Got up at 7.30. Clear Blue skies. Another John Wayne Movie on TV. Nothing else. British TV is even more sensational chasing than Australian. No news so lets concentrate on some trivial matter and sensationalise it to death. Its all about Ken Livingstones Antisemitism at the moment. In Australia the media are anti left. Here they are not so much anti left but are all trying desperately to conform to the ratings chase formula. Anything to sensationalise. Barack Obama's quite well reasoned arguments as to why Britain should stay in The EEU for instance.
Barack Obama's comments are the first sensible comments I have heard said in the campaign. The total debate for leaving comes down to two points :- - We don't need anyone else telling us what to do. - (we have big ego's but we don't care) - Lets send all Eastern Europeans and Middle Easterners home - (there are too many foreigners who will not conform) Blood Pressure 122/67 Pulse 70 We left about 10.30 and went to Baker Street. We then walked to Marble Arch along Baker Street and then along Park Lane to Hyde Park Corner. We walked inside the Park. It was very pleasant weather. Lots of people out enjoying themselves in the Park doing normal things. A fair smattering of tourists. People on Boris Bikes. Its a long weekend here this weekend. Bank Holiday Monday. We went to the viewing level of Wellingtons Arch. Not much of a view. You can look into the grounds of Buckingham Palace. The trees now have their leaves so you cannot see a lot. A small museum in the building. Much extolling of Wellington. And lauding his victories over Napoleon. There is a map showing how much of Europe that France either controlled or dominated during Napoleon's time. Its quite extensive. Even Hitler would have been jealous. After Wellington defeated Napoleon the rest of Europe was very grateful. Everything had changed. France was no longer a threat. And they showed how grateful they were. He has lots of European awards. Medals etc. Decorations. The British Government gave him the equivalent of 70 million in today's money. He bought Apsley House with part of the money. We then walked along Piccadilly until we found a Pret to eat in. I overindulged. We have kept pretty well to a proper diet while we have been here. We are hoping we both might lose some weight. Today I overdid it and fell off the wagon. Despite its convenience a Pret can be expensive if you don't stick to the rules. You must only have a soup and a bread stick. Today I felt hungry and overdid it. We walked back to Apsley House. The present Duke still lives here. The Museum part is on two floors. Its not that good. The usual excess of portraits. Lots of Napoleon. Lots of Wellington. One by Goya where Goya had already painted a portrait of Napoleons brother - who had been installed as King of Spain by Napoleon. Wellington defeated him and restored the Spanish Royal Family and in gratitude they asked Goya to do a portrait. Goya simply changed the head from Napoleons brother to Wellingtons. The painting isn't very good. There are some Rubens and Titians - not anything that I recognised. They have a strict no photographs policy with lots of security making sure its complied with. But I made sure I photographed the Velazquez painting of Pope Innocent which somehow ended up in Wellingtons collection. You could not say that Wellington had good taste. This purchase of this painting must have been a mistake. Wellington did have an ego. His Statue on his horse (its a large statue) was on a plinth that was interfering with traffic in Park Lane. It was suggested that they remove it from the plinth and locate it elsewhere to free up traffic around Hyde Park. Over my dead body said Wellington. I will resign first. They had to wait until he died to move it. But move it they did and its no longer interferes with traffic. The most expensive painting - or the painting Wellington paid most money for - is a painting of Chelsea Pensioners reading the news from Waterloo. Once again its not very good but of course it does glorify Wellington. I had a little snooze on their very comfortable lounges they have in the Gallery Room. Its tiring constantly walking about. I am not as strong as I was 45 years ago. We went to the Australian/New Zealand War Memorial. Could only find Milawa and Swanpool on the list of names of places where people came from when they enlisted. They didnt put names of people on the memorial as is usual - they put the names of the places they came from. There are a lot of place names. I think this makes a point in a different way that is quite impressive. Hand written note on a wreath from Prince Harry put there on Anzac Day. We walked up Piccadilly (named from the fashionable collars of the 18th century) to Bond Street and walked the length of Bond Street. 45 years ago this street had a lot of clothes shops. It still has some very exclusive brand names for clothes - YSL - etc - but its mostly Jewelry Shops now. Loads of French and Italians buying up everything. Sothebys was closed. Could not find Christies. But we did have the good luck of finding The Halcyon Gallery. This was having a sale of Warhol Prints. Some Campbells Soup Cans. Some Chairman Mao's. Only some had price tags. Nearly all POA. Those that did have price tags were pretty hefty. The majority had the red sticker attached. A very interesting video extolling Warhol's gifts running constantly. Here was a man who did not pretend to be smart - quite the opposite - yet he was able to change public taste. And he made Modern Art glamorous. Pretty well impossible to walk along Oxford Street so we took the Tube Home. I watched a show about Indian Sloth Bears then went to sleep early. Indian Sloth Bears are the most angelic creatures. Jenny watched a show about Elvis Presley. Timothy West and Prunella Scales were doing the canals of Sweden. Prunella says that if it wasn't for her husband she wouldn't even go outside even to put the milk bottles out.
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