works for me too. I read a Wodehouse about every 4 or 5 books I read. You can fly through them, dip in and out and know that when you come back - a sentence like - "She looked as if she had been poured into her clothes and forgotten to say 'when'" - will be waiting for you.

The Philadelphia Story is the filmic cleanser - effortlessly effervescent and economically elegant.

Music wise - I pop on a bit of William Byrd or Thomas Tallis. It's not the religiosity that I find soothing and although it has a certain spiritual quality it's the sheer sound of the voices and the intertwined melodies and harmonies that are cleansing.

After that, I'm ready for a bit of Whitesnake

Described by Radiohead as 'the healer' for rekindling their love of music. Does the same for me.

...as does Hello Starling by Josh Ritter.

Always cheers me up.

Yes they despair of the human race, but they do so masterfully.

Reading Burmese Days whilst listening to OK Computer is like giving my brain an enema.

That empty feeling is usually eased by listening to someone singing about that empty feeling, so Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits tends to have the restorative properties I need. It's been with me on every journey I've ever made.

Wodehouse and Orwell are favourites too, though in the mood Madrid describes I usually reach for a book of quotations - often humorous quotations.

Book : "Other Men's Flowers", a collection of classic poetry collected & annotated by Lord Wavell is always good for a dip in when I feel blah.

I've got a jazz playlist on my ipod and when I've run out of things I know I want to hear I skim through that and find something that works - Alice Coltrane or Pharoah Sanders will solve most conditions, but sometimes it needs the full Albert Ayler ("Bells", in particular) to re-calibrate my ears.

Music - New Ian Brown album, "My Way" is really good. I think its a grower, more subtle than his last album. Particularly the beats. Am also enjoying the new Slaraffeland album, "We're On Your Side" - like the second Arcade Fire album should have sounded - excited and inventive.

Book - started reading Nietzsche's "Thus Spake Zarathustra" this morning. Not impressed to be honest. So far it just seems to be badly written pseudo-psychological nihilism purporting to be a novel about a smug little git. Which is never a good thing.

DVD - watched "Southland Tales" yesterday for the first time sober. It makes slightly more sense, but I haven't figured it all out yet. And I probably never will. But I enjoy it, even if it did get completely slated when it came out.

to be badly written pseudo-psychological nihilism purporting to be a novel about a smug little git"

If you change "a novel" to music and "about" to by - in the above sentence - then you have an accurate description of The Fall.

Or was it for the Word of Mouth one ? (just trying to help )