books, films, gigs, events may 2026

 books

- diaries (mostly kilvert)

- e.m. cioran a history of decay 

- timpson's england 

- matsuo basho the narrow road to the deep north and other travel sketches

-  the bird of the dawning  john masefield 

- the war of  jenkins' ear (wikipedia)

-  imagined communities benedict anderson

- GDN what happens when deaths outnumber births? electricity prices, 

- BBC  and GDN worcester conservatives 

- standard grenfell fire charges

- eric ravilious’s 1929 almanack 

- nlr starmer stricken

- 

films

- waxworks (paul leni 1924)

-  a dj talk about the women of free jazz

- gwenifer raymond live at KEXP

- roger barnes winter work

- bookpilled/ outlaw bookseller

- aaron bastani and james butler in conversation (starmer doomed)

- trois hommes a abattre (1980 jacques deray)

- IFS on energy prices

- the drifting life of himeshiro 

- LRB john lanchester and thomas jones a rough guide to money

- BFI in conversation with derek jarman

- R4 rinsed (the british water industry), david attenborough world music collector, how reading made us

- LRB on politics: a new era for uk politics james butler, andy beckett, rory Scothorne and richard king

gigs 

the wave debb show (online)

events

mike H visit

cooler weather so probably a walk on the common

 so horsemouth has a whole load of text (on AI as a wage lowering tool) that he could offer up this morning but instead he thought he'd go for an entirely written in the morning blogpost.

last night (well this morning) he dreamt his father walked past carrying an axe (what in hell does that mean?). 

let's look at kilvert shall we.

'left langley for clyro for the last time... today is mina venables birthday and I went back to clyro on purpose to celebrate it.

flags were flying at clyro school and the children were swarming in and out of it like bees...

it seemed as if the night would never get dark and we could not begin the fireworks until nearly ten. they were the first fireworks ever seen in clyro and the village and the bron were swarming with people...'

it's a pretty joyous day. kilvert picked a good time to go back. 

(oh dear a whole raft of intrusive thoughts)

horsemouth needs to get back to the wen (and it's not just about getting out to the leigh folk festival). 

yesterday a zoom call with howard (and two bottles of beer). a promise to dig out horsemouth's copy of more brilliant than the sun by kodwo eshun (it's in the garage somewhere). meanwhile back in london howard is downsizing and out(ing) again. half term completes and he is into the last seven weeks of teaching to be followed by six weeks of holiday. (and then it all comes round again).

last night horsemouth forgot to lock up the chickens - they were all there this morning but one has taken to wandering round the top of the enclosure and not coming down to be fed. the crows are on the hen house roof now trying to work out how to get into the hen shed and rob some corn. 

yesterday horsemouth mucked out the henshed but it could do with a good clean and a spray with insect repellent. it is at least dry (it was getting pretty damp over winter). it would be good to get the roof looked at sometime. 

today cooler weather so probably a walk on the common. 

he will have to delay himself the pleasure of turning over the calendars until tomorrow (but he has peeked already anyway). 

he's going to invade mexico during the world cup?

in the early morning cuckoos calling outside.

to horsemouth in his dreamstate this sounded like people talking while they walked round the house. that's funny (he thought) they can't be walking round the house out here in the middle of the countryside. 

today an entirely written in the morning blogpost (in honour of it being a bright morning - or something similar).

he's going to invade mexico during the world cup? asked one of horsemouth's friends of trump. 

horsemouth is sad to say he laughed. 

horsemouth was just enjoying a fantasy where he was playing the leigh folk festival to great acclaim (but it ain't gonna happen). lou and leo are playing horsemouth says go see them. 

horsemouth had a quick scan of the GWARdian. trump's invasion plans have already dropped off the lead. 

'what, we don't have enough love in our hearts for two wars?' - det. james 'jimmy' mcnulty:

a good year for the onions

'this government has received serious scientific, intelligence and policy advice that it should take significant action on food security, but it keeps signalling all is OK. it’s not,' 

- tim lang, a professor emeritus of food policy at city st. george’s, university of london.

horsemouth, whose avowed strategy is to move to the hills and grow potatoes, should probably heed the warning. 

the problem is growing more potatoes would mean digging up more land (which is hard work). last year he grew more potatoes but they didn't get eaten so he's not that bothered about growing them this year. if there are any, good, if not, no worries.  similarly with the marrows. 

on the other hand solid progress was made with the runner beans. there are damsons. there are cherries. there's rhubarb. the spinach has come back strong.

this year looks like being a good year for the onions. fingers crossed for the tomatoes and beetroot. 

yesterday morning at 10am - a zoom call with howard. 

future recording

horsemouth mentioned the far future village band project and showed howard the cassette recorder he had recovered from the garage (and mentioned his plans to record with it). howard is on the look out for a zoom multitrack recorder for him (which would be the next stage in the recording campaign).

morning

it's a cooler morning out in the wild (horsemouth misses the heat). he is still in shorts but he is now wearing more than one layer (a t-shirt and a shirt). it has clouded over.  

live at the village vanguard again (again)

this might all be a bit cryptic (but)

meanwhile at the end of the week the final roll of the dice on the project. 

horsemouth feels bad. he encouraged people to go off and do loads of work to try and make something happen (based only on an assurance that it should be possible). 

if it can't be made to happen that just means it has to be done over a longer period of time and entirely with people's 'own' money. frankly this timescale might suit people better. 

there. horsemouth hopes that while that was cryptic that was clear - that you can participate in his feelings and thoughts around the project even  though he can't tell you what the project is. 

musical endeavours

meanwhile  horsemouth awaits with anticipation the next instalment of the far future village band (possibly featuring horsemouth's french cousin mâchoire d'âne aka. jawbone of an ass).  

a taster track has already 'dropped' (horsemouth believes the phrase is) as have some band photos (though not all of the band photos apparently). 

it's the 60ieth anniversary of the recording of live at the village vanguard again.

it opens with a great statement of the theme from naima and then it's off where it's going to go with john, alice, pharoah, rashied ali and jimmy garrison (emanuel rahim may be on it horsemouth can't tell). then a full six minute ten second double bass solo by jimmy garrison before my favourite things (though it's nearly 3 minutes before the theme becomes recognisable). 

yet another beautiful morning in the wilds

and horsemouth has his coffee. he has been out to feed the chickens. 

hopefully today will be a bit cooler. yesterday was a bit punishing during the limited periods horsemouth was out in the heat. the forecast says today the last truly hot day (for a while) and possibly cloudy. in the night a thunder storm.  

this morning at 10am - a zoom call with howard. 

kilvert is himself mail art

'went to london by the mid-day mail...' 

(it seems like kilvert is himself mail art)

(he means the midday mail train)

horsemouth is reminded of children being posted. 

thereafter kilvert stays with his brother at 68 westbourne park villas, meets friends, and goes to see lots of bad art.  he returns to clyro for the end of the month. 

end of the week - the birthday of harry everett smith, anniversary of live from the village vanguard again (1966), no bell-ringing for horsemouth. thursday 10am a zoom meeting with howard (but no beers as it is too early even for horsemouth). 

the week after we have a monday june the 1st which needs celebrating horsemouth would think. this does mean a saturday 13th (to which people will attach less importance). 

-----------------------------------

partially written in the morning blogpost

here we have a partially written in the morning blogpost. horsemouth has just been out to feed the chickens. 

for the leigh folk festival the lower and main stage saturday and sunday have been announced that just leaves the old fisherman's chapel (where the sort of stuff horsemouth likes probably will be). 

yesterday a depressing listen. the IFS (institute for fiscal studies) reported on energy costs and the cost of  electricity is likely to remain high - this is because while renewables are effectively free once built the cost of building out the grid to get the electricity from where it is produced to where it is needed and to deal with the extra capacity required makes it inevitably more expensive. 

who should pay for these increased costs? this is the problem. 

horsemouth's predictions from 2020

'horsemouth would like to see cummings fall - all the rest are stupid tory boys incapable of sustained thought and keeping their nose out of the trough, left to themselves they will fail to exploit the decisive breach cummings has succeeded in making visible in uk politics. the tory boys will attempt to ignore it again and having unleashed these forces they will be consumed by them (result)...'

well this seems to (to horsemouth) to be what is happening. of course there is a future for the conservative party - as the coalition partner of reform.

at the local level horsemouth is intrigued by worcester council. he is interested the badenoch has forbidden tory councillors from joining anti-reform coalitions. reform must be left in to fuck things up (seems to be the strategy) and (simultaneously) be left in as preferred coalition partner. 

this may be an astute calculation. the likely coming reform-tory coalition may crash and burn (or at the very least not be capable of delivering) but, as long as they have taken care to look statesmen-like and vaguely competent in the offices they do hold, the tories are well placed to return to their former place as de facto party of government. 

if the political system becomes multi-party but the electoral system remains first-passed-the-post that will drive government back towards a majority two party form. if a variety of proportional representation is bolted on to the existing westminster structure then coalitionism will become established. 

what horsemouth didn't foresee is labour being outflanked to the left by independents and greens. he didn't foresee their collapse in office. all that remains to them is to cling on through the economic meltdown coming and try and look competent and statesmen-like until the 2029 election.

he doubts the power of any one leadership candidate (or indeed political party) to move the dial.  

the hottest may bank holiday on record

'I took the whole of the morning service and sermon for my father and he celebrated the holy communion...' 

kilvert's dad is a priest also. 

tomorrow kilvert is off to london. he will return on 29th may and then he is off to clyro (possibly for the last time he thinks). 

yesterday a year ago horsemouth was walking back from the only bus service that ran on a sunday near to his mum's house (the bus across to hay). he had been up to the wen to see soft white underbelly (aka. the blue oyster cult) with mike T. 

and most excellent they were too. 

bees in the flowers (the raspberry canes mostly). but not old style bees. instead a wider selection of bee like creatures. 

the black cat caught a slow worm and then (bored) abandoned it. a golden beast. horsemouth picked it up and put it back on the banking and after a while it slid away. hopefully it is ok after its mauling. 

there was a dragonfly also. 

from waxworks horsemouth is watching the ivan the terrible episode (more awesome set design and costumes and german expressionist acting). he read a bit of emil cioran's a history of decay (the usual moaning). sample moan;

'history - that indecent alloy of banality and apocalypse.' 

he read a little karl korsch as well. 

this morning horsemouth is up early (6.30am). he had left the windows open overnight to gather up the cold air and has now closed them and drawn the curtains to keep the cold air in the house. 

now to see if it works.