Rufus Wainwright, Lyceum

Rufus Wainwright's new album Out of the Game came out and I went with Alison (not a fan but a last minute replacement for poorly Anna) to see him play at the Lyceum in April. He was wonderous. I love- LOVE- Rufus Wainwright. He's the only musician I think I actually like, I like sad songs and I like poetry and I like sarcastic beautiful gay lads. I had never seen him live before, other than when we saw his opera and he just came on at the end and said thanks, he played the entirety of the album and a lot of favourites, he did three encores including bringing his sister Martha out and making her sing! Bonus! it was ace, I loved it and Alison got her book signed by Mark Gatiss who was sitting in front of us, I think that was the highlight for her, that and Sheekys afterwards.

Bright Star (2009)

This film does nothing for Keats' poetry at all. The few times that verses are recited they're recited by people who have hideously inconsistent accents. I was expecting more, damn it! I bloody love Keats and I was willing to try and overcome my dislike of Ben Wishaw to watch the movie of his life- well it wasn't the movie of his life, it was the movie of the last three boring years of his life.

And what a waste of Sam Barnett!! He comes in all jolly and we all shout "Posner! Hooray! There's going to be a song!!" and in the following scene there was a song- but effing Ben Wishaw sings it and we don't see Barnett again until the end when he spills a cup of tea over himself in the background in attempt to put some humour into the god damn film!

Charmless actors = charmless film.

I'm sure Wishaw will one day surprise me and be gripping, but I don't like him. And don't even get me started on how awful that Australian girl was as the lead. Ugh!

The Philipa Pearce Memorial Lecture: 'What is Children's Poetry For?' (speaker Michael Rosen, Homerton College)

The Difference

In Glasgow

The hotel gave us something called

'Soap'.
In Edinburgh

The hotel gave us the same stuff
and it was called:
'Skincare Bar'.

Michael Rosen gave an interesting lecture, focusing on the decline of teaching and the hideous rise of children as statistics. And then he signed my book afterwards, I wish I'd had my tape of The Michael Rosen Rap with me for him to sign, I remember all those poems off by heart. I told him that I was going to stand up in the lecture and shout "Get out! Get out! The Skyfoogle has escaped!!" I also told him that the Skyfoogle has haunted Anna her entire life. She never got the joke.