planet impiazzi

Just finished reading Ghostwritten by David Mitchell. I'm incredibly impressed, blown-away by this book. I read Mitchell's three novels in reverse chronological order (not that it matters), due to chance - that is the order in which they crossed my path. Ghostwritten was his first published novel. Beautifully written, it at first appears to be a collection of stories with tenuous links between each, ranging from love stories to ghost stories, folk tales to espionage thrillers. A character from one will brush shoulders with a character from another, just in passing. It is only as you read on that you discover there is a deeper connection between the chapters. Mitchell's literary skill encompasses a remarkable breadth and depth of vision. From the minutiae of the lives of a wide array of characters, through particle physics, to a shrewd grasp of the politics of globalisation and a philosophical realism that demonstrates true compassion and intelligence, Mitchell's writing is captivating - Ghostwritten is a book that I couldn't put down but at the same time was loathe to finish. It is a book I will definitely read again. Mitchell is one of the most talented writers I have ever read. I can hardly wait til the spring when his next book is published!

Woke up to the terrible news this morning that my friend Paul's 13 year old daughter, Holly, was hit by a car and killed last night. My heart goes out to him. I didn't know Holly - she didn't live with her dad - but I know he will be devastated, along with the rest of his family. It's every parents nightmare - we all play out such tragic scenarios in our imagination whenever our children are late home, and everyone knows that heart-stopping feeling when we see a near miss on the roads. Traffic accidents are "the single biggest cause of accidental death for 12-16 year olds. In 2004, 57 teens aged 11-16 were killed as pedestrians on Britain's roads along with 1,407 serious injuries and 6,013 slight injuries." The loss of a young life, all that potential, is all the more tragic when it needn't have happened, when it is caused by somebody - whether the driver or the child - not paying attention. I think there should be a statutory 20mph limit on ALL urban roads. It would save so many lives, avoid so much heartbreak.

Can you help me out? There are 20 minutes of Saturday night/Sunday morning that I have lost completely - can't find them anywhere. They were mislaid at Aspire sometime after 2am, I think. The rest of the night was really rather good. There were hundreds of people there, also mostly having a good time, as far as I could tell. Lots of folk I don't see very often.There were 4 rooms of music - I spent most of my time in Gyrus, Mahalia and Merrick's cheesey/funky room, where much dancing took place, albeit restricted by lots of people lounging around on the floor (including me for a while).
The Aspire folk had done a very good job with a huge building. There was a bar upstairs, selling a range of alcoholic drinks and some lovely teas. Sarah & Si had a great tea stall downstairs too. During the day there had been lots of workshops - practical & political, but unfortunately I had other stuff to do and couldn't get there til the evening. Me and my friend Michael passed a skip full of chairs outside the bingo hall on our way from the pub to the party, so we took a couple along with us. We didn't sit on them for long, but I'm sure they came in useful over the course of the night. Got to share the bounty!

Just took the dog out for a bedtime walk, and the full(ish?) moon has the most amazing huge halo, like nothing I've ever seen before. I don't know whether it's to do with pollution here in Leeds, and the very cold night or what, but it is quite a sight.

Anyway, its been a busy week. I went to the Common Place on Saturday to see their contribution to the Leeds Film Festival. They showed a few days worth of radical & political films. I would have liked to have gone to the Latin American night on Thursday and the Italian night on Friday, but I was otherwise engaged. On Saturday I went to see The End of Suburbia, part of the "Precarity Planet" day. From the website:
"With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, the End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. What does Oil Peak mean for North America? As energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today’s suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW, individually and collectively, to avoid the End of Suburbia?"

It was a thought provoking film - although I'd read quite a lot of stuff on the issue recently at Carbusters so I wasn't shocked (though still scared).

As it happens I have just been offered a new job working for a charity called CarPlus that promotes a rethink of car use, and seeks to help establish car clubs across the country. I'm not naive enough to think that all car owners will want to give up their private cars and catch the bus instead, but if car clubs can be established in communities and with employers, then maybe some will decide to change their travelling habits. Its got to be a positive step in reducing car use, pollution and congestion. So come the new year I will be starting a new job.

Just finished reading The Fifth Woman by Henning Mankel. My advice to you is, unless you really like crap detective fiction, then don't bother. I stuck with it, expecting it to get better, or hoping for some really ingeneous ending, but it didn't and there wasn't. I don't know if it was just badly written or badly translated or both, but it was so clumsy, I was so impatient with Wallender the insecure detective, so bored with all the reiteration - to be honest I wish I hadn't wasted my time.

Went to see Tristan and Yseult at the Playhouse last night, with Diane. What a totally fantastic evening. I laughed til I ached, cried (well, it is a tragic love story), danced in my seat - was so thoroughly entertained - I would recommend the show to everybody. Kneehigh Theatre Company put on an amazing performance, inventive, original, full of music (live music!), dancing, excellent casting, well acted - as Diane said several times during the performance, you couldn't fault it. It was so much fun. Ten out of ten. The show finishes in Leeds today, then moves on to Salford for a week, then to Birmingham. Go and see it if you can. I will definitely be looking out for more Kneehigh productions.

The computer network here at work is playing up and I can't access any of my files - but the internet access is, unaccountably, still working. So I've been using my time wisely and having a read of the Guardian.

George Monbiot, a man usually on the same planet as me, today rants about passive driving, and the failure of the government to do anything about imposing real restrictions on the muck we are forced to breathe on a daily basis, as it is vomited out of the back of most motor vehicles. You tell 'em George!

It has been a particularly beautiful Yorkshire autumn day today, but I have had the misfortune of having to spend it in an office (yes, I know, mortgage to pay etc, I should consider myself fortunate to have a job blah blah) when I would have much preferred to be at the seaside, having my cobwebs blown away on an east coast beach. I'm definitely feeling a little flat at the moment, hence the longing for some invigoration. Funds are rather low this month so I doubt I will get chance to escape the city in the near future - not as far as the coast, anyway. Maybe I'll manage a bus ride out to the moors at the weekend instead. Want to join me?