I popped over to UEL this afternoon to ask if I could be of any assistance to them this year. The chap who runs the RIX centre, Andy, wasn’t there, but I spoke to Mark, his Number One. He seemed glad to see me, and assured me that they would let me know if anything came up. He also told me that the video they had been working on, about the Apex choir, had been finished. You may recall that I mentioned them on here a while ago, having been to a couple of their gigs to help with the film. It is a fascinating group made up of singers with autism. I still wonder whether they could collaborate with the Paraorchestra in some way. Anyway, the completed film can be seen here.

I haven’t seen charlotte since we watched the Cat Empire together earlier this year, but I want to keep my tradition up in wishing her a happy birthday. We chatted briefly online earlier, and it sounded like C is doing well. She told me that she has a new choir to lead, sending my mind back to the awesome music she and the gospel choir made at university – that now seems like a lifetime ago. Whatever Charlie’s doing, though, I’m sure it will be great; and I’m sure she’ll be having fun tonight!

My friend John just got back from Hungary. I just found the following on his Facebook page recalling the love and compassion he was witness to in Budapest. I hope he doesn’t mind me reprinting it here, as it is genuinely one of the most beautiful, humbling things I think I’ve ever read. It also makes what can seem so distant on the evening news really hit home

[quote=”John E”]I have just got back from the Keleti railway station in Budapest where a few days ago clashes between riot police units and refugees took place. Impressions of the evening – sensational; crazy chase after the ball and jostling with syrian kids compensated me the last few days of contact with haters in the internet. Seeing the Hungarians sharing hot drinks, sandwiches and secondhand clothes I forgot about fascist and xenophobic sentiments prevailing in the cyberspace. Budapest is a party-city, so a individual natives (with hands in plastic gloves, indicating that they work as volunteers) sip beer with smiles on their faces, the girls handing out items of need wear mini-skirts: different customs do not pose a problem, and the phrase ”clash of civilizations” again seems to be incompatible with the reality – because after all, it belongs to the virtual realm, it echoes merely in the airwaves – but when a man stands in front of another man, face to face, looking into each others eyes these slogans are no longer relevant … Despite the harsh conditions (because the deeper the night, the cooler), a unique atmosphere pervades annd hits me acutely. It’s the first time I’m in this kind of situation, and I did not know what to expect. ”All we have HERE is given out of LOVE from the Hungarian PEOPLE, not its government” – says inscription on one of the boards. I like it this way! Throw TV in the trash, organize independently, get from the bottom to the top, act – and you can forget about both radicals and xenophobes from distant countries, as well as about those of our own backyard…[/quote]

I know, as a leftie, I’m supposed to be against institutions like the monarchy, and indeed part of me does find it grossly unfair and outdated. Yet I must admit that part of me has a soft spot for old Liz. In a world of constant change and turmoil, she has always been there; for the last 63 years she has been a fixture of British society. I find quite a bit of comfort in that. Thus, on the occasion of the queen becoming this country’s longest ever reigning monarch (some time this evening, apparently) I wish her well. Mind you, it has to be said that I’m only this supportive of the queen because of Happy and Glorious, as it was in that short film that her majesty revealed her more playful, human side. Everyone probably thought that she would be above such things, but in a way in that film she redefines herself as more in touch with contemporary culture than we thought, and, dare I say it, rather cool. It was quite a coup, if you think about it. In 2012, then, the queen earned my respect, and I therefore wish her well today.

My dad popped round for a visit today. My parents are in town, and dad often comes for a cup of coffee on such occasions. As usual we discussed this and that – how the family is doing, and so on. Today we touched upon the next bond theme. I mentioned I had heard Sam Smith might be doing it; dad hadn’t heard of him, and we left it there. Moments after Dad left, though, I checked the news and, coincidence of coincidences, found this story. Smith is indeed doing the theme for Spectre. It remains to be seen, of course, how good a job he does, and I have my reservations. I realise I’m probably being a tad unfair on the guy, but the question is whether an X factor contestant can really match up to the likes of Shirley Bassey, Carly Simon or Tina turner – I have my doubts.

It may be a couple of years old, but Lyn posted a link to this remarkable presentation on her Facebook page, and I thought I’d flag it up here too. Imogen Heap is a musical pioneer who creates sounds using electronic equipment she controls by moving her body. That is, rather than pressing notes on a conventional instrument, she can wave her hand or shake her leg to generate sound. It’s quite fascinating to watch, and utterly postmodern; but what I find especially interesting is how this technology can be used by people with disabilities to create music. While you would probably need fairly good motor control to get something resembling a good tune going on this device, by effectively rendering the space around you an instrument, it certainly helps open up the boundaries of what is possible.

I just came across this rather interesting little bbc article on how people with disabilities are reclaiming the old Victorian idea of the freak show. A group of disabled performers in bristol called Cirque Bijou have come together to perform, showing off their bodies and the differences they have. The pivotal point is, this is something they have chosen to do. Whereas in the past so-called freaks were forced to perform for another person’s profit, these performers have reclaimed the freak role and made it their own; they have reclaimed their bodies. Just as I ironically use the word ‘cripple’ in the title of my blog, they have taken control over what was once a form of severe oppression. From what I hear, performers in the old victorian circuses were quite literally slaves; now, by reclaiming both their bodies and the language used to describe them, the performers – the freaks – have become the masters. Moreover, displaying their bodies in such a way demystifies them, so hopefully this circus would help to remove some of the fear surrounding disability too. It shifts the focus from ghoulish voyeurism to one of admiration. Thus I think this is a great idea, and I wish them well.

This must be the best idea I’ve come across in quite some time. It’s an article proposing we swap Katie Hopkins for 50,000 Syrian refugees, and I wholeheartedly support it. I’ve had enough of that judgemental cow polluting the journalistic discourse with her attention seeking bile; I’d rather feed and support 50,000 desperate people who will probably end up contributing to society. Moreover, in Syria, Perry might learn to keep her obnoxious, baseless opinions to herself. Thus, while this may have started as a joke, it is actually a very good idea.

I think I’ll flag this short video by Mark Kermode on the relationship between books and films up. It is a subject which fascinates me, and I touch briefly upon it in my MA. As the Good Doctor notes, there seems to be a tendency to think a book is always superior to a film. But to me they go hand-in-hand. They are vastly different art forms, but they often complement each other. They can also shed different perspectives on the same subject. As Dr. K notes, a film can inspire one to read a book, or visa versa. All this was first addressed, I need to say, on the pages of Cahiers du Cinema in the fifties and sixties, but it’s good to see Kermode touching upon it once again.

Last night in bed I was thinking about Happy and Glorious. I realise it must seem odd for me to still be so fixated upon it, but this short film intrigues me even now. Part of the reason for that comes from the fact it was so unexpected: who would have thought we would ever see the queen ‘meeting’ James Bond and parachuting out of a helicopter with him? Isn’t she supposed to be above such populist things? It was out of the blue, broke our perceptions of royalty and was very, very cool. At one and the same time, it questioned our perceptions of royalty in a completely surprising way yet said something we all knew about British culture which is always left unsaid. How very British.

That got me thinking: where else might we see a similar breaking? Could anything else, any other combination, elicit the same reaction, the same degree of amazement and surprise? It occurred to me that Japan still has an emperor just as we have our queen; the interesting question is, would Japanese culture allow a similar type of play? Happy and Glorious said something about Britain’s relationship with it’s monarchy; could Japanese culture allow for a similar juxtaposition of reverence and irreverence, tradition and modernity? I don’t know much about Japanese culture, but the impression I get is that it wouldn’t – it is much too reverential and conservative. Then again, one might have said that of British culture before 2012. Thus Happy and Glorious opens up the possibility of such things happening elsewhere: if Bond can escort the queen to the olympics, surely anything else is possible and nothing is out of the question. But what if it is? what if the Japanese see their emperor – who, to them, is more like a god – as above such things? what does that say about their culture and ours; their relationship to monarchy and ours? These are the cultural implications of Happy and glorious which, believe it or not, still interest me. What would be fascinating is if we see a similar stunt in Tokyo in 2020.

I think this video is definitely worth flagging up. It’s a RT interview with Paula Peters, a key player in the disabled peoples’ movement, detailing just how harmful the tory cuts are. As Peters explains, these cuts have cost hundreds of lives, and have pushed many more – Peters included – into states of absolute despair. It is little wonder that the UN is coming in to investigate that insult to humanity IDS and the harm he is doing through his ideologically-driven reforms. I’m just relieved that at least one news channel is covering this disaster; I daresay you would never see such an interview on the beeb these days.

I must say the idea of a disabled people’s party is appealing. Although it might face questions of scope and accusations of being a one trick pony, a party of people with disabilities standing up for people with disabilities may be just what we need. We’re being largely ignored by mainstream parties, shat on my the government. I just came across this interesting Guardian piece about how such a party has been set up in Cordoba, Argentina. While they have faced a few problems, it appears to have been largely successful, albeit on a small scale. It makes me wonder whether the time has come for such a party here. Mind you, it would probably face many of the problems the movement has at the moment, with a pushy, authoritarian few presuming to speak for the many. Then you have the problem of who is eligible to enter

The summer is on the wane, and autumn’s coming

Yet, sat here in our garden with you, I couldn’t be more content.

The distant rumble of the city goes on, but here there is

Silence, as I watch you drift in and out of an afternoon doze.

Beneath my feet, grass, wet and green; Above, the sky blue but speckled with cloud

The tweets of birds and rumble of planes.

But, here, now, all that exists is this quiet moment of calm

No traffic, no planes, no city.

Just you and I, the wet grass

Our love, and the waning summer.

It may be my imagination, but there has definitely been a change in the air. It’s as if, with the onset of the Embers of the Year, everything as suddenly become much duller and grimmer. As if with the coming of autumn everyone has hunkered down and gone back to work; settled into the usual humdrum routine that will last until christmas. I was just at the local special school asking if I could volunteer, as I’ve done every year for the last five – my version, I suppose, of returning to work. I know I shouldn’t feel so glum – after all, the metropolis has a habit of throwing up nuggets of awesomeness when you least expect – yet, with the sky so cloudy and bleak, it feels like the city has returned to a routine which, while reassuring, is ultimately very dull. Having said that, I thought the same this time last year, and look what awesome things followed.

People are dying due to the cuts; day after day I see reports of the suffering the Tories are causing through their ideological war on the welfare state. The UN is coming in to investigate the harm, the breeches of human rights, the cuts are doing, I read. Yet, as if to spit in the face of those he is hurting, I just saw on the news this evening that the son-of-a-p’tahk Osbourne has announced he’s spending half a billion quid on the renewal of trident, a system whose only purpose or use is to kill. How can they be so stupid, so arrogant, so callous to the thousands who are suffering? The tories have sunk to a new low, and words fail me.

I’m pleased to report that I’m having something of a productive bank holiday: I’m at last working on my script again, and have already written about four good pages. However, when it turned four I checked the headlines, and found this story. Kanye West apparently intends to run for president in 2020. Now, while I’m not a big fan of West’s music, I have nothing against him as a person, yet I can’t help finding this idea absurd. Rapping is one thing, running a superpower quite another. What, apart from arrogance and ego, makes West think he’s up to the task? Of course, I could be wrong; after all, if George Dubya Bush can run America, so can anyone, including farmyard animals. Yet part of me is concerned that we might all be confusing celebrity for wisdom, and assuming that because someone is famous and raps about important topics, they would make good leaders. They don’t always go hand-in-hand, and I’m slightly worried that this is a sign of how vacuous and celebrity oriented western society is becoming.

It’s one of those days where you just feel subdued. I just got back from one of my walks, having been invited to a local cricket match. I didn’t stay long there, but went for a short roam round the streets. It’s not raining, but rather grey, giving the place a miserable, lethargic feeling. It’s the type of day where you start to miss summer. But I’ve come back to find Lyn cheerfully looking at pictures of music equipment on Her computer, her chuckles seemingly brightening the room; and it turns out that the sleep problems I was worried about yesterday are no more than a sign I’m getting old. A grey sort of day it may be, and autumn feels like it’s on the way; but coming home to a house full of laughter, far from the darkening urban sprawl outside, one can’t feel too down.

I note Bill O’Really* has been at it again. Last night I came across a video of him trying to pin the recent shootings in the States on the rise on Atheism, claiming that, because people are moving away from religion, society is losing it’s values and moral compass. Of course, Bill, don’t question the easy availability of firearms; try to pin it on your own gripe and use this horrific act to justify your own oppressive dogma. After all, nobody who believed in god ever hurt anyone. Seriously, how this absurd loud-mouth idiot ever got into a position of authority where he can espouse his ridiculous views is beyond me. What I find amusing, though, is that O’Reilly clearly holds himself in such high regard, not realising he is in fact the laughing stock of the entire world.

*Not a typo – a deliberate play on his name.

I did not sleep very well last night. It was weird: at about 4am I woke up (just when Lyn was coming to bed) and from then on, every time I felt myself going into REM I woke myself up. A similar thing happened the night before. I don’t know what, if anything, could have caused it; believe it or not I haven’t had a beer in a couple of weeks, so it can’t be that. It’s probably nothing, and no doubt soon I’ll be back to sleeping like a log; yet the episode about my absences taught me not to ignore such things; they might not be as insignificant as I’d like to assume. If this persists, then, I’ll check it out, probably first by consulting Mum. Yet it probably won’t, and all being well tomorrow I’ll wake up my usual time fresh as a daisy.

There is a strange habit I’ve noticed many people with cerebral palsy have – myself included – which I call ‘squealing’. Whenever I feel particularly excited or happy about something, I let off odd little spasms of glee, strange cries and laughs, They can happen at any time, depending on what I’m thinking about, so it must look strange to someone close by.You think about something you find cool, and something in you wells up and you can’t help letting it out. That’s what I meant here when I wrote that I was looking for something new to squeal about: I need something new to find joy in, to make me smile, to give off odd, random yelps of happiness people without CP probably just suppress.

There’s something strangely interesting about yesterday’s news about someone filming themself shooting someone. It would seem to say something about the society in which we now live. The way in which the killer wanted his horrendous act filmed seems to me to imply that it could only be real if it was recorded. It’s as if, in Lacanian terms, the Real and Symbolic are merging; as if the killer wanted to secure his deed in the collective memory, on the web. We see this in other areas too: more and more, people are uploading anything and everything – videos to Youtube, pictures to facebook – to cement an event online for posterity. It is as if we have all become insecure about the passing of time, and want to make it stop; we seek to cling to the past by rendering it into the online Symbolic, apparently desperate for others to witness it too. Yesterday’s killings were, of course, an extreme example, but it seems indicative of a very modern mindset: the desire to cling to ‘now’, the present, passing moment by rendering the real info the symbolic and making it available for all to see.

I may have been having a bit of a strop last week when I wrote this entry. It is not a sign that one is spoiled to ask for the support you think you need – of course not! In fact, if every disabled person was automatically awarded twenty-four hour support, it would go a long way to solving the country’s unemployment problems. And, to tell the truth, there have been times late at night when I’ve wished there was a PA around. While part of me still worries about the attitude of entitlement some people with disabilities seem to have, I also resolutely support an individual’s right to ask for the support they need to live independent lives. After all, only with the right support can one most efficiently contribute to society.

I just found this short humorous video by Michael Palin on his new Youtube channel. A keen diarist, Palin talks about how he has kept a diary for almost fifty years. What caught my interest is the relationship between that and my own practice of blogging: it’s not too dissimilar from me tapping an entry on here every day or two for the last ten years. Yet there are differences: whereas a diary is a record of personal, day-to-day events, a blog can combine this with reactions to what is going on in the world in general. You can write very personal things in diaries which, in a blog entry, might get you in trouble. Also, whereas Palin says diaries are ‘honest’ because you don’t go back and edit past entries, blog entries can be edited after they are posted. I used to try not to, but I’ve added or deleted stuff from entries I wrote years ago. Does that make my blog dishonest? I don’t think so – one’s feelings about things can change over time, so, because it is public and readable to others, one sometimes feels the need to go back and edit. It’s an interesting dichotomy: I suppose in a way blogging is an evolution of diary-keeping, an it’s interesting to reflect upon the relationship between the two.

These days if ever I feel the need to give myself a quick boost, I just think about all the awesome things that have happened in the last few years. The Olympics, Python, Star Trek, graduation – all these things are so special to me. Yet they were all a while ago, so now I think it’s time for another bit of awesomeness. What this awesomeness will be I don’t know, and of course it’s not as simple as willing one into existence – they are special because they are once in a lifetime experiences, rare by definition. But this is London: a place where incredible things happen. There’s bound to be a concert or gig or event which will again have me squeaking with glee and wondering how I could be so lucky to experience it. That’s part of the magic of the city.

While I’m not entirely convinced that Shirley bassey would be the best choice to do the theme for Spectre – although she has done some of the best Bond Themes – I think I need to flag this video up, simply because of it’s sublime and highly amusing editing. Some of the cutting is awesome! It’s also evidence of just how good socalled amateurs are getting at creating videos. Enjoy!

The Daily Mail is at it again. Today it has published a blatantly biassed, utterly baseless rant against Jeremy Corbyn. How this insult to journalism can publish such crap staggers me, almost as much as how people can be dim enough to read it. It is a ‘what if Corbyn was elected’ piece, predicting all kinds of ‘horrors’, as if a fairer, more equal society is something to be avoided. I suppose if you care only about yourself and thin poor people deserve their fate – that is, you possess the arrogant, infantile mentality of the average Mail reader – it is. But I for one am getting fed up of them publishing such bollocks. True, under the principal of freedom of speech, they are free to print what they like; but under the same principal I am free to zoom down to Charlton village, declare myself a dragon and demand everyone pay homage to me. What the Mail publishes is hate-filled baseless crap intended to promote a selfish, right-wing worldview. It’s attack on Corbyn today proves what a rag it is, and it has no right to spread it’s lies. It is nothing but pollution in the stream of journalistic discourse.

I Am currently on a bus back from my bank. There’s an odd, ancient feel to this place, as if one can still detect what was here before it became part of a vast metropolis: the villages and hamlets. At the same time there Is a modern, vibrant, multicultural feeling to this place: woolwich, for example, is full of Islamic and African shops. This causes a juxtaposition of ancient and modern, British and foreign, which is fascinating, and adds to my love of London. To be able to detect the fields and farmsteads that must once have been here amid the modern, vibrant maelstrom gives the city an energy unlike anywhere else.

This might be slightly contentious, but it seems to me that there is a certain type of person within the disability community who, despite their claims otherwise, is only really interested in their own rights and needs. Often, these people are young and spoiled; they are used to getting their own way and being the centre of attention. Probably because they got so much lavished upon them as children, they demand more support than they actually need – twenty-four hour care in many cases – while others, realising resources may be limited and that others need support too, make do with what they really need. Such people see themselves as leaders of our community, and seem to think they deserve media attention as ”oh so inspirational disabled people”. They perceive persecution in every nook and cranny, calling themselves activists and going to every protest, while not realising that, being mainstream educated, they are among the least persecuted among us.

Academically, they don’t push themselves as hard as they might, and yet cry ‘disability’ when they don’t get the grades they think the are due. I know I shouldn’t be so bitchy, and perhaps I should leave such people to their own devices; but I just worry about how spoiled some of ‘us’ can seem, and about how they can prioritise their own needs over those of others.

ADDENDUM – A (partial) retraction of this entry can be read here

I’m still struggling with my current script. I started it about two months ago, and it’s still only twelve pages. I think I have a bit of writers block: I know the story I want to tell, but not how to tell it, which sort of makes me doubt my abilities as a creative writer. But I suppose I just need to keep chipping away at it; keep at it, and it’ll come. After all, I had similar bouts of despair with my MA thesis. My dad once told me that the only deadline I had for my masters is the one I set myself, and I suppose the same applies now. After all, it’s the first full-length narrative I’ve tried to write. I need, then, to stop fretting and keep going.

I reckon London’s next big project should be here in the city’s south-east. I was thinking about this in bed last night. All the other quarters have very cool things: the north-west has wembley, the bbc and so on; the south-west has Kew; the north-east now has the awesomeness of the Olympic park. What do we have? Of course, you could say the south-east has the dome, but, being slap-band on the jubilee line, that’s part of central london really. It’s time ‘we’ had a bit of attention lavished upon us, like Stratford had for 2012. What this might be is another question, but I’d opt for a cricket ground or film studio. Mind you, a concert hall/music venue where Lyn could play could be cool. Either way, I just think south-east London is due something big, bold and exciting,

Watching Monty Python Live last year ranks alongside meeting Sir Patrick Stewart, watching Lyn perform at the paralympic closing ceremony and graduating my masters as one of the greatest events of my life. In my entry about that awesome event, I said that I thought I was watching Python’s last ever performance, and that I didn’t think they would ever perform together again. It now seems I may have been wrong: yesterday on the monty python facebook page a picture appeared showing the five remaining team members together; the caption below said they were making plans. I was instantly intrigued. I can only speculate about what that could mean: could they be making a new film together? Very possible. A documentary about Python? No – the wording of the caption did not suggest that.

I can’t help but think that they might be planning another live show. Perhaps last year was such a success they have been persuaded to do it again. If that is so, then where? I think it’s unlikely to be at the o2 again – cool though it would be for me, I think they would want to go somewhere else. Maybe someone in the States saw the shows last year, thought ”we’ll have some of that” and made the team an offer they couldn’t refuse. I find that rather likely. Either way this is pure speculation started by a single picture on facebook – I could well be completely wrong. Nevertheless, this is a story I’ll be watching with great interest; going by what happened last time, it might well turn out to be something truly awesome. Monty Python, it would seem, is not dead yet.

It would seem that my ponderings have turned up something genuinely interesting for once. Today, in the shower, I was once again thinking about Happy and Glorious and about how it is quite unambiguous evidence that James Bond has a major position in uk culture. That made me wonder whether any other fictional character in any other country has a similar position. If the meeting of bond and the queen in 2012 brought together two of the biggest symbols of Britain, might other such combinations be possible? Once dry and dressed, I tweeted: ”Does any other character in any other country have the same cultural position as 007 has in the UK?” And the response turned up something far more interesting than Bond.

My friend John replied. He’s apparently currently in Palestine, and there they have a cartoon character called Handala. Handala is ten, and. as explained here, is a kind of symbol for the Palestinian refugees, embodying their plight: ”From approximately 1975 through 1987 Naji Al-Ali created cartoons that depict the complexities of the plight of Palestinian refugees. These cartoons are still relevant today and Handala, the refugee child who is present in every cartoon, remains a potent symbol of the struggle of the Palestinian people for justice and self-determination.” For a student of culture, this certainly warrants further research. It might not have been quite what I was thinking of in the shower, but this figure is the fictional symbol of one of the most persecute communities on earth, offering an enlightening perspective on a complex, troubling situation – I find that fascinating. Looking into this seems promising; time to do some Googling.

My inner trekkie really wants to go to this. I found it by chance earlier: the London Philharmonic will be doing a star trek concert in November, playing the themes from the star trek films. I know I can listen to the themes whenever I like, and Lyn didn’t seem that fussed when I mentioned it to her, but it would be awesome to hear the music from my favourite tv show played live. Although I don’t think they’re going to play the theme from First Contact, my all-time favourite trek film, and cannot top meeting Sir Patrick Stewart las year, I’m seriously considering getting tickets.

Today, bbc news just informed me, marks a hundred days since the tories came to power. A hundred days since a group of self-serving aristocrats proclaimed themselves our leaders; a hundred days since they began to impose their unjust ideological cuts. A hundred days since CaMoron claimed what he would no doubt view as his birthright. We are a hundred days into five years of suffering – suffering the tories chose to impose on us. They are the type of people who would rather put the poorest people in society through hell than raise tax on those who can afford to give a little more. With their selfish worldview, they are unfit to rule, yet they do and indeed see it as their birthright. Thus today marks a grim milestone: so many have died due to the cuts already; I wonder how many more will die before we can finally eject these insults to humanity from office.

There’s one thing that worries me about Jeremy Corbyn. As much as I like his old-left, communitarian politics, my fear is that such views have become too unfashionable. Like him I believe in the state, in society, in the community; yet in the eighties that bitch thatcher moved us all to a more individualistic paradigm. The damage she did may well be irreversible; we now all care only for ourselves, see ourselves as separate entities and resent contributing to the greater good. If that is true, then the p’tahk Blair is right and the electorate will ignore corbyn and we’ll have another tory government in 2020. Thus while my heart wants corbyn as labour leader, my head worries that people have become too self-centred to see the wisdom of his views. His politics may hark back to the 1960s, but that’s a damn sight better than the 1880’s politics of the Tories.

When I was young I used to like watching Dad’s Army. I remember it was on on Saturday afternoons at about teatime, and I vividly remember watching it as the smell of dinner wafted from the kitchen. I must have only been about five or six, but it seemed old to me even then. There was always an air of a bygone era about it, not just in terms of it’s subject, but also it’s comedy and style: it was part of our cultural history and belonged to the past. It was to my utter astonishment this morning, then, that I came across this. I realise that the cinema is full of reboots right now, but never in my wildest dreams would I have thought someone would go back to dad’s Army. Nevertheless, my childhood Saturday evening distraction will soon be reborn on the big screen, with Bill Nighy and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and directed by Oliver Parker, who did one of the johnny English films. Of course, whether it will be any good remains to be seen. My gut instinct says it’ll be a flop: it won’t feel right without the original cast in their original roles. That would be like someone other than William Shatner playing James Kirk – Ridiculous!…Oh, wait…And there we have it: yet another part of one’s childhood rebooted as empty, meaningless dross.

I just found this cool short film by my old colleague from Onevoice, Nadia, concerning her visit to Sydney Opera House. They have an awesome-looking new lift system there which Nadia tries out. Nadia is a real go-getter of the VOCA-using community, has won strings of awards and is a great ambassador for ‘us’. It’s good to see her doing so well.

Lyn and I watched ‘Epilepsy and me’ last night, and i must say I found it very rewarding. Since establishing what my absences actually are two or three years ago, I have been keeping an eye out for information on the subject, so I found this program quite an eye-opener. I never knew, for example, that there are so many types of epilepsy. I suppose that makes sense. This program helped to reassure me that I am not alone, which, as I wrote here, helps a lot. Most of all, I came away from this program reassured, and relieved that my absences are comparatively mild: they only last three or four seconds, and just get me down a bit, whereas what the kids in the program were going through was far worse. At the same time, I recognised elements of my absences in how they described their seizures, giving me an idea of how complex this issue is. Thus I’m very glad to have watched this program: I can now place myself on a spectrum, albeit towards the mild end, and know that I’m far from alone in having my absence.

The more I hear about Jeremy Corbyn, the more I like him. Of course, I’m not a member of Labour so I don’t have a vote in their leadership election, but I hope corbyn wins. Some say He’s too much of a lefte, and that his old-style psuedosocialist politics no longer have a place in tis increasingly neoliberal world. But I’d say that’s precisely what we need: we need an end of thatcherism, an end of greedy, small-state, low-tax individualism – that only leads to a rich few getting richer while the majority suffer. I’m glad to see there are a fe people left who stand up to such greed and call it what it is; people who counter the austerity bullshit the tories spew. Corbyn is right: austerity is a lie spouted by the tories so that they can justify their greedy, selfish politics. I just hope he wins so that things can start to be put right.

I came across this cartoon a couple of days ago and thought it definitely worthy of nicking

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