February Round Up
When asked previously, I would have said February was one of my least favourite months. Damp, dank, not yet spring.
But you know what? To walk around a forest on a misty morning, to listen to the patter of the rain on the leaves. To give your ears over to birdsong. To feel a wee kick when you spot a clump of snowdrops or daffs.
So up February and F*ck the begrudgers. Saying that, the evenings are conducive to sitting in and reading/watching/listening. So lets get on with my round up for this month.
Palestine
I can’t start without saying something about what’s happening in Palestine. I feel like I’m going out of my mind when I watch the slaughter taking place there. To talk about books etc and to be going about our normal lives whilst this is going on, leaves me feeling demented. This isn’t a disaster that nobody can stop.
That it’s taking place with the support of many of the western democracies, the US being the biggest, just feels insane. Today the US is talking about airlifting in food. Like it’s an earthquake and they can’t reach the victims. Nothing to do with their friends causing the starvation in the first place. In 2024.
Insane. Being gaslit constantly. I know so many of us feel that. I feel like I’ve lost a lot of faith in humanity over the past few months, but maybe that's where I went wrong to begin with. What’s also been revealing has been the media coverage and the linguistic gymnastics performed to prevent criticism of Israel. The guardian today called the massacre ‘food aid-related deaths.’ To think I was ever a subscriber.
Only today I watched as the Israelis shot dead over 100 people queuing for food. Made me think of Bloody Sunday but this is mass murder on an industrial scale. That’s just todays atrocity - they’ve murdered 30000 at the time of writing.
I’ve heard people saying that they can’t watch. It’s too much. Good for you. Aren’t you lucky you get to choose not to watch?
I recognise the importance of protecting your mental health by limiting your exposure to social media and 24/7 news cycles aren’t good for anyone. But nor is ignoring what’s going on in the world.
Don’t look away.
Don’t look away.
Don’t look away.
Free Palestine.
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society - Krishnamurti.
Sixty Years old and as sadly relevant as ever. Nothing F*cking changes, does it?
Books
First book this month was the short story collection ‘Quickly, while they still have horses’ by local author Jan Carson. Full of inventiveness and imagination, this was a delight. Made me love the short form again, and I’d love to get back into writing but you read something as accomplished as this and you can only sigh.
Much needed laughs were provided by Alan Partridge in ‘Big Beacon’ as he rebuilds both his broadcasting career and a lighthouse. Audiobook is the perfect format for Coogan’s genius creation, and you’d think by now after 30 years he’d be showing signs of overfamiliarity. He’s just so well developed that I think he’s funnier than ever.
I liked ‘Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow’ by Gabrielle Zevin much more than I was expecting. As an old gamer, I liked the inspiration behind the games, the nostalgia and the friendship over the decades between Sam and Sadie was nuanced and moving. Definitely worth a read.
Movies
Good month for movies. Not to sound like the old fart I am, but I’ve become so picky. Some movies I’ll watch ten minutes of and I have to go wash my eyes and reach into my brain through my ear to press delete. Such a load of shite out there. So yeah, I’m a bit picky. You’d think I didn’t have a load of time to waste.
First up was ‘Anatomy of a fall’ by Justine Triet. It’s mostly set around a court case, and it’s about a woman who is suspected of the murder of her husband in the French alps, with the only ‘witness’ being their half-blind son.
There’s no doubting we all love a good murder mystery, and that’s part of the appeal of this movie. But it’s also the dissection of a marraige, and the relationship between the parents and son. I found myself being pulled in different directions, the writers causing me to constantly second guess myself. Smart movie, great performances.
Next was ‘Zone of Interest’. When I knew this was a Jonathan Glazer film (Sexy Beast, Under the Skin) I wanted to see it immediately. Now that I have seen it, it won’t leave me alone.
It’s set in the house of commandant Rudolp Hoss, outside the walls of Auschwitz. We see the life of his wife and five children in their domestic habitat -playing with the dog, gardening, picnics, boat rides - while all the time we hear occasional gun shots, screams, shouts from the other side of the wall. Plumes of smoke.
We never see beyond the wall. Throughout the film, there’s this sense of dread that builds, and it’s totally unsettling - Glazer really is a master of it (if you’ve seen under the skin, you’ll know what I mean). Such a performance too from Sandra Hüller.
Maybe it resonated with me so much because like I said earlier, people find it so easy to compartmentalise evil. A devastating movie, that at the moment I don’t want to watch again, but that I will. Especially need to see the ending again.
TV
I read ‘One Day’ by David Nicholls when it came out in 2009. I enjoyed it well enough from what I can remember. It didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the Netflix series of the same name, but it did mean there weren’t any surprises.
First up, great performances and crackling chemistry between the two leads, and I particularly enjoyed Ambika Mods ‘Emma’ who was at turns witty and vulnerable. The music was also spot on, and really helped timestamp it for me. Like ‘Tomorrow, and tomorrow, tomorrow’ from earlier, it beautifully charts a friendship over the decades. Very moving.
‘Fargo’ has to be one of the most underrated yet consistent series on the go. Now in its fifth outing, the current season stars Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Not going to spoil anything, but it really starts as it means to go on - with an outbreak of violence at a school board meeting. It’s got plenty of my favourite dark humour, violence, tension, looks great, superb performances - I just loved it. Hard to beat an ass kicking heroine with that Minnesota accent.
Podcasts
Eckhart Tolle’s podcast on Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) has been a morning favourite. Calming and wise, nice start to the day. The Tommy, Hector and Larita podcast is great craic, and the GAA social is great for all things Gaelic football, especially the interview with the legendary Frank McGuigan, even if he broke my heart twice in 1984 - ulster final with tyrone, and with Ardboe against Keady in the ulster championship.
Music
No purchases for me this month, nothing took my fancy. Still on an ambient, jazzy buzz. Fairly random selections, bit of everything, lot of mood listening. Did enjoy this from Radiohead, from perhaps my favourite album of theirs
That’s it for February. As always, thank you for subscribing and reading. May you be happy, may you be well, may you be free from suffering.