Monthly Archives: March 2006

Doubt­less many of the read­ers of this blog have bet­ter things to do — but then why are they both­er­ing to blog in ? So, an account of recent cul­tural events: Mar­tin Carthy in York. It’s a little known fact … Con­tinue read­ing →

Jean Binta Breeze doing a read­ing, no, a “per­form­ance” of some of her poems and some of her stor­ies based on her child­hood in rural Jamaica. Warm and witty and wise and very much from the per­spect­ive of Jamaican women. … Con­tinue read­ing →

What a treat ! 90 minutes of Joan Baez — who has lost none of her pas­sion or com­mittment — who var­ies her set with oldies, new ones, protest, folk, cab­aret songs. Of the oldies, “With God on their Side” … Con­tinue read­ing →

Back in 1965, I heard Adrian Mitchell read his import­ant, inspir­ing, sem­inal poem which has the refrain “Tell me lies about Viet­nam.” Why is it import­ant and sem­inal ? Because every politi­cian the world over has taken his advice to … Con­tinue read­ing →

Have just watched the Ger­man film “Down­fall”, about the last days of the 3^rd Reich, set in Ber­lin in 1945, mostly in Hitler’s bunker, as the Rus­si­ans advance on and sur­round Ber­lin. Superb per­form­ances — utterly con­vin­cing, and based on … Con­tinue read­ing →