Tom Cox's Blog, page 12

The Cat: A Winter Folk Tale

Once upon a time, a man, a woman and a cat were walking through a deep forest. All three had walked for what felt like a thousand miles and each but the smallest member of the party balanced precariously on blistered, swollen feet. Night had fallen only an hour ago but its polished granite blackness above the treetops seemed to hint at a stark permanence and corresponding adjustments to the

2015 Horoscopes

ARIES

A stranger will run past you on a dark street carrying a cake but you will soon forget him.



TAURUS

This is a big year for you, full of revelations, the biggest of which being the realisation that you don’t hate all mushrooms, only a few.



GEMINI

The left side wing mirror of your car will be snapped off by a generically distraught man called Matthew. You don’t know him but then it’s

Tense

Not sure exactly what this mouse and frog who live in my mum and dad's garden have disagreed about but it's led to a very awkward silence.

The Five Negative Voices I Hear Most Frequently In My Head Whilst Writing Non-Fiction Books About My Life*

* All actually very useful, in their own way.

The blank pages left for "notes" that came with my lawn mower are proving to be absolutely invaluable.

Good Log Story From My Dad

Was on the phone to my dad the other day. He told me a good story about a log so I thought I'd transcribe it. (My dad is 65.)

Theo, by Ed Taylor

On the whole, rock and roll novels don't work. Admittedly, I say that as someone who doesn't get on with a lot of fiction OR non-fiction music books (including the two I've written myself and summarily tried my best to forget about), but nobody wants to read a great rock and roll novel more than I do. Fiction and rock music are two of my favourite things in the world, so why wouldn't I? But I've

A few of my recent 21st Century Yokel columns for the Guardian

A walk along The Dart to Wistman's Wood

Looking death in the face: just a normal part of life in the country

Why I love maps and continue to resist SatNav

Cat advice that only dads can give

Stray ginger cats: the pros and cons of taking one in

Eight rules for walking in East Anglia

Confessions of a wannabe sheep owner

Birdwatching for beginners

Wake Up The Moths by Matt Deighton - a lost folk horror classic

“Ghost folk,” was the term that sprang to mind the first time I heard Wake Up The Moths, Matt Deighton’s fourth and finest (to date) solo album. There are a few rare records whose ambience is so powerful (I’m thinking immediately here of Exile On Main Street) that they seem to carry with them a strong, palpable sense of the place where they were recorded, and Moths instantly seemed like one

The temptation was almost unbearable...