The Occupy Movement

It's been quite some years, 30 years or thereabouts, where I was anything but pessimistic about the state of the world. Yet now I feel enthused by the Occupy movement, and the fires of hell burn deep once again. As my dear friends will tell you once you got me on the subject of politics I'd climb aboard my hobby horse and mostly rail against the capitalist system, largely because of my deep abhorrence of it.

For me, capitalism has always been a 'black & white' subject, driven by my own practical experiences and the injustice that went along with that. Such thoughts that I had were moulded by long stretches of my own life living in relative poverty, brutally at times, and living in a hierarchical class structure where opportunity wasn't a given, or more often than not denied, my abhorrence and blinkered view firmly held sway. And that's the very point of it all, when you cloak yourself with a heavy mantle of political persuasion you fail to see the wood for the trees.

Despite that, I now find myself questioning such a naturally blinkered view because I've discovered there's a different way of looking at capitalism, one that largely is inspired by a young man, who for the last few days has kept me glued to my chair due to his reporting of the events taking place in Zugatti Park, or Liberty Platz as it should be more correctly referred to. His name is Tim Pool, and the most refreshing service he's done to this ancient cobwebbed brain of mine, is to blow the bloody things away.

As someone who who makes a lot of use of the web for any number of reasons, mostly to do with learning and self learning, I've often remarked how joyous the learning process is by the endless examples of young Americans and their selfless behaviour in patiently explaining the joys and headaches of technology; such young enthusiastic minds have saved me an enormous amount of time, for which I'm eternally grateful, which brings me back to Tim.

Tim is the product of Capitalist America, and he knows that the system he is a part of is broken. When listening to him he speaks with clarity, purpose and unbiased objectiveness. As he reports on the events around him, he does so because he cares deeply that his country is being ripped apart by the very failure that once made the USA an economic 'superpower'. More importantly he's extremely aware of the corruptness that runs like a torrential torrent through the last bastion of democracy, the media or 'Fourth Estate.' As you listen to Tim you hear behind the voice a calm reasoning of the events taking place, a maturity beyond his worlds and own world view. He knows that capitalism, in its present form, no longer provides any answers. Listening to him you realise that his 'voice' is the reasoned American one, searching for answers capable of bandaging the wounds and scars of battle. Above all he knows that the 'American Dream' must become something entirely different.

Tim believes in democracy, he also believes in some form of capitalism that is beneficial beyond the American borders. Tim, and many of his peers, know intimately that the world is no greater than a global village. As I sit watching him reporting from New York, he reaches out to the rest of the world and they become involved. There have been times when his constant reporting has driven him to the point of collapse, as on Wednesday last, yet the world responded by showing its care, and perhaps love.

Tim is the future. He may get that future wrong. But what the world needs now more than anything are reflective minds that can make a real difference in some way, however small that difference. From me Tim, sitting in Germany 6,000 miles away, thank you for the opportunity of being in your company, and helping 'old dogs' think again.

Tim can be found here: http://wearetheother99 & @Timcast (Twitter)

Check out this wonderful love story! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hckrig2BwNY&feature=topvideos_music http://bit.ly/puRWpz

A great discovery, check this band out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtZJf_3kmEA http://bit.ly/qSmk4G

For all the baby boomers out there here's a blast from the past! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwLRppxfg7g http://bit.ly/owP4le

English Support Services is now available to SMEs and individuals for English language training/teaching, English language support (front and back office), proofreading and consultations. Contact ESS at englishsupport.de@gmail.com http://bit.ly/pPOZC1

About the most useful thing Fox News has ever done! http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/27bGVI/www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/08/09/14-household-uses-for-beer http://bit.ly/oELx7e

I'm thankful for two things in my life a strong character in the face of adversity and not knowing what's around the corner. Second, the support and love of dear friends, to whom I raise my half full glass and say 'thanks to each and everyone of you for being there.' http://bit.ly/oDNAcS

Politics of Britain

Life's been a little weary, and I agree not the best way to start a blog post. But it goes without saying it could have been much worse if it wasn't for the help and support of dear friends, so a big thanks guys for being there and you know who you are.

So what's been happening in Toni land? Well I have to admit that I've had my nose glued to the Guardian online edition for weeks now, mostly due to the state of Britain, corruption, rioting, British police shooting dead an individual, the death of a suspect in the custody of police after being tasered by them. I know that sounds a bit Orwellian, and maybe it is, but you can't help but feel that Britain is in danger of imploding on itself. None of which is helped by the present prime minister, David Cameron.

I think it's been obvious now for last few weeks and recent months that David Cameron's leadership qualities have taken on the surreal qualities of the infamous 'Judge Roy Bean', who wanted to hang everyone who came before him for committing a crime. In trying to be portrayed as a 'man of action' Cameron has urged every court in the land to literally send people to jail, if they were involved in the recent British riots in London and elsewhere. Consequently, 'macho call me Dave' Cameron doesn't feel in any way sympathetic to the jailing of an individual for stealing a bottle of water, along with a young mother who was thrown in jail for accepting a 'gift' of stolen shorts. Whilst in no way condoning theft, I'm utterly aghast that the British justice system is acting in the interests of political expediency and not judicial independence.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the recent riots, and there will be many on either side, Cameron looks like a man desperate to appeal to a certain section of British society so that he can be voted into power at the next general election. His lack of judgement in recent times, makes him look pathetically out of touch with what's going on; but then there's nothing new in that. For a man who has his finger on the button that launches the A-bomb the thought is truly frightening. Equally, when he stands up in the House of Commons and declares that Britain is 'broken' and that he will mend it, stretches any amount of credibility he had left. This is the prime minister, who's government has introduced massive cuts at every level in society, resulting in thousands of job losses, with more to come. The only level that's not been effected by his hollow rhetoric is the rich, who continue to do very nicely, despite the economic problems. 

Life in Britain is of its own making, and sadly at its very epicentre is nothing but corruption and appalling bad political management. Are there any answers? Yes, but for politicians they are not ones they wish to take, so weak is the political structure. British democracy, no matter how outdated it is, is governed by the notion of a 'social contract', yet the present government does nothing that will betray its roots and debt to those unknown 'faces' scurrying about like cockroaches in the City of London.

I'm not surprised by the decline of Britain's fortunes, they have been largely self-inflicted with the rise of Thatcherism in the 1980s, Blairite continuation of the same policies, and now a coalition of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats ruling the country without any political mandate whatsoever. All of which is made sadder by the fact that the electorate of Britain, last May, chose to remain with the same political system that's all too willing to trample on them. Deeply saddening is that the British electorate is reaping the rewards of its own lack of willingness to change British democracy for the better.

Deeply, deeply sad.

It makes the heart feel warmer when the Germans choose to save a cow called Yvonne...http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/15/cow-fugitive-germany-reward http://bit.ly/qh6Oi3

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/8RyKCg/blog.sublimedirectory.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/What-Beer-Should-I-Drink.jpg http://bit.ly/nrSWMo

Just watched 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes.' and was delighted it lived up to all hype. Engrossing film in every way, the British actor Brian Cox was the one 'weak spot' in the film and was badly miscast, which is a great shame because he's brilliant actor when given the right part, and this wasn't it. I'd happily give the film 8/10 overall, but 10/10 for the Apes, who should get nominated for an Oscar. http://bit.ly/pw5J6q

If you decide to exercise, should the weather prevent you undertaking the greater good? Naw, in for a penny in for a pound. Glad I went and got soaked, refreshing after the recent warm weather! http://bit.ly/pSxFN6

It has come as no great surprise to find that Britain is in the middle of crisis, caused by the widespread collusion and corruption of politicians, police, media and judiciary. Such revelations, as now, have finally debunked the notion that British institutions are bound to the rules of democracy and democratically accountable. Since the time of Thatcher, corrupt practices have been deeply ingrained, Murdoch treated as a monarch, his empire allowed to run roughshod over unions and the traditional sanctity of the 'Fourth Estate' and its remit to hold institutions accountable. But here the British themselves must hang their head in shame, for they prefer to listen to nothing that attacks their naive belief in sovereignty, justice and that most treasured illusion, fairness. The land of Albion remains in 'splendid isolation', yet the eyes of the world will remain upon it. My English eyes will shed a tear, because a once great nation closed theirs. http://bit.ly/nMsGMh

Do you know what your granny is up to? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65ZVMhOUxiY http://bit.ly/nKzebj

Watch, Listen, Learn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pktOXJr1vOQ&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1 http://bit.ly/nxYHmE

Whilst one can dream of cinematic immortality, one has the inevitable problem of the editing suite deciding it doesn't like me and stops working! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr! http://bit.ly/piCMqH

It is my hope, after the disgraceful events of News International, consumers boycott any product to do with Rupert Murdoch. http://bit.ly/qHSoU4

For a game where no-one understands the rules, and the competition is fierce, it's nice to see grown men having a cuddle! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/09/bench-clearing-brawl-orioles-red-sox_n_893759.html http://bit.ly/qYEGuy

For those interested please visit issuu.com/tonygough1 where you can find my EFL coursebook for writing, and a sample copy of my book of testing and assessment. http://bit.ly/m49q9M

Watch this little animation! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB6jnkhZfpU http://bit.ly/k4ujmu

Sitting watching 'Barberella' for the umpteenth time and wallowing in a fit of nostagia. Jane Fonda deliciously funny, John Phillip Law naive, Milo O'Shea amusingly brutal, Roger Vadim gloriously over the top...they don't make films like this anymore and life's all the worse for it! http://bit.ly/khJYRQ

O the joy of doing not much Just tinkering and accomplishing nothing...makes a nice change! http://bit.ly/lnNlL1

Finally finished improving my working environment, looks great now it's done! http://bit.ly/m74nSN

Thank you to everyone who has downloaded and bought one of my 2 books, or both, the magical '200' has been reached: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/tonibryan. Thank you also for the 66 people who viewed my 1st animation 'Monty' in the last 3 days since I uploaded it to my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/tonibryan1 (Please leave a comment, Rate & Subscribe to my work) http://bit.ly/kgQjez

'36 hours in the Big Apple' is now available to view on my YouTube channel, I look forward to your comments and feedback! http://www.youtube.com/user/tonibryan1 http://bit.ly/jqYcGE

I've just had the great news that 192 copies of my 2 books have either been bought or downloaded the available free samples! Just 8 more to go and the magical 200! You can download a free sample of both books here https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/tonibryan Happy reading! http://bit.ly/mJh9qr

There's something splendiferous about digital painting whilst listening to Al Green; checkout the free www.sumopaint.com program http://bit.ly/krKvLj

Striving for perfection is a labourious process...in the film editing world. Writing a novel seems a doddle by comparison! http://bit.ly/llZQre

Whilst still messing about with rendering New York, I carried on with creating my very first animation using 'Bryce 7 PLE', and thoroughly pleased with my result so far, I decided to render it in 'preview' mode. I know fully understand why film animations take so long to see the light of day...my 15 second clip is taking an hour to render...I'm wondering if I should take up another hobby! http://bit.ly/m9YFyi

Working on a short documentary about the 36 hours I spent in the Big Apple, but I do wish my editing program would stop prompting me to render every little change I make...O the joys of editing your next oscar winning effort! http://bit.ly/iz0XsU

Latest short movie posted 'Penguin Amore! :http://www.youtube.com/user/tonibryan1 http://bit.ly/hBvtRy

The Toni Bryan Art Centre

As we are now moving slowly forward into 2011, I've begun to set up another blog for my art work, published books and films. I've done this in response to my own particular need to have an art gallery on the web. Although at the initial building stage, the work I'm producing is beginning to grow and it needs a showcase, hence the dedicated 'Toni Bryan Art Centre'.

The Toni Bryan Art Centre will also be a 'showcase' for other artists, and I invite other artists to submit their own blog and site links so I can include them. Whilst there may be a tendency for professional artists to submit their links, I'd like to encourage the enthusiastic 'amateur' to participate in particular. To anyone whose link is included in the Art Centre, I'd ask the same courtesy is extended to the Toni Bryan Art Centre. All of us know how important marketing is, and the majority know how time consuming it is and difficult it can personally be if, like me, you are no natural born salesperson. If you would like to be included, leave a comment below of how I can get in touch.

Whilst it is my intention to have the Art Centre up and running by the end of this month, January, please remember it takes a little time and nothing involved with technology ever runs as smoothly as it should. Please also note that the Art Centre isn't a money making venture. The intention is only to make available a resource so artists have another potential marketing avenue available to them.

I look forward to hearing from you!

New Year and all that!

And so the end of the last year has finally made way for the new one, and I expect that there will be little different in this one.

Of course the last one started with me in the USA, thanks to Stefan, followed by a year long move forward creatively with the publishing of two books, the setting up of a YouTube channel, the link is here, which has some examples of my warped sense of humour, and more to come. I was hoping that my second short film would have been finished by now, but due to a lack of technological knowledge using Apple's 'garageband' I'm having problems setting the soundtrack to the movie, the release date has been set back a while.

I've posed the thought of going in a different direction with the blog, and still I remain 'wishy washy', unable to decide where I should be heading. It might help a bit if I didn't have so many creative projects on the go, but my mind has never been that efficient at finishing one thing before moving on to the next thing. Of course the idea of a kick up the rear might help, as might some self discipline, but then I wouldn't be me and despite what some certain individuals might think, I'm quite happy with me.

The New Year was seen in 'unseen', I kept falling asleep throughout the day, largely due to around 2 hours sleep the previous night. This once again proves my mortality is getting the better of me, and whereas in years past wouldn't have been a problem now age, amongst other reasons, becomes evermore eager for the delights of a settled night's kip and complains bitterly when I try to follow a regime of sleep deprivation. I suppose I should be thankful that the hulking frame still refuses to give in to the inevitable conclusion, although that doesn't help placate the disappointment of some who expected you to be a particular party, but never bothered to show up at.

So as far as New Year's Eve goes, this year was a damp squib, not that I'm complaining. I fully expect 2011 to be little different to 2010, and if it's as pedestrian as it was in 2010 there will be little in the way of grumbling from me. Whilst it's often delightful to spend many hours in the mythical joviality of listening to the unending optimism of the never ending belief humankind as for thinking that each new year will usher in some miraculous change, I prefer the more realistic glass being half empty than half full. The human species remains irrefutably predictable in determining that life will continue to get worse instead of better.

Have I made any resolutions? Nope! Nor will I because I'm almost certain that such hopes of wonderment will quickly fall by the wayside, abandoned without a struggle. Instead I'll muddle through another year, slowly wending my way along the path of destiny, allowing me to vaguely accomplish something or other to my liking. My hair will continue to fall out with the gentle breeze of life. My face will collect a few more distinguished lines. I'll happily settle for no surprises, becoming a little more patient with life and people. But most of all I'll still remain confused why the human race still persists in following a path wholly repugnant to itself and its six billion neighbours.