Leo indeed, but only just! Lots of nice things - some no-one will ever understand - like the remastered edition of Tales of Topographic Oceans which has been close my heart since I was twelve and still makes me cry like a baby. On a wee CD spree in Preston yesterday I also decided to give some precious vinyl a rest with the purchase of such CDs as Ivor Cutler's Jammy Smears, The Mothers' We're Only in it for the Money and the Bonzo's Let's Make Up and be Friendly. The joys of Action records, which also furnished us with The Monkeys' Head on DVD to watch last night as my birthday film. Seriously cool!

Lots of books, including The Stations of the Sun, The Collected Poems of George Mackay Brown, Alice in Sunderland, Pitmatic: The Talk of the North East Coalfield, The Last of the Tin Smiths : Willie McPhee and a rather fetching gew-gaw from York Minster which reproduces part of a carving from the Chapter House in which the placement of an acorn relative to a male figure would appear to be strategic! Here's the carving as a whole, wherein all the foliage is being disgorged by a fetching Green Man. Also features a squirrel and a bird:

York Minster Chapter House, 20th August 2009

I had the Chapter House all to myself on Thursday morning for about 7 minutes or so, allowing Sundog to take control for some merry resonant Jew's Harping whilst contemplating the nature and purpose of such imagery...