October

'The real world is where the monsters are' - Rick Riordan

Oct 30, 2023

So much has happened during October that it was only looking back through the month’s photos for this edition of Longways that I remembered that I actually made it to London this month! We’re off the big river and back on the canal. Yes, I’m a ditchcrawler and a London Boater once again. More on that later …

Most of my headspace has been taken up trying to sort out Shared Assets’ financial difficulties. It’s been a humbling experience to understand the regard that the organisation is held in by others, and to receive generous donations that have enabled us to juggle cashflow updates and defer redundancy notices. We’re not out of the woods yet but things are looking a lot brighter than they have for several months now. Knowing we’re not the only organisation feeling the squeeze, and that there are far worse things happening in the world right now, makes me grateful for every day we are able to continue to do the work we do.

Amongst the grimness and the gratitude I’ve enjoyed spending time with friends appreciating some of the beauty, passion and talent in the world; attending a Land Justice exhibition in Oxford with the Shared Assets crew, seeing Desire Marea with Kevin and Sadie, Lloyd Cole with Jonny, the Anthony Cudahy exhibition with Matt and the Radical Landscapes exhibition with Kate.

I’m also enjoying house dog sitting in Walthamstow for a few weeks courtesy of Max, Jesse and Chico!

What I’ve seen

Lloyd Cole at the Union Chapel, Hampton Court Palace, Desire Marae at the Hoxton Hall, Hampton at night, the kitchen sink monster, part of the Anthony Cudahy exhibition at Hales Gallery, autumnal trees on Coppermill Lane, sleepy Chico, Apple Tree by Anwar Jalal Shemza at the Radical Landscapes exhibition at the William Morris Gallery

What I’m listening to

Bobbie - Pip Blom, Crazymad, For Me - CMAT, Jarak Qaribak - Dudu Tassa & Jonny Greenwood

I loved seeing Pip Blom at last year’s Mutations Festival which makes me even sadder that I can’t go this year. Bobbie is a move away from their guitar driven indie pop to a more synth based / electronic sound .. plus some great guest vocals from Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos.

Crazymad, For Me is a great second album from CMAT - Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson - who the NME describe as ‘Dublin’s answer to Dolly Parton’. Not sure about that but she’s a diamond (or maybe a rhinestone), and it also includes some great guest vocals, this time from John Grant, as well as one of my all time favourite song titles “I … hate who I am when I’m horny’.

Given current events, an album of Middle Eastern love songs titled Jarak Qaribak (Your Neighbour Is Your Friend) by an Israeli musician (and a Radiohead), with contributions from Palestinian, Iraqi, Tunisian and Lebanese singers, is either just what you need right now or just too hard to stomach in the circumstances. For me it was a welcome recommendation from Me’shell Ndegeocello via Keith.

And just because they are amazing live, here’s a bit more Desire …

What I’m reading

Psalm For The Wild Built by Becky Chambers was a welcome bit of solarpunk utopian fiction that includes tea monks, travellers, robots and the purpose of life.

M John Harrison’s The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again is another kettle (or toilet bowl) of fish entirely. Despite some beautiful descriptive writing I struggled with the central mystery of the plot of this watery, gothic, post Brexit allegory.

What I’m writing

The Years of Magical Thinking is a poetic response to Joan Didion’s beautiful meditation on grief.

Where I am

I made it! Despite the late start to my Thames adventure I made it all the way down the non tidal Thames from Lechlade to Teddington, and then a little tidal river adventure from Teddington to the entrance to the Grand Union canal at Brentford.