http://terenceblacker.com/comment Regular commentary from the author Terence Blacker, including his most recent Independent articles and a regular blog. Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:17:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en There was once a very silly government minister who floated the idea that Britain's public libraries should be privatised. It was in the days of Margaret Thatcher when such talk was fashionable. Even so, the idea was quickly laughed out of court. The minister's political career was over. Modern-minded Tories do ... http://terenceblacker.com/comment/from-the-independent/hands-off-our-public-libraries/ The dawning of this new age of happy liberation from the state (or should that be "miserable betrayal by the state"?) has provided few greater surprises than the suggestion that the parish council, that whiskery old joke beloved of sitcoms like The Vicar of Dibley, will play an important part ... http://terenceblacker.com/comment/from-the-independent/parish-councils-and-a-quiet-revolution/ Oddly, because I was born on a farm and take an interest in rural matters, I have a troubled relationship with farmers. Every few days, while enjoying looking at the birds and the trees on a country lane, I get harangued by the local farmer or his gamekeeper. For me, walking ... http://terenceblacker.com/comment/blog/hedges-wool-dead-dogs-an-everyday-story-of-country-folk/ Now that politicians vie with one another to prove the sweet ordinariness of their domestic lives, holidays have become competitive. Rather than do what they would like to do – sit by a billionaire's swimming pool in the sun – political leaders are obliged to express heartfelt enthusiasm for something ... http://terenceblacker.com/comment/from-the-independent/camping-the-proper-way-to-have-a-holiday/ High passions and occasional dottiness are never far away when public libraries are under discussion. Earlier in the year, I wrote a light-hearted blog which induced an attack of the vapours in Ed Vaizey, the shadow Culture Secretary. Vaizey is now the Mr Big of libraries in the government, and his ... http://terenceblacker.com/comment/blog/libraries-and-an-elephant-called-google/ Thumping his chest, a silverback of the London Zoo management has announced that, after the premature deaths of two male lowland gorillas, another is to be imported. "Without a doubt, seeing a gorilla will rank as one of the most breathtaking moments in a person's life," zoological director, David Field, ... http://terenceblacker.com/comment/from-the-independent/gorillas-have-no-place-in-captivity/ As from this week, the word "shame" is likely to be appearing with increased regularity in the national newspapers. The Premier League football season starts on Saturday, and the national team will be in action on Wednesday. Already the predictable shame-based, football-related stories are beginning to appear in the press.    This ... http://terenceblacker.com/comment/from-the-independent/its-not-the-players-its-their-followers/ Now and then, about once a year, the stage of public life darkens as a leading player makes his entrance. Sir Jonathan Miller is about to make a pronouncement about the cultural state of the nation. The news is rarely good. This week he revealed that, in spite of being ... http://terenceblacker.com/comment/from-the-independent/beyond-the-whinge-a-message-to-sir-jonathan-miller/ It is the ultimate hippie nightmare. The Grateful Dead, a band which for 30 years represented the cause of love, peace and LSD, is about to provide marketing lessons for 2010. Their fans, who liked to be known as Deadheads, once offered a stoned, smiling defiance of that all-purpose authority ... http://terenceblacker.com/comment/from-the-independent/time-to-herald-the-wisdom-of-chickens/ Even coming from the weird and wacked-out world of Tinseltown, the news that Sean Penn is to appear in a Hollywood biopic of Maxwell Perkins is somewhat startling. Perkins was a mild, courteous, self-effacing publisher’s editor. He was, admittedly, such a brilliant editor that he has been a touchstone of quality ... http://terenceblacker.com/comment/blog/stand-by-for-the-new-hollywood-hero-the-publisher/