Family

An oblique reference to the title. Every year, Ikuta Shrine displays a painting by a local artist of the approaching year's Chinese zodiac creature. As you can see, next year will be the Year of the Pig. Here she is with her family.

More directly, however, the title refers to the importance of family in the film Bohemian Rhapsody which I went to see this evening. Without family, most people have no centre to their lives and end up going astray. Of course, "family" does not have to be man/woman/child. It can be man/man, woman/woman, or even just a bunch of friends. But family must have love and true companionship at its heart. When Freddie turns his back on the debauchery of the lavish parties papering over the vacuum of true friendship and family in his life, that was the most wonderful scene of the film for me. I am so thankful for my little home, even with all the hard work and stress it takes to maintain it, because my family are so much more precious than the biggest house with the biggest cars and the biggest bank account if that all comes at the price of thousands of phony "friends."

I hope that Rami  Malek will win an Oscar for his bravura performance as Freddie Mercury, I hope that Dickie Beau will get to play Kenny Everett again in his own biopic, and I hope that everybody will find Somebody To Love. 

Apologies to anyone who thinks that is all a load of sentimental hogwash. You have my sympathy.