Five Fine Things .....

*in which I inflict my taste on you, dear reader

1. Watching! Julian Schnabel’s (1996) Basquiat biopic. I liked this because there is no sensationalising of the artist’s self destruction, because it’s beautifully acted by Jeffrey Wright and beautifully shot by Schnables, plus New York, New York, plus a whole range of other incredible actors. (Note: with the exception of Bowie’s acting, and I’m speaking as a Bowie fan, the Bowie- as -Warhol performance is undeniably terrible. Extra note: Warhol according to Ishmael Reed was an abusive, negative presence in Basquiat’s life rather than the benign weirdo who encouraged Basquiat to stop using as as he is portrayed here. There’s a great Other PPL podcast with

   Brad Listi
   on Basquiat and a bit on some of the misconceptions around this artistic friendship here.)

2. Reading! Spring and All by William Carlos Williams. This hybrid book still feels groundbreaking and it was published in the ‘20s. Spring will never quite be the same daffodil and shepherd- ridden season again as we pass by Carlos' ‘road to the contagious hospital ‘.

3. Enjoying! Kung Fu Panda 1, 2 and 3. No need for explanation, I'm looking forward to going to the cinema to see number 4!

4. Listening! to Rich Roll with Jonathan Haidt on how social media trashes your brain, especially developing baby brains (brains are babies till age 25). The data and science behind what we all inherently know to be true.

5. Smelling! the bluebells. Our garden is full of them, our house is now full of them (see above). I’m stopping and smelling the bluebells. I grew up in Hampshire - where there are bluebell forests galore - so have a particular soft spot for these little darlings.

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   Thank you as always for reading, sharing, commenting and being present! Please do invite your friends. Life is not about endless content so in honour of that here’s some older stuff - a fiction extract from April 2023, a two month old essay on the sick lure of TV show Gilmore Girls, and a lucky dip random post, click if you dare! More Fine Things recommendations can be found here.

Love,

Emma x o x o

p.s. you can purchase my book, which is about my grandparent’s lives, Roaming Wild, the founding of Compassion in World Farming here or here. You can learn more about it here. So many heres, hear, hear!