I called my accountant the other day.

The call went through to the office reception desk, and I asked to speak to him.

The receptionist, a sweet lady, said: Hold on, I’ll see if he’s in.

It occurred to me – that’s a lie.

I know how that office works, I know the physical layout – I know that the receptionist would know for certain whether he’s in or not.

She knew he was in.
She lied.

She didn’t want to say to me: Hold on, I’ll check to see if he wants to talk to you.

That would have been too confronting. So she lied instead, so that I wouldn’t be offended if my accountant didn’t want to talk to me.

We accept these lies.
We understand that lying is an accepted form of social discourse and interplay.

Another lie we accept, when meeting a friend: Oh, you look great.

When actually, you are shocked at how old / haggard / fat / rundown / stressed out / unattractive they look.

A little lie is better than saying: Jesus, you been hit by a truck?

What’s the difference between a little lie and a big lie?
Dare I say it, a Trumpian lie?

We lie all the time.
Even those of us who value truth above all else.
Moreover, we accept that people lie to us.

Could we ever live in a world which lives by:
You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth.

Wouldn’t it be good if we were that strong…

I just wanted to pass onto you a message I got overnight from someone who’d seen my film PGS – Intuition is your Personal Guidance System. 

I just wanted to compliment you on producing a beautifully executed movie on what is an elusive subject for many. I have three children (Freshman, Junior & Senior) that all attend separate private schools in the suburbs of Philadelphia and I sent each head of school a screen shot of the movie asking them to show it to the juniors and senior. Of course I think every kid (and adult) should watch no matter what their age. Anyway I REALLY think you all should promote this movie to schools. Again well done!

It’s interesting because when I made the movie, I thought it would really only appeal to an older audience – but from the screenings we’ve had I’ve been surprised at how strongly it resonates with millennials, and even younger.

It would be great to get the movie into schools. If you have any ideas on how we best to that, please contact me at: billpgsblog@gmail.com

If you haven’t seen the film, here’s a link:
www.pgsthemovie

And you should check out the book:
Amazon link to PGS the Book

Well, this year’s Oscars wasn’t quite the seismic shift I – and a lot of others too – were hoping for.

Roma missed out on Best Picture – the largely staid, conservative, white, male, Academy voters just couldn’t bring themselves to give the big gong to a black and white foreign language film made by a Mexican about Mexicans.

Mind you, producer/director.writer/cinematographer/editor Alfonso Cuaron – who is entitled to call himself an auteur – came away with some impressive hardware – three Oscars; for Best Director, Best Cinematographer, and Best Foreign Language Film.

So how did I go with my predictions?
Not as good as in previous years.
But not bad either.

You decide –

Best Picture
Roma
NUP – GREEN BOOK

Best Director
Alfonso Cuaron
Roma
YEP

Best Actor
Rami Malek
Bohemian Rhapsody
YEP

Best Actress
Glenn Close
The Wife
NUP – OLIVIA COLMAN, THE FAVOURITE

Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali
The Green Book
YEP

Best Supporting Actress
Marina de Tavira
Roma
NUP – REGINA KING, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Best Documentary
Hale County This Morning
NUP – FREE SOLO

Original Screenplay
Green Book
YEP

Adapted Screenplay
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
NUP – BLACKKKLANSMAN

Foreign Language Film
Roma
YEP

Cinematography
Roma
YEP

Film Editing
Bohemian Rhapsody
YEP

Production Design
Black Panther
YEP

Visual Effects
Avengers: Infinity Wars
NUP – FIRST MAN

Original Score
If Beale Street Could Talk
NUP – BLACK PANTHER

Original Song
A Star is Born
YEP

Sound Mixing
Bohemian Rhapsody
YEP

Sound Editing
Bohemian Rhapsody
YEP

Costume Design
The Favourite
NUP – BLACK PANTHER

Makeup & Hair
Vice
YEP

Animated Feature
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
YEP

So of the 21 I called, I got 13.
Pretty pathetic if you ask me…

We each walk through this world and we form certain opinions about others based on their appearance, their trappings.

That person has a Rolex, they must be rich.
That person has sneaky eyes, they must be untrustworthy.
That person lives in a caravan park, they must be destitute.

These are judgements we have made based on very superficial factors.

The person with the Rolex might be bankrupt.
The person with sneaky eyes might have cataracts.
The person who lives in a caravan park might have millions in the bank.

The Camino is one of the few places I know where it’s very hard to make those kind of judgements, because there’s often very little to make judgements on, other than attitude and behaviour.

Most pilgrims don’t take expensive jewellery or watches on the Camino. Most pilgrims wear the same kind of hiking clothing. You can’t make judgements on them based on what car they drive, or what house they live in.

Often you meet a pilgrim and you have no clue if they’re a judge or a janitor.

The Camino, in that sense, induces a base level of status. Very few come to the Camino with their status on display. And if they do, often the Camino strips them of that status in very humbling ways.

That’s not to say pilgrims don’t immediately judge. They judge the “trueness” of the pilgrim, often by asking the seemingly innocent question: Where did you start?

That’s far from an innocent question.

If the pilgrim being asked that question states Pamplona, or Burgos, then the pilgrim asking the question, having walked from Le Puy or Seville, can puff themselves up a bit and think they are a “truer” pilgrim, whatever that means.

Of course, like any form of judgement, it’s based on ego, a need to feel superior, which in turn stems from lack of self worth, and ultimately fear.

Largely, and I say largely, the Camino is a leveller. People who, in their lives back home, might be famous, might be rich, might wield enormous power over others, sit down at communal tables, eat €10 pilgrims meals, and you’d never know.

And in the end, what does it matter? It’s who we truly are that matters, not what resources we might have accumulated elsewhere.

The Camino helps us find out who we really are…