Tattoos

Recently I have been thinking about tattoos - what they mean historically, anthropologically, and in contemporary culture.



Above: It started when I went to the Skin exhibition at the Wellcome Institute in the Euston Road. I have to force myself to take an interest in scientific and medical issues, otherwise I would never look outside the liberal arts. The Skin exhibition I found interesting but also a bit grisly (one of the cabinets had displays of tattooed human skin).



Above: the exhibition was also reviewed in the Guardian (or is this the Observer?). If you click on the image you should be able to read the text. The newspaper has put this under the heading "Anthropology" but I have not seen any other reports by the newspapers Anthropology Editor.



Above: body art has a considerable antiquity in the British Isles. Painting the body with dyes made from woad dates back to at least Neolithic times. This (public library) book by Jamieson Hurry is a fascinating description of everything you need to know about the plant.



Above: Woad is a fascinating and versatile plant and traces of its former cultivation can be found almost everywhere, marked by place names. There are several thousand Woad Farms in England. The use of woad as an ink for tattooing is not very efficient (the shading is erratic) and so it is almost never used now.



Above: close-up of the pub sign. Thanks to the malign influence of the trashy film Braveheart, painting with woad is wrongly associated with primitive life in medieval Scotland. However it was found in all regions of the British Isles and all levels of society (the Anglo-Saxon king Harold II was identified by his tattoos after being killed at the Battle of Hastings).



Above: probably the practice of marking the body in blue relates to the prehistoric identification of family clans (groups of extended and inter-connected families of up to six thousand in number) with specific animals - bears, eagles, white stags etc. Symbols related to these auspicious animals were marked on the bodies of qualifying members of a particular community. It is possible the origins of heraldry can be traced to the symbolic language of these daubings with paint and skin incisions with blue ink.



Above: it is difficult to assess the influence David Beckham has had on the uptake of tattoos. Is he a fashion leader or a fashion follower? Here you can see David Beckham in an unusual pose that reveals the famous tattoo on his lower back.



Above: the lower back tattoo of David Beckham quickly became adopted as an expression of identity by White Van Man. The popularity of tattoos among other celebrities over the past twenty years has meant the practice has moved from being a fashion to being a convention. For young people today having a tattoo is now a very conservative act.



Above: are tattoos intimidating? Are they designed to intimidate? I saw this group walking across a beach, and everyone got out of their way.



Above: what will happen next? Will tattoos continue to grow in popularity and influence? Or will the practice come to an end as new generations reject the cultural fashions of their parents?

Sir Ian Blair

Disappointed that the Today programme did not ask fomer Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Sir Ian Blair about the 'phone hacking scandal when they interviewed him this morning.   Sir Ian Blair was a highly-politicised Commissioner and must have been aware of the reasons why the police decided not to prosecute News International.   This was a time when the Labour Party was still hoping for News International support during the forthcoming general election - perhaps I have a suspicious mind, but it occurs to me that the then government could have pressured the police not to prosecute as part of a courting approach to News International.   I would like to see a much wider official enquiry into News International links with the previous government.

Worth making the effort

Village in the northern half of the county, at the northern edge of the central hills. All the villages in this area are related culturally. Traditionally they are descended from a devastated population that took refuge in the hills during the Viking incursions, and when returning to the valley split into several communities.



Above: the church was thoroughly restored by Blomfield in 1872, but he is supposed to have faithfully reproduced the Saxon windows in the tower. From the exterior you might think this was an entirely Victorian building and drive past without taking a closer look. Especially as it is on a sharp bend and you have to turn off the road to find somewhere to park.

But it was worth making the effort - inside there was lots to see.

Two attendant ladies offered tea to all comers (served from an urn), gave out portions of home-made cake (only 10p a slice), and guided people through the exhibits.



Above: there was further evidence of Saxon settlement, including this Saxon grave marker (it would have stood upright, the right-hand part above the earth).



Above: the font is Norman and was found by Blomfield buried under the floor.



Above: there were hundreds of artefacts from various periods dug up in the surrounding fields - here you can see a 17th century candle and a medieval key and nail.



Above: There was a photographic exhibition of village history. Here you can see a farmer's wife feeding chickens. The life of a farmer's wife was physically hard but when you talk to elderly ladies about their mothers and grandmothers there is considerable affection for the old way of life.



Above: there was formerly a blacksmith in the village, now long gone. Smiths held an important position in pre-industrial society as a knowledge of iron technology was of crucial importance for the making of weapons for both hunting and defence/offence. More work needs to be done on the social relationships between blacksmiths and hunters (they were often linked in fraternities).



Above: making of corn dollies in preparation for the harvest celebrations. Many schools in the county produce these items during craft classes. In all the fields this weekend the farmers have been taking advantage of the fine weather to bring in the crops.



Above: a cornucopia - a long-standing symbol of "plenty".

No-one knows where I am - the past week not at work

Monday

Bank holiday. For lunch cold chicken, boiled potatos, fresh peas. I have a sort of flu at the moment, so all I want to do is rest.

Tuesday

I sent my CV to sixteen ad agencies where I know someone (although in a couple of cases they were only really acquaintances).

Wednesday

Went to Watford to see Kate (an old work colleague). She may have some freelance projects I can work on. Although the agency (which I used to work for) was in new offices it seemed exactly the same with Ian, Alan, bad-tempered Angela etc.

Thursday

Being unemployed, there is a luxury to waking in the morning, realising there is no requirement to get up, sleeping again, waking again, sleeping.

It's a relief not to have to make an appearance anywhere.

It's a relief that no-one knows where I am.

Also it's surprising how much I have to do now I don't have to go to work.

Friday

A call from a provincial marketing agency asking me to an interview on Monday afternoon.

Still sells

England play Bulgaria at Wembley today (7.30pm).

It is the first international match for the England team since ejection from the World Cup.

You would think that after a less than successful performance in the World Cup everyone would have been keen to forget about the competition.

But World Cup 2010 lingers on in the national consciousness:



Above: in the weeks following the end of the World Cup you could still send off for this Limited Edition Official England Glass. Which I duly did. My brother drinks Stella from it.



Above: even a month after the Final you could buy these England USB drives. And strangely, I was motivated to make a purchase, even though I work in marketing and know that the link between these objects and the England football team is tenuous in the extreme. It was almost as if I had an out-of-body experience and could watch myself falling for the marketing hype.



Above: only two weeks ago I passed the Churchill pub still flying the England flag and with a big sign up saying it was the home of the World Cup.



Above: and on Monday of this week I noticed that White Van Man still had a big flag up on the side of his house.

What is going on here? Why this romantic nostalgia for an episode that was undeniably a failure (Marina Hyde describing it in such exaggerated gotterdammerung terms that you would think she was referring to the fall of Singapore in 1942)? Obviously England's World Cup 2010 campaign still sells over two months after England lost to Germany on 27th June.

Probably it represents the power of myth and fantasy over reality. Even in defeat the England team is a powerful cultural and psychological phenomenon (like artists in France, in England footballers are the "cherished children of the nation"). Few other psychological machines can harness the collective emotional energy of the masses in quite the same way.

As Zervos said: "It is impossible to deny that the collective is satisfied with opiate ideas".

Llamas

Beyond the fringe of bullrushes I saw this group of llamas gamboling around the meadow.

Llamas are very social animals, intelligent and easy to train.

From the diverse colours I would guess these llamas are being kept for their wool.

Anyway, these are the first llamas I have ever seen.

A reminder that I ought to get to know more about South America (perhaps even go there).

All features and no benefits

The contest for the Labour Party leadership continues. The Independent on Saturday did this helpful questions and answers article. I'm not sure any of the candidates really understands the concept of a unique selling point (and their more general selling points are all features and no benefits).

Although it is possible that events will destabilise the Coalition and Labour will bounce back after a couple of years, realistically they are probably out of power until 2020. They should be using this period to develop new policies, not worrying about current personalities (none of the five candidates are likely to be around in ten years' time). None of the candidates are talking about long-term policies (except possibly Diane Abbott and Andy Burnham).

Andy Burnham's focus on long-term care for the elderly is the only policy that will have electoral appeal. However he has not worked out a proper means of paying for it. I think a specific hypothecated tax would work.

School

Village close to the northern edge of the county town so that it has effectively become a suburb.



Above: despite its appearance this is not an Anglican parish church. It was constructed in the medieval period as a church, and the tower dates from this period. However in 1620 it was purchased by a Merchant Adventurer (the venture capitalists of their day) and turned into a grammar school administered by a charitable trust supported by grants of land (which provided an income to run the school.



Above: the school originally met inside the nave of the old church. In the 1860s purpose-built schoolrooms were constructed (access is through the open green door on the left) and this part of the school became an assembly room and chapel. So good was the quality of education that the school attracted pupils from all over the country.



Above: the school lasted until the 1970s when it was merged with other schools and moved to new buildings. The classrooms are now used for continuing education. They don't look as if they have changed much.

I was very interested in the sustainability of this school - founded in 1620, endowed with income-producing assets, and lasting three and a half centuries. This is how I visualise the "big society" happening. There must be many individuals who would donate money to institutions if they could be sure their bequests would be safe from political interference, social engineering, siphoning off into pet projects etc.



Above: there were displays of old photographs - here you can see how the children celebrated "peace" in 1919 with a patriotic pageant.



Above: the children celebrated "victory" in 1945 with a communal meal.



Above: the rural nature of the village survived until comparatively recently. Even in the 1980s strawstacks could be seen in the centre of the settlement. You can imagine how Mud Lane got its name.



Above: I was interested in the way that housing developments were superimposed on the farming landscape - so that the original use of the land persisted in road names, house locations, surviving trees and hedges.

Despite the proximity of the encroaching urban area the "world view" of the villagers together with their self-perception and cultural modes of expression still seems to be intimately connected with the natural world around them and the former school at the heart of their community.

Teas were provided by the Methodist chapel next door. Young female minister in a pink clerical shirt. A tiny ancient lady, very frail, came into the chapel and I had the sense (intuitive) that she was very holy.

She insisted I came with her - the past week not at work

Monday

Nothing appropriate in the Media Vacancies pages of the Guardian.

Because I still have my season ticket it made sense to go up to London and see if any of the specialist recruitment agencies were offering freelance work (preferably stuff I can do working at home).

I met Jonathan (copywriter at my last place of work) for a lunchtime drink. "You spoiled her weekend" he said, describing the effect my resignation had on Yvette (my former boss). He talked about the advertising agency, but I was bored by this office gossip - already it means nothing to me.

Later I caught a train from Waterloo to Windsor and met EGJ in on the Eton Bridge. We walked along the river as far as Athens. Lots of rowers on the river, in twos and threes, some moving slowly, some moving fast.

Tuesday

Today I researched marketing companies I might like to work for, and began to put together some examples of my work. Because I left so abruptly there were a number of significant gaps. I rang Rachel to see if she would go into the agency and get them (she works in the offices upstairs) but she insisted I came with her.

Therefore at eleven o'clock in the evening I drove up to London, the journey taking nearly three hours. I parked my car in Berkeley Square where there are always spaces, and met Rachel in Covent Garden, almost everywhere closed. We walked to the agency and she unlocked the door and turned the alarm off (we were in some doubt about whether this would be recorded electronically).

Walking up the stairs to the agency floor, I fumbled in the palm plants on the landing until I found the spare key. I felt very uneasy as I unlocked the door to the offices and stepped inside, but once I was in the familiar environment I moved quickly, knowing where everything was that I wanted. I had to work in the dark, but there was plenty of light from the street lights outside.

Before leaving I paused briefly by my old desk. It seemed to be occupied by someone new (probably new recruit Lisa). I had no sentimental feeling for the place, and when I rejoined Rachel on the stairs I was glad to get away.

Wednesday

Didn't do much today except rest and sleep.

Thursday

I didn't get up until 11am. In the post my final payment from the agency. It was more than I expected.

A committee meeting in the evening for the educational charity I do voluntary work for. The meeting was held in the courtyard. I drank diluted whisky and soda and watched the interactions between various people - there were some strains but no actual explosions.

I told Simon S (finance secretary) that I had left my job. He told me matily: "We'll soon have you on your feet again". I told him I wasn't really off my feet.

Friday

Again I got up at 11am. It would be so easy to fall into a lazy routine. At the local library I met an elderly lady who told me she was a creative writer "...but I had a great fall and was in hospital a long time, during which my parquet-floored library burned including all my writings."

Barley

Recently I have been thinking about barley.



Above: this is the barley growing in the field just to the north of the house. It is grown in the county as a summer crop. I have watched this field of barley grow from seed and feel very protective towards it. Probably barley was the first grain domesticated by humans about ten thousand years ago. You can buy barley bread in Sainsburys. There are many health benefits to eating barley.



Above: the Barley Mow pub. A very convivial establishment (pubs are important social spaces throughout the county). Note the lucky horseshoe nailed at the side of the door. Drinking barley beer has been a popular occupation since Neolithic times. The mythological figure John Barleycorn is a personification of barley beer. More than any other alcoholic drink, the consumption of barley beer is linked to traditional concepts of "plenty", leisure and festivity.



Above: barley is also made into non-alcoholic barley water. Robinsons Lemon Barley Water is probably the best known brand, and has cliched associations with lawn tennis and Wimbledon Fortnight. This very traditional drink is one of the diet items that contribute to English identity.

Bullying in the workplace

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw reports that MPs are still carrying on about their expenses.

Newsnight yesterday dramatised some of the abusive incidents.

I thought we now had a mechanism for sacking MPs who behave badly? This is an opportunity to make an example of senior personnel caught bullying in the workplace. One of them, Denis MacShane, has said he doesn't want to represent his country as an MP, so the Labour leadership should take him at his word and chuck him out.

And as for the MP who was threatening to kill someone, shouldn't he/she receive a visit from the police?

Veil

Newsnight on Monday had an item on whether Muslim women should wear veils in public. The issue became controversial when former Home Secretary Jack Staw said he didn't like speaking to women wearing these veils. In France there are moves to make the wearing of veils in public illegal.

This has made me think about the culture of veil-wearing.



Above: there has been no mention (that I have seen) in this debate about the English custom of wearing veils. Until the Second World War it was quite usual for women in the United Kingdom to veil their faces in public, and the novels of Wilkie Collins, Trollope and Dickens are filled with heavily-veiled characters. The custom still survives in the wedding veil - when my sister got married she wore a huge veil.

There was a sort of revival of veil-wearing in the 1980s, and presumably we will see future revivals.



Above: at a church I visited last year there was an exhibition of wedding dresses over the last hundred years with examples from every decade. This is the 1949 dress - no veil, but you can see in the photo at the foot of the dress that the accompanying veil was voluminous. Several questions were raised in my mind when I saw this item. Considering clothes rationing only ceased in 1949 how was it possible for such an expensive satin-silk garment to have been produced so soon after the war? Also, how has it been stored over the last sixty years without a mark or a crease or a moth-hole? Also, what is the owner keeping it for (or perhaps she sits in it everyday like Miss Haversham)?



Above: at a different church I saw a wedding veil left before the high altar like some kind of votive offering. There was something about this arrangement that seemed familiar. For a long time afterwards I kept trying to recall where I might have seen this before.



Above: then I remembered The Bride by the symbolist painter Johan Thorn Prikker. Nuns are known as the brides of Christ (and they are another group that wears veils). Note the white flowers that resemble skulls ('til death us do part).



Above: John Taverner called one of his most famous works The Protecting Veil. I listen to this CD all the time. He was inspired by the Orthodox Feast of the Protecting Veil, which reminds us that the Muslim practice of wearing veils was originally copied from the Byzantine Greeks.

Anyway, I have no problem with Muslim women wearing veils. I think Jack Straw was playing politics with the issue. He was up for re-election in a seat which has a strong BNP presence, and he no doubt wanted to outmanouvre them by attacking immigrants but without admitting that the Labour policy of unrestricted immigration has been a huge mistake and done a lot of damage to wage rates among the D and E socio-economic groups.

Interesting Demos discussion on the issue: http://www.demos.co.uk/blog/illegalhairandtheburqaban

Doddington and Rollo estate

The Doddington and Rollo estate in south London.

Built in the late 1960s and early 1970s. There is no sense of community here. It represents a failed social structure.

Gangs of youths congregate near the shops - these young people have been identified as impetuous and confrontational (drug abuse, truancy and crime are endemic). Community resources open, run for a short period, then close (closed retirement home, closed housing support office, closed counselling centre, closed job club, locked play areas, garden closed due to "health & safety" etc). There is however a public library which MUST be retained.

A failed social structure, but not absolutely collapsed. The failure is one of vision and leadership, with no "establishment" figures living among the people. Political activity (not that there is much) seems to consist of perennial protest - and this resentment theme encourages residents to see themselves as victims.

Sport, culture and a drive to national integration could redeem this community, but too many vested interests want to keep things as they are.

Communal culture

Afternoon visit to a village located in the northern "wilderness" of the county.



Above: In the centre of the settlement was an ancient hall. There has been no systematic study of domestic rural architecture in the county. Although now we are used to regarding large houses of this kind as quasi-aristocratic residences, in past centuries they would have supported a considerable community, with the manorial family a "first among equals".

The layout of the larger houses gives clues to a particular village ideology - marriage arrangements (and the hierarchy of family alliances), allocation of space for procreation, and displays of family wealth.



Above: the church is medieval but thoroughly restored in the 19th century. Instead of a bell tower there is this little turret, guarded by gargoyles. The landscape is pastures studded with clear pools, expensive-looking horses very prominent.



Above: the recumbant effigy I had come to see was in a chapel in the north east corner. Medieval priest, the features a little worn. Note on the side the heraldic escutcheons that place the priest into his religious, territorial and family context.



Above: also in the chapel were stones from local excavations. As you can see, the stones include what appears to be part of the shaft of a Saxon standing cross. In the 6th century, before the building of churches, crosses were put up in most settlements, with travelling priests using them as gathering places for preaching and open-air services.



Above: a surprise in this church was an exhibition of local history, with the historian herself giving out cupps of tea and answering questions. Her work was extremely thorough. This is a map of land-holdings in the parish (although this relates to the post-enclosure period, there were also wells and even specific trees held in common ownership).



Above: lists of surnames related to the parish. Surnames and their promulgation through the generations demonstrate the patri-lateral nature of village society. The choice of first and second names for children also reveals a family's self-identity and admiration for historic, religious or mythological figures.



Above: I admired the way in which each farm and cottage had been researched. The community would have visualised itself as a network of families and individuals rather than an arrangement of buildings. The location of the structures reveals the culturally-coded social interaction of the village.



Above: even into the 1940s a pastoral lifestyle was preserved, although perhaps not strictly necessary given the increasing mechanisation of agriculture. Pastoralist ideology was probably retained in the county (is still retained?) because it provided a framework for social organisation, values and beliefs. In this respect the knowledge systems of the pastoralists acquired a cultural and ritual significance.



Above: place names indicate Templar activity in the area (there was a preceptory in the next village). Village communities were united by oral traditions that emphasised common ancestry (even when these traditions were not really true). In an era when remote settlements had to make their own entertainment, travelling story-tellers would bring news, play music, and flatter their audiences with mythology about their ancestors.



Above: recording local stories is of great importance. I am always astonished at how much is still extant. Not just stories, but folk-songs and melodies.



Above: here you can see the folklore of the village laid out geographically. Venerable traditions, half-remembered historical events, cherished love stories - all combined into a unique culture for each of the county's villages. It was this communal culture that gave the villagers a perception of themselves, and contributed to their strong sense of identity.

I then left the building - the past week at work

Monday

As I was going through my post this morning Yvette (agency head) came up to my desk and accused me of reading a magazine. "I can't possibly be reading it, it's in German" I told her. The accusation, and the aggressive way it was delivered, made me feel very angry, and I felt like resigning immediately.

But I didn't.

Mid-morning Julie (account executive) and I were called into Yvette's office for a share-out of Andrea's clients (Andrea was formerly Account Director who resigned a couple of weeks back and is now working her notice in the PR division upstairs). I got two nice clients, new girl Lisa is to get a lot of the rubbish. Julie got the rest, and I suppose is now equal in rank to myself.

We had a talk about new business, and I was critical of the way we do things. Yvette told me I should move if I didn't like the way the agency was being run. I told her that I might do that.

Andrea's car has also been allocated to me, although I have already said I don't want it. I said I would keep it in the mews car park at the back and it can act as a pool car. Later in the day Neil (graphic designer) and I used the car to take some surplus office furniture to Neil's flat (he was buying it from the agency). Neither of us could get the back seats to go down. Eventually I drove it to a garage near Baker Street and a mechanic simply pressed a lever and the seats went down, making me look very foolish. I offered to pay him for his trouble, but he said it was free of charge.

Later in the afternoon I walked round to Covent Garden to give Lisa her new contract of employment. She seemed quite happy in her current environment. Should I have attempted to warn her?

Tuesday

Andrea's last day today. We had organised a collection for a present, Yvette refusing to contribute to it. When we gathered to go upstairs to see Andrea's send-off Yvette sprang out of her office and said we couldn't leave the floor unattended (although she was there). Later Andrea was allowed to come down to say goodbye. She hugged each of us (not Yvette obviously). I was sorry to see her go.

Wednesday

Lunchtime I went up to the Boardroom to watch the One O'Clock News. I was joined by Terry (MD and our ultimate boss) and a political friend of his. "We've lost touch with the man in the street" said Terry. They then tried to define who the "man in the street" was. Eventually they were forced to admit to themselves that they did not know any men in the street. "I suppose that proves we've lost touch with them" said Terry's friend.

In the evening we all stayed on for another of the Jess Lewis training sessions (Jess Lewis is a former Personnel Director and an old friend of Yvette's). New account exec Lisa attended the training and seemed very keen. The rest of us appeared bored. Jonathan (copywriter) continually insulted by Yvette. We had a sort of buffet meal half-way through, with various cheeses and pates. Jonathan and I sat by the wine bottles.

Thursday

I had been expecting a quiet day at the agency today, but this was not to be.

As soon as I arrived (a few minutes late) I heard Yvette complaining about the way everyone was dressed, even attacking her favourite Julie. Unknown to the rest of us she had invited a potential client to visit the agency, and was now saying that we did not look presentable. As it happened, this was one of the very few days when I was not wearing a jacket (I had a raincoat with me because of the threat of rain, and a raincoat on top of a suit jacket is too much in this weather).

We were all summoned into Yvette's office to discuss our sartorial shortcomings. She started with me, and I deflected her anger by saying I would go out and buy a jacket before the client arrived. She then turned her attention to Jonathan and Neil and raged (not too strong a word) about how scruffy they looked and how untidy the Studio was. Jonathan attempted to defend himself by saying that creatives were expected to be casual. Yvette became almost insane with fury, telling him repeatedly seven or eight times to "shut up". It was as if she was having some kind of fit.

It was at this point that I decided to go. I walked out of Yvette's office and went upstairs to see Terry. He saw me almost immediately and accepted my resignation (he asked me to think about it, but I said no).

I then left the building and went home.

Friday

I wanted to sleep late, but I was woken at 9 by a phone call from Jonathan asking how I was. He told me he was going to complain to Terry later today about Yvette. He said that in the end the potential client had not turned up, so the storm had been for nothing.

Mid-morning came a call from Katharine (Terry's PA) asking how I was. She described the aftermath of my resignation ("Yvette came up to see Terry shaking like a jelly"). I asked her to clear my desk for me.

Twenty minutes later came a call from Rachel (PR exec in the upstairs offices) asking me to dinner in her flat in Maida Vale this evening.

During the day I calculated my finances, and I am better off than I realised, so no immediate need to panic about getting a new job.

Late afternoon I caught a train up to London.

Maida Vale and the familiar flat. Probably the last time I shall see it as Rachel moves out in two weeks. The meal was savoury crepes followed by profiteroles, with white wine to drink.

We talked long into the night about everything.



Above: I thought I would put a picture of Yvette up, at least for a short while. So here she is. This is Jonathan's photo, not mine. I took a photo of his laser-printed photo, so not good quality. She's not a bad person. But she has done many bad things.

Wonderful Life by Hurts

This has been going through my head all day. Wonderful Life by Hurts. They even manage to reference Temple Meads station in Bristol (a Tudor-gothic manorial edifice).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_889449&feature=iv&v=PIJXqOvXb1A

Is this a pastiche of 1980s culture? Or is this 2010 culture in a 1980s style? Or is this genuinely 1980s culture that just happens to be produced in 2010?