come back and bite you. How Lib Dems must wish the had not given Cyril Smith or Lord Rennard the benefit of the doubt.
5) all lads together- if the senior managers are all blokes have a think about it, and that includes those in the church.

Waterstones Piccadilly- Like Amazon but you can walk around

Spent a couple of lovely hours on Saturday wandering around the Waterstones inPiccadilly. I guess in the not to distant future it will go the way of the once grand HMV in that part of the world, but while it exists enjoy it. It's scale allows one to get immersed in a department, drenched in biography, travel or crime.
Some of the sub genres are odd - 'Cosy Crime.' An there is this strange ghetto section that puts GLBT, Erotic and Black fiction together. I am not sure exactly what the thought process was there.

While I used to find Foyles often bewildering there is something kind of ordered and reassuring here.

Bring up the bile

I would have thought the author of Wolf Hall might have been a bit cautious before messing with Royals - their supporters can be horribly thin skinned. Hilary Mantel offers an eloquent critique of the future Queen's public image (not of the human being as far as I can read) and she is accused of a 'vile attack.' There seems to now a tirrade of abuse heading in her direction. Hugely disproportionate response from where I am standing. But I just ask, before one passes comment please read what Mantel actually wrote.

This is a Journey into Cheese

There are plenty of nice restaurants around but sometimes one finds somewhere genuinely special. Last Night L'Art Du Fromage was special, and in so many ways. They have a nice traditional French menu but running parallel to this is a journey into the world of cheese with lovely selections (the Cloche offering 16 to enjoy, 16), Fondue and Raclette. That the food was lovely and they recommended a beautiful wine to go with it was only part of the story. It's a small place where the proprietor exudes a cheerful passion for his food along with a natural gift for customer care. Lovely little touches (glass of champaign while we waited for our table, a delicious cheese and mushroom amuse bouche, a liqueur at the end that can old be described as being hit with a raspberry fist) came throughout.
I love that they are doing their own thing. The is no generic French place. The focus on cheese and more traditional earthy dishes means it sets out its stall as somewhere different. It was gone midnight when we stumbled into the night. Wonderful stuff.

Rock n Roll Suicide and other ways of dying

Been spending a nice 10 minutes enjoying the Wikipedia list of rock and roll deaths.  As we would expect getting shot and taking lots of drugs features quite highly. But what also stood out was how dodgy flying must have been in 50/60's America. Ok the stats are skewed by Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and Big Bopper being downed as a job lot, but this was not an isolated incident.

In terms of quality the period 80/81 is probably the worst/best seeing Ian Curtis, John Lennon and Bob Marley taking an early bath. Toss in John Bonham, Bill Haley and Bon Scott clearly a lot of guys were being inspired by Elvis.

The most downbeat end to a wild life must be Nico. She met her end due to a head trauma caused by a cycling accident. Ok, not wearing a helmet is not a smart move but probably not the most reckless thing Warhol's starlet ever did.

Which Side are You On

I was reading reviews of a couple of books about the International  Brigades in the Spanish  Civil War, especially the British contingent. The writer suggested that 'It was probably the last time a group of Englishmen with rifles allowed themselves the exhilaration of that belief.'. That belief being that they could change the course of history.
Maybe, but I doubt it . It depends on how you define Englishman. It is true that there has not been a cause that as so energised young men on the left. But how different is it really from young British Muslims making their way into the ranks of Al Qaeda? Are their motives so different from the young communists who headed over the Pyrennes? I wonder if in10 years time there will a literature about those lives?

Who's abusing who

There was a fair bit of discussion a couple weeks back when Mary Beard was subjected to a steam of online abuse for being, well, a woman. I also read a recent article about how women online gamers are subjected to higher levels of abuse than Men. Online is a good area for research as one can count it. But here is the result of my own bit of research in the non virtual world. Cyclists in London do and will get a fair bit of abuse. Both my Partner and I have ridden regularly for the last 6 or so years, both lycrad up and in our civvies. One cheery Sunday morning a nice man, a complete stranger at a bus stop, called me a cunt for cycling past him wearing a T Mobile top. However my partner is the victim of abuse much more often. Some of it for being a cyclist, some of it for being a woman, some merely existing. This is not a daily occurrence but it has become pretty clear that she is more likely to suffer this despite the fact she is probably a more cautious and careful rider than I am.

The abusers are not exclusively men, but they are in a majority. Angry men lashing out at women is an issue both on line and in the real world

Quiet Cait Reilly

She describes herself as shy and probably could not do more with her appearance to make herself look the part of the retiring introvert. Also the glasses, pale skin and bookish demeanour made it easy to imply she was being precious, a job snob. It is interesting reading her talking about her role in the Poundland workfare case. One of the interesting aspects of Susan Cain's book, Quiet, was its discussion of Rosa Parks. How an introvert stood up to authority in such a clear yet quiet way.
Cait Reilly's role around her work placement is not in Park's league, but there are parallels.
I would guess she is in for a further rough ride now she is back in the spotlight. While a paper like the Guardian is supportive I am sure those on the right will not trouble themselves in seeing the fine grain of the story.
Reilly did not need work experience in Poundland as she already had lots of work experience in this area. Nor was she sitting on her bum waiting for the perfect job to come along. She had set up her own placement at a museum getting experience in the area she actually needed for her career.
It is a testament to her strength that she was willing to go against her natural shyness to highlight a nonsensical policy and see it through.

Win some/Lose some

Last year the Old Ports had to cancel their Reliability due to the weather, this year we had a bounty. Sadly it was Sydenham Wheelers who got bitten this year, having to call off at the last minute. The wind, rain and cold driving people away.

Bad luck guys. I am sure you will bounce for next year.

It's Good to be Back - m b v

The arrival after twenty odd years of a new My Bloody Valentine album is a thing of wonder. That it has arrived and is not shit is an even greater wonder. Then I suspect Kevin Shields has half a dozen quite good MBV albums worth of material languishing gathering dust, ok but not good enough to meet his exacting standards.

He is a true maverick in a music industry well populated by the pseudo variety. He is also amongst a small group of genuine musical radicals. Most rock iconoclasts do it with attitude, saying the unsayable to a backing that is in musical terms generic. The musical journey from Small Faces to the Sex Pistols was a short one. From Hendrix and Cream to Led Zepp more arguably so.

MBV, like Kraftwerk are musical iconoclasts, changing what can qualify as pop music forever. Alan McGee once described them as the British Husker Du. It is no slight on Bob Mould's band to say that this was aiming low. Rather than leading a movement they killed off their disciples, making leaps forward that left the likes of Slowdive, Ride, Chapterhouse and a slew of others looking redundant as they gazed into the lights of the on rushing Britpop locomotive. MBV are the sonic antichrist to the perky, swaggering lad rock indie of Blur and Oasis.

It is great to know they are still with us, and still doing their thing in their own awkward squad way.

All About Eve (Pollard)

The CIH Homeownership and Leasehold Conference is probably not the first place one would expect to see a former Fleet Street editor, but Eve Pollard of Mirror and Sunday Express fame was pretty  good value as the keynote speaker. Her theme was something like, 'what to do when your backs against the wall' or 'dragging your sorry asre out of the swamp.' So there were clear links to the wonders of leasehold managment.

Fortunately she stayed largely away from the thrills of the Right to Buy or Leasehold Valuation Tribunals. Instead she gave us some much more cheery insights. Nice line 'You have Robert Maxwell to thank for me being here today...... He took half my pension.' Made a passionate defence of the press against Government regulation,(and yes she would wouldn't she). But on the balance of 'What is in the public interest' and what is merely 'Of interest to the public' she made some considered  points.

The press needs to be free to expose wrong doing in high places. Hacking phones is wrong. Stories about people affairs probably are not really in the public interest, unless it is about exposing hypocracy. She picked on sad old Mr Huhne, posing with his wife as a happy family man at the last election when he was about to leave her, as a case in point. From when I am standing if the press adopted that kind of definition of what should or should not go in, they would not go too far astray.

Asked which politicians she would trust, she initially offered Thatcher and Robin Cook on the basis that no matter what one thought of their views they were pretty clear about them. Of the current crop she commented that as career politicians they had lived in a bubble, and to concious of the need to be, in her words, 'groovy.' Cameron's desperate assertions of affection for The Smiths and Eton Rifles came to mind . Interesting she suggested Ed Milliband was the one she would Trust most.

Accepting that it was just another gig for Eve, I thought she did a pretty decent job, armed with a quiver full of anecdotes about the rich and powerful that may or may not be wholly true. I went off to my workshop on Private Sector Leasehold Managment with a spring in my step. Was brought crashing back down to earth soon enough by that though. Now what was it she said about.....

Reliabiltiy Consumers and Community

Been thinking a little more about the Old Ports reliabilty event yesterday, and how it fits into the blossoming cycling scene in this country. As a starting point seeing loads of new riders out enjoying the sport in all its guises is a wonderful thing. But for me I think there is something special about the Old Ports event, and similar ones run by CC Bexley, Sydenham Wheelers and the WKRC.

These events, like nearly all the time trials, and many road races are events run by cyclists for cyclists. People put in hours of effort, give up their own rides to help the rest of our community. For the health of the grass roots sport this stuff matters. Clubs like Bigfoot and now the Ports are working to bring young people into the sport in a safe and enjoyable way. The long term health of the sport needs this kind of commitment from the cycling community.

But I sense there is another strand, commercial sportives, training camps and more high end groups that pull in the opposite direction. Running events where the cyclist is the consumer, seperated from the mechanics of making these things happen. Some of these events are brilliant, Marmotte, Maratona, Tour of Wessex. But the relationship with the riders is different.

Cycling clubs are benefiting from the boom in cycling but when I ride a local sportive, many strong riders have not connection with the club scene. While adding some great events to the calendar we cannot rely on large charities, and online retailers to take care of our sport. That is why shaping events like the Reliabilities so they are not the preserve of a hardened few is important. These events can provide a bridge between the cyclist as the consumer and the cyclist joining a community.

Old Ports Reliability Cycling Boom

I have sensed it out on the roads and in conversation but today I got a tangible measure of the boom in cycling  right now. In the cycling calendar, Reliability Trials are pretty much filed under hardcore. At a distance they look like a Sportive, hard rides through scenic landscape. But they are its older more brutal twin. Run in inhospitable times of the year when road conditions and the elements are against you, there are no broom wagons for the weak. Route signs are optional, it is down to the rider to know the way. As for event timing something scrawled on a soggy card takes the place of chip timing. The term Reliability Trial comes from the notion that it was a test of the bike and rider, not just fitness but if they were both 'reliable.'
So these events were pretty much the preserve of racing club men (and it was men mostly) getting themselves fired up for the season ahead. This was not the kind of thing newbies pick. You could try to follow somebody who knows the way, but then you have to be able to hang onto the wheel of some headbanger racing snake.
But there is a change I could see at the Old Portlians Reliability today.  Normally we get around 80 entrants. Today there were long queues and dwindling supplies as we attracted nearly twice that number. Interestingly there was lots of demand of the short route suggesting we were getting riders newer to the sport. And, a growing female cohort, many who have come in through triathlon.
It was great to see so many new faces turning out for this homely cheerful event.
Some may miss the hardcore past. Austen (half) joked that the sport was now too accessible, what had become of the brutal alienating rituals that ensured cycling remained an obscure athletic backwater? Cheery old initiations to would be members like take them on a club run, ride them into the ground then drop them in the middle of nowhere. Surprisingly many did not return the following week.
A few years back I was concerned that traditional events like to Old Ports Reliability would get swamped by slick Sportives. Either having to scale up like Catford CC did with the Hell of the Ashdown, or die. Today suggests that the cycling boom, and the demand for the sport will mean that there is still a space in the calendar for these old school season openers.
Cheers to Gary Blunt for organising it.

Cain talking quietly

Susan Cain's book, Quiet, sets out to make the case of introverts in a world she says can't stop talking. As an introvert myself I was keen to see what she had to say. To be honest it is a strange book. Is it self help- kind of? Is it popular psychology? Is it memoir? Though interesting and thought provoking in places it is flawed, both as writing and research.
The basic flaw, and a fairly major one is that she never really defines introversion. She then goes on to talk about a whole lot of stuff that is at best tangential to it. Screeds are taken up with talking about shyness and fear of public speaking. Neither of these characteristics are necessarily part of being an introvert. Many definitions are at pains to stress that it does not mean shyness or timidity.
Where the book refers to anything that could be described as robust research it relates to traits that are not necessarily about introversion. But more often relies on what can generously be called case studies to make her points. Interviewing one Asian American student then making sweeping cultural statements on the basis of this is hugely over stating what she has found.
Being fair, it is not trying to be high brow academic study. So how does it fair as a story, a narrative. Somebody like Jon Ronson can tackle this kind of stuff with a light touch and amusing anecdote. Cain does not have a light touch or betray any evidence of a sense of humour. In its place are toe curling homilies either involving  her husband Ken, or other couples. And nobody does a regular job, they are all skull crushing high achievers, Harvaard educated Lawyers and international peace envoys. doesn't Cain talk to any Painters or checkout staff. i guess not because they don't feature in this world. The tone is all whitened teeth and achievement. This kind of stuff may go down a treat in America (it must do it has shifted lots of units) but is a far too sugary confection for me.