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After Bush – Poem: end the nightmare? Yes we can.

Tweet After Bush Let us dare to speak of hope of aspiration not of doubt Let John and Robert rest in peace with Martin by their side For they have been dishonoured their sacrifice denied Let us with courage separate as wise and thoughtful men once did opposing claims of church and state that every […]

Saraband – Bergman’s existential farewell. Deeply moving

Tweet Saraband – Ingmar Bergman (BBC Prize Review) Saraband is like a cup of very hot, black, excellent tea on a bitter Winter’s day. Not everyone’s brew. A drink that must be sipped, taking in its satisfying heat little by little. No sweetness here, just a few hints of tenderness and compassion like single grains […]

War of The Worlds – Shock, Awe and Irony from Spielberg

Tweet War of the Worlds – Steven Spielgberg I wonder whether the irony in Spielberg’s SFX blockbuster is intentional. If so, will its American audience get it? A massive invasion by an enemy displaying overwhelming, irresistible force, destroy everything in their path: people, buildings, cities. Shock and Awe as ever was. The Alien invaders display […]

The Carousel – Poem: round and round we go

TweetThe Carousel Round and round, and up and down come board our pretty ride wicked smiles they never frown the moveless horses, baleful eyed but have a care, this circle game ends only when someone has died. Up and down, and round and round pitilessly the horses spin never merry, they go round implacable, they […]

The Corporation – shark, psychopath, or force for good?

Tweet The Corporation – Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbot Question: should we regard a Corporation as an organisational shark or an organisational psychopath? It is the philosophical weakness, but documentary strength of The Corporation that it doesn’t tackle this central issue head on. It defines corporate behaviour as psychopathological at one point, but often throughout implies […]

Circle of Life – Poem: the changing seasons

Tweet Circle of Life The graceful skeletons lose their flesh of summer sun. Naked, stark and cold rain-oiled sinews flex in the teasing wind beckoning to the grey, uneasy skies. The sylvan acrobats head dreywards with their spoils survival stashed in secret stores. Unfulfilled, the hope of spring lost in summer’s indiscriminate excess sees wistful […]

Vers Le Sud (Heading South) – sexual colonialism

Tweet Vers Le Sud (Heading South) – Laurent Cantet (BBC Prize Review) Is sex the paradigm human experience? A pool of thought for ever poisoned by Freud. Presidents, kings and queens, tycoons and politicians – all seem willing to risk everything for it. It sells everything from spanners to hot dogs; politicians to flatulence pills. […]

Toad Ode – Poem

Tweet Toad Ode I always get the bit part In fairy tales and books A slimy one-kiss wonder With execrable looks I was minding my own business A happy, hoppy kind of guy Until that bloody princess Happened to pass by Who asked the primpy airhead To screw up my contented life Transmogrifying my existence […]