Many things...

[shewhomust]

1. The Launderette Sessions continued: Martin Simpson at the Gala Theatre was also excellent, if not quite as intimate as Nancy Kerr at the Launderette. That said, the theatre isn't huge, and it wasn't sold out (inexplicable but true), so there was quite a cosy atmosphere, and the Mighty Simpson Merchandising Empire consisted of Martin himself selling CDs, so we did get to chat a little after the show. Perhaps this low-key mood explains something very unusual about the performance: he did a request. I've seen him decline to play requests in the past, and I have a whole theory about his slowly evolving repertoire to explain why things that are not currently being kept fresh and practised for performance are just not going to be performed - but on Friday we had, by request and with some apology, a 'let's see if I can remember this' version of One More Day / Boots of Spanish Leather, and it was absolutely wonderful. Balancing that old favourite with something completely new, not quite bedded in to the repertoire, Kate McGarrigle's Talk to Me of Mendocino: the accompaniment was all Martin Simpson, but I kept hearing Kate's voice behind his vocals.



2. It has taken me until now to write about this, because we have had house guests: J and weegoddess formerly of this parish, over from the States and catching up with Durham friends. They are the least demanding of guests, requiring neither feeding nor entertaining: a bed, a front-door key and plenty of wifi, and they are satisfied, but we have had talking to catch up with...



3. They have now moved on to London, and weegoddess, who is a well brought up wee goddess, has sent me a bread-and-butter letter, with a link to an NYT article about the fall in puffin numbers in Iceland. She writes: "[potential trigger warning: article is a bit sad and shows photos of hunted puffins]" which is true, but the sadness is not news, and the photos - not to mention the videos - are wonderful.



4. We disposed of several large cardboard boxes. This wasn't entirely motivated by the imminence of visitors, but it wasn't entirely unrelated, either. When I went booked some tickets for the Book Festival, the young man at the box office offered me a copy of the festival's joint read, Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger, and I accepted, because it's a while since I read any Sarah Waters, and I've enjoyed what I've read. I didn't look too closely, as I was in the middle of reading something else, so it was only later, reading a piece in the paper about the new film adaptation that I realised that I had read this book. Did I own a copy? Librarything said yes, but it wasn't on the shelves... durham_rambler thought there was more fiction in his study, hidden by some large empty boxes which might come in useful sometime, stashed there by an enthusiastic builder ahead of the great renovation. He was right, and I have found, and shelved, two more boxes of fiction and biography, including a signed copy of The Little Stranger. The mysterious gaps on the new shelves in the spare bedroom are much reduced. In addition to the boxes emptied in this way, we have disposed of the boxes they were hiding behind; it is now possible to reach the window in durham_rambler's study.



5. Quotation of the day: Zoe Williams reports on procedural discussions at the Labour Party conference: "I'm told one memorable point of the meeting was Keir Starmer saying: 'Right, now we have to agree what we mean by 'consensus'.'" I have been there, done that...

Comments

[cmcmck]

'Boots of Spanish leather' is my favourite Dylan number- the one where he gets closest to traditional and Nic Jones's version is THE version for me although I like Martin's too!

[shewhomust]

Just one favourite Dylan number? I wouldn't know where to start!