I was Carlito Brigante

Soundtrack (clue only) with a Nod and a wink towards El Lissitzky

I am struggling to remember why I started thinking about the film Rabbit-Proof Fence when I sat down to write this but I did and I am moved just by reading the trailer and the Empire review. All this and a Peter Gabriel Soundtrack (though I think the US version cover is better.) It isn't on yet around here - there is a slight defecit of art houses round here. There used to be the 051 cinema in town which ran the less popular movies. I have been trying to find if it is still open but I have been passed it everyday on the way home and I never notice. I saw Farewell My Concubine there about 9 years ago but that was my only visit. I used to go to the cinema every week and I made a point of seeing every British made film if possible. I saw some real rubbish (Splitting Heirs comes to mind and was probably responsible for me changing my policy). Still we have Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings to look forward to. I don't think I need to link to either of those do I?

I have nearly finished Fermat's Last Theorem. You know the time at about 11:30 pm when you think you should put down your book and go to sleep but you can't because you want to know what happens next. This does not often happen when reading a book about maths but it does with FLT. I almost didn't start this entry so I could finish it but as the last few entries have been quite short I thought I ought to carry on here. I suspect that my enthusiasm for the book has spilled over into enthusiasm in general. My next book is The Invention of Clouds and is about Luke Howard who first classfied the various cloud formations. How do people decide to write a book like this? we can only be thankful that they do.

Where is the music when you listen through headphones? I was just sitting back and listening to the music for a minute there, trying to locate where abouts it actually is. Stereo is still nothing like the real world experience of music. We can tell the direction of sound in three dimensions. I know there are special forms of stereo which use delay to try and re-create this effect but there is nothing like real music especially classical orchestras. I am trying to work out when my daughter will be sufficiently un-fidgety to go to a classical concert. She goes to sleep to classical music every night and won't let us listen to 'talking' on the car radio. We have been dreading the time when she decides that she wants to learn to play an instrument but at the moment she says she wants to play the triangle which suits us fine. Of course, if that means she wants to be a percussionist, then that means loud and expensive. For a percussionists loud and expensive web site go here. Of course, Evelyn Glennie is the only percussionist that most people have heard of ( and you hear her a lot further off than most musicians). We saw her at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall a few years ago when she played a piece she had commissioned from Django Bates for tuned kitchen. Django Bates has the score for The Archers Theme Tune - Barwick Green - on his website. Well actually, in the section headed 'scores' he says it is "under construction and meanwhile here is some music - Tum Ti Tum Ti Tum Ti Tum, Tum Ti Tum Ti Tum Tum. Or the surreality of the Archers. I come from the area and I tell you they don't make it anywhere near as weird as the place. It is like Twin Peaks with Worcestershire accents. (Damn fine Earl Grey at the vicarage though).

Oh dear. I have just seen that it should be Dum Di Dum rather than Tum Ti Tum.