Pynchon

Somehow I managed to lose Tuesday.

Appalling traffic problems getting home. Late getting the dinner on. Late sitting down to dinner. Got distracted watching an old "Doctor Who" episode ("The Girl In The Fireplace" starring the foxy Sophia Myles) on BBC3. Too late to get onto the computer. "C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation" and "Lost". Had a wank. My Lord, does the excitement ever cease?

So, finally, a bit about "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" . There might be a couple of mild spoilers. Skip the following if you want to. It will probably be let down by my incoherence, anyway.



After the death of a friend at the hands of British soldiers, and after witnessing an act of savagery at a train station, again by British soldiers, a young doctor becomes a dedicated member of the Irish Republican movement. Later, when the Republican leadership makes moves towards peace with the setting up of partial Irish Home Rule, the Republican movement fractures and a brother turns on his brother in the most extreme way possible.

"The Wind That Shakes The Barley" is a truly excellent film. Harsh, brutal and uncompromising. Frankly, Cillian Murphy is just fucking fantastic as the idealistic doctor. I thought that the history aspect of the film was fascinating. I make no bones about the fact that even though my Dad came from the Republic of Ireland, some of my knowledge of Irish history is vague. I learnt more about the origins of the Irish Troubles from watching the film "Michael Collins" than I ever did at school. I suppose it might have been a bit controversial to be teaching Irish history in English classrooms, when IRA bombs were going off all over the UK in the 1970's.

(Memory. 1974. My Dad was going to take me to see one of the reruns of the "Planet Of The Apes" films at the Birmingham Odeon. That trip was cancelled when the Mulberry Bush and Tavern In The Town pubs were bombed. Those pubs were feet away from the Birmingham Odeon. I remember thinking that we would have been perfectly safe to go later in the week. The IRA wouldn't bomb the same street again, would they?)

There have been comments made about "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" that it is anti-British. Sure it is, but that is the story that Ken Loach chose to tell. I would be very interested to see if somebody could get the financing to make a movie about the same period from the British point of view. Now that would be incredibly controversial and I doubt if that film could ever be made.

My Dad was never romantic about his Irish origins. He didn't wear green, listen to Irish music, follow the football team or look for four leaf clovers. The only opinion my Dad ever expressed about his birthplace was that

1. There was no work to be found.
2. It was a shithole.
3. He couldn't wait to leave.

My Mom said there were other reasons my Dad left Ireland when he was 16 years old. He and some of his other Brothers' had a long standing feud with their oldest Brother. In my Dad's case that feud lasted for over a quarter of a century. In 1978 my Dad was told that he was gong to die. My Dad made peace with his older Brother and made arrangements to visit the family farm. He didn't make it. My Dad died on 13th August 1978 without going home.

Life is too short for feuding, you know?

It looks like my CD in the Swiss Toni shuffleathon has finally been received by Spinsterwitch. I'm looking forward to reading the review, good or bad.

But where is mine...?

Ho, hum. Big sigh.