Cultural Misconceptions of an Ignorant Buffoon

<< Mark Rothko and France: Both admirable, yet hard to relate to

I went to the Tate Modern recently, and along with spotting some very good stuff, and some stuff that made me want to read the Daily Express, I noticed that a Mark Rothko exhibition is coming to the gallery this Autumn. Despite Rothko perhaps representing the nadir of modern painting with his series of red, formless works, I quite like him, perhaps due to a desire to look cool that's so subconscious I'm not actually aware of it. Anyway, I saw some Rothko paintings at a gallery in, I dunno, somewhere or other, and consider him to be one of my preferred rubbish modern artists. In fact, I'm such a Rothko aficionado that I didn't know that he's dead. That desire to look cool is looking like a bit of a long shot.

Is there's one thing I know less about than art, it's other cultures. However, regarding Tuesday's fact, I feel I am not alone. The word 'hijab' does not refer to a head covering, as worn by Muslim women - it is in fact a word which originally meant something close to modesty. The ideology is the same, but the word has come to mean a specific item, where it once was a broader adjective. Very interesting, even if I've done my best to make it seem otherwise.

Of course, we all know it's fine and dandy to be hopelessly ignorant of life in other countries, as long as said country isn't America. The upcoming presidential elections have received so much UK press attention, you'd be forgiven for thinking the winner will collect the souls of every British citizen as his bounty. Despite this, there's not much substance to the coverage, and we still know little about the candidates, except that Obama must, and should, win, but is primed to be levelled by a late October media shitstorm and overtaken, particularly now John McCain is pretending that he's not the actual Republican candidate. Here's something you may not have known - this is the first presidential election where neither candidate was born on the U.S. mainland. Obama was born in Hawaii, while McCain came into this world down in Panama. Surely this technicality is clearing the way for Arnie to make a bid in 2012? Don't talk crazy.

Back on British soil, and if there's one thing I am certain about, it's that I work way too many hours. Recent research has backed my bitter rants up at long last, showing us that the U.K. works 41.4 hours per week on average - outworked only by Romania and Bulgaria. As for the shortest hours - it may not surprise you to learn that France only manage to loaf their way through 37.7 hours each week before sauntering off to the boulangerie. Having worked for an Anglo-French company, I'm familiar with the French way of working - apparently starting at 11 and knocking off at 4, with a 3-hour break in the middle. Throw in 38 bank holidays and you have yourself a satisfied workforce. I'm not being critical - I applaud nations who allow their people some time off, and feel pity and shame for my overtime-working, hotdesking, two-hour-commuting colleagues who feel pangs of intense guilt for checking their personal e-mails at 4.55 on a Friday. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go - got to type up some minutes over the weekend, then book a cheap flight to Toulouse...