The Future's Bright The Future's...

A combined public municipal building housing the local council offices, the public library, the registry office and god knows what else, probably a swimming pool and a health spa sponsored by Preparation-H.

My sister in-law recently went down to her local library with her daughter to find that it had been closed down, seemingly without any fore-warning. My sister in-law stated that this must be because ‘only my children and I are ever here.’ This closure of libraries is happening up and down the whole nation and why the media has been all wrapped up in the phone-hacking scandal the future of the library has been discussed behind open but ignored doors. So what could the future be?

One idea put forward by the local government association and the MLA (the museums, libraries and archives council) is that the libraries could shared there space with the council offices, police stations, NHS surgeries, local museums, health spars and sports centres. All based in one large, possibly purpose built, super hub. The centre of community, all things to all people, and no doubt in their minds, the minds of the LGA and the MLA, it would be somewhere that would be full of light and life, clean, well kept and well funded. I would just like to ask where is all the money going to come from to fund these ‘Super centres’? To look and any of Leeds’s council offices or police stations it is easy to see that there is no room in the existing buildings in the centre, even the library is running out of space. So where, pray tell, would these centres be? There is of course another problem with this idea. Exactly how local will these ‘Local’ centres be? My sister in-law for instance lives a good twenty minute drive outside of the city centre, is she really going to frequent this super hub. Thats twenty minutes in clear traffic by the way, a rare thing. SO how local is local? If this idea can save the large city centre libraries what is the hope for the smaller local libraries?

Another idea for these smaller libraries is it trying to get them to remain open through some sort of corporate sponsorship, either by local, national or international businesses. No, it is the wonderful mobile library. The small collection of books that travel just for you to find that they have no books of use or turn up a different times on different days every week. Is this really the answer? Or is it now that the true idea of society, not the big society of the Conservative party but the local community, to step forward?I have a fairly large collection of books and it is people like myself who may just save the idea of the local library. If the libraries are closing what is happening to their stock? Who will inherit those well loved and thumbed books that have a smell that takes me back to my childhood? Well if there is some kind hearted individual with space and an inclination could they not take on the role as the village or small town librarian. Is the future of the small town/village library a small town philanthropist? Is the future a house full of books using library thing as a reference system? (www.librarything.com) Is this what the small public library will look like?

Is this its new front door?

(All be it on its side.)

And I am not saying this should be done for free, surely if the libraries are closing a payment of say £20,000 a year would not be to much to pay someone to keep this facility available? Maybe it could be arranged by appointment as well, like booking a table at a restaurant, well no ones house is that big and the person must be allowed to take time to go to get shopping etc... I am not saying that this idea is perfect but you know what, it might just work.

THAT IS ALL.

And now, as is now the tradition. Todays recipe.

Broad Bean Balls.

Shell about a kilo of broad beans, blanch for about thirty seconds in boiling water and then take off the skins. In a food processor (its the easiest way) blend a good handful of coriander, two chilies (more if you want them hot, less if you want them mild) salt and pepper and the broad beans. add a little flour until the mix if fairly stiff, add some roughly chopped spring onions (about two for some crunch). make the mix into small balls and deep fry for about a minute or until the outside is dark brown then place on some kitchen towel to drain off any excess oil and serve hot with mint yogurt dip, or treat them just like falafel's.

Enjoy, I am off to watch the Sweeney, The Sweeney, ba ba ba ba ba ba baaaaaa
you slag!

Throw Them Out

Last night, after a delightful meal at the local Japanese restaurant and the winning of a pub quiz, I came home switched on the TV and was confronted with the despicable, derisible and disgusting face of Piers Morgan on the American celebrity apprentice. This show, on the BBC at the moment runs the same format a the British celebrity apprentice. The shame that this individual brings upon the nation is massive, how can this man still be allowed to represent Britain on the international stage? In the episode last night (01/08/2011) he started a spying war with the opposite team, after this all went tits up members on both teams and even Donald Trump used the term ‘British’ as an insult but when Morgan used the term ‘Very fat Italian’ towards a member of his team there were shouts that this was a racial slur. Surely if one is a racial slur then the other is as well but no one jumps to the defense of the use of the term ‘British’ and as it is used towards Piers Morgan in a way I can’t blame them but how did the term British become an acceptable insult? It probably because of people just like Morgan and the other celebrity representatives like him. Can’t we take away his and the others citizenship? There is also some speculation that Morgan will be dragged into the current newspaper hacking scandal from his time at the Daily Mirror and surely this can’t be to bad a thing, thats if it does happen, as then we can have a reason to pass him onto another nation. Wanker!

In other news the USA is seeming to come to some sort of agreement about its current debt crisis, although what that agreement will be nobody seems to be to sure. In the UK and in todays press there are call for Britain not to fall into the same kind of clutches as the USA and its most wonderful Tea Party. The Tea Party is calling for ‘no taxation’, this is based in a country with some of the lowest taxes in the world, with no true social welfare system and a large gap between rich and poor. This from a country that used to have to the motto, out of many, one. A country that allows the rich to get richer while having no requirement to look after the little people of their own nation. So the motto of the original Boston Tea Party ‘No Taxation without Representation’ seems to be turned on its head, taxation without representation, thats if you are poor of course. In America the idea of philanthropy is one way in which the rich and super-rich can make meaningful donations towards the state and towards charity.Often at public galas, which can’t but help there public image.

In the UK there is the idea of the BIG SOCIETY, an idea brought about by the governments and David Cameron's blue sky thinker Steve Hilton. A man much lambasted in Charlie Brookers Guardian column on monday (01/08/2011) Is this an attempt to push the American style of public Philanthropy on a small scale? Who really has that much spare time, especially in a year which sees thousands of charities receiving funding cuts from the government and thats not even mentioning the cuts in the arts sector and the cuts in education and the increasing of tuition fees. So how can I, a student, in almost full time employment, home owner and aspiring something or other really give anytime or money to anything. Those with spare time mostly have money and as the rich pay tax, apart from Phillip Green who avoided a massive tax bill by moving his assets into his wife's name (and others like him) why should they become involved as they already put large sums of money into the economy through the aforementioned taxation? One possible answer is to start to hunt down the unpaid and avoided tax bills of the rich, avoidance of tax, even through legitimate loop holes surely is a failing of the state and the systems which nurture them in there younger years. A tax bill of £300 billion or thereabouts and thats not even including the fines. £300 Billion, thats a lot of income into the economy which could be invested in schools, industry and anything else which needs a bit of a fix. Well we shall see what happens in the USA, maybe by the time I publish this it might be well on its way to being decided and as for us in the UK well we will just have to wait and see.

THAT IS ALL.

And now for TODAYS RECIPE.

Lets see, mmmmmmmm, I’m going to go for Baked smoked Haddock.
First prepare a mix of eggs (3) a little dash of cream, a dash of milk salt and pepper, whisk until a smooth well mixed liquid. Boil a few new potatoes until just about cooked, chop and add to a ceramic dish, say about 10 centimetres across and about 5 cm deep. add a few chopped spring onions and some flaked smoked haddock, top up the dish with the egg mixture and sprinkle with paprika and black pepper. Place in the oven at about 180c for roughly 20 mins or until the bake has a quiche like quality. Serve with salad and a nice glass of dry white, maybe a sauvignon blanc, but make it a good one and eat outside in the sun.

See you Later.