Iain Cameron's Diary
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2006-10-13 - 4:34 p.m.

I dozed through S Schama on television and art last night wondering when we were going to get to M Collings but somehow we never did or maybe I simply missed that bit. I liked the extract from Civilization and the famous Weldon uneasiness on pop art. Especially as far as Hockney is concerned there is continuing uneasiness around his easy legibility but perhaps this is coming to an end with the latest extravaganza. I have a soft spot for the idea of refinement in Santa Monica and who knows maybe Adorno, Mann and Hockney cluster round something worth developing. Is there a fault-line running through and do I inevitably have one foot on each side. Or is there now a bundle of intrinsic stuff � as mapped by George Mckay.

I see there�s a new editorial on the kk site about the politics of HIV in South Africa.


There was something in the Guardian today by Simon Jenkins and the attractions and repulsions of science at school which I copied round and provoked some jolly exchanges. There s a need to pull together all the different assets we have in terms of the current debate but we never quite find the time.

The questionnaire for Valencia is nearly finished with some outside help on regulation and innovation. I�ll tidy it up on Monday and send it off. The details of the hotel arrived � it looks very hard edged and modern but I suppose that�s only to be expected if we are building the new Europe as opposed to lazing around drinking Rioja. The boss already seems to have sold some of this on to entice a prospective major customer. I found myself pulled back to the question � why don�t we have a philosphy of technology? That led back to the French reaction to Marcuse. So one answer to the question why we don�t is that what we do have is so bloody unintelligible. But I should consider myself fortunate to even get close to the edge of the intellectual void � which is not a million miles from what the Learning Grid has to offer the SJ agenda.

I mailed James an article from McKinseys about the current state of public service reform in Europe which dropped into the inbox � very short but very much to the point. I was intrigued that it highlighted the role of an outfit that where I earned an honest(ish) penny in the early 90s � the place where Simon Prager dropped into my office in Belgravia one afternoon and asked if I�d like to see his Martin D 28. In fact it was the first place that I ever performed by improvising to a tracker sequence. No wonder its all in such a state.

Meanwhile I keep listening to Tracy and Ben. I have found her myspace site which cites Bless the Weather and Solid Air, 83-85 Smiths and J Buckley � and that time she sang with the Fairports. So maybe my theory that EBTG is the prosecution of pre-crash FC by other means isnt so far off the mark. I have ordered the early 90s acoustic album of covers. Someone somewhere says she has the best english voice since Dusty Springfield. And I�ve ordered the DVD as well.

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