I had the dubious fortune of spending a week and a half on holidays with Jess in Riga, Latvia. I say ‘dubious’ because while the holiday and the company kept were most certainly fortunate, the location was not.
Riga is a curious place, a place so obviously bled dry by decades of Soviet occupation until their ‘overthrow’ in 1991. After these long decades of subjugation and enforced sameness, the Riga I visited had embraced its newly won freedom and individuality like much of the former Soviet bloc: by inviting capitalism and democracy, a.k.a. Gucci and Versace, into their hearts and home with purses held open. (more…)
Filed under: Placeless, Spaceless | Tags: magic realism, mogwai, music, Reading
I have been reading of late. A lot. I have been reading a lot of late. And it has been wonderful. Like a reformed addict jumping gleefully off the wagon into the oft-remembered embrace of his dark mistress, I have begun devouring books at a rate of knots, fiction and non-fiction alike.
I have evinced the efficient London Underground for the ambling rambling bus service, happy in the extra 45 minutes it allows me for my quiet, book-bound meditations.
In the course of my narrative journeys I have discovered that the relationship between reading and music is intricate, symbiotic and at times even antagonistic. There are some strains of music, some artists, some genres that seem to augment and compliment a text, and others that exist in such discord to the text’s meaning as to induce mockery and disbelief in the reader.
I have discovered, to my immense joy, that a dash of Prog-Rock goes down well with a dose of Magic Realism. Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness Of Being sings a perfect duet with Mogwai’s Happy Music For Happy People. Like strawberries with champagne, I sup indulgently, sinking ever further into the rediscovered charms of narrative’s caress.
Filed under: London, Placeless, Spaceless | Tags: bright eyes, changed priorities, development studies, ngo
I was walking to Victoria Park today, listening to Bright Eyes’ phenomenal album “I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning,” when I came across this very fitting sign:
Changed Priorities Ahead
The first thing that struck me was how odd this road sign was, the second was how fitting it was. For in the past couple of months my priorities have changed. (more…)
Filed under: Placeless, Spaceless, Travel Diary | Tags: new years resolutions, Writing
“We now cross live to Barry Roberts with a look at today’s top story.”
“Thanks Tom. Several months ago we leaked a sensitive government document outlining a plan to radically alter the direction this country was heading. The December White Paper, entitled, “Three Steps to a More Progressive Society” described a plan to decrease our reliance on foreign oil, curb the frightening level of household debt, and reduce the average amount of household consumption by up to 80% before year’s end. Interestingly, the paper also included provisions to make creative expression mandatory by enforcing a weekly ‘Expression Session’ where participants would be encouraged to write about their thoughts and feelings before posting them onto the internet in what one government insider fervently described as ‘the largest online compendium of human thought and emotion the world has ever seen.’”
“But in what must surely be a blow to the embattled party leadership, a new report put out by the Centre for Economic Freedom has been released this week, blasting the government for failing to properly ensure the success of its proposals. The report, entitled ‘Progressive Hokey-Pokey: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back,’ lays out the relative success and failure of the government’s ‘Three Steps to a More Progressive Society.’” (more…)
