Keats may have said autumn was a season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, but then he never lived in Scotland when it can be a constant diet of monsoons, high winds, crops rotting in  fields, and the inevitable heavy drinking. Keats almost definitely didn’t meet Nick Cave either.

Which is a roundabout way of saying the next few weeks are going to be a bit busy. First off, I’ll need to prepare for Slam Factor Fife, which is bringing the gentle art of the poetry slam to the Magic Kingdom. It’s at the newly reopened Kirkcaldy Galleries on Thursday, 3rd October.

On Saturday 5th, of course, there’s Cry of the Cave People, a celebration of the work of Nick Cave. Four bands, three spoken worders, one night of Gothic magic. Much rehearsal has already been had, and trading of song titles … the Cave People’s FB event page is now open for business.

In the midst of all this, I hope to blow the lid on my latest expose: how the Potato Famine of 1847-8 changed the face of fast bowling forever, or The Scots-Irish Conspiracy Theory of Cricket. You heard it here first.