Critic Cal

There it was, the Rome, the Paris, the London of the twentieth century, the city of ambition, the dense magnetic rock, the irresistible destination of all those who insist on being where things are happening—and he was among the victors! He lived on Park Avenue, the street of dreams! He worked on Wall Street, fifty floors up, for the legendary Pierce & Pierce, overlooking the world! He was at the wheel of a $48,000 roadster with one of the most beautiful women in New York—no Comp. Lit. scholar, perhaps, but gorgeous—beside him! A frisky young animal! He was of that breed whose natural destiny it was…to have what they wanted! ( Tom Wolfe , The Bonfire of the Vanities ,  ch.4, p.100) Sherman McCoy is (at least, at the start of Wolfe's 'quintessential novel of the 1980s') a Master of the Universe. The realisation dawns on him "one fine day, in a fit of euphoria, after he had picked up the telephone and taken an order for zero-coupon bonds that had brought him a $5...

In early March, the builders finally returned our door keys at the end of a "four week job" that started in November ... We'd got them in to fit us a new bathroom, before the old one rotted or important bits snapped off or water, water everywhere or some other hypnogogic horror realised itself before our eyes. And also to stop it raining in our kitchen because, well, that particular original feature was starting to seem rather worn. And they did an admirable job and charmingly to boot, and there are many very sound (but miserable and boring) reasons why it took so exhaustingly much longer than estimated, so we would confidently pass their contact details on to anybody looking for a builder. But ... it was a long "four weeks" ... to have people around all the time when I'm so greedy for solitude; to have plastic sheeting three-quarters through the house; to have a functionless cave where the amenities used to be (downstairs toilet + gym membership = much...

                THE RIME OF THE APPLE CUSTOMER                 It is an Apple Customer                 And he stoppeth one of three.                 'By thy hipster beard and thick-framed eye                 Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?                 The Genius Bar has opened just                 And I've a job to do;                 The pre-booked patrons congregate:         ...

I watched in spellbound horror as the fragile thread by which this turbulent, treacherous, tormented, temporal world precariously dangles ... -snapped- ... and the whole thing came crashing down in a pandemonium of light, glitter, smoke, leopard print, automatic gun-fire, luggage, canine skeletons, and virtuosic violining. And then we went to Wagamama's. Kneehigh  theatre company's  Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and Other Love Songs)  [1] is an immense tragicomic rollercoaster of satirical mayhem, beautifully crafted with a searing, seamlessly genre-fusing score (dubstep, ska, metal, classical, you name it), superb musical and theatrical performances, and all manner of impressive choreography, puppetry and set work. It charts the fate of a town embroiled in the self-serving schemes of wealthy pilchard magnate Peachum and his malevolent genius of a wife (an hilarious stage turn by scene-stealer Rina Fatania). Not that the inhabitants themselves are innocent victims --...

Been absorbing myself in the poetry and theodicy of  Job  lately (with the friendly companionship of John Goldingay's Job for Everyone  study guide). I'm struck by how much, and yet how little, human experience has changed since Job's day [1]. Inspired by chapter 28 (and, in part, Isaiah 40-45 ), as well as everybody's favourite application of blockchain technology... (N.B This is highly unlikely to be without technical error. So, if you don't know about Bitcoin or chip production, please assume I am wrong somewhere; if you do, please forgive me, and tell me where...) The Bible (particularly in Isaiah and the other books of the prophets) has a lot to say about the foolishness of trusting things which we invent or construct ourselves. Such 'idols' will not satisfy, nor rescue and protect. Wisdom as a treasure to be searched for diligently is a recurring motif, especially (unsurprisingly) in the  'wisdom' literature  books of the Old Test...