KEV67

I think W. M. Thackeray was a more cynical author than Martin Amis. Barry Lyndon is rather entertaining.

I have not been to any of the Orthodox Church services. However, I am not very happy with them. They put pressure on the Georgian government to change their surrogacy laws, which may make it more difficult to get Adrian home. There are one or two Anglican or episcopal congregations. I was interested in attending one because the vicar could be a referee for his British citizenship application. I don't think the vicar or curate is prepared to be a referee or does not think he can. He is happy to baptise him, however.

I have to do a DNA paternity test. If it is proved I am Adrian's father I have to apply for a paternity order. If not I would have to apply to adopt him. That is if the surrogate signs the release papers. If I have to adopt Adrian I would probably be in the clear as far as my church is concerned. I am pretty sure I am the father. One of his carers says he is a Xerox of me.

I was thinking of concocting a cock and bull story about having impregnated a woman, who would not or could not marry me. She would have aborted the baby but I begged her not to, promising to look after the baby myself. After a bad start I would look like a hero.

I have only seen Tbilisi. Some parts of Tbilisi are nice, cobbled streets, old churches and castles. Other parts of the city are a bit half built, with no pavements. It is a mix of poor and reasonably well off. In general I like the Georgians, but the service is not always great.

What should I tell him?

I have been back a number of times. I have stopped going to other churches. My son was born in Georgia in December so I have been there. I am currently back in Blighty, but I intend to go back soon. It is mostly Georgian Orthodox out there. There are not many Anglican congregations. I have been worrying how to introduce my son to my vicar if I ever manage to get him back. I cannot see him approving of surrogacy. I think he is more likely to excommunicate me.

Hopefully the morning services are a bit better attended.

W. M. Thackeray was a better writer than I gave him credit for. I mean sure, he wrote Vanity Fair, which is commonly regarded as one of the best British novels in history, but that might have been a flash in the pan. I think Thackeray might have had an interest in military history. Captains Dobbin and Osborne from Vanity Fair both fought in the Battle of Waterloo. Barry Lyndon serves in various capacities as a soldier in the European wars of the mid 18th century. He reminds me of Harry Flashman after he was resurrected by George MacDonald Fraser, because he is such a deceitful person, as well as a snob. He is not exactly the same. Harry Flashman knows what he is. He is a coward, a philanderer, and a con artist. Barry Lyndon deceives himself almost as much as he tries to deceive others.

I started reading this. It is the only Thackeray novel I have heard of apart from Vanity Fair. Even then it is more famous as a Stanley Kubrick film, which I have not watched, but is supposed to be very good. The book is pretty good too, so far, although I have only read the first chapter. It is written in a different style to Vanity Fair. I suppose it is still satirical; otherwise it is different. It is written as an old man's Memoires, but it is not like Great Expectations.

Finished the snorefest this morning. Still, some of the TV and film adaptions look interesting, what with all the nudity.

Yes, I wondered if I was not picking up on subtle references. It just seems like a lot of random stuff happening. It reminds me a bit of One Hundred Years of Solitude, which was another book I did not like. I expect experts on Columbian history would have got it, but not me.

I thought Jackie Brown had a sort of a twist.

I decided on Pete Wylie from The Mighty Wah. Dangerous choice perhaps, because he was an egomaniac. He had a good voice though. I doubt this will be a very stable band, but if they can get two half decent LPs out of them it would be worth it.

I read The Information by Martin Amis. It was dark, cynical and misanthropic. Have to give him credit for skewering clever people and much as the thick. He is an equal opportunities skewerer. It's a shame he does not have a son who is a writer.

It's still a bore fest. More than half to go before I can say I read it.

I have started reading this. I wonder whether it was the book the Rolling Stones song Sympathy for the Devil was about. Not massively gripped so far.

I read on the internet an interview given by Peter Lorimer. Some of Clough's demands sounded like bullying and rather unreasonable. On the other hand, the Derby County players loved him, even though he sometimes tore strips off them. I have not heard of players writing to the board to reinstate a manager before, or threatening to go on strike. I missed the hey day of Clough. I lived in Long Eaton when I was about six or seven. At school all the kids used to chant "Derby County". That would have been about 1974 so Dave Mackay was probably in charge by then. Most of that went over my head. I hated the daily humiliation of football. I became aware of Brian Clough in the 80s and 90s. I always used to like that side with Franz Car, Neil Web, Des Walker, Garry Parker, Nigel Clough, Stuart Pearce, Roy Keane, etc. Brian Clough's behaviour was odd sometimes. He had a player called Jemson who would not follow tactics. He'd run with the ball rather than pass it. Clough reported punched Jemson in the stomach in the changing room. There was another occasion during a pitch invasion when he clouted a number of the invaders. Old school was Clough.

Shallow Grave had a decent twist.

Blade Runner had a good twist, at least the director's cut did.

Yes the problem with the singer is that they are so distinctive that they dominate the band. First the voice is a very distinctive instrument, and then they sing the words, which if they are good words, is a second dimension to the music. So I would want a singer who had a strong voice, but did not have such a distinctive style he dominated the band. Because then it would be a case of Gary Flash and the Backing Band.

The Jungle Book. I liked the I'm the King of the Jungle song and dance routine. My favourite character would be Luke Skywalker. I read the comics before I saw the film. I read the book so I knew who Jabba the Hut was before the Return of the Jedi, and I knew who Luke's friend Biggs was, who was cut from the film. Biggs didn't make it. He went for a burton while attacking the Death Star.

I have yet to decide on a singer but my other band members are John McGeoch (Siouxie and the Banshees, Magazine ) electric guitar David Norreys (Joy Division, New Order) - drums Brian Jones (Rolling Stones) - instrumentalist David Steele (The Beat, Fine Young Cannibals) - bass The singer is tricky.

Yes, Peter Taylor. In the film he was played by Timothy Spall. Martin Sheen was a lot like Brian Clough, but Timothy Spall did not seem very much like Peter Taylor. I have only watched a couple of clips of Peter Taylor on YouTube. He seemed like a cross between Captain Peacock and Arthur Daley. He had a slight military bearing. Apart from being a great judge of talent, I suspect he was the good cop to Clough's bad cop. Quite a lot is made of Clough not telling Taylor about his pay rises. Fair enough, but while it was a great partnership, it was not an equal partnership. Clough had the tougher job.

I seem to recall hearing Cloughie say the Leeds board should have backed him. Difficult to say. Someone in the books says Johnny Giles was promised the job but didn't get it because Billy Bremner's nose was out out of joint. I wonder how he would have got on. He might have managed their decline a bit better. I think possibly Cloughie was right and the board should have backed him. It is pretty difficult when the fans all hate you too.