Monkey!

In my haste to depart the office, I forgot to wish you all a good holiday. I'm having a day off tomorrow, going to see a Sheela-na-gig on a Herefordshire church with some pals. Then on Saturday it's back to the bosom of my family to restart some old arguments and eat too much while I mark. I won't abandon Plashing Vole completely but may actually get some fresh air.

Tonight, I saw my colleagues and friends Ben and Frank, and with Hilary - an escaped colleague and friend - we got ourselves a little culture by seeing 3 Monkeys, a beautiful, sombre, Turkish film, at The Lighthouse, Wolverhampton's best arthouse cinema (only arthouse cinema). It's a mix of Eugene O'Neill, Strindberg, Ibsen and Pinter - with perhaps a bit of Huis Clos thrown in for good measure. The photography and pacing are stunning - and for the rest of you, there's a gangster, a murder and some trains.