Now time for something slightly different

I've had quite a non-political weekend for a change - mainly involving preparing for and then delivering a poetry performance at Pleasurance at Norwich's Bally Shoe factory on Hall Road (the current excellent exhibitions run until Sunday). It's all been put together by all round dude Rupert Mallin and I recommend getting down there if you can.

It's been some time since I've performed poetry and so I felt pretty rusty. It was like having to regear my brain to think in a new, looser way. I should, at this point say that whilst I'm an activist and have written poetry (although it's been more than a year since I wrote a new poem) I don't write Activist Poetry, a noble genre which I hold in intolerably low regard.

In theory I know that political people need to be well rounded with lots of outside interests so I've made an effort for once - but generally even when I'm not "doing politics" I'm thinking about politics, reading politics or discussing the damned stuff, especially Obama. Obviously that's mainly politics with a small p - not necessarily (but including) door knocking for the Greens as I'm coming from a broader place than that, but politics none the less.

The one exception to this would be TV and films where I tend to avoid politics like the plague, and they act as a very welcome brain coolant. I've seen films like the excellent Winter Soldier or Fahrenheit 911 and enjoyed them - but generally I want spaceships exploding, or someone falling over - then exploding.

I was going to include The Wire in this, but I've just realised it's intensely political and the minutiae of the maneuvering at every level is what makes it the best TV program that has ever been made, without exception (apart from possibly Sapphire and Steel). You see, you can't get away from it even when you try.

Anyway, I suppose I'm saying I should probably make more of an effort to think about other things. Wont happen though.