2012 — 26 June: Tuesday
For a surreal and simplified view of the day's news it's hard to beat BBC 6Music1 from which I learn that the criminally irresponsible fiscal policy of "PFI" shows signs of unravelling in the NHS. (Not news, exactly, when I consider how long this policy has been rightly berated in "Private Eye" so often.) But then I also learn that single occupancy households are quite capable of consuming as much energy as families... tell me about it.
The sun seems to be trying to shine. The first cuppa is safely loaded. On with the show. Big Bro is currently aiming to materialise hereabouts in 13 days. Better start tidying up, I guess. "Energise, Mr Sulu."
Self-esteem and stress
An interesting article. Source and snippet:
By 1980, although some Americans were still screaming their aggressions away, or engaging in orgies to find their true selves — and thereby grabbing the headlines — the less exciting but more enduring fact had been realized: most mental health therapy in the United States had become short-term psychotherapy. Americans were no longer going to "shrinks," but, rather, to caring professionals.
I didn't keep my copy of "The primal scream" for very long, but I do still have this amusing variant:
Nils Petter Molvær
So, here I am, pottering gently along to the rather lovely music of Nils Petter Molvær — too long since I played his 2002 album, "NP3", bought on a rare trip to the now-defunct 'MVC' chain in Winchester where I heard it playing — when it occurs to me to see what he's been up to lately... A couple of mouse clicks later:
And Robert's your father's brother. Thank you, Mr Bezos. Not quite sure about that "Blues" descriptor, though. It's definitely jazz!
Incoming
The arrival a few minutes ago (thanks, Mr Postie) of the two German-language films I mentioned last week...
...reminds me that, on my second-ever trip to Germany with Christa (in December 1974, just two months after we'd married) I was held — rather scarily — at gunpoint for several minutes at the border crossing on the way in as (she later told me, from what she'd managed to overhear) I apparently resembled2 one (I've no idea which) of the members of the Baader Meinhof 'gang'. I didn't know whether to feel flattered or insulted.
Time for a bite of lunch followed, perhaps, by a little trip.
Drip, drip
The rain began about ten seconds after I got back into my car. I rarely drive back from the care-home in anything other than a sombre frame of mind — today being no exception. Dear Mama may not be clear on who her other son is, but she does still know that she wants to "go home". You can try explaining next time, Bro. I've done it enough now for one life-time. Be prepared to explain who you3 are, too, by the way. Good luck with that.
It sometimes...
... takes me a while, but I eventually pick up a round tuit. Tonight's example was an American import Blu-ray I bought last September and thus had to play in the Oppo. It's a modern take on "Alice in Wonderland" and runs for just over three hours. Nearly as strange as the original book. I'd begun the evening with a whimsical decision to rewatch the HBO series "Rome"4 but, after about ten minutes I decided to put that on 'hold' having also decided it was good enough to be worth getting on Blu-ray to replace my DVDs.