Respect

"R - e - s - p - e - c - t,
George get's none from the Sentate Committee..."

Not a big fan of George I have to say; I liked his anti-war stance but I'm always left with a distinct impression that he's rather full of himself. The US committee says he lied under oath to them, but let's face it, no-one has actually seen this new 'evidence' and we all know that supposed evidence can be produced (just look at all that 'evidence' they produced to justify the war after all). He certainly didn't perform very well on Channel 4 News this evening though, but that doesn't mean he has actually done something wrong, but this tactic of saying he has and that there is proof (which no-one has seen) certainly slings mud at him.

Gee, if I was cynical I might think the US had nothing on him at all but had hit on a way to discredit him, hoping some of that mud might stick. Nothing to do with the fact George ran rings round Senator Coleman and made him look like an eejit in public, of course... Whatever his faults George is not someone you want to cross verbal swords with and Coleman is quite obviously not in his class, but I'm sure his public humiliation didn't influence him at all. And anyway, why would George need to embezzle funds? Surely he has had more than enough from all his libel wins over the years??

Pining for the fjords

Is it just me or did anyone else see the news item about the imported parrot which had died of avian flu and think 'was it a Norwgian Blue? Lovely plumage'. Perhaps it wasn't dead but merely pining for the fjords? This is an ex-parrot...


Zed's dead, baby...

It is depressing to see that the TV regulator Ofcom upheld complaints by some boring old farts against the BBC. Why? Well, the Beeb showed the movie Pulp Fiction - after the 9pm 'watershed' when stronger material is held to be acceptable and with plenty of warnings as to content, violence and language. And can there be an adult on the planet who hasn't heard of this film anyway? If you are going to be offended by this then don't watch it - especially when warned beforehand...

The whingers... Sorry, complainers, were worried that the film could induce 'antisocial behaviour in young people'... The usual excuse used by dim-witted little conservative folk who want to control what we can watch (for our own good of course) and, as usual, betraying a distinct lack of familiarity with media audience research which if they paid attention to it doesn't back up their claims to any acceptable level. But why let facts get in the way? Funny these same folks never complain about Shakespeare or the Bible, both of which contain an awful lot of nasty scenes which could influence young people... Easier to ban movies, rock or rap albums and perhaps we should burn a few less desirable books too just to be safe...

Contentment

There are few things more likely to induce contentment than being curled up in a warm flat on cold night with a soft-furred, sleeping puss against you, gently purring, paws twitching after dream mice. Until she starts so swiftly that she wakes herself and in true feline fashion digs in the claws so she can leap off.

This is why cat owners prefer jeans or something similar to denim to offer at least a bit of protection.

I do wonder how Pandora manages to wake herself like this. She reminds me of a former flatmate in my student days who would often fall asleep in front of the TV and start snoring, often so loudly he would actually snort like a pig with bronchiatis and wake himself up! Obviously this is not unique to humans.

Canongate

BBC Scotland had a great little arts programme tonight dedicated to Edinburgh-based Canongate Books which was a delight to see. For those who don't know them, Canongate are a Scottish publisher of a wonderfully independent bent; they have managed the tricky balancing act of maintaining artistic and literary integrity, support for Scottish talent and building a national an international reputation and list (some of you probably know them through the huge bestselling and Booker winning Life of Pi).

The programme was timed to coincide with their latest, unusual venture - in collaboration with a multitude of other publishers around the whole word they had a simultaneous publication of a new range of books based on world myths. Karen Armstrong has written a short but fascinating introductory book to the series A Short History of Myth; Margaret Atwood has written the Penelopiad, telling the Odyssey from Penelope's point of view instead of Ulysses. More writers from around the world have been persuaded by Jamie Byng to take part and since they can choose any myth and then re-interpret it in any way it has the potential to run and run. Mythic archetypes underpin so many of our stories and it is good to see this well-spring of literature being so well displayed.

I think the really nice thing about Canongate though is that they have enjoyed some great success with a number of writers, earning good sales and critical acclaim, yet they remain in Edinburgh and continue to be very supportive and nurturing of new Scottish talent as well as international writers. Their Scottish list runs from damned fine newer authors such as Anne Donovan through to Alasdair Gray (their special anniversary hardback slipcase of his novel Lanark, split into four hardback volumes, each signed and numbered by Al and with his artwork all over them is one of my mnost treasured of my signed books - it is also one of the best and most unusual fantasy works and I think the best Scottish novel of the 20th century). Nice to see them being celebrated and I wish them the best, because they print some really good books and the literary scene would be far poorer without them

Oh, and Jamie really knows how to fling a launch party! I've been to more than my share of book launches, large and small but Canongate always throw really good ones (obviously this doesn't influence me at all!).

Listening mix this last week

Iradio Chicago comedy channel - runs a lot of full-length standup shows and, thankfully, doesn't censor them like some other web comedy stations.

King FM Seattle - very cool classical station from Seattle (well, duh). Especially nice since it is run not by a commerical company but an arts grouping, including Seattle Symphony. The time difference between Edinburgh and the Paficic Northwest does make for some light amusement as the presenters announce it is very nearly 7am as I'm thinking about a mid-afternoon cuppa. Great station to have on while working.

Selected Johnny Cash. Listening to his cover of Nine Inch Nail's Hurt I had a sudden urge to listen to some more of the Man in Black (and how cool is his cover of Personal Jesus?). Don't generally like country music but Johnny is one of those performers who transcends genres really. Kind of intrigued to see the film biopic of him coming up with Joaquin Phoenix.

Diana Krall - especially Autumn Leaves; very timely.


Watching

Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Totally top fun from Aardman and utterly loaded with references to other movies, especially 1930s Universal monster movies, from the obvious (Lon Chaney in the Wolfman, right down to the 'time lapse' montage for the transformation) to the subtle (the village bobby with his moustache is a dead ringer for the village copper from the Claude Rains version of the Invisible Man). Large-scale yuks all round and good to see Hollywood hasn't ruined our fine Northern Lads (the cheese over in the States probably doesn't appeal to them).

Nightwatch. The very cool Russian movie that took more in Russia than Return of the King last year when it came out and has been storming across Europe faster than avian flu. To be honest there is hardly an original part to it - it is loaded with references and lifts from a wide variety of other movies and film-makers (notably Buffy, the Matrix and a lot of tracking shots that are very Jean-Pierre Jeunet) - but the way they are put together is excellent (especially considering it was made for under £4 million). It also shares a moral ambiguity with the excellent series Ultraviolet, leaving you pondering if the Dark Others are actually evil and the Light Others truly good. Can't wait to see the next two in the trilogy. Good to see it getting some screenings in multiplexes as well as arthouse cinemas. Just a shame I keep thinking on a totally unrelated Terry Pratchett novel of the same name every time I hear the title.

Turnip Prize for Art

One of the highlights of the UK's modern art world is fast approaching as the shortlist contenders for this year's Turnip Prize for Art were announced. The Turnip - putting the arse into art for twenty years - is the pre-eminent award for contemporary art and this year's contenders shows once more the remarkable range of modern British artists.

Archie McGlaikit, a graduate of the Auchenshoogle Academy of Art has impressed many art critics with his installation piece Large Empty Room. Aubrey Winnington-Smythe, art correspondent for Art Wankh, told the Gazette that he found this an incredibly powerful piece which challenged the viewer's perceptions. When it was pointed out to him that Large Empty Room was in fact, simply, a large empty room, Winnington-Smythe nodded sagely and remarked, "Exactly, it’s amazing." His learned opinion may have been worthy of more note if it had not turned out the room he had been studying was not in actual fact McGlaikit's installation piece but was an old utility room the janitor had recently cleared out.

Stacey Macey, who many say glows in the Brit artistic firmament like an oil warning light on your car's dashboard, is on the list for the third time. Her previous entries include jelly moulds made from her own breasts and a small 2-foot high wall which she would hurdle every fifteen minutes. This year she has surpassed herself with an interactive performance piece of art where she removes her jeans, bends over and invites the audience to insert a variety of kitchen implements into her gaping bum. Originally she planned to perform in a darkened room and illuminate it in bursts by having viewers light her farts, but this set off the sprinkler systems.

There are two wildlife-themed entries this year. Anton Ashwhole has a delightful video installation which features two penguins sword fencing (sabre, not foil) on the battlements of Edinburgh Castle, narrated by Christopher Lambert, star of Highlander. The art community has been split over the second wildlife-themed entry however - it is the first time an animal has made the final shortlist (other than as an unwilling entry). Daisy the cow from the Channel Island of Guernsey has created several large, clear tanks filled with formaldehyde, in which float the dissected remains of various modern artists, including Damien Hirst. Some artists have said this is simple parody and not worthy art while others claim that this is the very essence of modern Brit art fused with Punk ethos along with style and irreverence. Still others were just glad too see the smug, talentless twonk sliced up and exhibited.

The Winner will be announced in another couple of weeks. Last year's winner was, of course, Delilah Tomkinson's Big Book of Pressed People. Inspired by Terry Jones and Brian Froud's Lady Cottington's Book of Pressed Faeries, Delilah managed to persuade a number of art students and friends to lie down inside a giant scrapbook which was then placed inside an old industrial press and crushed closed. Charles Saatchi is thought to have bought it soon after it won the award for an undisclosed six-figure sum.

Autumn in Edinburgh

Some random pictures taken in the last week or so around the city as the leaves fall slowly. The setting sun is so low in the sky now that it glows a deep red; a gorgeous colour as warm as the evning's now are chill. Like most Scottish cities the buildings here are built of our native-hewn stone rather than dreary bricks (even my humble tenement flat is built of these huge slabs of sandstone).















The sandstone and granite reflects the light throughout the seasons; in high summer they shimmer in the direct sunlight (when we get it of course!); in the winter the silica crystals glitter and shine like little stars in the frosty moonlight. And here in the autumn the ancient stones glow with a warm copper-red light as the long autumnal twilight settles around us, contrasting the golden-red sheen with the lengthening shadows of the setting sun; its the time when the quality of light is astonishing (and these pictures cannot capture what the human eye sees, alas) - it casts an enchantment over everything; when you experience it you realise why our ancestors thought this time was when the faerie folk would emerge from their mounds, it is a very special time of day and year, full of the promise of transition.


A setting star billions of years old, emparting the last warmth of the dying day to stones millions of years old, hewn from our native land, which comprise the buildings centuries old, enjoyed by those passers by who raise their eyes; our existence is so short compared to those stones and stars and yet little magical moments like these make them seem eternal and wonderful. So many people so intent on getting home from work miss these moments around them. Raise your eyes and marvel at the art created by human hand and nature and stand for a moment in the magical twilight. Stop the rush of commuting, the concentration on those little matters that seem to dominate our lives and allow yourself, just for a moment or two, to embrace a little wonder in your daily life. You may be a few minutes later getting home, but your soul will be enriched. When you live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world and in one of the most magnificent looking cities it would be a crime to ignore such beauty and delight. Little moments of wonder, folks, that's one of the small aspects of existence that make our lives worthwhile. These little magical theatres act out their plays over millennia but we only experience them for a briefm lfeeting moment; enjoy that moment; if, as the old poem put it, we can see eternity in a grain of sand imagine how much more we can see in the glow of setting sunlight through a copper burnished leaf.