Nightmare on McKinsey street

Just returned from an excellent long weekend at a sixtieth birthday party in France (or was that fortieth?). Cracking event in the Ducal Palace at Uzes - putting non-bopping thirtysomethings to shame.  Thank you Robin and Madeleine. Must post on the Full of Life website...

But also a very convenient opportunity to take stock of the state of the differences between the UK and the French economy.First experiences great - speeding through the French countryside on the TGV.  great infrastructure.  But shame about the customer service.  The fondly imagined elegant dining car with haute cuisine served as we headed South at 200+km an hour turned into a Gallic shrug and a piece of Dundee cake and a toblerone.. il n'y avait rien a manger dans le train.  And the lack of catering didn't even merit an announcement. C'est toujours come ca? You do better than that with the Southern train trolley to Bognor.

And so to Uzes.  Gorgeous place. Beautiful soft glowing yellow stone; great squares; alleyways - and not a brand name or chain in sight. Ou etait le starbucks d'antan? le Pizza Express ou le Zizzi? Since there is hardly a Town in the UK that has escaped the onward march of the chains, it was very strange to discover that France really still is a nation of epiciers and boulangers - where everything still closes for lunch. Recommended places to stay were all quaint little hotels in the city centre full of character and charm - ni un Marriott ni un Premier Inn a voir.

I am sure that M Sarkozy has commissioned his own version of the notorious 1998 McKinsey report on the UK economy which will tell him that all this quaintness and inefficiency is costing the French economy. After all, that report said we needed to replicate the scale of Walmarts. realise the economies of scale on distribution of a chain economy and put an end to non-standardised country house hotels to achieve the same productive use of space as Travelodges if we were to close the productivity gap with the US. 

The only problem with that analysis was that France also had higher productivity than the UK - without going the US route (of course, they could have even higher productivity....)But at what price? Would the Brits still be flocking to Uzes if it tuned into yet another mall?  would the guests at the party have been so charmed with the choice between two identikit hotels?  Perhaps, because the weather would still be great - and until all planning laws were relaxed (McKinsey did after all lead to the Barker review of planning), the views would still be stunning wandering between the newly industrialised vineyards. Not worth it - even if you could get a decent meal on the newly privatised TGV going down there

But I hope not. Any marginal increment in GDP would be at a very high price in terms of qualite de vie.  So let us hope that there is no gallic McKinsey and Uzes remains its charming self.  And we can let M Sarkozy proceed with his unusual ambition of turning the Paris banlieue into Croydon to draw people out of the centre of the town!

Mind the Gap

its now 20 years since I went to America on my Harkness fellowship. Before we were allowed off to try our luck on our own, we had a three day induction session in New York - the general message of which was - you might think these people speak the same language as us - but they are really different.

I didn't really believe it at the time. And I found the Americans I met nice, bright easy to get on with and liked them a lot. So I thought this bit about culture shock was somewhat overdone. The biggest gaps I encountered were over spelling with "s"s instead of "z"s and the fact that to table something in Congress means to take it off the agenda rather than to put it on...

But the fact that Sarah Palin is even considered a candidate for elected office outside Wasalia (or Hartlepool) seems to be to be evidence that the culture gap is alive and well. I woke up this morning (4/9) to her convention speech playing on the World Service. Every word, every sentiment grated. On every issue she seems to represent all that is most alien about the ueberchristiansed obsessive American right -- and those of us who thought that Obama vs McCain mattered less than the fact that 2009 that there would be a new person - and some new thinking - in the White House have just been proved very wrong. McCain is now looking like a desperate old man - willing to sacrifice anything for his four years of fame - a prisoner of his party who will do anything to be a one term president - including leaving a legacy of a creationist global warming denier as President.

And what makes it even worse is I have a bet with an Obama fan that McC will win. Never will I be more relieved to write a cheque for $ 100.

But another thought.... how does Canada manage to be surrounded by bible belts to the north and south and stay so (relatively) sane? Is this the legacy of a longer heritage of empire and the Anglican church dulling all interest in religion?

As old as you feel

In a year when I have seen hardly any films, it might seem odd that the second (or is it third) movie I saw this year was Mamma Mia. Not exactly adding to my cultural arthouse credentials. Only saw it after spending most of the evening cycling around West London trying to find a non-sing-a-long version - only to conclude at the end that it was such fun that we should have had a go at belting out SOS -- after all, could hardly be worse than Pierce Brosnan (OK I could be - but I am not co-starring in a musical -- know your limitations).

But why is Mamma Mia raking it in at the Box Office? The Abba songs? - but Abba Gold is on sale for less than the price of a ticket at the Coronet, let alone the overpriced Odeon High Street Kensington. The shots of Greek islands? - but you can get that watching A Place in the Sun or the travel channel.

I think the secret of Mamma Mia's success is first that the cast look, literally as though they are "having the time of their life" (that's a quote from Dancing Queen if you didn't spot it). But it is also almost unique in recent movie history - or maybe in all movie history - in showing a bunch of fifty to sixty year olds having a great time, pairing up and dominating a movie as the LOVE INTEREST? When did that last happen? and when did you last see a 50+ man ending up with a late fiftiesh woman - as opposed to be someone young enough to be his granddaughter.

So that is quite good for the thesis that fifty is the new thirty. Added to that the triumph of some older biddies in the Olympics - the forty-one year old swimmer (swimmers seem to be getting older by the year - a decade or so ago they were all under 22 -- now they seem to go on for ever). Gymnasts in their late 30s (and looking older). Cyclists coming back for more and more. I will start training for London 2012 now.

But then this upbeat thinking about age and lack of impact is completely shattered by an item on the Defra website trailing a new government website aimed at the over-50s, entitled "Full of Life" - check it out at http://campaigns.direct.gov.uk/fulloflife/. Aimed at older people (sic) it tells them handy stuff about how to use the internet (maybe it does tell you how to put hyperlinks into blogs); is full of inspiring stories about how wise they are... and shouldn't be written off yet. Did the people inventing this stuff try it on their Permanent Secretary first who might enjoy the handy hints on not being a totally useless member of the community at age 50+? And will we all get the day off on Oct 1st - now officially Older Person's Day. Party time on zimmerframes.

So I am now officially annoyed. The Mamma Mia effect has worn off and I'll stop thinking that some day my pierce will come. No option but to give up my Olympic ambitions and return to being Victor Meldrew and book that Saga cruise.