Hot News: My Name Is Earl Series 1 DVD Set Out Now

Great News for all we My Name Is Earl fans. On the 25th of this month the first series DVD was released. For those who've missed it so far find all the info in this wiki article.

I've found time to watch the first, pilot, episode on the DVD and, having picked up the series quite late on Channel 4 here in the UK, I'll soon spend many happy hours catching up on the rest of the first series.

It's such exquisite comedy with its stereotype busting depiction of the US poor and its comic view of Karma. It teaches that doing the right stuff for others may start off as a way to seek wealth, happiness and to avoid trouble. But it ends up being its own reward.

This is just a great laugh with fine characters, a magnificent anti-work ethos and an anarchic streak it's good to see coming out of US TV Comedy. The surreal coincidences of the "plot" and the innocence of Earl with his list seems to teach much but it's great entertainment and a cure for the blues.

I see the second series is already playing in the USA. Come on, Channel 4 - let's have it soon.

Thanks Greg Garcia. Just keep them rolling.

When will the first piece about it appear in Tricycle?

They F*** You Up

The magnificent and profound Larkin poem This Be The Verse is a theme of and inspiration for "They F*** You Up: How to Survive Family Life" by Oliver James.

This book is a must for anyone planning to have kids and is probably good for people who've had them some time ago and are maybe now grandparents. For current parents of kids under 10 it should be very helpful but will also be rather scary.

James writes accessibly and in a way that avoids both the horrors of obscure academic psychology and the platitudes of pop psychology. I'm no shrink, but he seems to pay attention to, and use reasonably, the academic work he cites.

I have always favoured the idea that the way people are treated is important to the way they are. I have always been unhappy with the idea that it's all about genetics or is all about chemicals in the brain. For that reason, this book tells me what I want to hear because it argues against genetics as being the key factor in the psychology of people. However, it argues for the crucial importance of the way kids are treated and the way their parents or other main carers behave.

The phases seem to be:

Parental scripting during childhood based on:
place in family - youngest, oldest etc.; size of family - resources thinly spread?; gender; pressured to achieve highly therefore tending to depression?; "ugly duckling"?; neglected and ignored etc

Parental scripting at ages three to six decides conscience as tending to be:
punitive (strict and repressive, follow authority and rules not creative);
weak (give way easily to impulses, rebel against authority, creative but undisciplined); or
benign (OK with authority but will question it, neither repressed nor uncontrolled etc)

Six months to Three Years - deciding relationship patterns by the extent and kind of bonding with main carer(s) during that time.

First Six Months - forming the sense of self.

The book gives anecdotal examples of famous people e.g. Prince Charles, Woody Allen, Mia Farrow and Jeffrey Archer. The author's Guardian piece on George Bush should be read by all. It also uses up to date studies of twins and other academic work.

So, is it all too depressing for parents and those who are the result of their own childhood experiences? No.

The book is compassionate. It allows that if people become aware of the origins of their behaviour, it can be changed. This is done not by drugs but by talking therapies. The book, like the poem, is also compassionate as it accepts that the parents who do the "fucking up" are themselves the products of the same process. The book offers wisdom as it points to causes and cures - with a self assessment running through it for you to try on yourself.

I took away the cure as kindness to children (and, I think, adults) without weakness and indulgence. It amounts to pursuing, in an enlightened way, the child's interests and not only those of the adult. Children, especially, learn by example and from what they see. To act with compassion for oneself and others may be the key.

In summary, the answer to Larkin was written by Dorothy Law Nolte "Children Learn What They Live". Both poems should be read together.

What I Did on My Holidays - Zandvoort NL

The long gap is not wholly because I was away. It was partly that, and partly the inordinate amount of time it seems to take to catch up when you come back.

Great break in Zanvoort with Judith. In the interests of the planet and really feeling we were travelling and taking our time we went by train from Leicester with an overnight stop in beautiful downtown Ashford, Kent. That meant we missed all the airport delays and transparent plastic hand baggage.

We had a fine apartment and a great time cycling, chilling, visiting Amsterdam and Haarlem and generally wandering about. Zandvoort seems to be undiscovered by Brits so far. It has many kilometers of excellent beaches and is next to two areas of natural beauty with sand dunes, lakes and great walking and cycling possibilities. So, off we went on hired bikes to Haarlem and into the dunes and by train to Amsterdam.

The pavilions on the Zandvoort beach are great for just sitting and watching the world go by. One day I'll try to learn windsurfing etc to join the crowd at The Spot.

Bloemendaal, just up the coast, is also beautiful, especially the Parnassus Cafe - for other admirers see Cavalierpage. However, they are keen on the relaxed rules about taking dogs on to the beach, something others may be less enthusiastic about.

I haven't yet mastered the art of putting photo's in this blog and, indeed, am still forgetful about taking photo's (the memory and enjoyment of the moment may matter more?) but here is a link to the Zandvoort webcams

Thanks to Andre & Mrs Banning of Aquarius Apartments who provided the apartment.

and to the He Hua Buddhist Temple in Zeedijk Amsterdam for the chance to meditate in the middle of the busiest part of the city.

The stay was delightfully rounded off by the concert of Ukranian song by the Utrechts Byzantijns Choir in the Zandvoort Protestant Church.

I only mention all this as I know that few outside Islington public library read this blog.

Otherwise I'd want to keep these gems quiet.

Tot ziens.