Tom Wiggins, Letter Carver & Writer

This glorious day the earth is shaking -  Hallelujah! Hallelujah! And I will join the unending hymn - Hallelujah! Hallelujah! No matter, no matter, no matter what.  

On the second day of the festival you wear a white dress and sandals and a plaster around your toe and you are perfect and this is one memory from many that I have and am haunted by but I am thankful to you for a time not so long ago when I can say I slipped through life a little more easily.  

Free trip to Southend.   Auntie needed Uncle to fit a new shower.   Did I want to come with?   Yes, I said.   Their house was a living, working museum of my childhood and admission was free.   I would make the sandwiches for the drive. I needed a book for the return trip.   I would stay longer than Uncle and I wanted to stop off in London on the way back.   I booked a casual date with Oxfam.   I walked in and the hawk on the cover looked at me.   H is for Hawk by Helen McDonald.   I’d heard great things about it, but non-fiction?   Could I do this after several uninspired attempts at getting back into fiction?   Perhaps non-fiction is the antidote.   The hawk on the cover continued to look at me as it perched stock-still on its Perspex stand.   Do I want you, I thought.    Do I need your heaviness in my bag? Are you worth carrying across London during the tube strike?   Yes, the hawk said. ...

My maternal grandfather Born in Paslek, Poland 25th March 1925 Died in Gloucester, England 30th January 2000

This article from the magazine supplement in Saturday's The Times made me laugh.  And I mean REALLY laugh.  On a train.  With people around.  I'm not from a big family (I have one younger brother) so I can't imagine what effect it would have on readers who can relate.  I painstakingly scanned the article in for your reading pleasure.  Please read it so my efforts to scan this in (which were vast - trust me) aren't in vain.  Hats off to Caitlin Moran!

It knew of the unknowable distance that grew between us, but God knows how it got there - one day it wandered in, pinned its tenancy to the inside of my chest and sat there, observing, oblivious to nothing. It was a keen musician, keeping tempo with my tempo, slept when I slept, read when I read. I continued as normal amid the newness of letting go with an awareness of it  that snuck past definition. Once, on the way to college, I saw its reflection holding steady in the window of a passing train  and I found a privilege to the age I was present in. It ended its stay at the next stop, but before it was lost to the crowd, it looked back  and we smiled to each other knowing that the dialogue  between me and you - however unspoken - would continue.  And that was the last I saw of it without ceremony but with rhythm in its shoes.  

First time, you let me stay the night despite your own rules You took off early to go cheat your way through film school You left a note in your perfect script: "Stay as long as you want" And I haven't left your bed since.

Director of Hospitality  MGM Grand Hotel & Casino  3799 South Las Vegas Boulevard  Las Vegas NV 89109 United States Dear Sir/Madam,  Re: Complimentary VIP Tickets - Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Manny Pacquiao Greetings from England.  I hope business is as good in Las Vegas as it is here in Gloucester.  Our city has a lot in common with yours  - not only do we have a casino, but we also have numerous hotels, a multiplex cinema, a twenty-six lane bowling alley and a Mecca Bingo.  We are also very similar geologically - while your city is next to The Nevada Desert, ours borders The Forest of Dean.  If you don’t know it, ask Harrison Ford.  Or Harry Potter.  And while your city may be a magnet to international superstars, Gloucester has a cathedral, which means we host God.  And God trumps everyone - even Elton John (who, I might add, is visiting in June).   Many of our...

Shura - "Just once" This young lady's writing has a stripped-down feel.  It's as raw as you like.  I don't know how popular she is with the kids of today, but she ought to be causing a stir.  The new generation of listeners are so much more discerning musically than I was at that age so I've got every confidence that they'll pick up on this girl's talents.      "If you get my name wrong/I won't get pissed off/'cause I wish I was somebody else." Låpsley - "Station" I've been listening to "Falling Short" - another song by L å psley - for a very long time.  But it's only recently that I've discovered this one.  It has a great laid-back quality and feels as if it should belong in a dream sequence.  I'm increasingly drawn to songs that gives that listener room to think and this one certainly allows that.  The D ø  - "Despair, Hangover and Ecstasy" I like the European ...

Having made several attempts to write a coherent/enjoyable/insightful piece about Slow Club's gig since they played Gloucester Guildhall on Thursday 26 February, I'm going to admit defeat and just spew out some thoughts that came to mind while I was there - otherwise referred to as a real music reviewer's first draft.  Here goes: 1.  It was very clear from the off that Rebecca and Charles really like and really enjoy performing their songs.  I get the impression that Complete Surrender was exactly the album they wanted to make.   2.  I read one review that said that Rebecca had "lungs like parachutes".  I'm not going to disagree - her voice is as raw and as emotive and as affecting as they come and it reaches heights that few contemporary singers can achieve.  She's one of the best vocalists out there, and I can say that having listened to an inordinate amount of mu sic by British female singer-songwriters over the past ten years.  Howev...