Blogs

Graham Farmelo’s biography of Paul Dirac won the Costa Book Award the year it was published. That was a while ago. I need to do the maths (or arithmetic). Sixteen years ago. You’d need to go back 100 years to inhabit the world of Paul Dirac. Einstein’s special theory of relativity had not yet changed the world. But had changed the way the world was viewed. A Kuhnian revolution in scientific thought. Paul Dirac was a genius whose work Einstein...

James Van Praagh (1998 [2009, 2012]) Talking to Heaven Living with the Dead (Talking to Heaven) (2002), screenwriter John Pielmeier, Director Stephen Gyllenhaal, starring Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen. I watched Living with the Dead while scrolling through Prime. It’s based on James Van Praagh’s best-selling memoir. But, of course, instead of a wee baldy fat guy with pretension of being a screenwriter, Ted Danson (Cheers) plays James Van...

What is a poem? I’m not sure. Although I’ve foolishly claimed to have written poetry. I’m not a poet. Bex Hainsworth is. I’m not sure how to explain that either. Poetry is hard. A poet must make it look easy. All houses are haunted by women . ‘My grandmother’s semi-detached. A familiar echo. Mundane made wonderful. ‘…a congregation of glass paperweights’ The obvious word here is a collection, not ‘congregation’. But they are ‘arranged in...

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/dogman Matteo Garrone's crime thriller is factional story and morality play. It won a stack of awards at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. Earned Garrone the Nastro d'Argento awards for both Best Director and Best Producer. I wonder which film won the best writer award because Dogman would be hard to beat. Marcello Fonte’s performance as Marcello won him Best Actor at Cannes. He inhabits the role of Dogman. A man...

<gratuitous trumpet blowing>

I read the biography before the book. James Yorkson is an acclaimed musician. Fuck—right—off, I thought. Another gobshite who in his spare time writes best-selling novels. I had to give it a couple of pages before I had to eat my words. Well, his words. A page turner. Tommy the Bruce is great, just my kind of book. There’s a theory called ‘muddling on’. In Scotland it’s called ‘jist getting on wae it’. Tommy hasn’t much of a life. But he does...

The Circle Of The Rings Granny & Grandpa Jack and Beryl Brown Oupa and Ouma (Grandparents and Mother) Selby Logan and Mother Ouma (Ionie) and Oupa (Jacques) de Vos “As unto the bow the the cord is, So unto the man is woman; Though she bends him, she obeys him, Though she draws him, yet she follows: Useless each without the other.” – Longfellow

Gabrielle Griffiths’ debut novel Greater Sins is published by Penguin. So what? You might be thinking Well, let me tell you, that’s one of the big four or five publishers. It’s not newsworthy but it is a big deal in the rocky world of publishing. There’s no greater sin than jealousy. So I’ll shut up. Setting: Cabrach. I wasn’t sure if this was a real place. It is. Nearest town Huntly. Nearest big city Aberdeen. We’re in classic Lewis Grassic...