Monday 23rd March

No posting yesterday - and some other non actions. I decided a day with the family was needed. Four grandchildren kept us busy! One of week 3’s actions was Limit yourself to checking emails or texts only once today. I managed a day with no computer: and I wasn’t suffering withdrawal symptoms.

Week 5 contains some challenges but also some interesting opportunities. Read the international section of a newspaper of web site for a week. I thought I’d try the International Herald Tribune: I used to think UK papers covered world news much better than the foreign ones I saw regularly (USA and France) but I think that was a biassed view because they had little UK news. How much French news do we carry in our papers? The IHT today has stories about how Russia will have to face the economic crisis with a much diminished revenue stream for the government. In it’s Europe section, it reports that there are signs that Nicolas Sarkozy realises he can’t wait or stonewall his way out of the crisis. His prevously-reported view that France wasn’t suffering like the rest of the world may now be wrong. The Times’ Sarko story today is about how he has upset teachers and purists with his fondness for sounding like a matey, ordinary bloke. The only UK news on the IHT web site is about Jade Goody. I’ve put a link to the IHT on my links section.

Hockney

I spotted a story in the press at the weekend about David Hockney. He has started creating computer-generated art. He has often embraced modern techniques: he had a phase of using multiple polaroid photographs - have a look at his web site. David Hockney was visiting the San Marco monastery in Florence the same time as us a few years ago. We chatted a couple of times: he was critical of how the frescoes had been ‘repainted’ (they had been restored recently) but I remember particularly him gazing at the sunlight in the library: he was taking in the light on the arches, columns and floor. I think I saw it through his eyes. I also remember a TV programme many years ago when computer graphics were in their infancy. They gave a series of artists the new technology to play with: most were lost but Hockney thought it was wonderful. I remember particularly a comment: "of course, anyone watching this at home has an original Hockney" I thin it’s unlikely that I’ll own another one: the computer art prints are reportedly to be sold for between £7,000 and £20,000.