A view from the cut.

 

 The green gym took us to both Birkmyre park and the Greenock Cut this week. The Birkmyre's who bequeathed the park in Port Glasgow, and another in Kilmacolm, were huguenots who fled from France and took safety in Scotland. The park is beautiful, especially pleasant for the range of trees it offers. The most impressive of these are the large redwoods which border the walkways. Today's tasks were scrub clearance and litter removal.

The litter,  which reveals our bad habits (fast food wrappers and alcohol bottles predominate)  is quite depressing. It is sad to see a pile of polystyrene cartons on the grass only a few yards from an empty bin. Obviously those who had their dinner on the lawn had not thought, at all, of their remains. Thankfully, perhaps weighed down by their meals, the litterers stay in the lower reaches and  as one climbs up the valley the litter gets gradually less and by the time one reaches the cut there is very little. At this point the cleanliness of the air and ground do make the walk pleasant and the view over Greenock is a compensation.

The litter does echo concerns that come up in the book "The Waste Makers" by Vance Packard. This book on excessive growth and consumption was written over two generations ago and concerned the baby-boomer/post-war generation. However, it seems as relevant today and Vance Packard seems again to have been prescient. This book was my main reading while in Wales this week.   Also when in Wales we went to see David play in the Buffalo Lounge in Cardiff. This turned out to be a pleasant bistro bar in the Cathay's district. The music was good and all three performers went down well. It was enjoyable to see authentic music being played though I was struck by the change in folk music. In  my youth folk music held rural and rustic associations, now it seems to be class and city bound. Perhaps in a marxian way they are saving folk form the "idiocy of rural life".

2 B R O 2 B by Kurt Vonnegut

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


It is quite difficult to review this short story.It is almost too short and is rather slight, the review could end up larger than the subject. There is also a danger of giving the story away and taking away the little enjoyment if offers.Consider it an amuse-bouche on the subject of longevity and population control.



View all my reviews


The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I don't usually read science fiction but I did enjoy this. Despite the book's age it has weathered well. The science is just enough, and just plausible enough, for the story. The main interest is in the effect of invisibility and isolation on man and that is as relevant today as when it was written.

View all my reviews


Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass by Theodore Dalrymple

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For anyone who has read previous works, this collection of essays will cover familiar territory. The writing remains excellent and the wisdom is still there. Many of these are simple anecdotes and thus limited in their explanatory power.



View all my reviews
Where Did It All Go Right?: Growing Up Normal In the 70s by Andrew Collins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is an antidote to the "tragic life" books and the opposite of "My Life up a Close". This is nostalgia.and nothing much else. While entertaining for a short while, if you are the target demographic, as little happens it does not hold one's attention through to the end



View all my reviews