EDUCATIONAL BLISS

David v Goliath acts of rebellion will always draw a big audience.

It’s no great surprise then, that the video of the articulate rant by Jeff Bliss against his high school history teacher should have gone viral.

Here’s what I’m talking about , in the unlikely event that you haven’t already seen it:

Spokesman of a generation? Jeff Bliss.

Once upon a time, such an outburst would  have prompted the moral majority to lament on how the youth of today have no respect for authority.

The reaction now is quite different and it proves that there’s a bigger issue at stake here which will remain long after the media circus has moved on to the next show in town.

WILD PHOTO COMPETITION

This wonderful photograph is called Luna Dusk Silhouette.  It was taken by Erin Joy, the talented and beautiful wife of my nephew, Simon.

The photo is one of the contenders in the WILD Competition. Vote for it if you like it and check out the other great shots.

All  the prints are also available to buy with all proceeds going to the international charity PhotoVoice which designs and delivers “participatory photography projects for marginalised and vulnerable communities” in the hope that the people they work with will “find the confidence to speak out about their challenges, strengths, hopes and fears and create tools that can be used to advocate for positive social change”.

A COMFORTABLE LOW

LOW : Live at Teatro Antoniano, Bologna

I must be getting old. When Alan Sparhawk said during this show: “I’m sorry that you have to sit”, my immediate thought was: ‘there’s really no need to apologize’.

A concert in a comfortable theatre venue strikes me as a sensible choice, particularly for a band like Low. Let’s face it, their intense, reflective brand of rock is hardly party music! To dance to their songs, you’d need a lot of imagination.

Sparhawk’s comment is also a little odd since it seems that he and wife MImi Parker go out of their way to ensure their music is heard in such settings. The last time I saw them in 2002 at a small club (also in Bologna), seating was provided and, presumably out of respect for the Mormon couple’s teetotalism, the bar was closed.

MEXICAN RABBIT DREAMS OF HIPPOS

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE (Fiesta en la madriguera) by Juan Pablo Villalobos (& Other Stories, 2011)

This odd novella (just 70 pages long) is about the world of a violent drug gang as seen from the perspective of a 7-year old boy, Tochtli, the son of a drug baron.

The title, of course, makes you think of the surreal underworld Alice falls into, but this Mexican ‘wonderland’ is too imbedded in reality to rank as a fantasy, and it certainly not a children’s book.

This boy’s name means ‘rabbit’ in Nahuatl, Mexico’s main indigenous language. The novel’s translator, Rosalind Harvey, notes that most of the character’s names refer to some kind of animal; his boy’s father’s name is Yolcault which translates as ‘rattlesnake’.

GRAHAM GREENE : FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM

THE POWER AND THE GLORY by Graham Greene (First published, 1940).

In 1926, aged 22, Graham Greene converted from Atheism to Catholicism.

In his autobiography, A Sort of Life, he explained that  “I became aware of the probable existence of something we call God, though I now dislike the word with all its anthropomorphic associations……….there was no joy at all, only a sombre apprehension”.  

This hardly sounds as if  ’seeing the light’ was an altogether  pleasurable experience.

I always thought the big advantage of belief was that it is supposed to bring serenity rather than doubt.