This is a work by the admirable Andy Goldsworthy who is a master at making art out of natural materials.  Included in an exhibition celebrating 50 years of achievent it's made of ferns.  There was lots of other lovely stuff as you'll see if you follow the link.

I was looking forward to seeing The Glass Menagerie at The Lyceum but in the event I was disappointed.  Unlike the critics I must add who all loved it.  Most were particularly complimentary about the lighting.  I thought it was a bit dark.  More importantly I didn't get much of an emotional hit from the production.

I didn't get an emotional hit either from Enda Walsh's Arlington at The Traverse.  It came over to us from The Tron and this reviewer loved it.  I sort of enjoyed it and the 25 minute solo dance sequence in the middle was mighty impressive.  Not a drop of sweat appeared on the actor's brow.  But it was weird and if it had meaning it escaped me.

A much more accessible play and a very fine production came from the Grads who put on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.  It was altogether excellent - imaginatively staged and well performed by a large cast with a fine central performance from young Iain Goldie.

The fascinating story of John Davidson from Galashiels who has Tourette's syndrome has been made into a film called I Swear.  It's well worth going to see - dramatic, moving and ultimately uplifting.  A documentary was made  about him some years ago and an interesting feature of the film is that clips from the documentary are interposed at the end as the credits roll.

In my less than intense pursuit of Japanese culture I went to see a classic, not to say cult, animation  Princess Mononoke.  My feelings about animation are a bit equivocal.  I find it hard to completely shake off the feeling that animation is for kids.  But as the Wikipedia entry shows there's a lot of technical excellence as well as an important environmental message in this film and I enjoyed it well enough.

I went with no expectations to see Blue Moon to use up my last "free" Cameo ticket.  Now that Filmhouse is back in action I don't feel that I need Cameo membership as well.  It's a super film with a wonderful performance from Ethan Hawke as Lorenz Hart.  Set in Sardi's on the triumphant opening night of Oklahoma we share Hart's bitterness and jealousy as Oscar Hammerstein replaces him as lyricist to Richard Rodgers.  Wikipedia tells you about it and The Guardian tells you how good it is.

I do tend to forget things and although my diary tells me I went to an RSNO concert featuring Beethoven's Eroica the rest of the programme has escaped my mind.  Fortunately this review fills in the blanks and reminds me of how much I enjoyed the evening especially the first half.

The Zambia Society Trust holds its AGM in London in November.  I've attended in person a couple of times, combining it with a visit to my friend David who was on the committee.  David lives in Lusaka these days but I can still attend online thanks to modern technology.  There's the usual AGM type business but also always something of wider interest.  This year there was a video about developments at a school in the Copperbelt. I tend to think of the Copperbelt in terms of its urban settlements but this school was deep in the bush.  Thanks to many people including ZST members new classrooms have been built and a borehole dug to supply water.  One young woman whose family farms in the area cycled 900 kilometres through the bush to raise funds.  It was an inspiring story.

Siobhan treated a number of us to a very pleasant lunch a few weeks ago, a precursor to the feast promised us by Christmas which this year is being provided to me by Ewan.  He has come all the way from America to look after me while I convalesce following my right hemi colectomy.  That came about as a result of the more or less accidental discovery that I had bowel cancer during an investigation of the reasons that I was experiencing shortness of breath.  Those reasons boil down to decades of smoking.  They won't chop bits of my lungs out though.  I just have to put up with that helped by an inhaler.

I don't intend to post again before New Year so Merry Christmas and all that to all my readers.