What I should have been doing today....

But instead I spent all morning and most of the afternoon doing homework with Molly. Well, I say doing homework, more like calming her down when it all gets too much. Even with trying to keep on top of it all this week she still had 4 pieces to do/finish. The art was the real difficult one, so much frustration - she really, really wants to do it well, but so far hasn't made that step up from childish drawing to the sort of drawing the teacher will expect.

Eventually, after 2-3 hours of off and on trying to get it right, she was 80% finished when we decided that enough was enough and she needed a break. But after lunch we started her RE; photos of all the churches in Pocklington and a little research to describe them. That took ages as well. I wouldn't mind if she was thick - but Molly's bloody bright and yet it still gives her so much grief getting it all done - so much of it coming at her all at once, she's overwhelmed right now.

And tomorrow - it's History. Aaaaarrrrgh.

So no, I didn't get along to the Leeds Alternative Comics Fair, we were finished with homework today around 3, and by the time I'd have travelled across by bus and train it would have been too late. Likewise car, petrol and parking would have been a right pain.

Oh well, maybe next time eh?

Propaganda - A Secret Wish. I'll buy it again. And again. And again. And again.

25 years ago I bought Propaaganda's beautiful, magnificent album A Secret Wish for the very first time. And then I bought the Paul Morley reproduction (other versions and remixes) cd Wishful Thinking. And then I bought the 2002 Outside World cd with even more versions.

Four times I've bought A Secret Wish. The original album had 10 different songs on it. Across all 4 cds there's only another 4 songs (and two of these are, in all honesty, just renamed reworkings of songs from A Secret Wish) and 7 extra dvd videos.

This latest version of A Secret Wish is the deluxe edition. No new tracks. Just 2 cds worth of the original album and various alternate versions and different mixes. I started with a treat - the 20 minute version of Jewel/Duel called Do Well. I hadn't heard it before - it's a rare, rare thing, mixing together multiple versions of Propaganda's most famous song. It took seconds for the goosebumps to form on my arm and a huge, ecstatic smile to play across my face.

Right, I'm off to listen to Propaganda. Again. Have some pictures, taken from the ZTT Archives.

He said what?

Here's one that raises the bar on idiotic, backward thinking, out and out insulting stupidity:

Pope Benedict (from this BBC article):

"Even in our own lifetimes we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society and denied our common humanity to many, especially the Jews, who were thought unfit to live."

"As we reflect on the sobering lessons of atheist extremism of the 20th century, let us never forget how the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and of society and thus a reductive vision of a person and his destiny."

Yes, he really is making a link between being an atheist and being a nazi. No, I couldn't believe he'd say something so incredibly, ridiculously stupid either. But I suppose I should have expected it. This of course, comes just a day after one of his main aides described the UK as marked by "a new and aggressive atheism" and said that "when you land at Heathrow you think at times you have landed in a Third World country".

The ongoing de-catholic-isation of Molly is going well. Things like this only make me think she's better without influences like that in her life. And even the main catholic in the house is tending towards agreeing with me on that.

UPDATE. Just after posting this, I saw Steve Bell's cartoon for today:

What I did at the weekend....

Trip to Birmingham - off to Nostalgia & Comics...

and the Birmingham Zine Festival.....

Full reports over at the FPI blog

She loved it.....

But we knew that she would. Came home today and was excitedly going through her planner almost before she got through the door.

On secondary schools and the terrible reality of being a parent....

Molly goes to her new school in a very few hours. She's a predictable mix of excited and nervous, obsessing somewhat over getting lost, wondering whether she'll be in the same groups as her friends, who her teachers will be and countless other little questions.

We've spent the last few days living the cliché of parents watching their child growing up. And the oldest cliché of them all is sadly true. It does genuinely feel like just a moment since we were getting her ready for her first day at nursery or her first day at primary school back in Birmingham, a tiny thing in school uniform nervously approaching the playground for the first time. And now she's off to big school. A new uniform, a new start, more children.

And it's wonderful, marvellous to see her, looking so grown up, so independent. Yet it's horrible at the same time, because every step towards independence, every day she grows older is another day, another step towards that glorious, awful day that she doesn't really need us any longer.

The role of a parent, at least those that do it properly is to prepare your child to leave, and to rejoice in them doing so, confident that you've done your job properly. And if you do it right, it will break your heart when they do, holding the tears in until they turn the corner.

And that's how we felt tonight, laying out her things for school in the morning, immeasurably proud, so full of love for our little baby, our little girl. And then, once she was in bed, then I started thinking about how quickly she'd grown up and how things would change so quickly now. It's so sad, so wonderful, grief and loss in a way, but something to rejoice as well.

So here's to Molly, my little girl, my gorgeous wonderful girl. From the first moment I saw her, 11 years back, I knew my future was set. And I'd have it no other way.

Secondary School tomorrow.....

And much as I'd love to, I wont be going there with her.