And after a day filled with the working class ballet or whatever title is being bestowed upon football to make it more palatable to intellectual types, it was time for some proper culture (and as a true Glaswegian, I cant help but say that in a nasally tone and pronounce it Proper kultyir). Don’t get me wrong, I can analyse the hell out of football with the best of them (and in a better style than that muppet Andy Gray, the only time anyone should be recreating his “take a bow son” line is when someone else boots Andy Gray in the haw-maws) but sometimes it is just random stuff from overpaid and over-valued players being cheered on by idiots and best to just be enjoyed on a basic level.
Which brings us to art…now, I don’t what art is but I know what I like. The morning got off to a lively start at the Caixa Forum where an exhibition of Richard Rogers work was going on. Okay, no one should be cheering architects in the manner that footballers get lauded, there is a paucity of Greek Thomson scarves and posters on kids walls but at times, these architects are capable of conjuring up moments of majesty and wonder that will have people enthralled at their water coolers for a long time. They are also able to put a roof over people’s heads, which is probably more important.
You may not know the name but you will have seen the Millennium Dome, Terminal 5 at Heathrow, the Lloyds Building in London and maybe even Terminal 4 at Madrid and they are all attributed to Rogers. There’s a better element to his work than many architects with the importance of the social value being central to the design, which definitely appeals to me. So much of the work looks fantastic but the fact that it can be produced efficiently and bring a whole deal of benefits to society is important It also brought home the fact that his original design was chosen before the Squiggly bridge in the tendering for Glasgow’s latest bridge across the Clyde. Roger’s tender won but when the costs were examined and made public, the outcry saw a cheaper work selected. It’s a shame but given the current economic climate and the lack of additional benefit the dearer bridge would have cost, a level of pragmatism must be applied.
Next stop was the Reine Sofia, dominated by Pablo Picasso’s Guernica. There appeared to be people taking pictures of the people taking pictures of the drawing such was the excitement and attention being placed on it, which I found quite strange to be honest. The section was largely devoted to war based art and much of it was very good. I’m a fan of propaganda artwork, of which there was much to see and some of the pictures of the Spanish Civil War were extremely interesting, most notably, The Death of a Militia Man by Robert Capa, which has always been an attention grabbing picture.
However, Guernica…….I’m not convinced. I think the thing is, if you are being that abstract, it allows many people to take their own opinion from it, which means that it is open for criticism as much as the fawning praise it gets. A look in the gift shop indicated the level of analysis which was given over to this painting and perhaps, if I took the time, that would explain a lot more and help me get into it. It’s certainly a piece of art that was developed in stages and no doubt a lot of thought went into it but again, that style of artwork just doesn’t do it for me. In my opinion, Jonathan Richman was on to something; maybe if someone had called Pablo Picasso an asshole, he would have tobered up and did some more palatable art. Haha, no one called Pablo Picasso an asshole, not like you (me)
I can handle Dali, some of his work is decent and even his abstract stuff has some tangible quality I can take but at this moment in time, Picasso’s work is the Emperors New Clothes to me. I very much doubt my voice will be the one to shout “here, that Pablo is pure naked” and have people change their opinion but I’m just putting it out there.
So that was the morning and after a short break in the afternoon, things were back on the go that evening with a traditional Spanish meal on the cards. That was rather tasty, allowing us to relax and enjoy a few cerveza’s later on knowing that we had at least went for a traditional meal. After a bit of shopping, the bars were hit, with the 6 Coronita’s for 15 euros in the Irish bars being the best offer in town!
Those that know me will understand I’ve never been the bonniest person around but lately, I’ve been worse looking than usual due to an increasing amount of psoriasis on my scalp. This can be caused by many different factors but stress and overly worrying can be a major cause of it and I think we’re beginning to see a reason here! I’d love to be like the MAD character, Alfred E. Neuman, and his catchphrase “what? me worry?” but for whatever reason, my personality is not like that. So anyhoos, that’s been a further dip in the confidence and my way of reacting to it is by trying to make a joke about it and showing it up for the nonsense it is.
As we were off to Madrid and the weather was pretty warm, I got a number one cut. On the downside, this was going to expose the unsightly blotches but on the other hand, it would keep my scalp cooler and prevent any itchiness and the inevitable clawing that follows. One of our party said that it looked to be very sore but to be honest, it looks bad but doesn’t feel bad, and its impact is definitely more psychological. Anyways, we were discussing it and I remarked “it just looks really bad but you can just add it to the list of things that make me look like a modern day John Merrick.”
This was met, in all seriousness, with “You look nothing like the racing bloke”. Haha, that of course is John McCrirrick whereas my comparison was to the Elephant Man! Neither of them are characters you would wish to be compared to I suppose, at least Merrick had plausible excuses for being that way, McCrirrick just comes across as an awful dislikeable man.
For the record, I’m not really like either of these men, for my confidence levels I may as well be but its not really about looks. I have some really stunning and fairly handsome friends who are also single so it’s clearly not just about looks, a lot of factors need to come into play.. I just lack in a lot of areas. Theres been a few failures this year so its probably best to sit back, badger the doctors for even more assistance in getting rid of these blotches and carry the fight against fat into 2010!
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