Part 17 (1/2)
During the past week George Bush has been criticized -a sentence together But today he confounded his critics ( speech to Congress This was not only ritten (I read the full text as reproduced in The Tiht his voice because he delivered the text with such assurance
Meanwhile the pri continues to be faultless He flew into New York following talks with Chirac in Paris and then was driven straight to Ground Zero He was shown round the s a memorial service at St Patrick's
I tune in four hours later to hear the president's speech to Congress only to find Mr Blair now sitting in the president's box - Mrs Bush on one side of hithen the special relationshi+p in one week than anyone since the days of Roosevelt and Churchill
800 a arrives outside my door and stares into ned by Shaun, has not overnor's approval The walls inal colour by the end of the week But as the governor hasn't been seen on A block, let alone my spur, in anyone's o in search of Locke
1130 aue from Sotheby's New York, for their Latin Aio's cell and it's ive him atutorial I explain how an auction works, and what is ht-hand side of each page is a reproduction of a painting or sculpture On the left, the artist's name and any known provenance of the work
We immediately check out the two oils, two sculptures and five drawings by Botero A sculpture of a reclining woman had a low estimate of175,000 and sold for190,000 A vast sculpture of a nude woed 325,000, whereas an oil painting of a bowl of flohich had a low estiing in price from 15,000 to 25,000 failed to reach the haht in) perhaps because the subject (bull fighting) would not have appealed to many Americans
We then carefully check the photos of Boteros that arrived in the ht be, and see if we can spot a bargain There is ato offer 10,000, two s cat, 200,000, and a nificent portrait entitled The Card Players (see plate section) which we settle on at 400,000, although the seller wants a io will offer the sellers cash, I doubt if we'll e to pick up any of them as Botero is, after all, an established international nah Christie's and Sotheby's have offices in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, they have no presence in Coloe in an overcrowded market He also adds that September 11th may have caused prices to fall suddenly We'll just have to wait and see if he's right
When ”Lock up,' is bellowed out, I return toof The Card Players I even knohich wall I would hang it on in London
DAY 65 FRIDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2001
611ae W Bush and Tony Blair officially name Osama bin Laden as the man behind the terrorist attack on the twin towers in New York Although shi+ps and planes are spotted heading for the Gulf, no one seems to knohen any retaliation is likely to take placeBush has warned the Taliban, give up bin Laden or we strike The Taliban's response is that it would be an insult to Allah, but don't mention the fact that the leader of the Taliban is bin Laden's father-in-law When Bush was told their response he appeared on TV offering 30 million for bin Laden, dead or alive The moment I heard that I feared for the president's life
900 aroup) does three sets of ten sit-ups for the first tin, while Robbie and Les applaud hiin sit-ups next week One of the few experiences I shall miss when I leave Wayland (if I ever escape) will be these weekly sessions
1045 aym the newspapers are on my bed
They are so full of news froe eleven of The Ties against John Prescott One or two of the inmates mutter about one rule for New Labour and another for the rest of us A senior officer is even more appalled by the PM's flippant remark, ”Well, that's John, isn't it?' So much for, ”We'll deal with crime and the causes of criovernor has sent all the Prison Service papers showing the stated reasons for orization from D-cat to C-cat He wishes it to be known that it is not the Prison Service that is holding up my reinstatement She has other news, but not on the phone
DAY 66 SAturdAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2001
1100 am
Gym 2,116machine in twenty-five minutes fifty-two seconds; and sixme feel about forty-five, until I see a West Indian replacemachine and do twelve mph for twenty minutes
Still, he is a allery He's unhappy about the Boteros because he has only black and white reproductions I agree to do nothing until Sotheby's have authenticated them and come back with a low estimate700 pm I call James He's back in London and tells ood purchase for 10,000, although he isn't willing to place a value on it I aio isn't a crook, and what's more, Mary will end up with a special Christmas present I wonder where I'll be this Christmas?
DAY 67 SUNDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2001
1207 p in detail, and it all began while I was inThe Ti association a group of West Indians play dominoes in the main room The amount of noise that emanates froht boxing contest was taking place, which is why a problem arises when a real incident occurs, because the uproar can hardly reach a higher pitch However, this ti of bells and officers running from every direction towards the association roo back in Belmarsh By the time I made an entrance, the incident ell under control However, several of the brothers still wished to give me their version of events
It seems that one of the brothers had been moved from D to A block recently, ostensibly because he had been bullied It seems that when he was out on a town visit to Norwich a couple of weeks ago, his e sus A probleht and didn't have any of the gear with hiuards However, he couldn't co able to return their cash When he was found cowering in his cell with a cut below his eye and a broken nose, the unit officer quickly moved him across to our block and, they hoped, out of har exercise yesterday the brothers on D block informed the brothers on A block how he'd stitched thee on to theame of dominoes, where a row broke out with the culprit One of the players left the group, walked across to the snooker table, picked up a ball,turned round and hurled it at hiht man in the back of the head at thirty paces (there were eleven prisoners seated around the table at the time) The ball must have been propelled at about seventy-miles an hour, because it split the ation, while the victim is on his way to the local hospital Both will appear in front of the governor later this week
The usual punishht days added to both overnor can mete out without recourse to the courts and, in a case like this, an immediate transfer to different A- or B-cat establishreat detail to describe this incident siht be left with an impression that life at Wayland is almost bearable It isn't You can never be sure froer On this block alone there are a dozenaddicts hom I have to co-exist every day
I'ht
with KPMG and that an announcement is likely to be made in the next couple of days He confirms that they have been ready tofor a call from the police
I return to s, and the police confirm that they have dropped their enquiries, that the press coverage will be about a hundredth of that created by Ms Nicholson the day after she had appeared on Newsnight