Ripped and distressed denim jeans: WTF

I do not get, and have not successfully had explained to me the virtue of ripped jeans. I see them everywhere on the Tube in London, and the variety of rips, holes and other iconoclastic changes to clothing is beyond my comprehension. It does not look smart, fashionable, aspirational, or any other positive adjective.
I have heard about the tribute to the original punk sources and their desire to reject contemporary society, but the people wearing this stuff are your everyday person in the street who would not undertake any other rebel punk symbolic activity.
Have a look at this.

Are these fashionable? Would you buy a pair if they looked like this. Would you want a pair like this? Probably not because the rip is asymmetric and is the sign of wear and tear. They are my gardening jeans, and I would not dream of leaving the house with them on.........at the moment. If anyone want to make me an offer.........

The deliberate distressing and mutilation of clothing ceases to have any symbolic meaning when it becomes part of the popular culture. A bit like swearing: when it is all around you the impact vanishes.

Some women have said it is sexy. I could not say one way or another, but clearly if a woman wears clothes that adds to the exposure of her skin/what is underneath, then she is sending out a message. It is OK to look and think what you want to think.

The mutilation of clothing (and I also include tops here) is a sign of the decay of normal common sense values. Because it is so widespread, I no longer register the wearer as a rebel, but more of a mindless conformist. It does not look good and its passage cannot come quick enough for me.

BTW, if you want to buy my jeans.........

The curse of the mobile 'phone

Have you ever read any books about street photography? Do you take photographs in the street? Do you walk along a street/cross the road and know what is in front/behind/at the side of you?
On my last attempts at street photography in Central London, if I took pictures that included people, you were unlikely to see their faces, as they would be looking down at their phone. I am constantly amazed that these people manage to cross the road just looking up for a fraction of a second. What is it that is so important. If it were legal, I would not bother braking. For sure, no one needs to keep in contact with me 24/7 without it being live.
Some years ago, I used to be criticised for seeming to have my head in a book too much. Now it seems to me that if I am looking at other people or around me, I am a weirdo.

When I was a kid, it was not common to have a  GPO telephone at all. They were all landlines, and perceived as an expensive nice to have. We had one, because my father had the strange role of being on call if the burglar alarms went off where he was working - not that he could have done anything about it, but there it was, and I guess it meant, although I never found out, that someone else was paying for it. It was on a shelf quite high up, and it was not until I was about 10 that I could actually reach it, let alone use it. Occasionally, neighbours would come in and ask if they could use the phone. Life was conducted either by paper communication or live contacts.
Of course, I have a mobile telephone now, and would regret not having access. What started life as big devices in cars with aerials on the outside, then evolving to the transportable and then the brick, has now become a sub-postcard (who knows about sizing things according to postcard dimensions any more?) sliver and in London, if you have not got a phone in your hand or connected to another part of your anatomy, you are a social outcast: someone who is not networking.

The mobile phone has entered the dysfunctional world. I cannot even work out what people can spend all that time doing with their phone. Games are a waste of your life, and facebook is pernicious. One of the most distressing sights to me is seeing tables of diners in restaurants where all are looking at a phone screen rather than each other.

Are mobile phones cheap enough to be disposable items? Given the number that appear to be up for sale in gadget shops, it might seem so. However, I now learn that handset churn is diminishing and they are being kept for longer. But technology will advance, and when there is a new standard such as the forthcoming 5G or the appearance of a new iPhone, there will always be a rush to be the new adopter. With added value comes added desirability and that means that thieves are definitely interested in acquiring them. I cannot believe the way that (particularly women) flaunt their handsets as if they were a piece of detachable clothing. It should come as no surprise if they are grabbed by recidivists. What is stopping these people from putting them out of sight and using them discretely.
This last weekend, I went to the theatre to a play which boasted a couple of popular small screen icons popular with under 40's. By chance I was in a box, and it should not have surprised me that when I looked down on the audience, it was a sea of faces illuminated by screen glow which only faded after the acts had started. Similarly at a concert recently, my wife said that the audience were more intent on catching the performer with their phones than their eyes and ears.

Most mobile phone pictures (about 99%) are rubbish, especially selfies. I simply don't understand why users don't get this. Yes, the newer phones can take some great pictures when used as the manufacturers intend, but the new trend is a rush for the bottom: if I took it, it is a photograph, and it is art. Not.

Education: I used to know that!

Education is now dystopic, as it is difficult for those on the receiving end to understand where it is going or what the end result will be. "I am doing a course" is a favoured refrain of generation X and Millennials, but it misses the point that not doing the course doesn't mean you shouldn't know or don't know, or are not recognised as having knowledge.

I have a few things to rant about. The first one is the shortening of the school day, and everyones know that scholars are on the streets any time after 2pm. Whilst it may be true at school that there must be equality and diversity, in the real world competition and peer group selection are and always will be prevalent (without affirmative action, which is often an own goal). School kids need to get real, and realise that when they are seeking anything of value be it a job or a partner or home, it is a jungle out there and the better able will always win. Numeracy and literacy are a taught gift that will benefit you for the rest of your life. Saying that you are no good at maths, almost as a boast, cuts no ice. When you have been short changed and you don't even realise it, who is the winner? Literate letters of complaint are far more convincing than scrawled rubbish.
The list can go on for ever. I was talking to a friend this morning, and he has 40 years of experience of teaching maths. He said that whilst it was a good thing that every child now counts as a teacher pupil experience, dumbing down does no one any favours. We should aim high, and aspirational environments that encourage skills will eventually win over get rich quick mentalities or short termism.

Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee and even more coffee

Out of season trips to Dystopia

(Dystopia refers to a society that is dysfunctional and characterized by general sufferings of the people,an opposite of utopia, or perceived as such).

Reality is what you make of it at any moment, and whilst reality changes, your view of it may either remain static, or fail to keep up with it as it changes. Whilst bus passes are a blessing, the view from the Clapham Omnibus (and who uses that phrase any more) changes or becomes sufficiently distorted as to be tricky to interpret.

I know I’m older than I was. When I give my date of birth truthfully, I either feel amazed or embarrassed. What do people see if they see me at all? Old fart or too old to matter, or someone of no relevance? More often than not, photographs show decayed features and the window of attractiveness for most of use just covers the years of 20 to 40. Lucky if you still look good enough, without major renovation, for people to give you a second glance. In my head I still want to feel younger and some of my ideas are juvenile. I know my bodily functions don’t agree with that. Do I want to be younger again? Not really because I would have to engage with the necessities of a younger life, and even knowing what I know now, I don’t know if I would get it right, but it might be interesting to try knowing that things have changed. Nothing I am going to do will change anything outside my four walls.

What’s bugging me today.

COFFEE

Although I am a buyer, I cannot believe the frequency with which the working person buys takeaway coffee or to drink in the myriad of coffee shops (9 of them in my local high street, but one just closed recently). I like coffee, and I like good coffee even more. Nothing fancy: what is currently called an Americano, but it used to be called black coffee. The going rate for a moderately big cup is between £2.50 to £2.80 in London (the worst offenders for me are the London museums where you can pay just under a tenner for two cups of coffee and a shared cake), and for this you will get a takeaway paper cup and a dash of milk/sugar if you want it. (If you take your own cup, there will be some form of discounting in the big chains. The cost of goods is about 13p for the coffee and about 11p for the cup, without labour and premises costs. Cost of good for tea is even less. Yet the coffee shops can run at a loss.  

See http://www.howtostartacoffeeshop.co.uk/idea-of-costs.html

Currently, buying ground/whole beans at supermarket discounts (my favourites are Lavazza and Aldi Columbian strength 5 beans), I reckon that without electricity costs, I am paying about 10p per big cup.

Yes, I know that there is the use of premises that comes into the equation, and if you want to sit down in a central location or even worse, a motorway service station, and have a beverage, you have to pay for it. This is the thing for me, as a cuppa helps break the day if I am out. I like to sit down, yet many central London coffee shops are totally full of people using the tables as free offices or study areas (because of free wifi and acceptable ambient temperatures in height of summer and winter) not actually consuming the shops’ products, and that is simply the way it is. You either walk away or accept that you might not be able to sit down. If you get the chance, have a look at the British Library café area, where most of the tables are taken by non consumers at any moment.

So imagine a working person buys two cups of coffee per working day at say £2.50 per cup. For a five day working week, that is £25/week, and for a 250 day working year, that is £1250 per annum out of taxed income, and more if you pay more or drink more.

The question is whether you might want to do something about it? Would you BYO, would you give up coffee, or is it a perfect storm of an overpriced product served by low paid individuals working for companies who are finding it difficult to make a profit.

Does it make any sense, and what did people do before Costa and Starbucks? What kind of society are we in that spends so much of its disposable income on something as inconsequential as coffee, and is prepared to pay so much. Why are there so many coffee shops? Presumably someone thinks they can make money out of it, as it surely is not being offered as a humanitarian exercise. Have we been brainwashed into thinking that drinking coffee on the go is a good/cool/societally acceptable thing to do. Am I crazy by wanting to sit down when I drink a hot drink? Should I care?