Let The Tribe Increase.

Mark Wilson, lead singer of The Mob, way back in the day. Still remember the visceral quality their album "Let The Tribe Increase" had on me.

The Absolutist.

Oh John Boyne, what have you done? Was very engaged by this wonderful book by John Boyne and found myself being drawn to its emotional conclusion and I found myself hoping it was not going to end in a certain way. I have absolutely no doubt if I had been a soldier in the trenches in WW1 I would have been a white feather man. I would not have been able to help myself, with WW1 pretty much being my idea of Hell on Earth. Yet it was not just the horrors of war which rippled through John Boyne's book which caused me to engage so readily with it. I found myself ache with the knowledge that so many prejudices and cruelties which permeated society in those days would persist until my own lifetime. I felt the same pains the lead character did, even made the same "mistakes", leaning into a relationship that mostly only existed in my head. I remember the pain of that as a teen, when I discovered feelings I had were not only not reciprocated, they were utterly rejected, in a way that made me feel like I would be a pariah all my life. If who I was came as a shock to the other person it was no less painfull to me to imagine a future where this would be a common event, rejection and scorn, ugh.As I read the novel I found myself whispering "find a way, just find a way." I wont say if this played out the way I hoped but it played out indeed, in a most human way. And right there is the life trap so few of us can escape.

Salvador Dali Finger Puppet.

"I am Dali! You are not!"

Michealangelo's David. (Pobably.)

I sometimes help out at a local Hospice Shop which people donate all sorts of stuff too. Recently someone donated a statue of Michealangelo's David, in perfectly formed plaster. One of the lady volunteers thought she would "protect" David's modesty by making him a natty pair of pants. I think she honestly meant it in a respectful gesture as all "His doins" were hanging out, bless her.

talking with ghosts.

Came across this lovely piece of art whilst browsing for John Dee.Cannot speak for its provenance but it feels real to me.

Destination Daleks.

I wondered how they were going to do the second part, to finish the gripping wee Pete Mc Teague vignette on the recent Season #21 bluray boxed set. And here it is, the second part is a comic book and was given away with this month's Doctor Who Magazine.

Albert Einstein.

Hows this for a bit of relativity. Yesterday I watched Genius, a biographical drama on the life and times of Albert Einstein. Came across it on one of my book hauls in the Oxfam Book shop.It being a day off work I watched it through to the end, spending one day, and a psuedo-lifetime in the company of the great man. There are some very powerful performances throughout its long run, not just from the leads, with some characters being recast as they aged.Found it a compelling and interesting (Not always the same thing) watch as it gave new life to so many others in his life, especially his first wife Mileva Maric,a remarkable thinker in her own right and the rock upon which his school of relativity was built. Overlooked during much of his life and sadly ever since he passed. Which leads me to the curious coincidence that is today, the anniversary of his death on 18th April 1955. I heartily recommend a watch. There is much in it that modernity can, er, relate too.