Strike

At lunchtime, I walked onto the Strand and ambled alongside the marchers until Trafalgar Square. A group near the end of the column were singing in a choir-like way and had even managed to encourage some police officers to join in. Since they were at the end of the march, they had a large group of police right behind them - I'm sure a sing-song passed the time.

There were a lot of children and bicycles and good humour as far as I could see. As far as I could hear, the police helicopter seemed to hover over my desk all day. I wondered how much fuel it was using to stay up there for hours and hours and hours. It was annoying and interfered with my concentration.

This evening I went to the start of the London Literature Festival at the Royal Festival Hall to see Philip Pullman. I loved 'His Dark Materials' trilogy and I'm currently reading 'The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'. I had no idea that the trilogy came about after Pullman and his publisher discussed the merits of 'Paradise Lost' over a publishing lunch of sausage and mash. I haven't read 'Paradise Lost', but now I would like to see what the fuss is about. Pullman raved about Wilkie Collins in particular, as well as Alan Garner, Tove Jansson, 'The Eagle' comic and 'A Voyage to Arcturus' by David Lindsay. I've added that last book and 'No Name' by Wilkie Collins to my reading wish list.

I was encouraged to hear him say that he wished drawing was taught as much as literacy in schools. This was mainly in the context of his love of comics. He said that he could tell stories, but couldn't draw at all. Drawing would have helped him tell stories, perhaps, in the early years.