july 2015 books

More book stuff:

Arabian Sands (Wilfred Thesiger): I first read this over 20 years ago and it remains one of my favourite books of “all time” (I simply love reading about deserts – that is, before many of them were taken over by the petroleum industry!). The book was first published in 1959 and describes Thesiger’s journeys made in and around the Empty Quarter of Arabia from 1945 to 1950. It’s a brilliant, vivid account of his remarkable life among the Arabs – travelling huge distances across vast and waterless desert land, riding camels or accompanying them on foot… without reliance on cars/airplanes and with no wireless contact with the outside world. As Thesiger himself acknowledged, the book is a “memorial to a vanished past… and a tribute to a once magnificent people”. A stunning book.
Unseen Things Above (Catherine Fox): I find it a little baffling to acknowledge that I’ve become a fan of fictional tales about the Anglican Church (entirely thanks to Moira)! Actually, more accurately, I’ve become a huge fan of author Catherine Fox. This is the second book of hers that I’ve read and, like the previous one, I really enjoyed it. Fox is a very gifted, clever writer with a wonderful turn of phrase (utterly hilarious at times) and an ability to convey poignant insights about the Church and some of its people. I still struggle with trying to come to terms with the Anglican Church and all its idiosyncrasies… but Fox has become a great help in my quest.       
Swan (Mary Oliver): This book of Oliver’s poetry was published in 2010 and I was drawn to her writing by our great friend Gail Adams who frequently makes reference to Oliver in the course of her own work. Although I’m very new to Oliver’s work, I’ve been hugely impressed by her ability to say profound things simply. I also love her poignant observations of the natural world and her empathy for solitude - she makes me think and reflect. I’ll certainly be seeking out more of her poetry over the coming months/years.
Mrs Dalloway (Virginia Woolf): Published in 1925, this novel interweaves two seemingly unconnected storylines that take place during a single day in June 1923. One involves Clarissa Dalloway, the fifty-something wife of an MP, who is reflecting on her past (as she prepares to host an evening party) - including her decision to marry her husband rather than a more fiery suitor – who has returned to London after 5 years in India. The other relates to Septimus Smith, a shell-shocked war veteran, struggling with the after-effects of the war, hearing voices and feeling that life has little meaning. The introduction to my edition of the book indicates Woolf’s intention to use the novel “to criticise the social system and to show it at work, at its most intense”. In a somewhat limited way, I think she succeeds - it’s a beautifully-observed account – although within a very limited sphere (working class lives hardly feature at all). I enjoyed the book – except that it was written in one single block and contained no chapters (which I found a little irritating at times). This probably says far more about my own reading preferences!
The Irresistible Inheritance Of Wilberforce (Paul Torday): I read Torday’s first novel “Salmon Fishing In The Yemen” in 2007 and had thoroughly enjoyed it. This is very different (the first one was a comedy, but this is more of a tragedy). The book’s central character, Wilberforce, is a wine nerd. In his 30s, he sells up his successful computer software company in order to concentrate on his main passion in life (wine). He “inherits” a huge cellar of wine – consisting of 100,000 bottles(!) - from a friend (actually, he buys it from his dying friend). The story is told “back-to-front” – starting in 2006 and ending in 2002 – and begins with Wilberforce as a befuddled drunk who’s lost grip with reality. At the start of the book, he’s consuming five or six bottles of classic wine every day (my two daily glasses seem quite modest in comparison!) and, by the end, Wilberforce is a hopeful young man, embarking on a new and thrilling phase of his life. It’s a somewhat gloomy book about a lonely alcoholic man’s search for identity… but very readable.

around the world in 80 days

Moira+I went along to the Tobacco factory Theatre last night to see Alex Byrne’s production of Around The World In 80 Days. To be honest, whilst I’m always up for going to the theatre, this wasn’t a production that particularly appealed.

But I was wrong.
It proved to be a really enjoyable evening. The six multi-talented actors-cum-musicians were all excellent and the cleverly devised set of limited parts was ingeniously adapted to suit the fast-moving storyline.
Silly, funny and thoroughly entertaining (for all age groups), last night’s show was rightly acclaimed by its very enthusiastic, very nearly full-house audience.  

mr holmes

I went along to the Watershed this afternoon to see Bill Condon’s new film “Mr Holmes” - with Ian McKellen playing the lead role. To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting much – perhaps a “warm” film (I think I’d seen it described as such in a couple of newspaper reviews?) and with McKellen providing a decent performance as an ageing Sherlock Holmes.

Actually, I was very pleasantly surprised.
Yes, it WAS a “warm” film and, yes, McKellen was impressive (I thought he was wonderful!)… but it was much more than that. It’s based on Mitch Cullin’s novel “A Slight Trick of the Mind” and flits between 1947 (with Holmes aged 93) and a case from many years before (which still torments Holmes and was instrumental in him giving up detective work and retiring to Dorset).
This is yet another film (and I’ve seen quite a few in recently and read a fair number of books too) about growing old and confronting one’s own mortality. With Holmes struggling with powers of recollection, this a gentle film about ageing and vulnerability… but also, crucially, empathy.
A rather lovely film and a simply brilliant performance by Ian McKellen.

 

june 2015 books

More book stuff:

The Borgias (Mary Hollingsworth): The front cover of Hollingsworth’s book describes the Borgias as “history’s most notorious dynasty” and it would be difficult to dispute this claim. The book outlines the family’s “progress” from the early years of the 13^th century to the mid-14th. Even before the election of the first Borgia pope in 1455 (77 year-old Alonso Borgia, choosing the papal name of Calixtus III), advancement and power was only secured through blatant corruption… and a second Borgia pope (Rodrigo, taking the name Alexander VI) followed in 1493. Once in power, other Borgia family members were promoted to ridiculous positions of power and influence… and massive wealth. Certainly, at that time, the idea of celebate popes was something of a joke – Alexander, for example, had a long affair with Vannozza dei Cattanei while still a priest, but before he became pope; and by her had his illegitimate children Cesare Borgia, Giovanni Borgia, Gioffre Borgia, and Lucrezia. A later mistress, Giulia Farnese, was the sister of Alessandro Farnese, and she gave birth to a daughter while Alexander was in his 60s and reigning as pope. Alexander fathered at least seven, and possibly as many as ten illegitimate children, and did much to promote his family's interests (like a 9 year-old being appointed an Archbishop!) - using his offspring to build alliances with a number of important dynasties. He appointed Giovanni Borgia as Captain General of the Church, and made Cesare a Cardinal of the Church - also creating independent duchies for each of them out of papal lands. Two descendants of pope Alexander VI also became queens of England, Scotland and Ireland (Catherine of Braganza married Charles II and Mary of Moderna married James II)! The Borgias even make FIFA look pretty tame by comparison!
Vintage Stuff (Tom Sharpe): Re-read another Tom Sharpe book (well, they make easy summer reading and are entertaining!). I apparently read this one shortly after it was published in 1982… but I couldn’t remember ANYTHING about it! It’s about a very minor public school with assault courses for over-active underachievers, cold showers and beatings – you get the general idea. Predictably farcical.
Vietnam! Vietnam! In Photographs and Text (Felix Greene): I was very much opposed to the Vietnam War in the 1960s. My copy of this book (published in 1966 – one year after large scale US troops were deployed) is an ex-library copy that I bought for 20p at a jumble sale some time ago… and which I’d only really “flicked through” until now. Greene was born+educated in the UK (he used to work for the BBC), but lived most of his life in the USA. The book combines more than 100 awful, stunning pictures by world-renown photographers together with Greene’s cogent comments. I think it’s one of the most shocking, saddening books I’ve ever read – and a powerful indictment of American aggressive intervention in Vietnam. It’s frightening to be reminded of how the US used its giant resources to argue the case for the “defence of freedom”. This is not the place for a history lesson(!), but I AM going to include just a few quotes from the book: “The facts are plain. This war was begun by armed American aggression aimed at perpetuating the unnatural and unintended division of Vietnam into North and South, in full violation of the Geneva Accords of 1954”… “It would probably come as a painful surprise to many Americans to realise how universally the war in Vietnam is viewed not as a ‘complex issue’ but as a simple and blatant act of aggression by the United States”… “morally, politically and militarily unjustifiable”… “We have used our power with great restraint” (President Johnson, May 1966)… “US Air Force flew no fewer than 26,858 sorties against Vietnam in a single week” (Newsweek, October 1965)… Believe me, I could go on and on! It’s a truly remarkable book and, even now, nearly 50 years on, one that you should read if you have an opportunity.
A Month In The Country (JL Carr): This is a rather lovely short novel (first published in 1980 and, apparently, also made into a film in 1987) about two men who meet in the quiet English countryside of a hot summer in 1920. They’re both survivors of the Great War. One (Tom Birkin) is temporarily living in a church uncovering and restoring a historical wall-painting and the other is camping in the next field in search of a lost grave. Birkin is the narrator – looking back in old age of his memories of his idyllic summer spent in Yorkshire (at the very end of the book, he dates his account as 1978), when he felt he’d glimpsed happiness and contentment. However, this is countered by his lack of money, his horrific wartime experiences, the painful break-up of his marriage and things that might have been.
It’s a gentle, tender and elegant book which I read during the course of a beautiful summer’s day.
Britain In The Sixties: The Other England (Geoffrey Moorhouse): The “Other England” is what Moorhouse calls everywhere else other than the “Golden Circle” around London. I was somewhat taken aback by the condition of my rather battered copy of this book… until I realised (rather like “Vietnam! Vietnam! above) that this might be due to the fact that it’s over 50 years’ old (first published in 1964)! How can that be?! Yes, this is definitely a book for ME – because it outlines the time of my youth (I started at university in 1967). Fascinating to be reminded that, at that time, Britain had not yet joined the Common Market (the EU if you’re too young!) and was about to swallow the implications for the nation’s railway network as a result of the Beeching cuts. It’s sobering to realise how communications have changed so dramatically over the past 50 years – at one point, Moorhouse talks glowingly about the huge telecommunication advances everyone had experienced thanks to the introduction of telex and STD! It was written less 20 years since the end of WW2 and the need for slum-clearance throughout the country is referred to constantly (and also the levels of appalling pollution). Moorhouse was also clearly very enthusiastic about what was going on in Birmingham (where I was born and stayed until 1967) in the 1960s – describing it as the “most go-ahead city in Europe”. Yes, much was happening but, in my view, the highway engineers were given far too much of a free hand and, sadly, the quality of much of the architecture (and the materials used) was desperately disappointing. Reading the book today also makes you realise just how many of the country’s key industries of that time have disappeared or changed beyond recognition – mining, textiles, heavy machinery, manufacturing, shipbuilding and steelworks, to name just a few. I was also struck by the following incidental comments: a) talking about age 50-something redundant millworkers in Lancashire having “a life expectation of anything up to 20 years” ahead of them (these days, we might anticipate a few more years!) and b) one person in eight was a car owner in 1964 (it’s now probably more like 1 in 2?).
An absolutely fascinating book - well, to read now at least!

another bristol pilgrimage…

It might have something to do with the fact that our great friends, Gail+Ian Adams, are on Iona this week (and, in all probability, have participated in the weekly pilgrimage walk around the island) that I decided to repeat my own Bristol version (ie. using Jane Bentley+Neil Paynter’s excellent book “Around a Thin Place – an Iona pilgrimage guide” as a resource for my “journey”) – which I’d previously undertaken in September 2012 and in March 2014. This time, I broke my cycling route (yes, bike this year!) into nine sections or stops… pausing for reflections taken from the book, together with my own contemplations.

The weather was absolutely beautiful yesterday (I’d cunningly planned the day around our local forecast!) and it again proved to be a fruitful (and sometimes challenging) time.
As before, I related my stopping points with pilgrimage stops on Iona (and, apart from my starting point, I didn’t choose them in advance):
St Martin’s Cross/setting out on the road was the Ferry Steps, near Temple Meads station; The Nunnery was Castle Park/St Peter’s Church (destroyed in the Blitz); Crossroads was a bench next to St Augustine’s Parade/Baldwin Street/Colston Avenue/Broad Quay; High Point was the top floor of the Galleries’ car park; Marble Quarry was the M-Shed; Columba’s Bay was the Avon Lock Gates adjacent Bennett Way; the Machair was the excellent Brigstow Lounge, Millennium Parade; the Hermit’s Cell was God’s Garden, adjacent Bathurst Basin; and St Oran’s Chapel was a bench on Queen Square (my original choice had been the Quaker Burial Ground/’Redcliff Pit’ on Redcliffe Way – but I’d been somewhat put off by the presence of six rather ‘dodgy-looking’ gentlemen and their bull-terriers! What a cop-out! Sorry).
It proved to be another challenging and thought-provoking time… and I know it’s something I’ll continue to repeat (choosing completely different parts of Bristol… or maybe even elsewhere?) over the coming years.
Photos (from left to right, top to bottom): Ferry Steps; Castle Park; Baldwin Street; Galleries’ Car Park; M-Shed; Avon Lock Gates; Brigstow Lounge; God’s Garden; and Queen Square.

may-june 2015 books

More book stuff:

The Salmon Who Dared To Leap Higher (Ahn Do-hyun): I suppose this is a modern fable - a story of a distinctive silver salmon living its predictable life, swimming upstream to the place of its birth to spawn and then to die… but also about finding freedom and a harmony with nature in pursuit of a dream. In many ways, it echoes one of my favourite books - Richard Bach’s “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” - but I’m afraid, for me, it didn’t come remotely close to matching it. Frankly, a bit of a disappointment.
Not My Father’s Son (Alan Cumming): I do like autobiographies/biographies! However, I’m definitely NOT someone who normally reads a book about a “celebrity”! Actually, I picked up this book in Foyles and remembered seeing a “Who Do You Think You Are?” programme about Cumming’s family background. Rather typically (for me!), I don’t know a great deal about Cumming as an actor but, as I flicked through a copy of the book in the shop, I became intrigued. The television programme dealt mainly with his maternal grandfather but, while the book does address this, it also deals with Cumming’s own childhood at the hands of a violent, cruel father. A brave, honest, well-written book.
The Children Act (Ian McEwan): I know McEwan has his critics, but I like his books. This one is about a highly-respected High Court judge who is called on to try an urgent case - for religious reasons, a 17 year-old boy is refusing medical treatment that could save his life. It’s a beautifully-constructed, well-paced, intricate and sensitive story which encompasses relationships, legal argument and music (amongst other things!). Although there were one or two aspects that I found a little far-fetched(?), I thought it was a rather beautiful book – with an ending that didn’t let it down. Highly recommended.
The Enneagram (Richard Rohr+Andreas Ebert): This book provides a model of human personality modelling based on nine interconnected personality types (from a Christian perspective – and showing how it was developed in Egypt by the Desert fathers and subsequently rediscovered by a Franciscan missionary at the turn of the 14^th century). I’ve never really been fascinated by personality type identification and so, perhaps not surprisingly, although I found the book interesting and enlightening, I didn’t find it utterly compelling. Perhaps one reason for this is due to the fact that I get rather bogged down (ie. confused!) by the detail. Although Moira+I both agreed on her particular personality type identification, I finished the book thinking (and this will make no sense whatsoever if you’re not familiar with Enneagram!): “I’m probably a FOUR… but perhaps there are also bits of me that are a ONE or maybe even a NINE (actually, on reflection, definitely not a 9!)”. When I asked Moira what she thought (ie. my personality type), she reckoned I might be a ONE… I’ve since re-read the section and, blow me down, I think she just might be right! This is just the first sentence of the first paragraph (entitled “The Need to Be Perfect”!): “ONEs are idealists, motivated and driven on by longing for a true, just, and moral world. They are honest and fair and can spur others to work and mature and grow…”! Rest assured, there are also LOTS of irritating traits (shock horror!) – such as: “struggle against imperfection”… “stick to a precise schedule”… “all ONEs live close to the edge of self-righteousness”!! Who moi?
The Waves (Virginia Woolf): I’d not previously read any books by Woolf. This is a rather lovely, stream of consciousness, poetic novel (first published in 1931). It begins with six children playing in a garden by the sea and follows their lives as they grow up and experience friendship, love and grief. It’s about idealism, ambition, relationships, competition and comparisons… it’s also about wonder, beauty and, sometimes, the apparent pointlessness of life as one grows old. I particularly liked how Woolf inserted descriptions of the sun’s pathway - from dawn to dusk – to represent and introduce the particular periods of the characters’ lives.  At times, I found it difficult to fully understand the train of thought, but very beautiful nonetheless. I probably now need to read “To The Lighthouse”!

 

listen up philip

Went along to the Watershed yesterday afternoon to see Alex Ross Perry’s “Listen Up Philip” - featuring the excellent Jason Schwartzman (Philip) in the role of an obnoxious, egotistical, completely selfish, insecure, insufferable novelist (you get the general idea). It’s one of those films that is at times very funny, but which also makes you cringe with discomfort on occasions!

Philip is a profoundly awful person… but he does come out with some wonderful lines. For example, his writing hero Ike Zimmerman (played by Jonathan Pryce) – an older version of Philip, but with a string of successful novels behind him – invites him to escape New York for his country retreat… Philip explains the situation to his girlfriend (who obviously has to stay behind in New York) as follows: “I hope this will be good for us… but especially for me”! Also a very good performance by Elizabeth Moss (his girlfriend).
Certainly nowhere near the best film I’ve seen this year, but an entertaining one nevertheless.

still searching… or not?

Last weekend, Moira and I went along to a retreat at the Carmelite Priory in Oxford. It was hosted by our brilliant friends Ian and Gail Adams and attended by some lovely people (including two of our lovely buddies from our days in Thame). The sun shone. The venue and location were ideal. The format and content of the weekend were perfect – stimulating and thought-provoking, but also providing time for reflection.

But (and you just KNEW there was a “but”, didn’t you!), for me, it quietly underlined that I’m still very much in a spiritual wilderness… and have been for the last two years or so (or should that be ten?).
I’ m very happy and content. I’m thoroughly enjoying my retirement. I lead a very active life and am involved in LOTS of different activities.
I feel VERY fortunate.
But I’m also aware that, these days, my spiritual life is virtually non-existent. I hardly ever “pray” (in a conventional sense) and I don’t read the bible. Although I read a fair number of “religious” books/articles and follow various links via the social media, realistically, I’m aware that I live my life with very little reference to the Christian faith I’ve had for the past 40 years or so.
I’m lazy… I can’t be bothered to pray.
In fact, there are times when I simply don’t see the need for having a faith at all – I’m perfectly ok as I am…
And yet, I also have a strange sense that I’m being told: “yes, it’s fine if you feel like this at present… don’t worry, I’ll stand by you anyway… and, when you’re ready to talk again, I’ll still be here”…
Photo: woodland at Carmelite Priory, Oxford.

le tour de normandie

I’ve just returned from a pretty amazing five day golf tour of Normandy. It was brilliantly organised by my great mate StevieE and eight of us (Ken, Christian, Jonathan, Howard, Andy, Mark, Steve and I) paraded our talents over the following golf courses (and clubhouses!): Wimereux, Hardelot: Les Pins, Le Touquet: La Mer, Belle Dune and Aa St Omer. All five courses were stunning – both in terms of beauty and difficulty!

The weather forecast leading up to the tour looked pretty bad but, in the event, we only had one day when it rained virtually non-stop… and, indeed, the sun shone brightly for a couple of days.
From a golfing perspective, I was somewhat apprehensive (slight understatement!) at the prospect of playing such challenging courses having only played three rounds of golf in the past two years… and, at times, it really DID feel like torture – standing over the ball and not having clue as to its final destination! But, in the event, I was able to muddle along reasonably well (and even won at Belle Dune!).
Everyone got on really well (despite Andy and Mark suffering from “tour tummy” – or something like that!) and we had a marvellous time. I have to say that, thanks to the Channel Tunnel, access to Normandy was incredibly easy and quick (especially if Steve is driving!).
Another bonus was being in France again… and enjoying the French countryside, food and, in particular, the towns of Le Touquet and Montreuil. Stunning scenery and elegant architecture (and people!).
A wonderful time spent with lovely people (including two of my best mates, Ken and Steve).
I’m a very lucky man.
Photo: Jon, me, Howard, Mark, Andy, Christian, Steve and Ken in front of the New Zealand rugby team at the Hardelot: Les Pins club (“The Haka and the Hackers”?).
PS: Although he will hate me saying this, my place on Le Tour was entirely thanks to StevieE – who gave me my “ticket” as a Christmas present (really!)! The word “generous” doesn’t come close to describing his generosity. As I say, I’m a VERY lucky man to have such a wonderful friend.

april-may 2015 books

More book stuff:

The Same Door (John Updike): This book of Updike short stories, first published in 1959, beautifully captures a sense of that era. They’re a strange combination of tales and the only common denominator seems to be the ordinariness of their situations (and, for perhaps for half of them, smoking features as a dominate factor!). Enjoyable and entertaining – although of rather mixed quality in my humble view.
Not Forgetting The Whale (John Ironmonger): This is a haunting, but rather beautiful and uplifting, novel. It speculates some fifty years hence and contrasts the frenetic, greedy world of City traders with the tranquility of a Cornish fishing village as the global economy collapses, inter-connected supply chains fail and disease kills millions across the world. The story is intriguing – even if some of the characters seem to be cartoonishly predictable! Essentially, it speculates on how we might behave when the end is nigh and about the innate goodness of people and our connections with the wider world.
Ladies’ Mile (Victoria Hughes): I would never have read this brief, modest book if it wasn’t for two things: a) Jodie Marks’ wonderful “Edwardian Cloakroom” exhibition in March (in which she made reference to this book) and b) Moira getting the book out of the library following a conversation with Jodie (and me then borrowing it!). Published in 1977 (edited by David Foot), Victoria Hughes, in her own words, recounts her experiences as a cloakroom attendant from 1929 until the early 1960s. Much of this time, she looked after the ladies’ loos on Bristol’s spacious Durdham Downs and discovered the ways of the twilight world in Ladies’ Mile (through her job, she became the confidante of many women, including scores of small-time “tarts”). It’s a rather lovely book – and provides a fascinating social history on a small part of Bristol life, especially during the Depression of the 1930s. 
The Wilt Alternative (Tom Sharpe): I see from my scribbled note on the flysheet that I first read this 34 years ago (blimey!). I think I’ve actually read all of Sharpe’s books. I’m afraid I resorted to it as an antidote to my general election gloom! It’s the continuing saga of Henry Wilt, a lecturer at a Technical College, “innate coward and hen-pecked husband”. It’s crude, farcical and outrageous, but VERY funny. I may have to “escape” into more Sharpe books over the coming months!
Etta+Otto+Russell+James (Emma Hooper): Etta’s greatest unfilled wish is to see the sea. So, at the age of eighty-two, she sets out very early one morning from her Saskatchewan home and begins walking the 2,000 miles to the water. It’s a book about aging (I seem to have read a number of these over the past year or so!), about memory, about what might have been… and about what has been. Otto is her husband, Russell is a close family friend... and James – well, I’ll leave you to discover who he is. At first, it felt a little like reading “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” (which I loved) and, although I was relishing the prospect of reading the book, it actually took me a little time to get into it. However, once I’d got accustomed to its lyrical prose and gentle rhythm, I loved it. Very inventive and quite moving.   

clouds of sils maria

I went to the Watershed cinema for the first time in what seems like ages yesterday to see Olivier Assayas’s film “Clouds of Sils Maria” featuring Juliette Binoche (Maria Enders) and Kristen Stewart (Valentine). For me, Binoche is the film equivalent of music’s Joni Mitchell and, although I might be slightly biased(!), I thought her performance was absolutely mesmerising. Just wonderful. The film has vague autobiographical links with Binoche’s own career – Assaysa had kick-started her stardom in the mid-80s as co-writer of “Rendez-vous”. She plays a famous French actress whose big break was playing the young lead role in a play 20 years ago. Now she’s given the opportunity to star in the revival of the play, only this time as an older woman opposite the character for which she became known.

Stewart plays the part of Maria’s intelligent, on-the-ball, techno-savvy, personal assistant and is quite, quite brilliant. They hide themselves away in the recently deceased playwright’s Wlhelm Melchoir’s Alpine home to undertake line readings of the play, “Maloja Snake” (where he wrote the play – a reference to the cloud formations that occasionally snake through the valley). As they do so, their relationship begins to mirror and complicate that of the women in the play…
I think you need to see it!

 

 

 

election reflections...

There is a really lovely photograph of Ed+Justine Miliband and their two sons in today’s Observer (see above!). They look very happy… and perhaps, after the hugely-disappointing election result, just relieved that they’re going to get their lives back again. Despite the election outcome, I’m genuinely very pleased for them and wish them well.

Although I’m a Green Party member these days, I wanted Labour to form the next government – in alliance with the minor parties.

The fact remains that the Tories won… with a clear majority. I freely admit that I’m still feeling somewhat numb… and sad… and very depressed at the “prospect” of what the new government has in store for us over the next five years.
Following Thursday’s outcome, I’ve been reading comments from various pundits and politicians (usually “former”) who claim that the only way Labour will regain power is to re-join the centre ground of politics. They may well be correct but, in many ways, I feel that Labour could actually be criticised for being only marginally to the left of the Conservatives(!) – often, it seemed, they were merely following on the tails of the Tory policy (or, on occasions, having the government taking on Labour’s own initiatives).

I think it’s been fascinating how successful the SNPs have been in communicating their “austerity policies” to the public – in Scotland and through the UK – and how, time and time again, Nicola Sturgeon was hailed as the “winner” of the television debates.

The key fact was that she delivered her message with passion, intelligence and conviction AND had the ability to respond effectively whenever she was challenged by her opponents.
I thought Ed Miliband did well in the final election run-in… but the trouble was, in my view, that it was too late to have any real effect.
I absolutely HATE the whole process of Prime Minister’s Questions and all that its yah-boo, them-against-us politics stand for. Sadly, this isn’t going to change in the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, time and time again, I think the Tories were able to “win” the majority of these encounters. The same could be said of the Osborne-Balls battles.
So, until the Labour Party is able to come up with a leader (plus other key front-bench figures) who has the charisma, wit and intelligence (along with the agile mind of a top lawyer!)… someone like Blair (I’m afraid to say!), I think they’re going to continue to struggle.

In 2010, I actually thought Ed Miliband would make the best leader… and I think I’ve been proved wrong! I had hoped that the 2014 Scottish Referendum was going inspire the population and political parties alike to make last week’s general election DIFFERENT. Well, it was (to some extent – with massive involvement from Greens and UKIP), but our ridiculous first-past-the-post system can’t cope with a “new” style of politics! In the event, 63% of the population did NOT vote for the Conservatives… and, sadly, although the turn-out was the highest for 18 years, ONE in THREE of the population failed to vote! Clearly, the current government won’t be interested in changing the present system!! I’ve just re-read one of my blog posts from last year and it’s sobering to note that three of the seven leading Labour politicians pictured lost their seats last week.

The really, REALLY sad thing, in my opinion, was that Labour were pretty appalling in opposition (and it pains me to say that). They missed countless “open goals”. They SHOULD have been keeping the Tories in check week in week out. They SHOULD have been constructively critical about SO many government policies. They SHOULD have been winning most of the key arguments… but they didn’t. As the Green Party’s economic spokesperson, Molly Scott Cato MEP, so clearly outlined in the “New Statesman”: Labour’s failure was its willingness to “accept the narrative of its opponents" (her article is well worth reading).

In the meantime, we face five years (at least) of Tory government and the difficulties that this will inevitably bring to many. I think my good friend Bruce Stanley got it right on facebook this morning when he observed: “not sure about PR, but what is the system (probably the Borgen system) that would miraculously see Caroline Lucas as PM?”

PS: I don’t know who will be the next Labour Party leader (I just hope the process is quick – unlike the painful, prolonged course of action last time!). I don’t think there are any stand-out candidates. People like Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Maria Eagle and David Lammy are all excellent politicians, but I don’t see any of them as “ideal” Leaders. In my view, the closest they may have is Chuka Umunna (Shadow Business Secretary before the election) – I recall mentioning him on facebook a couple of years ago after watching him in a television interview. He’s written an interesting article in today’s Observer about where he thinks Labour went wrong and what he thinks they need to do to regain power (ie. effectively throwing his hat into the ring as far as the leadership is concerned!)… you can almost hear the “why-didn’t-he-say-this-earlier?” shouts! It includes the following about aspirations (which I wouldn’t argue with): “Our vision as a party must start with the aspirations of voters: to get on and up in the world, to see their children and grandchildren do better than they did, to get that better job, to move from renting to owning, to take the family on holiday, to move from that flat to that house with a garden. That means offering competence, optimism not fatalism, an end to machine politics, an economic credo that is both pro-worker and pro-business and, most of all, a politics that starts with what unites us as a country rather than what divides us”. The trouble is, we’ve become very cynical when it comes to politicians (surely not!) and writing rousing sentiments such as these is the easy bit… inspiring us all to believe it’s achievable is the real challenge.

southbank bristol arts trail 2015

It’s the thirteenth Southbank Bristol Arts Trail on Saturday+Sunday 16+17 May.

We’ve participated every year since moving from Oxfordshire (this year will be our 12^th year). In fact, the very first morning of the very first Arts Trail in 2003 was the day we first viewed our house. There were an awful lot of smiley people roaming the local streets and popping into each others’ houses to view art! It felt like a very vibrant, arty area… and just the sort of place we were looking for. We made an offer for the house the same day!
We ended up converting the two basement bedrooms, so we could use them as studio space… and duly joined the arts trail the following May.
For us, it’s always been a bit of a family affair (two of our three daughters also live in Bristol) and this year Moira, Ruth, Hannah, Stuart (Ruth’s husband) and I will be exhibiting work alongside three of our lovely friends Jen, Sarah and Anna.
These days, we attract over 500 people down into our basement every Arts Trail weekend – so, if you’re in the Bristol area next weekend, please do come and see us!
PS: if you just can’t wait to see all the beautiful art (or if you just fancy a glass of something!), you could even drop round on Friday evening 15 May 7-9.30pm… it would be LOVELY to see you!!

the incredible paul bradley at arnos vale…

Moira+I went along to a concert at the elegant Anglican Chapel at the wonderful Arnos Vale cemetery last night. Yes, this might sound a little bizarre, but it really is an excellent concert venue (Ruth+I went to a Daisy Chapman concert there a couple of years ago)!

I’ve previously posted a couple of times (here and here) about Paul Bradley (he’s also a member of my one of my favourite “bands” Three Cane Whale) and last night marked the official launch of his “Banish Cherish” CD – which I’ve possessed since the end of last year (and which continues to be my current favourite album!).
Last night was the first time I’d actually seen him perform in a solo capacity. I just KNEW it was going to be a wonderful experience and so it proved. Yes, he’s a highly-gifted guitarist (he also plays perhaps another dozen instruments!), but he’s also an astonishing vocalist - who truly uses his voice as another instrument. Oh, and he’s also a composer of music! He’s an artist in the true sense of the word. At one stage last night, he played what was effectively an improvised piece, with loop technology, on his own for perhaps 35 minutes, non-stop (literally)… it was completely mesmerising. Utterly captivating.
He’s an amazing, unique musician. A genius.
I recently tried to describe his music to a friend… and blurted out something along the lines of “well, I think he’s incomparable… perhaps John Martyn might come closest to a comparison with a bit of Mark Hollis or Frank Zappa thrown in, sometimes maybe, or even Tom Waite on occasions… actually, his voice also seems to go from maybe choral through to folk, jazz and blues… oh, and he whistles beautifully too”. Needless to say, my friend ended up none the wiser (and I realised I hadn’t come even close to describing him)!
Believe me, if you get a chance to see this man perform live, grab it!
But, in the meantime, just buy his CD for £7.99… you will NOT be disappointed!
Photo: a somewhat blurred image from last night’s concert.
PS: “advance sale” tickets for the concert were just £5 each(!) – how RIDICULOUSLY cheap for what proved to be a brilliant evening.
PPS: he’s also a bloomin’ nice bloke!
PPPS: sorry that the album purchase link is via Amazon!

march-april 2015 books

More book stuff:

South (Sir Ernest Shackleton, edited by Peter King): This book gives Shackleton’s account of his Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-17. It’s grim, gruelling stuff in terrifying conditions (and all undertaken with no communication with the outside world!). Edmund Hillary is quoted as saying: “For scientific discovery give me Scott; for speed and efficiency of travel give me Amundsen; but when disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton”. After reading this book (and I’d previously read “Endurance”), it would be difficult to argue against Hillary. This edition (bought for £3 instead of the original £20!) – which includes Frank Hurley’s stunning photographs – also contains Peter King’s fascinating additional notes based on recent research and provides fresh insights into Shackleton’s life and methods (eg. major defects in his organisation, inadequate finance, lack of training provided for his crew, failure to provide proper supplies of food … and other various ancillary issues: his womanising, his temper, his disregard for his parents in their declining years, his attitude towards his wife and children – including living off his wife’s money etc). Nevertheless, despite all this, Shackleton (who was almost worshipped by the team in his charge) was clearly a remarkable individual and a highly-gifted “leader of men”. A truly epic, harrowing story.
The Establishment: And How They Get Away With It (Owen Jones): A very special book. I’ve been a great admirer of Jones’s articles in The Guardian over the past couple of years and also heard him talk at Bristol’s Festival of Ideas last October. A tough book about how we’ve all been stitched up by The Establishment (well, that’s his view and, frankly, I wouldn’t argue with him at all). It left me feeling angry (that we’re being hood-winked), enlightened and frustrated. Hugely impressive (I also blogged about it here).
The Long March (William Styron): A novella that I first read 20 years ago. Eight Marines are killed by misfired mortar shells whilst training in Carolina in preparation for the Korean War. The battalion Colonel calls for a 36-mile forced march to inculcate discipline. The march itself takes up less than half the book, but Styron’s prose is powerfully explicit… “a study in the pathological absurdity of military exercises”.
Utz (Bruce Chatwin): I love reading Chatwin. He writes beautifully… and with humour and great knowledge (especially if it involves art and/or travel). This is only a very short book (of some 150 pages?) and I first read it probably 15 years ago. The narrator goes to Prague in 1967 (a year before the Soviet tanks overran Czechoslovakia – I was in Yugoslavia at that time) to track down a man rumoured to have an incredible collection of Meissen china. The story is essentially an investigation into art, collecting and passion.
Eight Months on Ghazzah Street (Hilary Mantel): This is our book group’s next book. Published in 1988, this novel provides a pretty frightening account of life in Saudi Arabia as experienced by a British couple living in an expatriate compound (the husband working as an engineer on a massive construction project and accompanied by his wife). The position of women in this Muslim kingdom and their secluded lives; the wealth and power of the royal family; the attitudes of men; the fear; the rumours; the rules that need to be obeyed; the rats and the cockroaches… It’s all the more real because Mantel herself had lived in the kingdom for four years and she had experienced things that the vast majority of journalists and politicians would never face. It’s a compelling nightmare of a book and beautifully written and observed.

it really doesn’t have to be like this…

I didn’t watch last night’s TV Election Debate (I was at a meeting), but I think I’d caught up with most of it by breakfast time. It was, of course, all a little artificial but I thought that Nicola Sturgeon gave a pretty effective lesson in how to challenge the government’s record in office.  

I went to hear Owen Jones speak last October as part of Bristol’s brilliant “Festival of Ideas”. This is what I wrote on my blog at that time:

"Over the past year or so, I’ve become a great admirer of Owen Jones’s writing (he’s a regular columnist in The Guardian). Yes, he’s left-wing. Yes, he’s young (30!). But he’s also incredibly bright… and he talks an awful lot of sense (well, in my view at least). He’s recently written a book – “The Establishment: And How They Get Away with It” – and this formed the basis of the session. He talked for an hour (the first half an hour about the things included in the book and then another 30 minutes of questions-and-answers). He’s a remarkable and very gifted young man. He’s the sort of person who has the ability to express concerns on behalf of many of us who have become disillusioned with “establishment politics”. With certain exceptions, he doesn’t have a particularly high regard for our current batch of politicians (of whatever party)… in a recent article in the Guardian, he described them as “technocratic, rootless, soulless; a professionalised morass of time-servers who see ministerial posts as springboards to nice little earners on corporate boards; manoeuvring constantly not on the basis of political principle but for shameless self-advancement”!
There was nothing particularly startling (or new) in what he said last night (eg. lobbyists who fund the thinktanks that influence the government, or the owners who appoint the editors who set the political agenda, or the tax accountants who get seconded to the civil service that decides how much their clients will pay), it’s just that I found myself agreeing with point after point he was making (and so did the vast majority of the full-house attending last night). His talk was very much a “call to arms” – to scrutinise the powerful (the corporations, the politicians etc) in these austere times and to redress the balance away from the poor, who are all too often (according to politicians and much of the media) blamed for our current financial predicament. Amen to that!
We all need people who make us think, who give us hope, who challenge us… and who encourage us to make our voice heard.”
Well, I’ve now read his book and would highly recommend it – whatever your own political leanings. I can almost certainly guarantee this: it will make you angry... and frustrated.

Last September, I wrote a blogpost about my political frustrations. This is the opening paragraph: “Somehow, last weekend, after the Scottish Referendum which saw a 84.5% voter-turnout, I was heartened to read articles from a couple of journalists making observations such as: ‘This campaign wasn’t about politicians persuading people how to vote, but people persuading politicians…’ and ‘On both sides of the referendum, people were energised by an astonishing proposition: take everything you're used to in politics and imagine you could put it to one side and start again. At that, the people did the talking and politicians were forced to listen’”.

The following day, I joined the Green Party.
I don’t pretend that this will change the world or that lots of other people will be persuaded to do likewise. Indeed, with the continuation of a “first-past-the-post” electoral system, many might view my Green vote as a “wasted vote”.
I would disagree.

BUT I would like to think that, with a General Election only a matter of some 30 days hence, maybe, just maybe, there’s still time for people to be shaken into voting for POLICIES rather than knee-jerk party politics?

Afterall, the SNP lost the Scottish Referendum – although you’d never think so in the aftermath that has seen them surge in terms of support. Whatever your political allegiances, perhaps for the first time for many of us, I think people REALLY did see through the last-minute panic measures of the Big Two parties… and came to realise that, DESPITE all the efforts of the press and the major political forces, the views of ordinary PEOPLE could actually start to make a difference. For example, although I absolutely abhor UKIP’s policies, I entirely acknowledge their right to be heard. For many people, voting UKIP in the European parliamentary elections was a protest against the cosy politics of the London-centric, Westminster village… and it really scared the major parties. I think the Greens, too (especially here in the south-west), have been justifiably gaining a lot of support from people who see them as speaking up for them.

I don’t know about you, but when I watch or listen to “Prime Minister’s Question” each Wednesday, it just makes me weep. I find the insults and exchanges from both sides utterly embarrassing and depressing.

It shouldn’t be like this. We need it to change. We need to make politicians listen to the electorate.
To paraphrase Owen Jones, we need to prevent the Establishment from continuing to get away with it!
Perhaps, over the coming days leading up to the General Election, I might post a few quotes from Owen Jones’s book via facebook - NOT to annoy you (hopefully) or to persuade you, but simply to make you think twice before you vote.
Now, there’s a challenge!
Photo: from the Huffington Post

ian adams: unfurling poetry evening at foyles, bristol

I’d never been to a poetry “gig” before… but last night one of my very best buddies was performing some of his poems at Foyles Bookstore in Bristol. Obviously, I needed to be there! I’d read and re-read (and re-read) all the poems from his “Unfurling” book since it was published and loved them. But last night’s experience was really (and delightfully) surprising…
You know when you go to a music concert featuring one of your favourite performers? You know their music intimately. You know the words of the songs. You know all the tunes… and then the musician(s) starts off the concert with a familiar song that’s become a wonderful, well-loved friend?
Well, last night was exactly like that… except, of course, I’d only listened to the poems in my head or when I had read them out loud. Last night, for the first time, I heard Ian performing his poems… and it was fundamentally different and a very lovely experience.
I’ve often said that nothing quite beats live performance and last night was no exception.
And afterwards, in a completely impromptu way, many of us ended up at Carluccio’s, Quakers Friars, (ostensibly just for drinks) who managed to accommodated us all with much grace and humour… so we had an opportunity to meet up with old and new friends and reflect on a great evening.
Life is good.
Photo: Ian in action at Foyles last night...

february-march 2015 books

More book stuff:

Trouble for Lucia (EF Benson): My sixth, and last, Benson “Mapp+Lucia” book (written in the 1920s and set in Rye). Dominated by the exploits of the ludicrously, self-indulgent snob Emmeline “Lucia” Lucas. As before, lots of wonderful, elegant description of the “arduous” lives of the upper-middle-classes(!). To be honest, although I’ve really enjoyed reading these comic novels, I have to admit that there’s just part of me that’s grateful that I’ve come to the end of the series... time to move on!
From The Holy Mountain (William Dalrymple): Certainly the best book I’ve read this year… and probably one of the best books I’ve ever read. This is a brilliant, insightful, thought-provoking, saddening and illuminating book that follows the Silk Route of ancient Byzantium through the present-day Middle East tracing the 6^th century journey of monk, oral historian and traveler, John Moschos. To describe it as a travel book would hardly do it justice; Dalrymple’s closest equivalent might be Bruce Chatwin – he has the same gift for words but additionally, for me, much humour and poignancy mixed in. First published in 1997, the book provides a depressing - but incredibly powerful and articulate - background to the world of today, 18 years on, dominated as it is by religious fundamentalism. At some stage, I might write a blog post focusing on faith and conflict over the centuries… but don’t hold your breath!
Her Privates We (Frederic Manning): Hemingway described this novel as the “finest and noblest book of men in war” he’d ever read. It’s set in the late summer of 1916 in the Somme valley, northern France. Manning himself had served in the Shropshire Light Infantry and took part in the heavy fighting on the Somme at that time. The book was particularly fascinating and poignant for me because my grandfather Frank Walker was also fighting on the Somme at the same time (he was with the Royal Horse Artillery). It’s gruelling, raw and brutally honest. It’s the closest I’ve got to even beginning to understand what it was like to have been there. Frankly, at times, I struggled to read it… but I’m glad I persevered. A superb book.
The Ship (Antonia Honeywell): This is novel starts in London, sometime in the not-too-distant future. Floods and fires have wreaked havoc; food is all tinned or dried – nothing grows, seas no longer support life. Parks have become shanty towns; gangs rule what used to be underground stations; lose your identity card and you lose your life. Mass culling is an official method of limiting the population to suit available food supplies. Climate change, globalisation, financial collapse, totalitarianism. You get the picture… it’s pretty grim (initially, it reminded me of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”)! But one man has a master plan to take 500 carefully-chosen people away from this mess on a large ship – stocked with vast quantities of food, clothing, medical supplies and sterilised water. They even have a cinema, a sports hall, book groups and much more. Life on board is wonderful. But the 16 year-old daughter of the master planner/messiah figure is a rebel. She wants to go back and do something to help all those left behind. It’s a fascinating, thought-provoking and disturbing book. At times, I found the synopsis flawed – or at the very least questionable or simplistic (it would make an excellent book group book!). I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since finishing it… haunting! I highly recommend the book to you.
Listening For The Heartbeat of God (Philip Newell): I first read this book 15 years ago and have decided to use it as my spiritual-book-for-Lent.  Phillip Newell talks about the experience we have all had at different points in our lives of “missing the moment”. All too often, we are guilty of “looking, but not seeing” or “listening, but not hearing”. Listening for God within the whole of life. It was good to re-read it. It reminded me of some fundamental truths (for me, anyway).

golfing again… at last!

I played golf for only the second time in 27 months on Sunday. Ken, Steve+I played at my old Studley Wood Golf Club… on a most wonderful, sunny, cloudless March afternoon. My golf was pretty awful (theirs was rather good!), but it was just great to be on a golf course again… and with two of my very best friends.

love’s labour’s lost… and won

Moira and I immersed ourselves in a little Shakespeare yesterday by seeing back-to-back plays, “Love’s Labour’s Lost” and “Love’s Labour’s Won” (otherwise known as “Much Ado About Nothing”) at the RSC in Stratford.

They were both simply stunning.
The plays, both directed by the excellent Christopher Luscombe, were staged to mark the centenary of the First World War. The productions were designed to straddle the Great War and both plays were to be set in a stately home (the originals were located on a country estate – “Lost” in northern Spain and “Won” in Sicily).
In the current production, “Lost” is set in June 1914 (two years before the start of WW1) and begins with four young men deciding to swear an oath to dedicate themselves to study for 3 years, giving up the “society of women”. No sooner have they signed their names than four attractive young ladies appear on the scene… and, of course, the men court the ladies and declare their undying love to each of them (I won’t go into details!). The play ends with the women insisting that the men show their commitment by waiting a year… and only then will they accept the men’s proposals. In the final scene, the men depart in military uniform to face the uncertainty and terror of war.
“Won” is set in December 1918. The war is over and soldiers are returning. The country house is recovering from having been pressed into service as a hospital during the war. It’s a time of huge relief for those who’ve survived the war… a time to pick up the pieces of life before the conflict, a time for love, for recovery and, for many, a time for reflection on events that had transpired, injuries endured and lives lost. However, it would take me far too long to go into all the details (and you probably know the plot any way – I think I must have seen the play at least four times?)… needless to say, it involves more love and conflict!
As you might imagine from the RSC, the acting across the entire company is absolutely excellent.  However, the stand-out stars are Edward Bennett (Berowne in “Lost” and Benedict in “Won”) and Michelle Terry (Rosaline in “Lost” and Beatrice in “Won”). Both actors truly captivated the audiences in both plays with performances that encapsulated passion, poignancy, tenderness and humour in huge measure (and when I say that the actors captivated the audiences, I really do mean it – at various times, Bennett and Terry really did have them in the palms of their hands (as it were). One moment laughing uncontrollably and the next desperately holding back the tears. The audiences absolutely adored them both.
Michelle Terry and Edward Bennett were utterly outstanding.
The music also played an important part in both productions. The company, as a whole, clearly includes some very gifted singers… and I particularly enjoyed composer Nigel Hess’s ability to blend the music of Cole Porter and Noel Coward (but, hey, what do I know?).
I’m always fascinated and amazed by the talents of the creative team in such productions. Simon Higlett’s design for both plays utilised elements from nearby Charlecote Park – with its twin octagonal  towers, lawns, imposing façade and great hall – travelling through the house and grounds using a large sliding “truck” and a “substage trap” to make scene changes as swift as possible. Blimey, they were breath-takingly good!
A wonderful, truly memorable, theatrical experience.
PS: One massive bonus for us was that our lovely friend Sam Alexander was part of this remarkable and talented company (very impressively playing the King of Navarre in “Lost” and the rather sinister Don John in “Won”) and we enjoyed an excellent early supper with him at the RSC’s Terrace Restaurant between the plays!
PPS: I fell in love with Flora Spencer-Longhurst (who played Katherine in “Lost” and Hero in “Won”)!