Maybe I have mentioned already that one of the starting points for some SRs is what the world was like long before humanity appeared on the scene and what it will be like when the human race finally becomes extinct? Science tells us a lot about what the earth was like before humanity arrived and astronomy and cosmology even have a go explaining what the universe was like a few instants after the big bang kicked off. We can detect some background radiation from the big bang I believe with very powerful radio telescopes. The SRs have raised the question of whether a lot of philosophy of the last two centuries or so can�t accept/explain that we can be reasonably clear how the world was before our arrival. It�s that last statement that I am having trouble digesting but Laurence tells me he has almost finished the recent French book which goes into the arguments in some depth. The term �ancestrality� is used to cover all the happenings prior to the emergence of humanity. If you drop this word into Google you�ll see just how much brain-power is currently being devoted to explaining how it comes about..

I looked up a band called the Movies on the Last FM. The narrative explains that there have been at least five bands with that name � unfortunately none of the tracks underneath come from the band that I am interested in which was formed in Cambridge in the first half of the 1970s. There is one track on You Tube � without any moving pictures � which sounds to me a bit like Steely Dan, the band they were always compared with. The Movies own site does exist and it seems that the archive is gradually being digitised there. But I can�t get the tracks from there into my LFM library which is where I would like them to be.

I have loaded every conceivable Joni M track into the library but the algorithm is being rather childish in ignoring them in my opinion. It has finally given up Furry Sings the Blues from Hejira and A Case of You. The one that�s stuck in my mind is Rainy Night House which has a passage in the middle which follows the cycle of fifths.

When I was in Brill showing off LFM we played Spriguns Radio � yet another band formed in Cambs in the first half of the 1970s. I have just switched that station back on and who should be the first selection but Trader Horne with Judy Dyble. Next up is the Water into Wine Band which is a new one on me � but apparently the band comes from the same city at the same time. Clever algorithm.

A colleague has just mailed to say he is off to Detroit � I replied saying how much I like the music scene there. My host at Brill has also got an assignment in Detroit coming up.

Laurie Anderson was on a radio 4 chat show this morning which also brought a very striking image from the Object Oriented crew � two cadarvres with their skin removed posed as if they were copulating.

Ever since James� post in the LSE Ideas journal I have become intrigued by how quickly Google picks up new items � in an hour or less. There is a slightly narcissistic strain which is intrigued by how fast this diary is getting back into the rankings.