Comedy is no Laughing Matter
November 17, 2013
‘The art of comedy’ is an expression that sometimes gets used but I’ve never known how seriously it’s meant to be taken. It’s far from obvious that comedy is respected as a credible art form and, just as the theatre of war is not a real theatre, talk of the art of comedy does not …
The Wordsmith
August 31, 2013
I was surprised this week how much I was affected by the death of Seamus Heaney. The many tributes I saw and heard seemed to make a bigger impact than his actual passing. It was clear that wordsmiths are still highly valued or, in Heaney’s case, revered. That is so encouraging. We sometimes see dystopian …
Reviewing Reviewers
August 25, 2013
My son was listening to a film review on You Tube last week. I found the reviewer to be smug, sniping and self-satisfied, poking fun at a movie that he wouldn’t have had the talent to produce in a million years. If internet reviewers really knew what they are talking about, wouldn’t they be working …
Broadened Horizons
June 29, 2013
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the issue of free will. There is often considered to be a problem of free will because of a view that our world contains deterministic laws and causes that trap us in their web. That’s never been my main worry, however. I’ve been far more concerned about social …
Poetry or Prose
June 9, 2013
The distinction between poetry and prose has always puzzled me. I have to confess that I have never really ‘got’ poetry, though I want to remedy this. There are some obvious differences but I assume that they are thereby superficial. Poetry usually works within a form or structure. Sometimes this is regimented, as in the …