Marina, Aqua Marina; The Heroes of Lascaux; airports, service stations; Pinocchio's father, who fought with Garibaldi; hobo style; the prose, up to a point, of Nashe and his contemporaries; the satirical gift of St Simeon Stylites; the England of Eric Ravilious and John Piper; the idea that nobody is ever gonna be my boss; what the Grimms had to tell us in Rapunzel; using intentionally poor English, makes me sound like one of them rock and roll cats.
the ox of the seven combats, the vulture upon the rocks, the wild boar in valour, the salmon in the water, the God who creates in the head the fire
"There's sweeter music when she speaks - isn't there? A different bloom about her cheeks - isn't there? Could I be wrong, could it be so, oh where, oh where did Gigi go? Gigi, am I a fool without a mind, or have I merely been to blind to realise? Gigi, while you've been growing up before my eyes! Gigi! you're not at all that funny, awkward little girl I knew - oh, no, overnight there's been a breathless change in you. Gigi! While you were trembling on the brink, was I out yonder somewhere blinking at a star? Oh Gigi, have I been standing up too close or back too far? When did your sparkle turn to fire, and your warmth become desire, oh Gigi, what miracle has made you the way you are?"
The one where the hero says, "For the love of Christ, give me a wipe."
The great agents of enlightenment: Columbo, Magnum, McCloud.