A taste for Lamborghinis

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Taste is rum thing isn’t it? With no prior knowledge I would have assumed a Lamborghini Miura should not cost a huge amount of money because who would want one? A sixties/seventies car with an uninspiring interior trying to look like some kind of Le Mans racer.

It’s a matter of taste though and this site has one for sale at £949,995. So much for my assumption. Are they investments? Could be because horrible paintings can be investments so why not a car which isn’t horrible but isn’t particularly appealing. If I had that kind of money I wouldn’t spend it on a Lamborghini Miura but that’s taste for you.

For example Ed Sheeran, a chap who could afford a Miura, has been in the news recently. Some outfit is suing him for enough money to buy tons of Lamborghinis and here again the issue of taste arises. I loathe Mr Sheeran’s music but millions evidently lap it up. Must be a matter of taste but is it a matter of individual taste? Are we led astray by fads, fashions and fantasies? Is taste manipulated? Of course it is – we all know that.

There is an element of simplicity to many aspects of taste. It is simpler and easier to go along with popular tastes and accept what is widely accepted. The Lamborghini Miura is usually presented as an exotic classic so wanting one is easy to understand. It is understandable even for those in no position to buy one or even contemplate the possibility of buying one. It is a matter of taste, easier to accept than analyse.

Ed Sheeran’s music is popular so acquiring a taste for it was presumably easy for huge numbers of people. Easier than trying to analyse what might be wrong or culturally undesirable about popular music in general, let alone the music of a specific performer. Again it is a matter of taste, easier to accept than analyse. Analysis of popular taste seems futile because what difference does it make? Popularity sidelines analysis every time.

Three stories

From the BBC we have

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged European leaders to work together on finding solutions to irregular migration.

She told Germany's parliament the issue could be a defining moment for the EU.

The call comes as leaders meet for an EU summit focused on how to deal with the many undocumented migrants - mainly Africans - who continue to risk their lives to cross the Mediterranean.

Next we have a story about Cameroon

For a year and a half, the Cameroonian military has been accused of beating and arresting people suspected of being separatists, torching homes and killing unarmed protesters.

For their part, separatists have taken up arms and have also turned to violence. They have been accused of burning markets, launching attacks from civilian bases, beheading soldiers and kidnapping people they suspect as traitors.

Finally we have a graph from the UN which tells a story about Cameroon population statistics and projections.

Obvious question - where is the happy ending?

Swedish Socialism

Johan Norberg adds some important nuances to a Polly Toynbee claim that "Sweden is the most successful society that the world has ever known."  

An Austin 7 and the RSPCA

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Yesterday we visited a classic car show, arriving early to nab a coffee and avoid the crowds. Most enjoyable it was too, strolling among cars of the past. Most of them from our past which was mildly disconcerting.

There were a few models we had owned ourselves such as an Austin A40 Farina, a scattering of Ford Escorts and some early Minis. A few our parents had owned such as an Austin Maxi and a VW Beetle. The Maxi was a surprise, being considerably bigger than we remembered. There were quite a few Jaguar E-Types but I don’t recall owning one of those. A Bond Bug too, haven’t seen one of those for years. Decades probably.

We noticed a distinction between cars intended for use on the roads and cars worked up into such a pristine state that one could never imagine them being taken on the road. Almost as if they had rolled straight off the production line. A little too close to museum pieces for my liking but the amount of work and attention to detail is impressive.

Part of the fun was trying to decide which car we’d go for if we had the choice. The owner of an Austin 7 invited me to sit in the driver’s seat so I did. Much smaller and more cramped than I expected so that is not one I’d go for if I had the choice. I wouldn’t bother with an E-Type either if money were no object. Not sure why.

When we returned to our own car we found an RSPCA leaflet tucked under the windscreen wiper. A reminder not to leave dogs in cars on hot days with lots of detail about the dire consequences we must all be familiar with anyway.

What is it with these people? We don’t have a dog and if we did we would never leave one in a parked car whatever the weather. To my mind it was akin to an accusation. Outfits such as the RSPCA seem to feel it is okay to push such sanctimonious, unsolicited and widely understood advice to complete strangers. The outcome in my case is that I would never give a single penny to the RSPCA. Not that I ever have.

A big fat frappé

Sometimes when we have a large shopping list we begin with a coffee in the Tesco cafe. For us this is a recent development, but it certainly makes shopping easier. Probably the caffeine.

Anyhow, the other day two large youngish ladies sat nearby with two large frappés so being nosey I checked the calories. The Tesco cafe is helpful like that – it shows the calories against each meal and drink. Those frappés were 390 calories each so the obvious question arises. Do we have at least a partial explanation for the size of those youngish ladies? They were big.

Maybe this is merely something we notice because we don’t see people like that walking on Ecton Hill, climbing up Hall Dale or striding along Stanage Edge. Different environments, different people. It’s very noticeable.

Until next time

Last week found us walking in and around the Chatsworth estate. On the way back we passed the clearing up operation after the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show. Huge trucks lumbering around on temporary metal roadways, gangs of men dismantling everything from vast marquees to temporary toilets or packing trays of plants into huge wagons.

Not something we’ve ever go near because of the crowds and the traffic but it was interesting to stand there and watch the whole thing being dismantled with the crowds all gone. We can't remember the names of flowers anyway. Bound to be a disadvantage.

I can’t imagine organising something so big and so temporary. Seems a waste somehow but I suppose in one sense it is only a much bigger version of the circus coming to town.

Shopping for an illusion

The other day we visited a White Stuff clothes shop. I don’t know if all their shops are the same but the men’s section of this store was designed to look like the interior of an old workshop complete with an ancient, heavily scarred wooden workbench in the middle of the floor. It even had an old vice.

The walls were boarded with what appeared to be old planks and sections of antiquated wooden doors. Even many of the clothes seemed to be designed to evade any suggestion of pristine newness. The whole ambience was artfully designed to avoid a sense of shopping for new clothes.

The clothes tended towards subdued colours and some had a contrived appearance of having been worn before. Some would not have looked out of place on a Victorian labourer and no doubt that was contrived too.

The overall look of the place hinted at some kind of imaginary recycling as if to say I’m not really shopping, not really buying new clothes and not really a consumer even though the clothes were of course brand new. I didn’t buy anything.