Saturday 2 January 2010

It was a wild rumpus

It was a film I admired and could easily become a film I love. Where the Wild Things Are was made by people who remembered what it’s like to be a child; everything from Max’s relationship at home to his adventure with the wild things spoke of the truth. The wanton destruction, the picking of sides and the unexpectedly violent mud-clot fight; it was wonderful.

My favourite book last year was The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. I have admittedly not read much, something I hope to rectify this year, though I seem to remember saying something similar in the past. I have two borrowed so there’s somewhere to start. However as a warning familiar to many, never express an interest in anything specific. For Christmas I received three books on the Roman Empire, one on the Persian Empire and one on Ancient Civilisations. I can’t recollect the last time someone gave me non-fiction on a period subsequent to 1066AD.

For my favourite album there was slightly more to choose from. I’m not the music buyer I once was, there are no longer stacks of CDs purchased on a weekly basis, but now that DRM on online purchases is a thing of the past MP3 downloads are becoming the norm. I’ve downloaded on many occasions this year… yes, it’s a miracle. A lot of good albums but standing out was Tale to Tell by The Mummers.


It is the most uplifting magical music of an age and such a shock to read that the composer behind the group, Mark Horwood, had committed suicide.

1 comments:

  1. "A wild rumpus!"

    You know what was amazing? Last year on Easter the annual Easter Egg Hunt took place on the White House lawn, and as part of the program, "Where The Wild Things Are" was read aloud to the group of children, by President Obama.

    When he got to that part, he paused in his reading and asked his audience, "Have YOU ever had a wild rumpus?"

    I thought it was wonderful for the president to set the example of reading aloud to your children.

    For audiences to see a mom reading to her children would be good; to see a father do it is more unusual, and sends a powerful message.

    That was on You Tube last year -- you could look it up. ("Pres. Obama reading Where The Wild Things Are"...)

    ReplyDelete