Ilford in Conversation: Women Challenging the Political Status Quo

Tonight's conversation was of particular interest to me having been moved from the host's constituency to the guest's, Faiza Shaheen's. It turns out that this didn't make much of a difference to the latter, but was of benefit to the former... leaving the redrawing of the boundaries largely an academic exercise.

But that detail aside, tonight was less explicitly about women in politics and more about political troublemaking - although given the vicinity of the two impressive figures on stage you can't help but feel that their power may have come from their chromosomes after all.

I think the main takeaway was one of inspiration and hope, reassurance that there are people who think about things and more, take action. Both were soaked in their humility as well as their struggle, and it was nice to hear first hand Faiza's historical position with Labour.

Film: Send Help

I think it's safe to say that I'll never be disappointed by Sam Raimi. That said I'm always surprised to hear that he has a new film coming out, given he's been treating us to such awesomeness since the 70s.

But I digress. Send Help is exactly what you would expect it to be, a not so straightforward bunch of set pieces asking far more than "what would an office power dynamic look like when reversed on a desert island". 

It's that subversion which elevates his films, but also the fact that they're so solid, concise and ridiculous in a good way. They never feel overwrought and end exactly when and how they need to.

Send Help was no different and so it obviously gets a recommendation from me.

Film: Primate

Maybe (definitely) I'm getting a little grumpy in my old age, but any film that has a man in a monkey suit as its main antagonist (while keeping a straight face) is destined to be pretty awful.

And turns out that Primate was pretty ridiculous. Not because of its premise and in fact had it been just another horror with, I dunno, a zombie instead it would have been quite enjoyable. It was the implementation here that failed.

So perhaps if I'm being charitable I'd describe this as a good idea that didn't quite make it. Either way this one might be one to miss. 

Book: Aurora, Kim Stanley Robinson

I've always maintained that there is Science Fiction and there is Science Fiction. Aurora can be firmly placed in the more genuine of the two buckets, appealing not to popular sentiment or in anticipation of a TV deal but setting out to tell a hard story (with hard science) answering hard human questions.

It's this "rough around the edges" feel that makes the book so great - that's not to say it is of low quality, since however abrupt the prose seems the plot, characterisation and narrative are all as polished as it gets. Indeed the real genius in the book is being both authentic while keeping its depth accessible.

Perhaps a bit over long, the story remains gripping throughout. I'm left hopeful that modern robust Science Fiction can be a thing, even if it remains rare. Recommended.

Umrah 2026

I was going to full tilt rant about how each trip to the two holy cities is less pleasant than the last, about how there are too many Muslims there now, and how the whole thing feels like a Disneyland resort what with all the selfies and content being generated.

Except that it turns out I had exactly the same thoughts the last time we visited, down to the Disneyland quip. So much for originality then, but at least the consistency in my feelings lends some robustness to them.

New this trip was us flying Wizz Air, a budget airline. This isn't my first taste of a cheap flight to Saudi - last time I flew there via Pegasus and that long haul flight destroyed me even with the stop in the middle, so the thought of a long haul 6 hour flight was a little scary. Turns out that it's not too bad - the return leg from Madinah was worse than the trip going out but we'd probably do it again in order to keep to a budget - it may even lend itself to a new model where we go for an even shorter amount of time to a single city and instead include a day trip to the other.

Otherwise the trajectory is the same: more people, more problems and more changes. Of note: all of my post-Umrah tawafs were done in outdoor footwear which was a bit of a sad indictment. To the credit of the Saudi authorities they seem to be doing okay managing the crowds, but until they do something extreme like banning smartphones I can't see any kind of reversal in the lack of etiquette shown by the great unwashed.