Focus by Victor Meldrew *

As my wife sometimes says, Victor Meldrew* is alive and well and living in Cork . Here the attitude of the young, careless litter, wasteful society all get a bit of a whiplash from his acerbic tongue.

So today I give you a lesson on focus from Victor Meldrew himself. Now having done a short evening photography course, Victor considered that by altering what was in focus on a picture, the human eye would be drawn to that area. However, he seems rather upset and frustrated.

At the edge of the quarry, Victor spotted a tossed lager can and took a picture of this offending article. I give you exhibit A:

Can Focus
Can Focus

Of course Victor’s eyes then settled on some blackberries and there was an almost perceptible upturn in the corner of his lips as a free dessert was spotted. Of course such exuberance didn’t last long as Victor took another shot of the same scene but now focused on this rather more attractive free meal.

Berry Focus
Berry Focus

“I don’t believe it”, cried Victor. No matter where he set the focus on the camera, the focus of the human eye was always taken to the empty lager can. Changing the depth of field wasn’t much better, the lager can still stuck out like a sore thumb, completely destroying the scene.

So what’s Victor’s lesson from all this? Take your rubbish home and stop spoiling everyone else’s view. If you think you are old enough to drink you’re certainly old enough to put the rubbish in its rightful place.

And with that Victor mumbled off down the road, almost forgetting he had a dog in tow. Victor’s gone for now, but I’m sure he’ll be back.

* For those unfamiliar with ‘One Foot in the Grave’, Victor Meldrew is a character played by the Scottish actor Richard Wilson whose catchphrase was “I don’t believe it”. On the BBC site the character is described as a “cantankerous old grouch”.

25 thoughts on “Focus by Victor Meldrew *”

  1. I’d love to post the Heaney poem ‘cos that page has been neglected since I’ve been on my hols. So, if you would be kind enough to e-mail me the picked blackberries pic, I would be honoured to include it in the post with full credit and a link to your blog of course! Ta, and ta again.

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  2. LOL – but not about the litter. We picked up 5 crisp packets, three drinks cans, and two plastic bottles from the railway platform the other day. Annoying thing is, it’s only a ten yard walk to the rubbish bin provided, so no excuses – really! The problem seems to be, it’s not ‘cool’ to be tidy! What on earth has happened to the blackberries down your end of the country? I hope to thank you and plug your work in a post today 🙂

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    2. Safia, heard the sad news of Seamus’ passing and no doubt you will want to post sooner rather than later. I have sent a new picture, not totally happy with it and prefer the previous ones sent. Did you get this. In total I have now sent you three pictures to choose from. MM 🍀

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  4. Awesome. I loved how you did you little rant so beautifully. I am completely impressed with the people here in St.Lucia for their civic sense. They throw some of the wildest beach parties, yet you would not see one beer bottle washed ashore or littered on the beach. They know their assets and do everything they can to preserve it. Kudos to them for that.

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    1. The idea came into my head like a lightbulb, took no time to complete and was pretty pleased with outcome (hopefully not smug). The acid test is the response it gets and thanks for liking it so….

      kudos to the folks of St Lucia, have an extra beer tonight! It’s kind of hypocritical of westerners to tell others to manage their environment better when we hardly set a gleaming example IMHO.

      I think that is another rant over!. MM 🍀

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  5. Nice! I also hate litter. Don’t understand it really. Why are people such slobs?
    I try to always carry a bag with me when hiking so I can pick up trash on the way.
    I am always amazed that I can be in the middle of nowhere in the most beautiful setting and stubble upon someone else’s garbage.
    My eye too will always go to it. A Curse!

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  6. Well, MM, you’ve brought back happy memories of my dad who was a big Victor fan. Although well into his nineties, my father still found him hilarious. I think there’s a bit of Victor lurking beneath the surface within all of us and at times, the ranting can be entirely justified! 🙂
    .

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  8. One of my favorite fictional characters! I hated the way the writers ended the series, however. (I won’t comment beyond that since it might spoil it for others who haven’t seen the series.) Yes, Victor would have ranted for 30 minutes about that can, and he would have been right to do so.

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  10. What I hate is a beer bottle being pushed ashore by tiny waves as the tide goes out – a big blot on nature’s beauty.

    Victor Meldrew sounds like an echo of my thoughts.

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  11. It is the same around here, we have lovely river walks , but lately a neighbour found the broken remains of a drinks party. Too dangerous to take dogs for their morning stroll and swim.”They” obviously carry the bottles and cans in a bag,so why can’t they bring them home with them,! Good man, Victor 🙂

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