Friday, August 19, 2005

So sad to hear the news about Mo Mowlem today. She was that rare thing a politician who made a difference and was loved.

After a bit of a delay, thanks to the amazing cricket over recent weeks, last night I finished reading “The History of Love” by Nicole Krauss. It’s a wonderfully poignant and understated book about the subtle connections which change our lives. It’s well worth your time.

Next up will be Small Island by Andrea Levy, although I may hold off starting that one until we go on holiday in a couple of weeks time. Between now and then I’ll be spending some quality time with the New Yorker; in fact today I read a great piece by Jonathan Franzen about the traumas of being a bird watcher. It’s something which Orynthia and I have become involved in over recent years, with the encouragement of my old boss Mark, and whilst in New York our friends Bill and Doreen.

Franzen captures brilliantly the strange addiction of waiting for the next sighting and the huge disappointment heading out with binoculars and books and have nothing to see. The only unsatisfactory thing about our trip to Lithuania a few years ago was the marked lack of any sort of feathered activity, lots of lovely countryside, not a bird to be seen!

Musically I’m still very taken with “Picaresque by “The Decemberists”. Also loving the latest Sufjan Stevens masterpiece “Illinois”. Other than those “I Trawl the Megahertz” by Paddy McAloon has been a constant partner this summer. It’s unlike anything he has done under the Prefab Spout name, more of a classical record than a pop one; it’s the perfect film score, for a film yet to be made. Put it on and let your head fill with a thousand stunning images – genius.

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