Category Archives: Books

Aceeid!

September 1, 2014Art, Books, Fiction, Mindfulnessacid house, relativity, sci-firicky

Just before sitting down to write this post, I ingested a cocktail of diphenhydramine, guaifenesin and levomenthol.

But you do have to take a lot of speed to counteract the drowsiness — It’s not as exciting as it sounds

[If it’s excitement you want, sign up for the apoplectic.me tiny letter distribution here.]

Yeah, the inside of my skull feels dry, but it’s not that exciting. I don’t think the cough syrup will trigger any incredible insights for the blog.

As it happens, I’ve never taken any psychedelic drugs, notwithstanding the convincing argument for their controlled use in the essay opening Ian MacDonald’s Beatles book, Revolution In The Head. Continue reading Aceeid! →

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Restless Natives

August 25, 2014Books, Edinburgh, Movies, ReviewsEdinburgh Festival, Restless Natives, Trainspottingricky

Today, the Edinburgh Festival will shut up shop for another year, more or less signalling the end of our first full year in Edinburgh. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean the city is pulling down the shutters. Last February, I wrote to Tiny Letter subscribers that even in the depths of January, Edinburgh maintains a wide range of treats for the arts enthusiast, and that Longsufferinggirlfriendoftheblogbeth and I had recently seen The Lanterns Of Terracotta Warriors in the quad of the University of Edinburgh’s Old College.

Oh no they weren't! — The denizens were more handsome in 1996

[You can sign up for apoplectic.me Tiny Letters here. It’s a chance to read some more personal thoughts and join the conversation. I’d love to hear from you.] Continue reading Restless Natives →

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The Case Of The Peculiar Details

July 7, 2014Art, Books, Brooklyn, Edinburgh, Mindfulness, Poetry, Relationships, Travelricky

My recent trip to Brooklyn wasn’t all the insides of courtrooms and the outsides of container terminals, oh no.

Wait till he grows a beard — Sean Connery’s let himself go…

One day, Mrs Friendoftheblogpaul — who knows a good walk when she sees one — suggested we take a wander through Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. Continue reading The Case Of The Peculiar Details →

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Stag’s Leap

June 9, 2014Art, Books, Poetryricky

The story of my stroke is the story of the characters in my life: nurses and doctors; friends and lovers; and everyone who has wandered through the past twenty months….

Cos she features heavily — There’s no “Little Miss Irreverent”?! C’mon, now.

In the wake of Jeremy Paxman’s recent call for a poetic inquisition — a call for quantification and measurement and exclusion from a white, male member of the establishment — I was surprised by his premise that the citizens of the British Isles are increasingly rejecting poetry. Continue reading Stag’s Leap →

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The Opiate Of Memory

May 12, 2014Books, Poetry, Science, Stroke, Uncategorizedricky

A couple of weeks ago, I attended one of the monthly workshops run by the Scottish Poetry Library. The previous month we had spoken about how effective the evocation of tastes and smells can be in poetry, so for this session our leader had brought along a thin metal case full of small sample vials of Penhaligon’s scents. We were each invited to take a vial, smell the scent, and let it guide our production.

[Aside — it doesn't work] — Bonus scratch’n’sniff apoplectic.me — it really works!

Continue reading →

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A Meaty Oeuvre

May 5, 2014Books, Poetry, Reviews, Sciencericky

Before I begin, I generally have my first sentence more or less ready.
And I always know what the last sentence, or the last verse, should be.
Then I go on discovering the thing as I am working on it.

Buttoned collar, no tie? Did your mum dress you? Eh? Oh. — “And other conversations”? Can’t help but feel you’re dulling the impact there.

Continue reading A Meaty Oeuvre →

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Korea Opportunities

April 21, 2014Books, Edinburgh, Mindfulness, Podcasts, Pop Music, Strokericky

I’ve mentioned more than once on the blog that I’ve come to believe that one of the big mistakes made by my younger self was to think that everyone else was basically the same as me.

While that might have been a trifle solipsistic, it’s also kind of true. The genetic difference between individual humans today is miniscule — about 0.1%, on average. To a bonobo or chimpanzee, 1.2%. 1.6% to gorillas.

But we did have the same sideburns for a year. — Though oddly, 23.1% with Will Self.

[Don’t miss out on apoplectic.me’s more personal and whimsical (!) little brother —
sign up for the tiny letter here.]

Continue reading Korea Opportunities →

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Ghostdancing

April 7, 2014Art, Books, Mindfulnessricky

Tonight (Monday, 7 April, 2014), Professor Charles Raab is giving a lecture on Surveillance, Social Values and Human Rights to the Edinburgh Group of the Humanist Society of Scotland. The HSS website relates that the

“…talk will focus upon contemporary surveillance and the challenges it poses to range of social values and rights.”

Stroke Bloke admits that RTD's Doctor Who *was* about something, after all. — The PM says: “There’s nothing to worry about!”

Continue reading Ghostdancing →

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Iambic Pentameter

March 12, 2014Art, Books, Edinburgh, Mindfulness, Relationships, Strokericky

And now, at last, the blog is here for you:
It’s feet are light, and look! It’s rhyming, too.

A master's manglings are not by chance. — “Enough doggerel! And ‘take arms against a sea of troubles’ is a mixed metaphor.”
(Pic: Doctor Who Magazine)

Continue reading Iambic Pentameter →

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Threads

January 27, 2014Books, Lists, Mindfulness, Referendum, Rehab, Strokericky

Long-time readers of the blog may remember the meditative trilogy of posts (1, 2, 3) from this past summer, sparked by Alan Spence’s imagining of the life of the Zen Master Hakuin in his novel Night Boat. Others of you may recall my more recent discussion of empathetic imagination. This week, those threads resurfaced and wove themselves into this post.

"The full horror of nuclear war and its aftermath." — Well, this should be fun….

Continue reading Threads →

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Apoplectic Me

the scribblings of a bloke who had a stroke…

Category Archives: Books

Aceeid!

Restless Natives

The Case Of The Peculiar Details

Stag’s Leap

The Opiate Of Memory

A Meaty Oeuvre

Korea Opportunities

Ghostdancing

Iambic Pentameter

Threads