“I’ve lied so much about the past I can’t even tell myself what is true anymore”,…’ (Lou Reed). This is a blog reflecting on Will Hermes (2023) ‘Lou Reed: The King of New York’.

February 2, 2024

Describing Lou Reed’s response to an interview in ‘one British magazine’ around the time of the artist’s 60th birthday, Will Hermes say: ‘Reed brusquely parried questions involving his history (“I’ve lied so much about the past I can’t even tell myself what is true anymore”),…’.[1]  This is a blog reflecting on Will Hermes (2023) Lou … More “I’ve lied so much about the past I can’t even tell myself what is true anymore”,…’ (Lou Reed). This is a blog reflecting on Will Hermes (2023) ‘Lou Reed: The King of New York’.

Imagine a world without Windows … and software a language not a set of icons.!

February 1, 2024

Write about your first computer. I think the Amstrad pictured above, here operating as a word processor,is how I remember my first computer, which I bought in the 1980s after getting my first full-time permanent job as a Lecturer in English at the Roehampton Institute in London. Amstrads were neither original nor particularly good but … More Imagine a world without Windows … and software a language not a set of icons.!

‘Dreams are like angels / They keep bad at bay, bad at bay / Love is the light / Scaring darkness away, yeah!’ This blog reflects on ‘All of Us Strangers’.

January 31, 2024

‘Dreams are like angels / They keep bad at bay, bad at bay / Love is the light / Scaring darkness away, yeah!’[1]. A great film sometimes discovers what is great, truly beautiful and scary simultaneously in queer culture. This blog reflects on All of Us Strangers, a film by Andrew Haigh seen at the … More ‘Dreams are like angels / They keep bad at bay, bad at bay / Love is the light / Scaring darkness away, yeah!’ This blog reflects on ‘All of Us Strangers’.

The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (2018 exhibition): ‘Rembrandt: Britain’s Rediscovery of the Master’ (reissue)

January 30, 2024

Sunday, 12 Aug 2018, 19:47 Visible to anyone in the world Edited by Steve Bamlett, Sunday, 12 Aug 2018, 19:49 The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (exhibition): Rembrandt: Britain’s Rediscovery of the Master The reviews of this exhibition sometimes play the ‘great master’ game: The Guardian’s reviewer says of the use of Glenn Brown, in … More The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (2018 exhibition): ‘Rembrandt: Britain’s Rediscovery of the Master’ (reissue)

A blog on finding a second-hand copy of his ‘Tell Me the truth About Love: Fifteen poems by W.H Auden’.

January 29, 2024

W.H. Auden, in his poem O Tell Me the truth About Love, mentions amongst his many happenstance encounters with people who claim to know, or ‘looked as if ‘ they ‘knew’ about it, and the passing written references in history to times when it appears it did not pass without effect:  “…. ; / I’ve … More A blog on finding a second-hand copy of his ‘Tell Me the truth About Love: Fifteen poems by W.H Auden’.

Leadership must be the object of reflection, I think, not just based on the assumption that leaders are needed.

January 28, 2024

The study of leadership rather than an obsession with it is a vital task. It is the latter which produces what we too often call ‘leaders’ in contemporary life, who are, in brief, people who abuse relative power over others in order to assert a line of action whose success they alone are allowed to … More Leadership must be the object of reflection, I think, not just based on the assumption that leaders are needed.

‘… If / I have the time to work / Before ending up stiff / In death, I hope I shirk / Dreams. ….’ A doggerel verse for a dogged time and a worse prompt! LOL.

January 27, 2024

What’s your dream job? A dream job? If your job is a dreamThen dream on in silentAssurance that to seemIs enough. ViolentSounds raise the alarumThat bruits wretched war,Dispatch to a haremA child, in fear of lawThat favours the powerful:The privileged man,Who knows not how hurtfulHands that go where they canGet access are. To rapeRemains the … More ‘… If / I have the time to work / Before ending up stiff / In death, I hope I shirk / Dreams. ….’ A doggerel verse for a dogged time and a worse prompt! LOL.

‘Weave a circle round him thrice’: is ‘Steven’ a name which strains for significance rather than having it.

January 26, 2024

Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc. An unlikely avatar: Steven Universe, a character by Rebecca Sugar This is a blog I have resisted because all of the common stories of my name’s origin seem rather strained versions of a thing that is rather common and unremarkable, if ubiquitous. And then there … More ‘Weave a circle round him thrice’: is ‘Steven’ a name which strains for significance rather than having it.

Queerness, allusion, metaphor and metamorphosis in Seán Hewitt (2024) ‘Rapture’s Road’.

January 25, 2024

‘beyond the light of memory / behind your life / there might be / other lives, waiting – ‘, ‘… I could have spent / a thousand lives changing myself,’. Queerness, allusion, metaphor and metamorphosis in Seán Hewitt (2024) Rapture’s Road London, Cape Poetry. I have waited a long time for the publication of this … More Queerness, allusion, metaphor and metamorphosis in Seán Hewitt (2024) ‘Rapture’s Road’.

“Pairing paintings might create a “dialogue”, but who decides what these strange bedfellows are saying to each other?” This blog reflects on Aimee Ng, Xavier F. Salomon & Stephen Truax (Eds.) [2023] ‘Living Histories: Queer Views and Old Masters’

January 23, 2024

From September 2021 to September2022, the Frick Museum in New York decided to place each of 4 classic paintings from its collection one by one ‘in conversation’ with a newly commissioned artwork from painters who are currently working and who identify their work as from a queer orientation to the world. Reviewing the publication based … More “Pairing paintings might create a “dialogue”, but who decides what these strange bedfellows are saying to each other?” This blog reflects on Aimee Ng, Xavier F. Salomon & Stephen Truax (Eds.) [2023] ‘Living Histories: Queer Views and Old Masters’

To trust she is safe with us and will always be loved. To Daisy.

January 22, 2024

If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be? We have lived with Daisy, our Staffie, since we bought her from a rescue centre about eight years ago. Yet, although she clearly loves being with us and can be deeply happy, rolling in the grass when she enjoys her walks, she … More To trust she is safe with us and will always be loved. To Daisy.