Of Literature, Women and Song.

Date: 11 December 2005 22:24:08

Hmm brain's on an all over the place type route tonight so lets see where we go shall we?

Originally I was going to say something about Live and Direct, the music based sessions that I'm working on during the week and the final night session, the gig for 7 or so bands made up of 13-18 year olds. It was massive, just such a good evening that I can't describe. In ten years time I can guarantee that at least three of the people I saw during the evening will be very rich and famous and I got to see them when they were little :@)

I was also going to say a little about how amazing the kids I work with at St Peter's were today with the mini-books. To be honest the past day or so I'd become a little despondent about it, assuming that the lack of interest would equate to a massive let down... Shouldn't have underestimated the kids, they sold a hundred in ten minutes more or less and took another fifty to sell at school the next day. Then a couple of the mums took a few more handfulls and... Well, today was a good day for all that. Very, very heartened....

Then there's the son boy issue. Spent a lot of yesterday and today with him. Y-day was because wifey went off with mum to see a film together so I had both kids for four hours, which doesn't on the face of it sound like a lot, certainly I can see mums snorting into their coffee at a dad that can't cope with the kids for a short while. And to an extent that's true.... but wifey and I tag team looking after son boy, and generally I guess we both take it in short stretches. After friday nights shenanigans (started at 6, home at midnight, which is a long stretch trying to keep a handle on such a huge amount of kids) I was pretty much wiped out on saturday morning and when that happens I kind of just let my son happen to me if that makes sense. And by that I mean that basically I get knocked about a bit because he doesn't understand the concept of gentle.

Anyway, spent a lot of this evening just sitting and watching him play and we just sort of had a separate, but close, time together. These periods of time always make me feel a little... thoughtful. Not brooding so much as ... introspective from the outside? I begin to look at our relationship from afar and wonder what it is that he understands of me and vice versa. Anyhow, today and yesterday were days that have set my mind ticking along.

Lastly I wanted to speak about the finest work of literature of my generation. It's a tricky one. I'm going to say something and you're all going to dismiss it because of well held misconceptions and.. well... Anyway. The finest piece of literature over the past thirty five years is a comic book.

There, I've said it, not you can ignore the rest and call me crazy.

Anyhow, I've spent the last three hours reading a slice of a comic book by a Canadian author/artist called Dave Sim, ably assisted by another artist called Gerhard. Without doubt it is the most beautiful, thought provoking, brave, literate, excellent piece of work. Sometimes I look at someone's work and see things I'd liked to have done myself, but much I would have changed, if that doesn't sound too egotistical. Some artists I look at and appreciate what they've done and enjoy participating in what they have to show. Dave Sim and Gerhard have shaped a work that is beyond any description and judgement that had been previously levelled against illustrated stories and is as far removed from Spiderman, Batman and the rest as you could ever imagine. It is, in every sense of the words, a work of art and I look at it with total and utter admiration.

Righto, brain tired down the paths it's meandered. Time to snooze.

And the 'of Women' bit of the titlle? Well, apart from the fact that Cerebus is an illustrated story that looks in detail at the tensions between the sexes, it's also something that captures in minute detail the rollercoaster of relationships. reading it always reminds me of past times, the days when I first went out with wifey and the first crush I had at school. Friends I fancied and people I respected. It's something that captures perfectly the uncertainty of emotion. More than that shan't say, but can't read Cerebus without spending a great deal of time in thought directly afterwards, occasionally for days, and that, to me, is part of the mark of how great it is.

Currently listening to: Athlete: Tourist. Currently playing: Mario Kart DS
Currently Reading: Cerebus issues 140- 192: The Mothers and Daughters arc..