Fat Boy Slim and the Blue Horizon

I'm sat hear listening to a radio adaption of the John Buchan adventure yarn "The Courts of the Morning". It is a ripping tale of derring do and I'm enjoying it hugely.

I remembered that the John Buchan books are a real favourite of a pal of mine - an author probably best known for "The Thirty-Nine Steps". I don't share my pal's fondness for these books although he'll be pleased that I even gave "earspace" to one the more obscure volumes in the canon.

Regrettably, neither was I able to counter - enthuse him about one of my favourite authors - Graham Greene (Our Man in Havana, The Quiet American, The Honorary Consul and many more). The book I had selected to entice him with was the carefully selected "Travels With My Aunt", a picaresque and darkly humurous tale of a quiet bank manager whisked away in the late 1960's on to a series of jaunts by his gutsy and eccentric Aunt. The novel also has a nice twist which I won't spoil here.

If you have a favourite author, who is it and how (and with what volume) would you try to recruit further fans?

I've been a fan of John Prine's music since I first got interested in music at all and it is great that over recent years his own countrymen have recognised his greatness too.

The song I've chosen to share today is not so deep and meaningful as many he has written, but it is full of heart and affection for it's subjects, a decidedly blue collar couple bereft (or robbed?) of very high aspirations. Still, they get by, have a little fun where they can find it and love each other. Hopefully it will make you grin as much as it does me!

For what it's worth, the line that makes me smile most is "He drinks his beer like its oxygen"...fantastic.