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I was asked about my "friends policy" and "comment culture". These invariably sound ridiculous but here goes....
( Blah, blah, blah.... )
If you need to know anything else then I recommend asking as a more productive strategy than speculating. ;-P
- Lmao, "a barren place... for the sake of your sanity don't go there": I was on several trains with malfunctions due to the heat but the worst was one that lost electrical power and halted during the evening rush hour in the middle of one of the busiest Midlands commuter routes (local and express). So we were in a metal tube full of people, with no ventilation, in direct sunlight, with only electrical signalling systems to prevent another scheduled train from trying to use the track we were on. The driver and guard went through their safety procedures, with the calmly efficient guard keeping us informed over the intercom (which presumably has a separate emergency power source). Fortunately the train driver managed to switch it off and switch it on again (literally). We were eventually about 30mins behind schedule and ended up being rerouted to one additional station, so the maximum number of long distance passengers changing trains could catch their connections, and the route ended one station short of its usual terminus (not, alas, that unusual even in normative conditions). The guard finished her shift before the end of the route, by which point she was somewhat lost for words, and her final announcement to us was to advise people wanting the most distant station to change at X instead of Y because Y ~ is a barren place... for the sake of your sanity don't go there ~ by which she meant that X has facilities including canopies for shelter and loos and shops while Y is merely an open tarmac platform, but it came across as rather a Monty Python and the Holy Grail pronouncement so several people were giggling and repeating it in doom-laden tones for the remainder of the journey.
- Books: if you're wondering why I haven't been posting recently it's because I didn't read any books worth reccing in May and then read no books at all in June, due to being out and about having fun (which I'll try to post about some time).
- Birbs
Me: Oh, look at the perfect weather next week! I'm so glad I have to be near the seaside. I think I'll go a couple of days early....
::checks accommodation availability in town that is never ever full::
Me: Not even a grotty caravan on the site 15mins uphill from town?!
Western reef heron: /evil laugh in rare bird
(Don't bother googling - it's the most monotone dark grey heron on earth. Anyway, apparently the twitchers booked all available accommodation within driving distance. To paraphrase Greg Davies from series 5 of Taskmaster, "Beaten by a -king heron!")
- Books: if you're wondering why I haven't been posting recently it's because I didn't read any books worth reccing in May and then read no books at all in June, due to being out and about having fun (which I'll try to post about some time).
- Birbs
Me: Oh, look at the perfect weather next week! I'm so glad I have to be near the seaside. I think I'll go a couple of days early....
::checks accommodation availability in town that is never ever full::
Me: Not even a grotty caravan on the site 15mins uphill from town?!
Western reef heron: /evil laugh in rare bird
(Don't bother googling - it's the most monotone dark grey heron on earth. Anyway, apparently the twitchers booked all available accommodation within driving distance. To paraphrase Greg Davies from series 5 of Taskmaster, "Beaten by a -king heron!")
I suggest reading both articles. In summary, four protestors were acquitted of criminal actions in a proper jury trial so the UK tried them again with more unjust restrictions (many kept secret) imposed on the jury, the defendants, their lawyers, and all media reporting. The result was that the four previously innocent defendants were convicted of minor criminal charges for damage to property but then sentenced as if they'd been convicted of major terrorist charges (and one of their lawyers is being persecuted and criminalised for representing his defendants by quoting UK law in a UK court). All done for the benefit of the genocidal nation state of Israel and their continued genocide of Palestinians in Palestine (including at least 20,000 murdered children).
Palestine Action Activists to Be Sentenced As Terrorists in Move Kept Secret From Jury and Public.
( Full text of article for archiving purposes (1) )
Judge in Palestine Action Case Refuses to Recuse Himself Over Bias Claims.
He is due to sentence four activists as terrorists in a move kept secret from jury.
( Full text of article for archiving purposes (2) )
Palestine Action Activists to Be Sentenced As Terrorists in Move Kept Secret From Jury and Public.
( Full text of article for archiving purposes (1) )
Judge in Palestine Action Case Refuses to Recuse Himself Over Bias Claims.
He is due to sentence four activists as terrorists in a move kept secret from jury.
( Full text of article for archiving purposes (2) )
Whodunnit: The lone trumper adjacent to my vicinity recently explained that she's not entirely 100% with his current direction, but apparently that's not his fault as she believes he's being effected by satanists, although she didn't manage to explain why this acceptance of satanism isn't his fault. Anyway, more importantly, I've now recreated this bullshit as a running in-joke to mock people who believe conspiracy nonsense. Shortly after The Satanism Explanation was aired, I was in an overlapping group of history fans. We were discussing ancient Macedonia and how Alexander destroyed all Philip II's work and left the Macedonians in a mess, so I said it wasn't Alexander's fault... it was satanists! And now every time somebody in our in-joke circles mentions one of our historical hate-figures someone will respond that his failings weren't his fault because he was being controlled by satanists. Possibly you have to be there to understand how funny the delivery of this running gag is, but I'm so lucky to know so many smart and witty women who make my world a better place.
Earworm danger: I accidentally ended up sharing transport with a group having a 1980s weekend complete with a best [worst] of the 80s soundtrack that I can only hope was intended ironically. Within a few minutes I was in danger of being earwormed by China in Your Hah-yah-yand, and Klingons on the Starboard Bow, warded off by the only marginally better Footloose.
Ferroequinology: I had a chat with the usual bunch of white, male, middle-aged "railway enthusiasts" who told me I shouldn't call myself a trainspotter. I replied that I am definitively a trainspotter because I like seeing specific types of locomotives (and signalling) and nobody should be shamed for innocent interests and enthusiasms. And the delightful upshot of this conversation was that I was invited to a 1980s themed disco that evening (yes, I do have a black belt in the art of talking with strangers on public transport). I was expecting a nostalgic school-disco sort of affair but the "railway enthusiasts" had actually organised a very good live band and a very drinkable bar run by a local micro brewery. My new besties for the evening all proved to be good dancers due to having grown up in the era of Northern Soul and Ska revival music. Although I did garner further evidence for my hypothesis that nobody, however skilled, can dance to Footloose without looking like a white boy from the mid-west at best and a spider on ketamine at worst. And the moral of this story is always to take a polite interest in other people's innocent enthusiasms because dancing the night away with a bunch of ageing gricers in a nice airy marquee is better than sitting alone in an overheated hotel room with the only ventilation being windows that open onto a very climbable roof.
Birbs
02-06 Double the winter maximum number of Jackdaws feeding on my lawn, from 12 to 24.
03-06 Two adorable, learner flyer, juvenile yellow-tinted Blue Tits following their busily generous parent around begging for food.
Earworm danger: I accidentally ended up sharing transport with a group having a 1980s weekend complete with a best [worst] of the 80s soundtrack that I can only hope was intended ironically. Within a few minutes I was in danger of being earwormed by China in Your Hah-yah-yand, and Klingons on the Starboard Bow, warded off by the only marginally better Footloose.
Ferroequinology: I had a chat with the usual bunch of white, male, middle-aged "railway enthusiasts" who told me I shouldn't call myself a trainspotter. I replied that I am definitively a trainspotter because I like seeing specific types of locomotives (and signalling) and nobody should be shamed for innocent interests and enthusiasms. And the delightful upshot of this conversation was that I was invited to a 1980s themed disco that evening (yes, I do have a black belt in the art of talking with strangers on public transport). I was expecting a nostalgic school-disco sort of affair but the "railway enthusiasts" had actually organised a very good live band and a very drinkable bar run by a local micro brewery. My new besties for the evening all proved to be good dancers due to having grown up in the era of Northern Soul and Ska revival music. Although I did garner further evidence for my hypothesis that nobody, however skilled, can dance to Footloose without looking like a white boy from the mid-west at best and a spider on ketamine at worst. And the moral of this story is always to take a polite interest in other people's innocent enthusiasms because dancing the night away with a bunch of ageing gricers in a nice airy marquee is better than sitting alone in an overheated hotel room with the only ventilation being windows that open onto a very climbable roof.
Birbs
02-06 Double the winter maximum number of Jackdaws feeding on my lawn, from 12 to 24.
03-06 Two adorable, learner flyer, juvenile yellow-tinted Blue Tits following their busily generous parent around begging for food.
I've been glacial-pacing my booksmaxxing so have some films instead.
The Devil Wears Prada 2: my fave attitude is that the artistic aesthetics of clothed women for the attention of women is as culturally worthy as the artistic aesthetics of painted and sculpted naked women for the attention of men (this isn't explicit but it is implied - clothing as art has equivalent importance with painting & decorating as art). DWP2 also briefly mentions sweatshop labour is bad, and we're shown glimpses of body positivity with models, and there's an unresolved framing of human art and design versus ai (although the super-rich "disruptive" tech bro is a manchild rather than a monster), but they ignore unsustainable mass consumption, obv (it's not even hand-waved because it's utterly unspeakable in this context - gotta borrow the costumes from somewhere!), and The Villain is the token English woman not either of the USian capitalist bros. Funniest moment was just watching our heroine running urgently in spike-heeled knee-high boots and sequinned knickerbockers. I've never seen DWP1 but found the sequel watchable as a standalone, although it goes without saying that Ab Fab did it all first and better (e.g. Meryl Streep is a great actor but couldn't manage the physical comedy of hanging up a coat). ;-P
Popcorniness rating as a film 4/5. Fabulousness as a visual spectacle 5/5.
The Sheep Detectives: began ridiculous, in a weird primary-colour "generic cozy murder" movie village, then the weirdness was lampshaded, and the film relaxed into being amusing with outbreaks of actual lolz. The only decent human is the murder victim at the beginning so I couldn't call it upbeat but it does follow the cozy formula, except with more sheep (never a bad thing tbh).
5/5 if you like this sort of thing, and while I'm not into cozy murders I do enjoy weird and funny.
(And you don't have to take my word for any of this because Mark Kermode said exactly the same!)
The Christophers: the plot has a twisty element so it's best not to know spoilers beyond the basic set-up revealed in the trailer (and most reviews). The two leads are both very good actors who make the most of their roles but cliches abound, mostly Elderly Curmudgeon Seeks Deathbed Redemption (through interaction with younger person), and the two supporting actors seemed to have wandered into this sentimental drama from sitcomland next door.
4/5
I feel as if I should add that mildly comedic stories about ageing male painters and decorators accidentally mentoring a younger person aren't automatically more profound than mildly comedic stories about ageing female fashion journalists accidentally mentoring a younger person, nor is gritty automatically more profound than glossy - especially when both are realism. The Devil Wears Prada 2 has more relevant social commentary than The Christophers.
Up next: Savage House, maybe? Whaddya think?
The Devil Wears Prada 2: my fave attitude is that the artistic aesthetics of clothed women for the attention of women is as culturally worthy as the artistic aesthetics of painted and sculpted naked women for the attention of men (this isn't explicit but it is implied - clothing as art has equivalent importance with painting & decorating as art). DWP2 also briefly mentions sweatshop labour is bad, and we're shown glimpses of body positivity with models, and there's an unresolved framing of human art and design versus ai (although the super-rich "disruptive" tech bro is a manchild rather than a monster), but they ignore unsustainable mass consumption, obv (it's not even hand-waved because it's utterly unspeakable in this context - gotta borrow the costumes from somewhere!), and The Villain is the token English woman not either of the USian capitalist bros. Funniest moment was just watching our heroine running urgently in spike-heeled knee-high boots and sequinned knickerbockers. I've never seen DWP1 but found the sequel watchable as a standalone, although it goes without saying that Ab Fab did it all first and better (e.g. Meryl Streep is a great actor but couldn't manage the physical comedy of hanging up a coat). ;-P
Popcorniness rating as a film 4/5. Fabulousness as a visual spectacle 5/5.
The Sheep Detectives: began ridiculous, in a weird primary-colour "generic cozy murder" movie village, then the weirdness was lampshaded, and the film relaxed into being amusing with outbreaks of actual lolz. The only decent human is the murder victim at the beginning so I couldn't call it upbeat but it does follow the cozy formula, except with more sheep (never a bad thing tbh).
5/5 if you like this sort of thing, and while I'm not into cozy murders I do enjoy weird and funny.
(And you don't have to take my word for any of this because Mark Kermode said exactly the same!)
The Christophers: the plot has a twisty element so it's best not to know spoilers beyond the basic set-up revealed in the trailer (and most reviews). The two leads are both very good actors who make the most of their roles but cliches abound, mostly Elderly Curmudgeon Seeks Deathbed Redemption (through interaction with younger person), and the two supporting actors seemed to have wandered into this sentimental drama from sitcomland next door.
4/5
I feel as if I should add that mildly comedic stories about ageing male painters and decorators accidentally mentoring a younger person aren't automatically more profound than mildly comedic stories about ageing female fashion journalists accidentally mentoring a younger person, nor is gritty automatically more profound than glossy - especially when both are realism. The Devil Wears Prada 2 has more relevant social commentary than The Christophers.
Up next: Savage House, maybe? Whaddya think?
Today I re-proofed my old waterproof. Wash-in Nikwax will never be as good as a new waterproof but it costs £8 and a wash cycle instead of £80+ for a wasteful new jacket that would be less good than my old one re-proofed.
( Reasons to be cheerful, part.... :D )
( Reasons to be cheerful, part.... :D )
- Mailing list blooper, from one of the zillion libraries I'm signed up to, lmao:
"Lee Child, Andrew Child - Jack Reacher, Book 30 - Exit Strategy
The 30th instalment in the Jack Reacher series from #1 New York Times bestselling authors Lee Child and Andrew Child. A comical, fantastical and witty re-imagining of the Tudor world, perfect for fans of The Princess Bride."
I suspect Princess Bride fans might experience a little disappointment with this suggestion although I suppose it's possible an Inigo Montoya-a-like might confront Reacher, "You killed my father. Prepare to die!" XD
- Architectural history of chimbleys. Does anyone have an informed opinion on why this 1850s terrace built mostly for railway workers, and with a small railway hotel, has such wide chimney tops with so many chimney pots? Fashion or multiple occupancy or ?
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/582499
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2682444
- The Friday Five's musical musings
1. How often do you hear live music?
Daily: I sing, my friends play, there are sessions in local pubs at least twice a week, and organists practising in churches (who can be heard from the street), and buskers in town. I prefer dancing to live music, and I occasionally attend gigs (but not so often now I am an aged crone, obv)
2. What was your favourite live musical performance ever?
My favourites are generally voices plural, when I'm joining in, but I couldn't pick one - too many differences to compare. Paid-for live gigs are very audience dependent and more than once I've seen a performer who is better with an appreciative audience and worse with an unresponsive crowd.
3. Do you play an instrument, or sing?
Yes, I used to sing exceptionally well, and regularly received offers of paid employment, and I can also play several instruments in a basic way (a variety of keyboards, hand drums, and easy wind instruments).
4. Have you ever performed music onstage?
Yes, and for commercial recordings (which are heard by more people).
5. Who is your favourite musician?
My favourite musicians are my friends, although my favourite music is sometimes made by people who are not my favourite musicians. :-)
I have very eclectic taste in music but I prefer danceable tunes and/or harmonious vocals. I dislike being shouted at and/or plodding tunes. I find some experimental music interesting even when I don't especially like it.
6. And y'all?
"Lee Child, Andrew Child - Jack Reacher, Book 30 - Exit Strategy
The 30th instalment in the Jack Reacher series from #1 New York Times bestselling authors Lee Child and Andrew Child. A comical, fantastical and witty re-imagining of the Tudor world, perfect for fans of The Princess Bride."
I suspect Princess Bride fans might experience a little disappointment with this suggestion although I suppose it's possible an Inigo Montoya-a-like might confront Reacher, "You killed my father. Prepare to die!" XD
- Architectural history of chimbleys. Does anyone have an informed opinion on why this 1850s terrace built mostly for railway workers, and with a small railway hotel, has such wide chimney tops with so many chimney pots? Fashion or multiple occupancy or ?
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/582499
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2682444
- The Friday Five's musical musings
1. How often do you hear live music?
Daily: I sing, my friends play, there are sessions in local pubs at least twice a week, and organists practising in churches (who can be heard from the street), and buskers in town. I prefer dancing to live music, and I occasionally attend gigs (but not so often now I am an aged crone, obv)
2. What was your favourite live musical performance ever?
My favourites are generally voices plural, when I'm joining in, but I couldn't pick one - too many differences to compare. Paid-for live gigs are very audience dependent and more than once I've seen a performer who is better with an appreciative audience and worse with an unresponsive crowd.
3. Do you play an instrument, or sing?
Yes, I used to sing exceptionally well, and regularly received offers of paid employment, and I can also play several instruments in a basic way (a variety of keyboards, hand drums, and easy wind instruments).
4. Have you ever performed music onstage?
Yes, and for commercial recordings (which are heard by more people).
5. Who is your favourite musician?
My favourite musicians are my friends, although my favourite music is sometimes made by people who are not my favourite musicians. :-)
I have very eclectic taste in music but I prefer danceable tunes and/or harmonious vocals. I dislike being shouted at and/or plodding tunes. I find some experimental music interesting even when I don't especially like it.
6. And y'all?
I can't decide which Caroline Bonaparte Murat is more of a mood:
her self-portrait as grieving Greek nymph widow with tits out for the lads;
or her mourning portrait as camorra crime-boss signing off a hit on her enemies... presumably by having them thrown into Mount Vesuvius.
And, yes, if it wasn't for his politics then one might suspect her (late) husband Joachim Murat was actually well-known physicist and Queen guitarist Brian May after having invested his fortune in constructing a time machine and travelling back to support Napoleon and become King of Naples.
Random Caroline Bonaparte fact, because three things make a post: she chose to employ a Welshwoman, Catherine Davies, (and her companion Mrs Pulsford) as third (under) governess for her children. Davies later published her memoir Eleven Years' Residence in the Family of Murat, King of Naples with a foreword by Achille Murat who was one of her previous governees.
her self-portrait as grieving Greek nymph widow with tits out for the lads;
or her mourning portrait as camorra crime-boss signing off a hit on her enemies... presumably by having them thrown into Mount Vesuvius.
And, yes, if it wasn't for his politics then one might suspect her (late) husband Joachim Murat was actually well-known physicist and Queen guitarist Brian May after having invested his fortune in constructing a time machine and travelling back to support Napoleon and become King of Naples.
Random Caroline Bonaparte fact, because three things make a post: she chose to employ a Welshwoman, Catherine Davies, (and her companion Mrs Pulsford) as third (under) governess for her children. Davies later published her memoir Eleven Years' Residence in the Family of Murat, King of Naples with a foreword by Achille Murat who was one of her previous governees.
- Books read to end of April 2026, part half of two: 45
39. Paying Guests, by EF Benson, 1929, novel, 4/5
Not as good as Mapp and Lucia, obv, but a similar comedy of manners on a smaller scale and featuring the residents of a superior guesthouse in a 1920s spa town, including far too much detail about the game of bridge, a pop at the cult of Christian Science, a grumpy retired colonel, and happy lesbians ever after. This is a 3.5/5 read for me but I've awarded Benson 4/5 for effort in successfully publishing a lesbian romance with a happy ending in 1929.
I borrowed what appears to be an entirely unauthorised reprint, which contains no copyright information, and fails to credit the cover image, and has a blurb on the back that sounds as if it was written by an international English speaker:
"The story is set around the Wentworth mention" [sic - mansion / pension?] "and its owners and lodgers, usual and recognizable [sp.] Benson's characters [sic]. They are quite unlikable, mainly upper-middle-class English people who came to the Spa to cure their body illnesses [sic], but also to fill the time and escape boredom despite having no passions, interests and work." [/don't hold back, just tell it like it is, lmao]
41. Secret Lives, by EF Benson, 1932, novel, 5/5
If Paying Guests is actually The Lesbian One then this is almost The Gender-Swapping One. A working class spinster is moving up the social ladder through her own hard work and with the assistance of her profit-focussed German publisher, her unWodehousian butler, and a newspaper gossip columnist who isn't what s/he seems. Raises Benson's very versatile flag in territory somewhere between his own Mapp and Lucia, the Jeeves stories, and popular "women's" fiction. This is subtler, more humane, and less viciously satirical than Benson's in/famous earlier novels about social climbing. The author amuses himself, and us, by repeatedly showing that lowbrow populist romantic adventure novels are beloved of socially useful types such as tradesmen and servants, while being mocked by those of a more exclusive social class who aspire to a higher culture despite failing to put in the work necessary for intellectual achievement. There is a perhaps surprising depth in this exploration of the value and ethics of literature, but Benson's novels are often more complex than I remember them and sometimes deeper too. I continue to admire his intricate plotting.
The fictional novel title Julian Beltravers is, of course, a parody of Ernest Maltravers (earnest bad-traverse) by Edward Bulwer Lytton.
Heart's Queen is possibly Queen of Hearts by Wilkie Collins, but there are other contenders, although: "I’m sick to death of novels with an earnest purpose. I’m sick to death of outbursts of eloquence, and large-minded philanthropy, and graphic descriptions, and unsparing anatomy of the human heart, and all that sort of thing."
Couldn't identify Amor Vincit, unless it's Robert Benchley's Love Conquers All which I don't know enough to judge, but love of various kinds does conquer in Secret Lives. And Benchley's humour could have appealed to Benson, "After an author has been dead for some time, it becomes increasingly difficult for his publishers to get out a new book by him each year."
( The other book title, and three quotes )
39. Paying Guests, by EF Benson, 1929, novel, 4/5
Not as good as Mapp and Lucia, obv, but a similar comedy of manners on a smaller scale and featuring the residents of a superior guesthouse in a 1920s spa town, including far too much detail about the game of bridge, a pop at the cult of Christian Science, a grumpy retired colonel, and happy lesbians ever after. This is a 3.5/5 read for me but I've awarded Benson 4/5 for effort in successfully publishing a lesbian romance with a happy ending in 1929.
I borrowed what appears to be an entirely unauthorised reprint, which contains no copyright information, and fails to credit the cover image, and has a blurb on the back that sounds as if it was written by an international English speaker:
"The story is set around the Wentworth mention" [sic - mansion / pension?] "and its owners and lodgers, usual and recognizable [sp.] Benson's characters [sic]. They are quite unlikable, mainly upper-middle-class English people who came to the Spa to cure their body illnesses [sic], but also to fill the time and escape boredom despite having no passions, interests and work." [/don't hold back, just tell it like it is, lmao]
41. Secret Lives, by EF Benson, 1932, novel, 5/5
If Paying Guests is actually The Lesbian One then this is almost The Gender-Swapping One. A working class spinster is moving up the social ladder through her own hard work and with the assistance of her profit-focussed German publisher, her unWodehousian butler, and a newspaper gossip columnist who isn't what s/he seems. Raises Benson's very versatile flag in territory somewhere between his own Mapp and Lucia, the Jeeves stories, and popular "women's" fiction. This is subtler, more humane, and less viciously satirical than Benson's in/famous earlier novels about social climbing. The author amuses himself, and us, by repeatedly showing that lowbrow populist romantic adventure novels are beloved of socially useful types such as tradesmen and servants, while being mocked by those of a more exclusive social class who aspire to a higher culture despite failing to put in the work necessary for intellectual achievement. There is a perhaps surprising depth in this exploration of the value and ethics of literature, but Benson's novels are often more complex than I remember them and sometimes deeper too. I continue to admire his intricate plotting.
The fictional novel title Julian Beltravers is, of course, a parody of Ernest Maltravers (earnest bad-traverse) by Edward Bulwer Lytton.
Heart's Queen is possibly Queen of Hearts by Wilkie Collins, but there are other contenders, although: "I’m sick to death of novels with an earnest purpose. I’m sick to death of outbursts of eloquence, and large-minded philanthropy, and graphic descriptions, and unsparing anatomy of the human heart, and all that sort of thing."
Couldn't identify Amor Vincit, unless it's Robert Benchley's Love Conquers All which I don't know enough to judge, but love of various kinds does conquer in Secret Lives. And Benchley's humour could have appealed to Benson, "After an author has been dead for some time, it becomes increasingly difficult for his publishers to get out a new book by him each year."
( The other book title, and three quotes )
In which we thank five it's Friday
May. 1st, 2026 04:51 pm1. Do you like to spend time outdoors?
Yes, obv. Preferably with mature trees, and running or tidal water.
2. What is your favourite flower?
ONE?! Can I at least have one for each month?
My favourite flowers are the strongly scented ones that smell good to me. The best scent in the world is damson blossom, buddleia smells like honey to me, rosemary is my favourite herb leaf scent but lavender flowers smell stronger, and I loved the old roses in my childhood garden. I've also lived in two places with old roses that cheerfully flower into December most years. My most gratefully observed flowers are the early yellow primroses of spring followed by bright blue "wood" forget-me-nots.
Glanced at unheeded -
cherry blossoms overhead -
until fierce spring winds
rip flowers into pink teardrops,
splashing colour at my feet.
( I've told all these before. )
6. And y'all?
Bonus sensawonder: The marine snail known in English as the Rough Periwinkle, Littorina saxatilis, was first given a scientific name in 1792. In the subsequent 234 years it has been mistakenly re-identified as a new species or subspecies at least 112 times, including as recently as 1997, because of the wide variations in the morphology (shape) of its shell growth to adapt to survive in differing conditions.
Yes, obv. Preferably with mature trees, and running or tidal water.
2. What is your favourite flower?
ONE?! Can I at least have one for each month?
My favourite flowers are the strongly scented ones that smell good to me. The best scent in the world is damson blossom, buddleia smells like honey to me, rosemary is my favourite herb leaf scent but lavender flowers smell stronger, and I loved the old roses in my childhood garden. I've also lived in two places with old roses that cheerfully flower into December most years. My most gratefully observed flowers are the early yellow primroses of spring followed by bright blue "wood" forget-me-nots.
Glanced at unheeded -
cherry blossoms overhead -
until fierce spring winds
rip flowers into pink teardrops,
splashing colour at my feet.
( I've told all these before. )
6. And y'all?
Bonus sensawonder: The marine snail known in English as the Rough Periwinkle, Littorina saxatilis, was first given a scientific name in 1792. In the subsequent 234 years it has been mistakenly re-identified as a new species or subspecies at least 112 times, including as recently as 1997, because of the wide variations in the morphology (shape) of its shell growth to adapt to survive in differing conditions.
- Current reading quotation 1: "[...] echo to the sounds of amateur and professional pirates, policemen, fairies and Japanese schoolgirls."
- Current reading quotation 2: "Normal is playing dress-up."
- Current reading quotation 3: "Bröstvårta Nipple
I must have been very distracted as a child not to have noticed this. We must, as a people, hold nipples in very low regard in Sweden."
- Books read to end of April 2026, part half of two: 45
37. The Book Forger, by Joseph Hone, 2024, non-fiction, fictionalised biography, history, crime, 4/5
Well-researched and, frankly, fun true crime book in which the main crime is forgery used to defraud rich people, with secondary crimes of stealing from the British Museum (oh, the irony!).
I have two nitpicks:
Firstly, the author has chosen to write-up this material in a style occasionally dramatising incidents according to the conventions of prose fiction (with people's thoughts & descriptions of facial expressions &c), which some readers might reasonably object to as populist entertainment rather than strictly biographical history. I didn't mind in this case as Hone is a good enough history writer to get away with it. He also presents his takes without giving equal weight to other opinions, but he does acknowledge that other interpretations have been made and signposts them for readers - with references.
Secondly, Hone also very much wants to present his two protagonists as heroes detecting the villainous antagonist but this presents a problem because Pollard was not a heroic person. He failed to work at school and college, and was ushered into a scholarship and degree at Oxford through the intervention of his influential father. He betrayed his wife, Kay Beauchamp (a teacher and elected local councillor), and his erstwhile friends and colleagues by spying on them for MI5 and providing regular detailed reports of their activities. The only actual evidence Hone provides to angle Pollard as a hero rather than a selfish scumbag involves Hone pretending that Beauchamp and her communist circles were behaving badly by... publishing a mass circulation national newspaper (oh noes!) and... someone who suggested opposing the violent expansionism of Imperial Japan, exactly like those other well known commies the British Empire and Winston Churchill (lmao).
[/nitpicks]
38. The Last Enchanted Places, by Ian Bradley, 2026, non-fiction travel, 4/5
A guide to 18 European spa towns: 7 in Britain, 4 in Germany, 3 in Czechia, 2 in Austria, and 1 each in Belgium and Switzerland. Descriptions of each town including their history and the current availability of water cures, by drinking or dunking, along with the author's memoirs of his own pilgrimages to the waters. At the end of each section is a list of 6 things to do and relevant novels to read whilst in town.
Bradley, a minister in the Church of Scotland, has a very British sense of humour about his beloved spas:
( Quotations unsuitable for readers of a delicate disposition. )
( Three delightful children's books, offered as an apology for the above quotations. )
- Current reading quotation 2: "Normal is playing dress-up."
- Current reading quotation 3: "Bröstvårta Nipple
I must have been very distracted as a child not to have noticed this. We must, as a people, hold nipples in very low regard in Sweden."
- Books read to end of April 2026, part half of two: 45
37. The Book Forger, by Joseph Hone, 2024, non-fiction, fictionalised biography, history, crime, 4/5
Well-researched and, frankly, fun true crime book in which the main crime is forgery used to defraud rich people, with secondary crimes of stealing from the British Museum (oh, the irony!).
I have two nitpicks:
Firstly, the author has chosen to write-up this material in a style occasionally dramatising incidents according to the conventions of prose fiction (with people's thoughts & descriptions of facial expressions &c), which some readers might reasonably object to as populist entertainment rather than strictly biographical history. I didn't mind in this case as Hone is a good enough history writer to get away with it. He also presents his takes without giving equal weight to other opinions, but he does acknowledge that other interpretations have been made and signposts them for readers - with references.
Secondly, Hone also very much wants to present his two protagonists as heroes detecting the villainous antagonist but this presents a problem because Pollard was not a heroic person. He failed to work at school and college, and was ushered into a scholarship and degree at Oxford through the intervention of his influential father. He betrayed his wife, Kay Beauchamp (a teacher and elected local councillor), and his erstwhile friends and colleagues by spying on them for MI5 and providing regular detailed reports of their activities. The only actual evidence Hone provides to angle Pollard as a hero rather than a selfish scumbag involves Hone pretending that Beauchamp and her communist circles were behaving badly by... publishing a mass circulation national newspaper (oh noes!) and... someone who suggested opposing the violent expansionism of Imperial Japan, exactly like those other well known commies the British Empire and Winston Churchill (lmao).
[/nitpicks]
38. The Last Enchanted Places, by Ian Bradley, 2026, non-fiction travel, 4/5
A guide to 18 European spa towns: 7 in Britain, 4 in Germany, 3 in Czechia, 2 in Austria, and 1 each in Belgium and Switzerland. Descriptions of each town including their history and the current availability of water cures, by drinking or dunking, along with the author's memoirs of his own pilgrimages to the waters. At the end of each section is a list of 6 things to do and relevant novels to read whilst in town.
Bradley, a minister in the Church of Scotland, has a very British sense of humour about his beloved spas:
( Quotations unsuitable for readers of a delicate disposition. )
( Three delightful children's books, offered as an apology for the above quotations. )
- Current reading, in honour of Fluffy Seed Day (which is like Flying Ant Day but earlier):
"Carefully she plucked off some of the fluffy white seeds and tucked them into her wallet. When she picked the last ones, two of them sailed away, higher and higher, far above the parked cars and toward the strip of blue sky that was poking out between the buildings. The dandelion plants by her feet had probably come here the same way. What an adventurous way of sending your children out into the world. For a moment Caspia pictured her parents putting her up on the windowsill and strapping a parachute to her back. 'Good luck, Caspia!' Then a gentle nudge and she would soar high up into the sky, surrounded by hundreds of other children, whose parents had sent them out into the world in the same way, to find a place where they could grow flowers and roots."
- Egg-shaped comedy nuggets: Bob Mortimer finally pushing David Mitchell over the edge in Would I Lie to You. The Chris Rea egg incident will never stop being one of the funniest stories I've ever seen told:
Bob Mortimer's egg tales (12mins youtube).
- Lena Chamamyan singing Lamma Bada Yatathana (4mins youtube), her version of an Andalusian traditional song from a poem by Ibn al-Khatib. Bonus track in a different style للحياة و البقاء بسلام (2mins youtube) aka "To live in peace on earth / To stop all wars and suffering".
( 5 British spa towns what I has visited )
( 2 spa towns To Visit )
"Carefully she plucked off some of the fluffy white seeds and tucked them into her wallet. When she picked the last ones, two of them sailed away, higher and higher, far above the parked cars and toward the strip of blue sky that was poking out between the buildings. The dandelion plants by her feet had probably come here the same way. What an adventurous way of sending your children out into the world. For a moment Caspia pictured her parents putting her up on the windowsill and strapping a parachute to her back. 'Good luck, Caspia!' Then a gentle nudge and she would soar high up into the sky, surrounded by hundreds of other children, whose parents had sent them out into the world in the same way, to find a place where they could grow flowers and roots."
- Egg-shaped comedy nuggets: Bob Mortimer finally pushing David Mitchell over the edge in Would I Lie to You. The Chris Rea egg incident will never stop being one of the funniest stories I've ever seen told:
Bob Mortimer's egg tales (12mins youtube).
- Lena Chamamyan singing Lamma Bada Yatathana (4mins youtube), her version of an Andalusian traditional song from a poem by Ibn al-Khatib. Bonus track in a different style للحياة و البقاء بسلام (2mins youtube) aka "To live in peace on earth / To stop all wars and suffering".
( 5 British spa towns what I has visited )
( 2 spa towns To Visit )
Cymru, notes on various places from west to east.
1. Bridgend / Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr had unusually high quality graffiti, with visual humour, often hidden away in less obvious places. Within walking distance of the station there are also the ruins of Newcastle Castle castle (no, not that Newcastle Castle castle) - the name makes more sense in Cymraeg as Y Castell Newydd (That New Castle). The pleasantest cafes were full and the roads had few cars even outside the pedestrianised town centre. My favourite experience was seeing a carrion crow I've nickname King Crow-nute due to his preference for standing in the middle of a three way road junction cawing loudly at slowly approaching cars and vans in a magnificent but also futile territorial display - he could fly so I have no idea why he wasn't showing off in the tall tree overhead? Anyway, have advised the locals to re-brand as Brigand to make the place sound more exciting - don't change the spelling, only the pronunciation.... ;-)
2. Rhoose Cardiff International Airport (Maes Awyr Rhyngwladol Caerdydd Y Rhws) is the railway station with the longest official name in the UK. It also has a level crossing and raised platforms (and not much else) from which a patient spotter could simultaneously see a train on the tracks, a plane overhead, an airport bus at the bus stop, and a ship on the sea, in addition to the usual cars and bikes and pedestrians.
3. The coast path between Rhws and Barry is, of course, very uphill both ways but also with many delightful views and places to rest briefly (including loos and a cafe at Porthkerry country park near the viaduct).
4a. Beware the swan lake in Knap Gardens near the seafront in Barry as the mute swans there are especially massive and insistent on being fed, and look as muscular as if they've been protein-loading on discarded burgers since they were signets. They all simultaneously got the incorrect impression, from the other end of the lake, that I might feed them and they took off flying towards me with much flapping and surprising speed. So much forward momentum, in fact, that four of them in close formation couldn't stop and WHOOSHED low enough over my head to unsettle my hair with their downdrafts, while their flocking friends waterskied to a halt at my feet producing tidal waves of displaced water. The GIANT swans then intimidated me by hissing, and attempted to mug me for food I didn't actually have! As I walked swiftly away I saw the swan gang harassing a group of much smaller and less aggressive Canada Geese!!
4b. There's an excellent Muppet mural on a wall near Barry Docks station that's briefly visible from the west side of the train. I should go and find it on foot.
5. From Y Garth / Garth Hill the views of surrounding hills and the Bristol Channel / Môr Hafren with its islands are splendid on a rare clear day. I refuse to entitle it Garth Mountain though, even after The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain. Well worth walking the circuit footpath around the summit as the changing views are possibly even better than from the top of the Bronze Age burial mound on the summit... if hills can be said to have summits. ;-)
6. Cardiff still has some good graffiti and murals. My faves remain the ? Kiwi ? birds flying with the assistance of bunches of balloons or jetpacks (and crash helmets - safety first, lol!).
7. To Ebbw Vale Parkway from Cardiff / Caerdydd by train is my favourite rail ride up the Valleys and I suggest sitting on the east side of the carriage for the best views.
8. I strongly advise against visiting medieval castles during school holidays if you intend to ascend any of the many high and narrow spiral stairways without suffering unexpected small children hurling themselves at you as if they're invincible balls and your legs are bowling pins (or go to the castles retrofitted with lifts, lol, such as Caernarfon). No, RLY.
1. Bridgend / Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr had unusually high quality graffiti, with visual humour, often hidden away in less obvious places. Within walking distance of the station there are also the ruins of Newcastle Castle castle (no, not that Newcastle Castle castle) - the name makes more sense in Cymraeg as Y Castell Newydd (That New Castle). The pleasantest cafes were full and the roads had few cars even outside the pedestrianised town centre. My favourite experience was seeing a carrion crow I've nickname King Crow-nute due to his preference for standing in the middle of a three way road junction cawing loudly at slowly approaching cars and vans in a magnificent but also futile territorial display - he could fly so I have no idea why he wasn't showing off in the tall tree overhead? Anyway, have advised the locals to re-brand as Brigand to make the place sound more exciting - don't change the spelling, only the pronunciation.... ;-)
2. Rhoose Cardiff International Airport (Maes Awyr Rhyngwladol Caerdydd Y Rhws) is the railway station with the longest official name in the UK. It also has a level crossing and raised platforms (and not much else) from which a patient spotter could simultaneously see a train on the tracks, a plane overhead, an airport bus at the bus stop, and a ship on the sea, in addition to the usual cars and bikes and pedestrians.
3. The coast path between Rhws and Barry is, of course, very uphill both ways but also with many delightful views and places to rest briefly (including loos and a cafe at Porthkerry country park near the viaduct).
4a. Beware the swan lake in Knap Gardens near the seafront in Barry as the mute swans there are especially massive and insistent on being fed, and look as muscular as if they've been protein-loading on discarded burgers since they were signets. They all simultaneously got the incorrect impression, from the other end of the lake, that I might feed them and they took off flying towards me with much flapping and surprising speed. So much forward momentum, in fact, that four of them in close formation couldn't stop and WHOOSHED low enough over my head to unsettle my hair with their downdrafts, while their flocking friends waterskied to a halt at my feet producing tidal waves of displaced water. The GIANT swans then intimidated me by hissing, and attempted to mug me for food I didn't actually have! As I walked swiftly away I saw the swan gang harassing a group of much smaller and less aggressive Canada Geese!!
4b. There's an excellent Muppet mural on a wall near Barry Docks station that's briefly visible from the west side of the train. I should go and find it on foot.
5. From Y Garth / Garth Hill the views of surrounding hills and the Bristol Channel / Môr Hafren with its islands are splendid on a rare clear day. I refuse to entitle it Garth Mountain though, even after The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain. Well worth walking the circuit footpath around the summit as the changing views are possibly even better than from the top of the Bronze Age burial mound on the summit... if hills can be said to have summits. ;-)
6. Cardiff still has some good graffiti and murals. My faves remain the ? Kiwi ? birds flying with the assistance of bunches of balloons or jetpacks (and crash helmets - safety first, lol!).
7. To Ebbw Vale Parkway from Cardiff / Caerdydd by train is my favourite rail ride up the Valleys and I suggest sitting on the east side of the carriage for the best views.
8. I strongly advise against visiting medieval castles during school holidays if you intend to ascend any of the many high and narrow spiral stairways without suffering unexpected small children hurling themselves at you as if they're invincible balls and your legs are bowling pins (or go to the castles retrofitted with lifts, lol, such as Caernarfon). No, RLY.
- Current reading: a novel about life in a 1920s spa town, in which I've reached a "mind over masseur" pun. :D
- Previous reading quote: "Asked about his sloppy appearance, Pollard responded simply that he had become engrossed in a 'gorgeous edition of the Arabian Nights' and 'just couldn't find time to undress and go to sleep'."
Occasionally I amuse myself by asking google's AI to find a quote and the responses are often hilariously wrong: "This anecdote refers to Alfred William Pollard (1859–1944), a renowned British bibliophile, librarian, and scholar who worked at the British Museum. The quote is a description of him in his 'unregenerate youth' while studying at Oxford." Which is wholly untrue and especially funny because the non-AI google result correctly gave a closely related source text, but then the AI unnecessarily invented some unrelated rubbish. :D
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Film: The Magic Faraway Tree, 2026, by the Paddington people, from the children's fantasy book, 3.5/5.
A confection of brain candy but remember that too much sugar causes rot so "Don't be greedy!"
- Film: Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling, 2026, from the science fiction novel by Andy Weir, 5/5, warning for flashing lights.
Text [spoiler, obv]: human women always betray men whether that's leaving for another man or abducting them onto a suicide mission in deep space.
Also text [spoiler, obv]: white USian guys will literally make friends with a whole alien species before their fellow humans, lmao.
Subtext: [redacted for cynicism]. A perfect movie of its type but not a good me-view.
- Analyze this: does anyone have a burning urge to try dream interpretation? I usually have dull dreams that merely repeat daily activities, but I recently had a vivid dream in which I was cutting a large cake with an extremely sharp knife when I accidentally injured the foot of a badger (!) that was hiding under the cake (?!). Clearly my subconscious was having a moment. Answers on a postcard addressed to "Post a new comment". :D
- Previous reading quote: "Asked about his sloppy appearance, Pollard responded simply that he had become engrossed in a 'gorgeous edition of the Arabian Nights' and 'just couldn't find time to undress and go to sleep'."
Occasionally I amuse myself by asking google's AI to find a quote and the responses are often hilariously wrong: "This anecdote refers to Alfred William Pollard (1859–1944), a renowned British bibliophile, librarian, and scholar who worked at the British Museum. The quote is a description of him in his 'unregenerate youth' while studying at Oxford." Which is wholly untrue and especially funny because the non-AI google result correctly gave a closely related source text, but then the AI unnecessarily invented some unrelated rubbish. :D
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Film: The Magic Faraway Tree, 2026, by the Paddington people, from the children's fantasy book, 3.5/5.
A confection of brain candy but remember that too much sugar causes rot so "Don't be greedy!"
- Film: Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling, 2026, from the science fiction novel by Andy Weir, 5/5, warning for flashing lights.
Text [spoiler, obv]: human women always betray men whether that's leaving for another man or abducting them onto a suicide mission in deep space.
Also text [spoiler, obv]: white USian guys will literally make friends with a whole alien species before their fellow humans, lmao.
Subtext: [redacted for cynicism]. A perfect movie of its type but not a good me-view.
- Analyze this: does anyone have a burning urge to try dream interpretation? I usually have dull dreams that merely repeat daily activities, but I recently had a vivid dream in which I was cutting a large cake with an extremely sharp knife when I accidentally injured the foot of a badger (!) that was hiding under the cake (?!). Clearly my subconscious was having a moment. Answers on a postcard addressed to "Post a new comment". :D
Read to 31 March 2026: 35 books (no dnfs but one I wish I had).
To read shelves: 61 books.
Current reading quote: "In the lives of the good, bad people are the deciding factor. That's just how it goes. In the lives of the bad, the good ones disappear. They don't even notice them."
Highly rated or interesting books I read in March:
- 28. Two Women Living Together, by Kim Hana and Hwang Sunwoo, 2019 (2026), non-fiction memoir self-help, 3/5.
( Because y'all might be interested. )
- 31. Woman Alive, by Susan Ertz, 1936, novel fantasy / science fiction "feminism" (of a sort), 2/5.
( Neither good nor especially interesting but a must for feminist sf or utopia completists. )
- 33. Bad Science, by Ben Goldacre, 2009, the second edition including the previously redacted chapter 10 "The Doctor Will Sue You Now", non-fiction science biology medicine, 5/5.
I've begun reccing this to younger people a generation after this was published because it remains one of the best popular How To Think About Science books as the arguments are both clearly written and entertaining.
Worked up from newspapers columns so very quotable, e.g. pg116: "Using this process, called photosynthesis, plants store the energy from sunlight in the form of sugar (high in calories, as you know), and they can then use this sugar energy to make everything else they need: like protein, and fibre, and flowers, and corn on the cob, and bark, and leaves, and amazing traps that eat flies, and cures for cancer, and tomatoes, and wispy dandelions, and conkers, and chillies, and all the other amazing things that the plant world has going on."
Also includes the infamous one-liner about Gillian McKeith, lmao.
- 34. Patchwork, a Graphic Biography of Jane Austen, by Kate Evans, 2025, comics history biography, 5/5 or 6/5. ;-)
Superlatively brilliant. Very Kate Evans. Jane Austen's life as a patchwork of what we know, with a central interlude telling double page spread histories about where the cotton and fabrics for Jane's patchworking came from and how her gentry family benefitted from Britain's unscrupulous trades. Highly recommended both as an Austen biography that includes her all-important familial relationships, and for placing the Austens' lives into historical perspective. I also rec Evans' previous graphic biography Red Rosa about Rosa Luxemburg.
Note: I recently read The Novel Life of Jane Austen, another graphic bio, which was a solid 4/5 for the life but lacked wider context compared to Patchwork, published only six months later, which is unfortunate timing for the creators Janine Barchas and Isabel Greenberg.
To read shelves: 61 books.
Current reading quote: "In the lives of the good, bad people are the deciding factor. That's just how it goes. In the lives of the bad, the good ones disappear. They don't even notice them."
Highly rated or interesting books I read in March:
- 28. Two Women Living Together, by Kim Hana and Hwang Sunwoo, 2019 (2026), non-fiction memoir self-help, 3/5.
( Because y'all might be interested. )
- 31. Woman Alive, by Susan Ertz, 1936, novel fantasy / science fiction "feminism" (of a sort), 2/5.
( Neither good nor especially interesting but a must for feminist sf or utopia completists. )
- 33. Bad Science, by Ben Goldacre, 2009, the second edition including the previously redacted chapter 10 "The Doctor Will Sue You Now", non-fiction science biology medicine, 5/5.
I've begun reccing this to younger people a generation after this was published because it remains one of the best popular How To Think About Science books as the arguments are both clearly written and entertaining.
Worked up from newspapers columns so very quotable, e.g. pg116: "Using this process, called photosynthesis, plants store the energy from sunlight in the form of sugar (high in calories, as you know), and they can then use this sugar energy to make everything else they need: like protein, and fibre, and flowers, and corn on the cob, and bark, and leaves, and amazing traps that eat flies, and cures for cancer, and tomatoes, and wispy dandelions, and conkers, and chillies, and all the other amazing things that the plant world has going on."
Also includes the infamous one-liner about Gillian McKeith, lmao.
- 34. Patchwork, a Graphic Biography of Jane Austen, by Kate Evans, 2025, comics history biography, 5/5 or 6/5. ;-)
Superlatively brilliant. Very Kate Evans. Jane Austen's life as a patchwork of what we know, with a central interlude telling double page spread histories about where the cotton and fabrics for Jane's patchworking came from and how her gentry family benefitted from Britain's unscrupulous trades. Highly recommended both as an Austen biography that includes her all-important familial relationships, and for placing the Austens' lives into historical perspective. I also rec Evans' previous graphic biography Red Rosa about Rosa Luxemburg.
Note: I recently read The Novel Life of Jane Austen, another graphic bio, which was a solid 4/5 for the life but lacked wider context compared to Patchwork, published only six months later, which is unfortunate timing for the creators Janine Barchas and Isabel Greenberg.
Seasonal: and a bonus happy Old English Goddess of Spring Invented By A Christian Monk weekend! ;-P
Music: local Brummies have been breaking out the vintage Black Sabbath recently for obvious reasons, especially Paranoid, 1970, their second album (and second within a year) featuring three classic "heavy metal" songs with Geezer Butler's lyrics - one supportive of mental health problems, one discouraging drug-taking (especially heroin), and their best known which is an anti-war song specifically targeting the wars that politicians inflict on the rest of us:
"Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor"
uKanDanz covers War Pigs with Asnake Gebreyes singing in Amharic (brave guy):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kVYdLjoyPE
And then there's Ozzy Osbourne's anti-war Crazy Train, 1980, especially beloved in his native Birmingham. Live, 1981, with Randy Rhoades:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui79Uf817YA
"Millions of people living as foes
Maybe it's not too late
To learn how to love
And forget how to hate"
Music: local Brummies have been breaking out the vintage Black Sabbath recently for obvious reasons, especially Paranoid, 1970, their second album (and second within a year) featuring three classic "heavy metal" songs with Geezer Butler's lyrics - one supportive of mental health problems, one discouraging drug-taking (especially heroin), and their best known which is an anti-war song specifically targeting the wars that politicians inflict on the rest of us:
"Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor"
uKanDanz covers War Pigs with Asnake Gebreyes singing in Amharic (brave guy):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kVYdLjoyPE
And then there's Ozzy Osbourne's anti-war Crazy Train, 1980, especially beloved in his native Birmingham. Live, 1981, with Randy Rhoades:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui79Uf817YA
"Millions of people living as foes
Maybe it's not too late
To learn how to love
And forget how to hate"
It's a wrap! Or a warp. I like to offer you an informed choice. ;-)
Film: Nouvelle Vague, 2025, is US / French film about the making of A bout de souffle. So it's a Richard Linklater homage to Jean-Luc Godard - a movie god making a film about a god of cinema, or at least a godard of cinema. Exactly as you'd expect in every way. I felt it didn't quite deserve full marks due to minor blandness and predictability, but there are no actual faults with the film: the audience gets what it deserves. ;-) 4.5/5
P.S. That dance scene from Bande à part referenced again (but Le Week-End is still my fave recreation).
P.P.S. So, now I've mentioned the other film, Nouvelle Vague has a smart script with slick direction and cinematography and production... but it's also sorta shallow compared to Le Week-End, which gave audiences three truly great film actors* allowed space by the director to explore everyday human experience in depth. Both movies focus on trivia, one more intellectually and one more emotionally, but only one of them finds additional profundity. Quoting philosophical one-liners is not in itself a profound activity and any parrot can be trained to do it. Nouvelle Vague is a tribute, while Le Week-End is an original.
* Lindsay Duncan, Jim Broadbent, and Jeff Goldblum.
Film: Grass, a Nation's Battle for Life, 1925, US / Bakhtiari documentary film about the seasonal migration of 50,000 of the Bakhtiari (Lurs) and all their sheep, goats, cows, horses, donkeys, and dogs from exhausted pasture to fresh pasture, across several rivers including the Karun and over a snow covered mountain pass through the 4,221m Zard-Kuh subrange. Just crossing the river takes a week! (Spoiler for history: when the team considered remaking the film in 1947 they were told the migration was now done mostly in cars and trucks.) It is, of course, a silent movie, although the music track for the screening I attended was painfully ear-splittingly loud for no apparent reason. There are explanatory intertitles throughout, beginning with typical USian self-congratulatory racism about "Aryans" supposedly originating in West Asia and progressing westwards as civilisation progressed... with the implication that Hollywood is the peak of human culture, lmao (USians: so modest!). If you're wondering why the intertitles keep shouting "Yo, Ali!" it's because the Bakhtiari are Shia Muslims.
Presenter: Marguerite Harrison.
Conclusion: worth seeing on a BIG screen for the spectacle, but the commentary is as racist as most "Aryan" ethnography of the time. No rating.
Film: Köln 75, 2025, is a German film about... well, that's a problem because it doesn't know what it's about. ( Cut for moaning. )
Conclusion: the filmmakers and their male gaze didn't find Vera Brandes that interesting as a central subject, they couldn't focus on their hero Keith Jarrett, so they produced a confused hash spiced up with teenage girl sex-appeal for their chosen audience. No rating because the film is too inconsistent.
P.S. There's a documentary, Lost in Köln, 2025, which I haven't seen but I'm guessing would be a more worthwhile investment of time than... whatever this was that I watched.
P.P.S. Only fun if you understand German but... Floh de Cologne - Sei Ruhig Fließbandbaby.
* Piano tuners being a hot theme for movies made in 2025 for some reason?
Film: Nouvelle Vague, 2025, is US / French film about the making of A bout de souffle. So it's a Richard Linklater homage to Jean-Luc Godard - a movie god making a film about a god of cinema, or at least a godard of cinema. Exactly as you'd expect in every way. I felt it didn't quite deserve full marks due to minor blandness and predictability, but there are no actual faults with the film: the audience gets what it deserves. ;-) 4.5/5
P.S. That dance scene from Bande à part referenced again (but Le Week-End is still my fave recreation).
P.P.S. So, now I've mentioned the other film, Nouvelle Vague has a smart script with slick direction and cinematography and production... but it's also sorta shallow compared to Le Week-End, which gave audiences three truly great film actors* allowed space by the director to explore everyday human experience in depth. Both movies focus on trivia, one more intellectually and one more emotionally, but only one of them finds additional profundity. Quoting philosophical one-liners is not in itself a profound activity and any parrot can be trained to do it. Nouvelle Vague is a tribute, while Le Week-End is an original.
* Lindsay Duncan, Jim Broadbent, and Jeff Goldblum.
Film: Grass, a Nation's Battle for Life, 1925, US / Bakhtiari documentary film about the seasonal migration of 50,000 of the Bakhtiari (Lurs) and all their sheep, goats, cows, horses, donkeys, and dogs from exhausted pasture to fresh pasture, across several rivers including the Karun and over a snow covered mountain pass through the 4,221m Zard-Kuh subrange. Just crossing the river takes a week! (Spoiler for history: when the team considered remaking the film in 1947 they were told the migration was now done mostly in cars and trucks.) It is, of course, a silent movie, although the music track for the screening I attended was painfully ear-splittingly loud for no apparent reason. There are explanatory intertitles throughout, beginning with typical USian self-congratulatory racism about "Aryans" supposedly originating in West Asia and progressing westwards as civilisation progressed... with the implication that Hollywood is the peak of human culture, lmao (USians: so modest!). If you're wondering why the intertitles keep shouting "Yo, Ali!" it's because the Bakhtiari are Shia Muslims.
Presenter: Marguerite Harrison.
Conclusion: worth seeing on a BIG screen for the spectacle, but the commentary is as racist as most "Aryan" ethnography of the time. No rating.
Film: Köln 75, 2025, is a German film about... well, that's a problem because it doesn't know what it's about. ( Cut for moaning. )
Conclusion: the filmmakers and their male gaze didn't find Vera Brandes that interesting as a central subject, they couldn't focus on their hero Keith Jarrett, so they produced a confused hash spiced up with teenage girl sex-appeal for their chosen audience. No rating because the film is too inconsistent.
P.S. There's a documentary, Lost in Köln, 2025, which I haven't seen but I'm guessing would be a more worthwhile investment of time than... whatever this was that I watched.
P.P.S. Only fun if you understand German but... Floh de Cologne - Sei Ruhig Fließbandbaby.
* Piano tuners being a hot theme for movies made in 2025 for some reason?
Film the collective most wanted to see together but missed was Queer as Punk, 2025, which I mention because some of you might also be interested in a queer Malaysian punk movie.
Film: All That's Left of You, 2025, is an unexpectedly gentle and also thoughtful film about a Palestinian man and his family, told episodically from 1948 to 2022. I usually resent any film over the 2hr mark but this deserved and filled the 2hrs 25mins it took to tell these stories. The cinematography is decidedly beautiful, with Palestinian lives and homes being lit in warm colours. I hadn't read any spoilers so I'd no idea where these stories were heading beyond forwards in time from the Nakba through the First Intifada, and I was surprised by the later themes which I thought were extremely well handled despite their difficulties. An aspect of the film-making that drew my attention very early on were casting decisions for the two occasions during which we see close-ups of members of the Israeli military being abusive, when the actors chosen looked as much like the Palestinian lead as possible, so the first could have been his brother and the second a close cousin (a more diverse population was shown but the casting in these two incidents was clearly intentional).
Conclusion: I recommend watching All That's Left of You if you enjoy heartfelt family-themed films (also rated 12A - about PG-13 - despite the surrounding violence [/ reminder that European film ratings tend to be higher for violence (and lower for sex) than US ratings ]). 5/5
Film: Colours of Time / La Venue de l'avenir, 2025, is a lightweight middle-of-the-road French film exploring recent history through the lens of one family, and was clearly sponsored by the Normandy tourist authority (and good for them!). The casting suited the plot as well as the characters, the lighting was good, and all the very mainstream music - from acoustic to electronic dance - was spot on. Cliches are racked up constantly, but each is well done and forgivable (except possibly Monmartre as a romantic pre-suburb village, which was wholly unnecessary nostalgia that didn't rly work as commentary on the present and was balanced by the equally saccharine Ooo They've Got Electricity scene). The Obligatory Pride in French Arts Culture is offset by making it mildly amusing. Beekeeping featured as the vaguest form of token environmentalism. There is the most improbably upbeat and escapist take on teaching as a career. Warning for the usual pervasive French misogyny, albeit dialled down as this is intended to be a sweet story. Nonetheless I noticed the Stressed Businesswoman Who Just Needs a "Date" trope, and although the Women's Magazine Culture is Lol Lowbrow trope was offset by humour, there was also Historical Women Were All Sex-Workers. Also warning for glamourised recreational drug-taking. The best laugh line was "I got hit on by Victor Hugo!" and I'm absolutely not going to spoil the context, although for balance there was also a dreadful pun about cat/chat room filters.
Themes: family, love, nostalgic history. 5/5
Film: The Blue Trail / O Último Azul, 2025, is a Brazilian film, that I saw with the original soundtrack and subtitles (there seems to be a terrible dubbed trailer about too?). In a near-future dystopia, 80 year old people are bussed away to a "colony" for old people so they don't impair the economic activity of younger people... according to pervasive government messaging. Unfortunately for the protagonist, Tereza, the age limit is lowered to 77 only a few weeks before her 77th birthday. She is mandatorily retired from her job at an alligator processing factory (warning for animal death and dismemberment) and sent home to her small shack to await the inevitable. However, Tereza has other ideas and decides to flee in pursuit of her desire to fly. Along the way she meets a drug-taking riverboat courier who shows her a wild snail that excretes blue "drool" which induces visions in humans when used as eyedrops. Various snitches try to turn her in to the authorities, and her dream of flying crashes. But Tereza meets another riverboat traveller, on the rainbow-coloured Caridad (Charity - aka loving kindness), who might have an alternative dream for our heroine. But what will the visionary wild snail reveal about this, and how much will Tereza's renewed life cost her and the animals she inevitably continues to exploit (more warnings for animal death)?
Themes: exploitation, of people and animals and the environment; but also love and redemption (which has its price, like all redemption). Possible lesbian and/or female friendship themes but these are choose your own adventure interpretations.
Conclusion: beautiful, disjointed, occasionally upsetting, and partially individually redemptive. 4/5
Film: All That's Left of You, 2025, is an unexpectedly gentle and also thoughtful film about a Palestinian man and his family, told episodically from 1948 to 2022. I usually resent any film over the 2hr mark but this deserved and filled the 2hrs 25mins it took to tell these stories. The cinematography is decidedly beautiful, with Palestinian lives and homes being lit in warm colours. I hadn't read any spoilers so I'd no idea where these stories were heading beyond forwards in time from the Nakba through the First Intifada, and I was surprised by the later themes which I thought were extremely well handled despite their difficulties. An aspect of the film-making that drew my attention very early on were casting decisions for the two occasions during which we see close-ups of members of the Israeli military being abusive, when the actors chosen looked as much like the Palestinian lead as possible, so the first could have been his brother and the second a close cousin (a more diverse population was shown but the casting in these two incidents was clearly intentional).
Conclusion: I recommend watching All That's Left of You if you enjoy heartfelt family-themed films (also rated 12A - about PG-13 - despite the surrounding violence [/ reminder that European film ratings tend to be higher for violence (and lower for sex) than US ratings ]). 5/5
Film: Colours of Time / La Venue de l'avenir, 2025, is a lightweight middle-of-the-road French film exploring recent history through the lens of one family, and was clearly sponsored by the Normandy tourist authority (and good for them!). The casting suited the plot as well as the characters, the lighting was good, and all the very mainstream music - from acoustic to electronic dance - was spot on. Cliches are racked up constantly, but each is well done and forgivable (except possibly Monmartre as a romantic pre-suburb village, which was wholly unnecessary nostalgia that didn't rly work as commentary on the present and was balanced by the equally saccharine Ooo They've Got Electricity scene). The Obligatory Pride in French Arts Culture is offset by making it mildly amusing. Beekeeping featured as the vaguest form of token environmentalism. There is the most improbably upbeat and escapist take on teaching as a career. Warning for the usual pervasive French misogyny, albeit dialled down as this is intended to be a sweet story. Nonetheless I noticed the Stressed Businesswoman Who Just Needs a "Date" trope, and although the Women's Magazine Culture is Lol Lowbrow trope was offset by humour, there was also Historical Women Were All Sex-Workers. Also warning for glamourised recreational drug-taking. The best laugh line was "I got hit on by Victor Hugo!" and I'm absolutely not going to spoil the context, although for balance there was also a dreadful pun about cat/chat room filters.
Themes: family, love, nostalgic history. 5/5
Film: The Blue Trail / O Último Azul, 2025, is a Brazilian film, that I saw with the original soundtrack and subtitles (there seems to be a terrible dubbed trailer about too?). In a near-future dystopia, 80 year old people are bussed away to a "colony" for old people so they don't impair the economic activity of younger people... according to pervasive government messaging. Unfortunately for the protagonist, Tereza, the age limit is lowered to 77 only a few weeks before her 77th birthday. She is mandatorily retired from her job at an alligator processing factory (warning for animal death and dismemberment) and sent home to her small shack to await the inevitable. However, Tereza has other ideas and decides to flee in pursuit of her desire to fly. Along the way she meets a drug-taking riverboat courier who shows her a wild snail that excretes blue "drool" which induces visions in humans when used as eyedrops. Various snitches try to turn her in to the authorities, and her dream of flying crashes. But Tereza meets another riverboat traveller, on the rainbow-coloured Caridad (Charity - aka loving kindness), who might have an alternative dream for our heroine. But what will the visionary wild snail reveal about this, and how much will Tereza's renewed life cost her and the animals she inevitably continues to exploit (more warnings for animal death)?
Themes: exploitation, of people and animals and the environment; but also love and redemption (which has its price, like all redemption). Possible lesbian and/or female friendship themes but these are choose your own adventure interpretations.
Conclusion: beautiful, disjointed, occasionally upsetting, and partially individually redemptive. 4/5
In which our heroine is charming
Mar. 13th, 2026 10:08 am1. Have you ever watched illusion magic? Close-up, or in a stage show, or on television? Did it work for you?
I've seen illusionists on television and close-up in real life and even when I know how the trick is done I've never spotted the illusionist at work. They're magic to me in at least one sense of the word.
2. Have you ever wished on a star, or a lucky cat, or a coin in a wishing well? Did it work in some way?
Yes, I've wished on objects, but never believing the wishes would come true and none of them ever has. Most of my family aren't superstitious so we mostly did time or place specific traditional customs such as wishing on a poultry wishbone at xmas dinner or when blowing out candles on birthday cakes.
3. Have you ever cast a spell, made a love charm, or tried a curse? Did it work in some way?
I've asked for healing at special springs by leaving a traditional (biodegradeable) offering but, again, without believing any favour could or would be granted. Also, I expect the genii locorum prefer people who clean up their habitats by removing non-biodegradeable litter &c. Despite being a dedicated apatheist I also once asked for healing for a USian Christian friend at the shrine of St David in St Davids Cathedral in the city of St Davids before walking to the nearby holy well dedicated to his mother St Non (and then sent my friend the token I acquired at the cathedral and carried on pilgrimage - she was thrilled but not afaik healed). I was passing the well anyway as it's on a beautiful seaside cliff-top footpath. I was alone when I arrived but soon surrounded by a large group of women pilgrims, who'd walked from another direction, which was interesting because organised pilgrimage groups are an uncommon sight in the UK. I couldn't talk with any of them though because their guide was very LOUD and INSISTENT on having her group's ATTENTION. Fair enough as they'd signed up for it, and I'd already been blessed by a peaceful moment alone at the well (and my friend received the pilgrim token to tell her I cared about her).
4. Are there any other traditional superstitions you pay attention to? Do they work in some way?
My family didn't indoctrinate me with superstitions as I grew up so no to any magical element. But not walking under ladders, and paying attention to the weather and wild animals seems worth it, as does picking up stray pennies and buttons.
5. Would you want major magical powers like in a fantasy story? Which powers, and how would you use them?
Eep, NO! I'd probably end up as a medical experiment in a secret government research bunker. But I would like to have enough manual dexterity to palm things like a stage illusionist. I bet that skill would have all sorts of uses in addition to doing crime or stage magic....
6. And y'all? :-)
I've seen illusionists on television and close-up in real life and even when I know how the trick is done I've never spotted the illusionist at work. They're magic to me in at least one sense of the word.
2. Have you ever wished on a star, or a lucky cat, or a coin in a wishing well? Did it work in some way?
Yes, I've wished on objects, but never believing the wishes would come true and none of them ever has. Most of my family aren't superstitious so we mostly did time or place specific traditional customs such as wishing on a poultry wishbone at xmas dinner or when blowing out candles on birthday cakes.
3. Have you ever cast a spell, made a love charm, or tried a curse? Did it work in some way?
I've asked for healing at special springs by leaving a traditional (biodegradeable) offering but, again, without believing any favour could or would be granted. Also, I expect the genii locorum prefer people who clean up their habitats by removing non-biodegradeable litter &c. Despite being a dedicated apatheist I also once asked for healing for a USian Christian friend at the shrine of St David in St Davids Cathedral in the city of St Davids before walking to the nearby holy well dedicated to his mother St Non (and then sent my friend the token I acquired at the cathedral and carried on pilgrimage - she was thrilled but not afaik healed). I was passing the well anyway as it's on a beautiful seaside cliff-top footpath. I was alone when I arrived but soon surrounded by a large group of women pilgrims, who'd walked from another direction, which was interesting because organised pilgrimage groups are an uncommon sight in the UK. I couldn't talk with any of them though because their guide was very LOUD and INSISTENT on having her group's ATTENTION. Fair enough as they'd signed up for it, and I'd already been blessed by a peaceful moment alone at the well (and my friend received the pilgrim token to tell her I cared about her).
4. Are there any other traditional superstitions you pay attention to? Do they work in some way?
My family didn't indoctrinate me with superstitions as I grew up so no to any magical element. But not walking under ladders, and paying attention to the weather and wild animals seems worth it, as does picking up stray pennies and buttons.
5. Would you want major magical powers like in a fantasy story? Which powers, and how would you use them?
Eep, NO! I'd probably end up as a medical experiment in a secret government research bunker. But I would like to have enough manual dexterity to palm things like a stage illusionist. I bet that skill would have all sorts of uses in addition to doing crime or stage magic....
6. And y'all? :-)
#GNU PTerry Pratchett
Train, funny: children cheering for their destination station at every announcement. By the third time most of the other passengers were joining in and one of the women alighting at the same place stood up to perform a celebration dance. :D
Train, naughty: 30s guy on the phone to his parents claiming he was on a train to Liverpool was actually with his friend on a train to Caergybi / Holyhead (presumably for the ferry to Dublin).
Train, weird: two guys who had watched the Winter Olympics were having a competition to see who could sing the most national anthems, and I've never heard a Welshman and a Scouser get so far through O Canada before. :D
Film, bad: packed screening and, as usual, the only persistent cougher in the whole room was seated directly behind me. Did she cover her face effectively while coughing? She did not!
ETA, Friday 13th: And today's lone cougher was sat directly next to me, between me and the guy who arrived in a mask and presumably regretted taking it off so he could sip fluids during the film.
Film, good: same full house and the biggest laugh from the entire audience in unison was for the line: "I got hit on by Victor Hugo!" :D
Train, funny: children cheering for their destination station at every announcement. By the third time most of the other passengers were joining in and one of the women alighting at the same place stood up to perform a celebration dance. :D
Train, naughty: 30s guy on the phone to his parents claiming he was on a train to Liverpool was actually with his friend on a train to Caergybi / Holyhead (presumably for the ferry to Dublin).
Train, weird: two guys who had watched the Winter Olympics were having a competition to see who could sing the most national anthems, and I've never heard a Welshman and a Scouser get so far through O Canada before. :D
Film, bad: packed screening and, as usual, the only persistent cougher in the whole room was seated directly behind me. Did she cover her face effectively while coughing? She did not!
ETA, Friday 13th: And today's lone cougher was sat directly next to me, between me and the guy who arrived in a mask and presumably regretted taking it off so he could sip fluids during the film.
Film, good: same full house and the biggest laugh from the entire audience in unison was for the line: "I got hit on by Victor Hugo!" :D
- Birbs, 19 Feb 2026: as I scattered bird food an acrobatic female Dunnock flew cms in front of my legs to perch just inside the hedge but her male follower had to brake suddenly and veer off into the snow.
- Reading, February 2026 part 2 of 2: finished book 26, still no dnfs this year.
19. The Fossil Woman, by Tom Sharpe, 2020, 5/5
The best biography of professional palaeontologist Mary Anning imo.
20. The Stone Book Quartet, by Alan Garner, 1978, 5/5
A children's, historical-ish, composite novel (or collection of short stories). As good as the first time I read it (and garnering much the same reactions from me).
23. Physics for Cats, by Tom Gauld, 2025, 5/5
Another excellent collection of science-themed cartoons (or short comics): "And then, as suddenly as he'd appeared, the masked botanist was gone, leaving the townspeople with only an enriched knowledge of local flora and fungi to remember him by."
24. The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, by India Holton, 2021, 5/5
A comedy, fantasy, romance novel, which does what it does as well as it can.
25. A Year with Gilbert White, the first great nature writer, by Jenny Uglow, 2025, 5/5
( Shorter: it's Jenny Uglow so it's a good biography. )
pg67: Each hanging catkin is a long cluster of around 240 minuscule flowers, formed the previous summer; the slightest breath of air makes them shiver, wafting dusty yellow pollen to another tree, sometimes quite far away. The female flowers appear as a green bud, but though each one contains up to fourteen flowers, only the styles poke out - delicate, brilliant red tubes no longer than a millimetre or two - with a sticky stigma to catch the wind-blown pollen. From these, the clusters of hazel nuts grow. A strange, elaborate magic.
pg334 found poem (so many, lol):
My well rises.
My hedges are beautifully tinged.
Wood-larks sing sweetly
thro' this soft weather.
No swallows.
26. Drawn to Nature, Gilbert White and the artists, by Simon Martin, 2021, 5/5
An art exhibition catalogue but published as a normal format hardback book.
( Contents under cut. )
- Reading, February 2026 part 2 of 2: finished book 26, still no dnfs this year.
19. The Fossil Woman, by Tom Sharpe, 2020, 5/5
The best biography of professional palaeontologist Mary Anning imo.
20. The Stone Book Quartet, by Alan Garner, 1978, 5/5
A children's, historical-ish, composite novel (or collection of short stories). As good as the first time I read it (and garnering much the same reactions from me).
23. Physics for Cats, by Tom Gauld, 2025, 5/5
Another excellent collection of science-themed cartoons (or short comics): "And then, as suddenly as he'd appeared, the masked botanist was gone, leaving the townspeople with only an enriched knowledge of local flora and fungi to remember him by."
24. The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, by India Holton, 2021, 5/5
A comedy, fantasy, romance novel, which does what it does as well as it can.
25. A Year with Gilbert White, the first great nature writer, by Jenny Uglow, 2025, 5/5
( Shorter: it's Jenny Uglow so it's a good biography. )
pg67: Each hanging catkin is a long cluster of around 240 minuscule flowers, formed the previous summer; the slightest breath of air makes them shiver, wafting dusty yellow pollen to another tree, sometimes quite far away. The female flowers appear as a green bud, but though each one contains up to fourteen flowers, only the styles poke out - delicate, brilliant red tubes no longer than a millimetre or two - with a sticky stigma to catch the wind-blown pollen. From these, the clusters of hazel nuts grow. A strange, elaborate magic.
pg334 found poem (so many, lol):
My well rises.
My hedges are beautifully tinged.
Wood-larks sing sweetly
thro' this soft weather.
No swallows.
26. Drawn to Nature, Gilbert White and the artists, by Simon Martin, 2021, 5/5
An art exhibition catalogue but published as a normal format hardback book.
( Contents under cut. )
