I know how they feel...AND I slipped on the gravel slope while going down to take this pic, falling flat on my generous backside in the process. Oh, how we laughed (well, the ever-sympathetic The Child did, but then she gave me a big hug and said "Everyone bumps their bum sooner or later, get used to it!")...

No music today, but a link to this, which is the opening sequence to the Venice Film Festival... by my friend! I am so proud of him! He is one of the humblest, nicest people I have ever met and his work is wonderful. Always. Not only does he draw it and animate it (by hand, no computers), he also writes it.

He left school at 15 and got a factory job so he could put aside the money to go to art school in Urbino, and at the age of 23, he did, with a classload of 15 year-old kids who hadn't had to pay for the privilege. That must have been hard.

His determination and his (justified) belief in his talent are what have got him where he is now, which would be a lot further and definitely better paid, if he had ever compromised. Especially in this country, where it is never a case of what you know...

And best of all, he uses a lot of countryside that is familiar to me, and of course, fields!