Thursday 20 October 2022

Chaos in the weather and in the country. Theatrical nonsense. Saving paintings. Where will it all end?

 Today is such a wet and windy day that I have not set foot out of the house. Indeed, I only opened the door at all to let my daughter and the little fellow in and out. I doubt if it’s going to dry up enough for me to take a smart walk round the block at any point. 


Yesterday at some point I made a note to myself: Suella Braverman out of a job! Who will tumble next? Today, as I watched youtube videos about monster trucks and dinosaurs on my iPad with the little chap, both Number One Granddaughter and Number Two granddaughter simultaneously messaged me with the answer: Liz Truss has decided to resign as PM and leader of the Conservative party. Earlier yesterday she was declaring herself to be “a fighter not a quitter” but it’s clearly all just got too much even for her. Maybe it was the fiasco of the vote on the fracking bill with accusations of bullying and one MP seeming to be manhandled into the right queue for voting that did it for her.


So now the plan seems to be to have a week long leadership election and then she will throw on the towel. At least that’s what’s being said at the moment. With the way things have gone in recent weeks I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a new plan before the day is out. Maybe they’ll find a way to slide Hunt seamlessly into Number 10. There are also rumours that Johnson will stand as a potential leader once more! 


Some people are demanding an immediate general election, which would be interesting but which cannot be organised to be done in a week. The country is in even deeper chaos!


On a more trivial note, I read this morning that a play about the “Wagatha Christie” trial is to be staged in the West End. Who though thatvwas a good idea? Well! Here is one answer: 


“I was fascinated by the trial,” said Eleanor Lloyd, the play’s producer and president of the Society of London Theatre. “It felt like such an extraordinary example of celebrity culture. Usually celebrity and libel trials are a bit grim, and obviously this has had impact on Vardy and Rooney as individuals, but it felt crazy to have got as far as the high court.”


I wasn’t interested when it was happening and I can’t see why anyone would want to go and re-visit it on stage. Mind you, it wouldn’t surprise me if someone decided to make it into a musical as well! Such is the state of culture in the UK!


Lowry’s ”Going to the Match” painting has been saved from going into a private collection, thanks to the donation of large amounts of money. The Lowry Arts Centre paid £7.8m including fees for the picture, painted in 1953, at an auction on Wednesday evening. The purchase was made possible by a gift from the Law Family charitable foundation, which was set up by the hedge fund manager and Conservative party donor Andrew Law and his wife, Zoë. The painting had been estimated to fetch £5m-£8m.


Even though it irks me that it has been saved by a Conservative party donor, I am glad the painting will still be around. Even Tories can feel a little sentimental about stuff.  It’s rather a shame Lowry himself isn’t around to benefit from the money. But at least that’s one bit of money not going into the Tories’ coffers! 


Interesting times!


Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone! 

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