2012 — 7 February: Tuesday
On with the radio and there's a Marvin Gaye song1 that always triggers pleasant memories of an Xmas party in the Midlands in the winter of 1970/71. I'm often amazed at the power of music to unlock memories and emotions...
Time for my pre-breakfast cuppa, methinks.
Returning,...
... albeit only briefly, to yesterday's not really amusing claim that "rightwingers are less intelligent", George Monbiot is pitching in:
This is not to suggest that all conservatives are stupid. There are some very clever people in government, advising politicians, running thinktanks and writing
for newspapers, who have acquired power and influence by promoting rightwing ideologies.
But what we now see among their parties — however intelligent their guiding spirits may be — is the abandonment of any pretence of high-minded
conservatism. On both sides of the Atlantic, conservative strategists have discovered that there is no pool so shallow that several million people won't drown in it.
I'm too polite, it seems. Well, that's a first. Here's the abstract of the paper ("Bright minds and dark attitudes") that kicked this latest round off.
I was contemplating a quick pootle down into Soton, now that Mr Postie's just swung by. But, you know what? It's too near freezing and grottily grey and misty. I shall remain in my Bat Cave for the time being. The time being 11:33. Ghastly time of year.
My "Word"
Given that the new issue of "Word" magazine has a CD on which (the accompanying "Dear Much-Valued Subscriber" note seemed to claim) is a "playable feature" about the late Jackie Leven, I thought I'd start by examining the CD on my Linux system.2 But it claims to be an audio CD and seems only to hold 15 .WAV files, corresponding to the 15 tracks detailed on the sleeve. Of course, what I should have done is start by examining the other CD physically stuck inside the magazine itself. Twit!
While listening to the (superb) Jackie Leven compilation (all the better for being an unexpected 'freebie') I've also been browsing a book by Paul Gravett that I mentioned, in passing, a while ago...
There certainly are stories, I think, that can change your life. And (in my case) some of those are contained in graphic novels. I feel uncharitable towards people who casually dismiss this medium. To me, it combines aspects of cinema (story-boarding, obviously) with story-telling possibilities that surpass mere words alone. But, hey, what do I know?
Well, I know we're planning to walk tomorrow, unless the weather clamps down horribly. As of 21:36 it's already down to -4C on my front porch. Brrr. [Pause] And now -5C at 01:10... double Brrr! G'night.