Do you think humans will ever colonize Mars? What would life there actually look like? Colonial Mars: some verse for Elon. Below is a paragraph from Wikipedia’s introduction to the SpaceX Mars colonisation idea as proposed by Elon Musk, speaking as bought-in (by virtue of his ‘gifts’ to that society) lead of The Mars Society. … More Colonial Mars: some verse for Elon.
I don’t believe in tips for life, let alone top ones, and am circumspect about success as a thing to be realised. Consider Wordsworth as he must have felt in Alfoxden in 1797. Wordsworth in Darkness by Tom Hammick from Adam Nicholson (2019) The Making of Poetry: Coleridge, the Wordsworths and Their Year of Marvels … More I don’t believe in tips for life, let alone top ones, and am circumspect about success as a thing to be realised. Consider Wordsworth as he must have felt in Alfoxden in 1797.
“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” – Revelation 21:27 A 14th century tapestry picturing St. John of Patmos awarded the vision of the New Jerusalem by God (photograph by Octave … More “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” – Revelation 21:27
Édouard Louis shows us that ‘happiness’ may be the result only of ‘social determinism’ succeeding in its function to ‘condition the person’ you are. [1] This is a blog on Édouard Louis (2026) Collapse [Trans Tash Aw], London, Harvill. This piece probably relates to what I have tried to say in blogs about earlier books. The … More Édouard Louis shows us that ‘happiness’ may be the result only of ‘social determinism’ succeeding in its function to ‘condition the person’ you are. This is a blog on Édouard Louis (2026) ‘Collapse’, London, Harvill.
Explaining why I go to art exhibitions is almost the same as explaining why I feel a need to prepare myself to see them. The pleasures and perils of researched prescience is however a subject in itself. This blog anticipates seeing the new Zurbarán ExWhen the subject is ‘seeing’, why exclude visual art, for that … More When the subject is ‘seeing’, why exclude visual art, for that too allows us to ‘see’ in more than ways that are entirely visual. This blog is an explanation of why I go to art exhibitions. This is almost the same as explaining why I feel a need to prepare myself to see them. The pleasures and perils of researched prescience is however a subject in itself. This blog anticipates seeing the new ‘Zurbarán’ Exhibition at 12.00 midday to 13.30 (about) on Thursday 9th July. Will it change my world?
I’d tell him: everybody thinks each day full of nothing in particular, but you can construct your day differenly! This is a blog on Ira Sach’s Peter Hujar’s Day The sub-title to Peter Bradshaw’s review in The Guardian of Ira Sach’s masterpiece Peter Hujar’s Day is: ‘Whishaw is not tested by this verbatim retelling of … More I’d tell him: everybody thinks each day full of nothing in particular, but you can construct your day differently! This is a blog on Ira Sach’s Peter Hujar’s Day.
Controlled exclusion rarely also controls setting (and building) colonisation of the other: the meaning of borders and boundaries. Building the West Bank Wall in 2004 Let’s begin by thinking about that adjective ‘healthy’ as applied to ‘boundaries’. If a boundary can be ‘healthy’ can it also be ‘unhealthy’? We rarely if ever hear of setting … More Controlled exclusion rarely also controls colonisation of the other: the meaning of setting (and building) borders and boundaries.
In Grace Pervades, the character named Henry Irving, based on the great actor-manager says to Ellen Terry, ‘I await eagerly to see what you will do next. It’s always different’. She replies ‘Then how can it always be perfect?’ The answer to that might be the answer to the question: ‘If you could instantly master … More In ‘Grace Pervades’, the character named Henry Irving, based on the great actor-manager says to Ellen Terry, ‘I await eagerly to see what you will do next. It’s always different’. She replies ‘Then how can it always be perfect?’ The answer to that might be the answer to the question: ‘If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be?’
Inspiration is a word that should be less used. Today, be open to be breathed into by an ensemble. Alan Cummings & David Morrissey Today is dominated by a blend of thoughts about inspiring drama. Last night Geoff and I completed watching the Channel 4 series Tip Toe, wherein a company of TV actors goes … More Inspiration is a word that should be less used. Today, be open to be breathed into by an ensemble.
John Dyer, the hero of Nicholas Shakespeare (2026) Frame 37, London, Harvill, uses the phrase, ‘… nothing ever disappears completely, and when it returns it does so in exaggerated form’. It is so very nearly an echo of the many ways in which Sigmund Freud described ‘the return of the repressed’.[1] However, it would be … More Memes are sometimes nothing more than rhythms in the memory. John Dyer, the hero of Nicholas Shakespeare (2026) ‘Frame 37’, uses the phrase, ‘… nothing ever disappears completely, and when it returns it does so in exaggerated form’. This blog considers whether it is the purpose of ‘good stories’ to locate the source of truth of an incomprehensible universe, but to continually suggest that this truth runs like ‘a non-verbal poetry’ with a ‘rhythm that feels fresh’ and might wake us up ‘to the unspoken part of the universe’ around us.
It is time for another looking forward period and for some events preparing myself – where appropriate material exists for doing so (a play-script or catalogue already purchase). In those latter cases, I will blog in preparation, Here to announce my schedule (with Geoffee and Baz left behind for one night at home), under this … More There is no need for magical thinking in order to find art ‘that you wish you could experience again for the first time’. Visit art enough and it must reinvent itself. This is a blog on preparing to visit London again for an art-binge-fest
I was just nearing 5 years of age when this magazine came out, still sold in pounds sterling at 4/- [4 shillings (20p now but what a large amount then)].This was the last edition of ‘Universities and Left Review’ (ULR) which became, together with ‘The New Reasoner’, the ‘New Left Review’ (NLR) in its next … More Look backwards to the history that you ought to make part of your own biography if you want to avoid political confusion.
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