2. Richard Branson and Rupert Murdoch have made up their quarrel- and Virgin cable are carrying Sky again. The two Sky Arts channels are a real find. There was that rare, Godard movie for starters. Since then we've watched Simon Schama on Rembrandt and Bernini and a short on the photographer Nan Goldin.
3. I thought I'd like Angela Carter- and I don't. I'm reading Wise Children. The characters are stereotypes and the writing is packed with cliches- eyes are "sky-blue", accents are "cut-glass. The one good quality I can't deny her is energy.
4. I got three Carters out of the library- more fool me- because I thought she was going to be my next "project". The only other thing I got was a big, heavy book on the Romanesque- with gorgeous colour plates and a text translated from the German. My man Rolf Toman characterises the early medieval period as being in the grip of a "death cult"- all crusades and last judgements and saints being torn apart for their relics. And, yes, I see what he means- but I think he's missing the youthful energy, the urge- suddenly- to build up and up, the playfulness of the carving, the simplicity and directness of the lyrics. When I go into a Romanesque building or listen to a troubador song my heart lifts. I find I'm smiling. It's as if I can feel the April sunshine on my back.
