Welcome again to one of my occasional round ups. As seen from the picture above, Autumn has taken hold, and I love to walk on carpets of crispy, rust coloured leaves. There’s also a childhood delight in coming across conkers on the local mall and giving them a good boot along the path. (A conker is a name for the seed of a horse chestnut tree, in case anyone is wondering what I’m kicking.)

Couple of books, films, album and the much anticipated return of irregular blog feature, my favourite benches. Your enthusiasm is almost palpable, so let’s get on with it.

Books

Only two this month, but a couple of crackers. When the evenings are drawing in, it’s hard to beat a good thriller, and with a bit of horror thrown in, ‘Blood like mine’ by good Armagh man Stuart Neville fit the bill. Not for the squeamish, but I found it great fun and a proper page turner. Expecting to read about film rights for this one.

A completely different read, but also engrossing, was ‘Migrations’ by Charlotte McConaghy which is about a young woman going on a journey to watch the last migration of the Artic Terns, in a world decimated by climate change. Beautiful and devastating, this one stuck in my head for days.

The rest of my reading month has been a bit picky. A couple of meditation books which get a couple of pages in the morning, two audiobooks which I move between at 430 in the mornings. I’ve a couple that I haven’t completed the reviews of, one of which is ‘Oh William’ by Elizabeth Strout. And a non-fiction book on how stress damages the body that results in me feeling so anxious that I can only read a couple of pages at a time. Oh, and there’s Stevie Kings ‘Under the dome’ which is a before bedtime/getting back to sleep/dentist surgery waiting room book.

It goes like that. I move between books, according to mood and intuition, so it takes longer to complete titles. Saying that, I've just started Sally Rooney’s ‘Intermezzo’ and find myself reaching for it more and more. Giving myself over to that for the foreseeable.

Screentime

So many shows and films abandoned due to lack of interest/tiredness. Hard to find something that engages me completely, but there were a couple of standouts.

First up on Netflix was ‘The old oak’ by Ken Loach. I’ll watch anything from this acclaimed director, and yet again this film was more honest and raw that almost anything else I’ve watched this year.

It’s about a pub called ‘The old oak’ which is a hub at the heart of the community. Families of Syrian refugees are suddenly moved into the areas, resulting in mixed reactions from the locals. Some are more welcoming than others, and pub landlord TJ strikes up a friendship with young Syrian photographer Yara.

Apparently at 87 this is Loaches final movie, the last in his austerity trilogy after the hard-hitting ‘I, Daniel Blake’ and ‘Sorry we missed you.’ He’ll be sorely missed, as there aren’t many others making films as rooted in social realism. Austerity Britain, started by the wretched tories and now continued by Starmers Labour, is a deeply fractured and depressing place, and ripe for movies like this.

Perhaps it’s a touch idealistic, but the story and performances are genuine and I found it emotionally affecting, something rare enough for me watching films these days. Loach generally succeeds with his targets, the government policies that are responsible for Broken Britain whilst immigrants take the brunt of the publics anger, the usual handy scapegoats. There’s much needed hope with this film, something in short supply.

The genocide continues, now rolling into Lebanon. F**k Israel. Nothing seems to be able to stop this murderous campaign, backed by Western Governments who have decided that some lives are worthless.

Kneecap and Die Antwoord

Middle age bloke alert: I find most modern music bland. I let music find me these days, rather than actively search for it like I did with a passion in my ‘yoof and into my early 40’s. Most of what I hear on commercial radio, generally the worst place to discover new music, leaves me with a bit of a headache if there’s a long queue in the barbers.

I can still be moved by music, it just happens less and less. And I still like to hear a song and think: just what is that? Which is exactly what happened with the music of these next two acts.

I first saw Die Antwoord on Youtube in the video below and thought; What the f**k is going on here? It felt a bit like when you have the flu and you take some proper kick ass tablets and you drift in and out of fever dreams, whilst the next door neighbour is playing rave loudly. A bit mad.

So when I saw ‘ZEF: The story of Die Antwoord’ was on Prime, I had to give it a watch. Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m any the wiser afterwards. I know a bit more about ZEF, which is a South African counter culture movement, as espoused by Ninja and Yolandi, the face of the band. White trash, bogan, chav would perhaps be similar cultural comparisons.

The music itself is probably best described as alternative hip hop meets European Rave. They puts me in mind of ‘The prodigy’ at their manic best, maybe peaches as well? Yolandi has such a unique vocal style.

It’s visually I find them most interesting, and it continues in this film. There are some startling images, from them with a pet leopard, to their daughter (called 16) featuring in some interesting situations. Ninja at times seems to have a bit of a Jesus fixation, and Yolandi has some eye catching outfits.

There’s a lot about their own relationship, and they do talk about some of the controversies associated with the band, none of which I knew about beforehand. Are they cancelled? Honestly, some of it felt like a bit of a PR exercise but I’d need to learn more about the debate around the band.

But visually its continually fresh, striking, and surreal, and I was interested in their links with photographer Roger Ballant. I’d say it’s worth a watch alright.

Next up: Loosely based on the story of how Mo Chara, Móglaí bap and DJ Próva got together, ‘Kneecap’ was great craic; Exuberant, chaotic and with a bit of an edge, I loved it.

Self confessed ‘lowlife scum’, there’s something of the punk rappers about Kneecap, with their fusion of the Irish language, hip hop and republicanism. If ‘The commitments’ was rooted in north inner city Dublin, this is very much embedded in West Belfast.

There’s plenty of drug takings and some (funny) sex scenes as well, so avoid if that offends you. As an Irishman of a certain vintage, I found this to be absolutely glorious - it’s got a cracking pace, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and also tells you something about the struggle for rights that continues in the north. The three band members also do a great job at the acting, and Micheal Fassbender has a nice role. I mentioned Ken Loach earlier and here’s that word again; Authentic.

All the better that this movie has annoyed the usual dryshites, and it has remained me of my own grá for the language and a reminder that I must get my arse along to a class soon. As gaelige is very much alive and part of the community here.

Definitely one of the better movies I've seen this year.

Listening

Just the one vinyl purchase this month but it’s a good one - Van Morrisons ‘It’s too late to stop now - volume 1’ live in LA and London in the Summer of 73. The Belfast cowboy to my ears has never sounded better live than on these albums, totally in the zone, powering through some classic r&b standards, as well as ‘Them’ classics and his own wonderful catalogue.

This is a quality vinyl pressing, and the recording itself is top notch. Such interplay with Van and the eleven piece band, with some numbers such as ‘Gloria’ getting a proper Jazz makeover from the Caledonia Soul Orchestra. On ‘Caravan’ he sounds like a preacher man from his own East Belfast.

Currently have a wee glass of wine on the go, so this is getting another airing right now. Gwan Van ya good thing.

Benches

Many of you have got in touch to ask what happened to my ‘Favourite bench’ feature (a complete lie) so I thought it time to bring it back.

This months is a work bench (not that type) but a place where I find solace at lunch time on my daily walk (or lunchtime escape) from work. It’s situated behind the Armstrong school, on the observatory grounds near the weather stations, which is where we find out information such as it’s been raining for 46 days straight and Summer 24 didn’t actually occur.

I enjoy sitting here because it leads nowhere, so there’s no passing traffic, not that I generally mind. It’s a bit open weatherwise but as mentioned, the sun hasn’t been an issue and I’m unlikely to sit in the rain. I haven’t sat on it for too long so I can’t comment on the possibility of developing ‘Johnny Giles’ and it’s fairly free of bird shite.

So what occurred to me on this bench today?

I can sit here in open awareness. Today, as I sat, there was effortless and impersonal awareness of:

thoughts about which coffee shop I was going to stop in on the way home;

thoughts about forgetting to put the washing machine on before I left the house;

sounds of people on a rugby pitch;

sounds of a motorbike tearing up the road;

sounds of tinnitus pulsating in my head, like a ribbon of static being tightly stretched;

feelings of tiredness behind my eyes:

feelings of tingling in my chest;

Touch of my arse on the bench, hands together in my lap;

Touch of the wind on my cheeks and forehead;

Touch of my feet on the gravel.

sight of the leaves fluttering in the trees, in waves of green and gold.

sight of clouds moving across the sky, of a crow floating on the breeze, gliding by.

And then I’m sitting in effortless being, in awareness, and everything is ebbing and flowing.

There’s a Japanese phrase - You name the bird, you cease to experience the song.

And Krishnamurti - ‘The day you teach the child the name of the bird, the child will never see that bird again.’

We label everything in our experience. It’s like we have to commentate on everything that happens. But here’s the thing - we don’t have to.

All the things I mentioned above, they arise and fall, come and go, and that awareness that I am, that I've always been, is still here. It’s all there is, and ever will be.

Rest as awareness - peace is the true nature of your being.

That’s enough for this month. Thank you for the kind words you send my way, I’m happy our online paths have crossed and that you enjoy the blog.

Until next time, may you be happy, may you be well, may you be free from suffering.