Fox and Angel, Creative Partnership
Never too busy to be beautiful
August 23rd, 2010
Never too busy to be beautiful…….I wish. I can’t speak for Hazel of course; she is in Florence researching our book on Angels, but “Bobbie’s Glow” is certainly wearing off on me, (see earlier blog).
It has been a very busy time for us so no time for blogs. Not that this matters, the blogosphere has become saturated……it seems we are blogging each other to death. In fact blogging seems to have turned into a kind of self-therapy, transfer your anxieties to the blogosphere and you emerged cleansed and pure.
Banks…
March 17th, 2010
I visited another of my banks on Saturday morning. The queue was ten deep and stretching out of the door and we were all held up by a customer who was complaining that this bank that was once a building society but is now a bank largely owned by us, (and the us of course includes Members of Parliament) had changed the terms of her agreement and type of account and even the way she was described on her account, without consulting her. Funny that, that banks can change their customer’s accounts without a bye your leave, but if you the individual wants to change anything, or fix up something new you have to take in several types of ID, make an appointment and endure monologues about products you don’t need, because banking is about selling not service. On this particular day I needed several cheques totalling over £1000 but because there was a queue the girl didn’t bother with security questions, so obviously money-laundering rules can be dispensed with when it suits the bank.
The new Metro bank which is being set up to offer old fashioned service cannot come a moment too soon…..
HERE WE GO AGAIN…..
March 8th, 2010
Here we go again…..banking: no change. Bonuses are back up, (did they ever go down?), working practises are no different…..everything is rolling along just as before; bankers are carrying on in just the same cavalier fashion.
The usual scams continue unabated. Members of Parliament could have done a lot more about the banking fiasco but they buried their heads and rolled over. They were too wrapped up in their own petty thieving of expenses to visualise the bigger picture and see their responsibilities.
New Book – WHAT ARE THEY DOING IN THERE?
March 1st, 2010
You will see from the recent addition to our site that our latest book WHAT ARE THEY DOING IN THERE? will be out later this month in time for the General Election. Our first objective was to make this book entertaining and a rattling good read and we think we have succeeded in our mission. It was a natural progression for us after our speculative campaign for the Conservative Party, but this book is generally apolitical, we have swung between right and left according to the particular issues. This is not a campaigning book, it is political opinion designed to contribute to the national political debate. Many of our other projects have gone on hold while we concentrated our forensic minds on the current political situation and in particular that pertaining to the House of Commons.
BANKERS & BONUSES
December 9th, 2009
Sir: Could the bankers who seem determined to hang on to their huge bonuses do us a favour this Christmas…….re-inflate the economy by spending the lot?
FEMINISM & FAMILY
December 9th, 2009
Sir: I must take issue with Angela Elliott re “feminism & child rearing”. As a 70’s feminist I worked both before and after having a family but I was lucky to be able to stay home with my children when they were young and never thought this was incompatible with my feminist beliefs. Like many women of my generation I have always viewed feminism as a simple, (or not so simple) matter of “Liberty, Equality & Fraternity”. The struggle must still go on; (witness the reportage this week of an honour killing and blatant city misogyny); it is important as ever, but we do not hate men and these days not many of us wear dungarees.
PLUMS, BADGERS & SWINE FLU
September 2nd, 2009
I have a Victoria plum tree which was laden with fruit. I think to myself I will pick those plums tomorrow before the wasps get them so at first light I go out with my baskets…..
But wait… Read the rest of this entry »
MY NEW CAR
July 13th, 2009
I have a new car in all senses of the word. It is brand new and straight from the showroom as well as new to me. I was told it had come from Germany although a man who helps in the garden told me it was made in Brazil which he deemed to be “a very bad thing”.
COMMONSENSE NOT ALLOWED
July 8th, 2009
As featured in The Independent, July 2009
Sir: Deborah Orr’s account of her day on South West Trains (June 27) rang a number of bells. I have had the same kind of experience dealing with railway officials, banks, shops and call centres. It seems in many organisations the “nyet” factor, (anyone visiting the USSR before 1989 will remember the frustrations), is positively fostered thus enabling small people hiding behind the rules to feel a misguided sense of importance. However the real culprits are the managers who set up the kind of directives that make no allowance for common sense. It is in fact an insult to their employees tantamount to saying they are incapable of exercising judgement, and the opposite of empowering.
RESPONSE TO DAVID GREEN (Letters May 25th)
July 2nd, 2009
As featured in The Times, May 2009
Sir: In response to David Green (Letters: May 25th) may I say that I believe lawyers and solicitors very much over value their services. My own experience of this profession is that they muddy clear waters, spin things out by making simple things complicated, cover ineptitude with jargon and expect you to do most of the donkey work yourself, yet still send out a huge bill. They almost always demand money up-front so by the time you realize their incompetence you are locked in. The average person has no means of knowing who is capable and who isn’t. Trial and error in this case is not only an expensive business but can have catastrophic consequences. Furthermore when recourse to the law is needed it is often when you are at your most vulnerable and it is all too easy to have the wool pulled over your eyes. There are no guarantees that by paying more you get a better service. Legal costs already make the law out of reach of the majority.
In addition this cartel has lead to a fear of litigation that has affected every section of society; over zealous health & safety procedures are not usually about risk management but the possibility of bankruptcy. This state of affairs is one of our least attractive American imports and has been enthusiastically waved in under the radar by the British justice system. Any measure that shakes up this self-satisfied and complacent group is to be encouraged.