At home with the Georgians

[Flyfisher]

I think we have the most unemancipated house in Britain, but that was the deal when I gave up on notions of a career.

Careers are vastly overated.

A businessman on holiday was at the pier of a small South Pacific Island village when an island fisherman docked his small outrigger canoe. The fisherman had a dorado and several large grouper in the canoe. The businessman complimented the Islander on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Islander replied, "Only a little while." The businessman then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Islander said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The businessman then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a late afternoon nap with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip rum and play guitar with my friends, I have a full and busy life."

The businessman scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat, then with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would of course need to leave this small fishing village and move to Australia, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The South Seas fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?" To which the businessman replied, "15-20 years."
"But what then?"
The businessman laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich - you would make millions."
"Millions, really? Then what?"

The businessman said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a late afternoon nap with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings here you could sip rum and play your guitar with your friends."

 

[wobs]

I think we have the most unemancipated house in Britain, but that was the deal when I gave up on notions of a career.

Careers are vastly overated.

A businessman on holiday was at the pier of a small South Pacific Island village when an island fisherman docked his small outrigger canoe. The fisherman had a dorado and several large grouper in the canoe. The businessman complimented the Islander on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Islander replied, "Only a little while." The businessman then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Islander said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The businessman then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a late afternoon nap with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip rum and play guitar with my friends, I have a full and busy life."

The businessman scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat, then with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would of course need to leave this small fishing village and move to Australia, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The South Seas fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?" To which the businessman replied, "15-20 years."
"But what then?"
The businessman laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich - you would make millions."
"Millions, really? Then what?"

The businessman said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a late afternoon nap with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings here you could sip rum and play your guitar with your friends."

Or to put it another way:
No one lies on their death bed wishing they spent more time at the office.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Some lovely things to see on tonight's programme, but she really is annoying me now.
How can Claydon be condemned for its "masculine" lack of taste and over-the-top bling, and then A La Ronde, every bit as OTT (and less suitably so, as it was the home of a group of middle-class spinsters, not of a would-be grandee) be praised for the same thing just because it was done by women with time on their hands?
And she can't differentiate between Chinoiserie and gothick, though that may be something to do with looking at an engraving on an iPad instead of properly.
Charles Saumarez-Smith's house looked good.

 

[JoceAndChris]

we were shouting exactly the same things at the screen! I spotted her fatal chinoiserie flaw on the cartoon too - shocking.

Chris would like it to be known that he thinks she's a man- hating frump.

And she didnt credit Soane's house!

But yes, some very beautiful places, and again, fascinating diaries.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Chris is a man of taste and discernment.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Well of course, he married me.

 

[CatherineB]

Dreadful woman.

(Not you, Jose :wink: )

I don't think I can bear another episode.

On a brighter note, has anyone been watching Ian Hislop's Do-Gooders?! Fascinating stuff...

 

[Moo]

Oh, yes - isn't Hislop good at that sort of thing?
I watched the first Georgian programme, but can't be bothered to watch any more.
Now if only they'd make a series based on Cruikshank's Life in the Georgian City...

 

[Juju]

Yay, they showed Chastleton House last night which is where I volunteer. Not sure I approve of her touching the 17th century tapestries though :evil: Also nice to see the Geffrye Museum - one of my favourite museums and also the old workhouse at Southwell which I visited recently.
Juju

 

[Moo]

In spite of my disappointment with the first episode I did dip into it last night, but again came away with a rather sour taste in my mouth.
Apart from her assertion that there had been no 'homes' prior to the Georgians, I was particularly irritated by they way she confined herself to the extremes - the very rich and the very poor (and they all seemed to be so very miserable). What I wanted was some insight into the lives of people who lived in the sort of middling house that I occupy. Every time we saw her walking down streets of georgian terraced houses (Spitalfields?) I hoped that she would open one of the front doors and take us in, but all we saw were mansions that had been built long before the period promised in the title.
The whole thing was a con.

 

[robgil]

She walks like a gun slinger as well.

 

[CatherineB]

I think she was trying to be sexy, Rob.

It was all unnecessarily sexy IMO - all that nauseating stuff about pick-pocketing being equivalent to rape, for God's sake. :evil:

 

[JoceAndChris]

It makes me laugh how we all sit round abusing this programme - must catch up with it today on iplayer.

Thanks for the pointer, above, to the Hislop, now that's very good indeed.

 

[Lime]

Yay, they showed Chastleton House last night which is where I volunteer. Not sure I approve of her touching the 17th century tapestries though :evil: Also nice to see the Geffrye Museum - one of my favourite museums and also the old workhouse at Southwell which I visited recently.
Juju

Unfortunately I saw the programme the other night.
Apart from her bias towards women clouding everything she said I was taken with how she could not stop touching things.
Her clammy little ungloved hands crawled over old documents as well as several items that she had no need to touch whatever.
I'd kick her out if she was in my house doing that.

 

[Penners]

It makes me laugh how we all sit round abusing this programme

'Scuse me - not all of us.

I haven't seen the programme at all. I've been busy on far more intellectual pursuits, like transferring my old vinyl albums on to CD.

Please don't ask me what albums, otherwise my "intellectual" claim will tend to crumble....

 

[JoceAndChris]

But Mr P! Are you not alarmed that CDs are an obsolete form of technology, rendered superfluous by more modern means of streaming music, such as Spotify?

Still, if it keeps you out of mischief. :wink:

 

[Lime]

But Mr P! Are you not alarmed that CDs are an obsolete form of technology, ...............

Indeed they are.
Not only that but their life expectancy is but a few years whereas vinyl's is almost never ending in comparison.

 

[Penners]

But Mr P! Are you not alarmed that CDs are an obsolete form of technology, rendered superfluous by more modern means of streaming music, such as Spotify?

Still, if it keeps you out of mischief. :wink:

It's funny you should mention Spotify, Joce, because I joined only a few days ago. I have a free (open) account which, as I understand it, allows me to play up to 20 hrs of music a month.

The only thing I haven't yet discovered is how to do that!

 

[Flyfisher]

But Mr P! Are you not alarmed that CDs are an obsolete form of technology, ...............

Indeed they are.
Not only that but their life expectancy is but a few years whereas vinyl's is almost never ending in comparison.

Yes, it's an odd thing that CDs cannot be worn out by playing them, yet will naturally degrade over time (though usually more thana 'few' years), whereas vinyl is very stable over time but will be worn out by repeated playing.

I converted all my vinyl to CD a few years ago but I now keep all my music on a hard drive, which makes it simple and easy to backup, thus ensuring it will last almost indefinitely, even though the media will of course eventually die. And with the vast size and low cost of modern hard drives, it's not even that necessary to bother with compressed audio formats anymore.

A friend is a big fan of spotify, though he seems to use it more as an online 'radio station'. I still tend to buy complete CDs, though when I do want specific songs I tend to find them via YouTube and simply record them.

 

[robgil]

I think she was trying to be sexy, Rob.

I bet she chaffs as a result. Thats a vicious circle right there.