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The Exquisite Corpse was one the favourite games of the surrealist artists. It involves a number of participants successively adding to an initial collage or drawing without being able to see the previous contribution(s). Often this involved folding a paper to hide what was already there.  As such it is a supremely democratic art form; an example of the notion that the artists are the people and that the expression of their subconscious through automaticity is further enhanced when the manifestations of those expressions are combined in themselves in a chaotic manner. Although doubtless the surrealists would consider that to be objective chance. That term 'manifestation' (or manif  in the book) is critical for the purposes of this profoundly disturbing and very timely book by China Mieville which considers a version of the 1940s in which surrealist artworks are coming to life following the 'S-Blast" (classically this explosion occurs in Les Deux Magots) in

'Don't drink and dial' is the sage advice given to one character in the film  Sideways  meaning that ringing your ex wife after two bottles of Pinot Noir (and certainly not Merlot) is probably not a good idea. A more contemporary version would be along the lines 'don't text after midnight'. So how by 11pm last night, after two modest glasses of Singha beer, a very good Thai Green Curry and having been out to see a gloriously humane Finnish film called  The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Maki , am I writing the most horrific things about a person I've never met and with whom I simply have a major difference of political opinion? It all started so innocently by coming to the aid of a friend who was being assailed on Facebook and was looking for some support. Some initial posts seemed to do an effective job of contesting some of the more ludicrous things that were being said.  Then there started to be a longer exchange that became increas