Pieces of a Man Think it. Do it. Be it. Embellish.

67.68.69.70.71.72.73.74.75.76 77.78.79.80.81.82.83.84.85.86 87.88.89.90.91.92.93.94.95.96 97.98.99.00.01.02.03.04.05.06 07.08

Oh crap!!

Labels: 2005

This morning I've got butterflies in the stomach, just like matchdays where you were a kid and Dad was taking you to Carrow Road in the afternoon. First there's the killing of time until Football Focus. Then there's that twilight zone from one to kick off, the longest two hours of the week. Plans for the evening don't even exist because 4.45 might be the end of the world. And here's why;

Outwardly the denizens of Southampton and Norwich have good reason to be contented, living in burgeoning cities where jobs are relatively plentiful. Get close to the football grounds of the two cities, however, and a dark cloud hangs heavy; both Southampton and Norwich are battling against relegation from the Premiership, and this weekend is white-knuckle time.

Labels: 2005

Voted in the election today. Tony Blair's warning that a vote for the LibDems could let in Michael Howard was the catalyst - I voted LibDem.

Needless to say, this wasn't with the intention of helping the Tories. A quick check on TacticalVoter.net shows that it's solid Labour round here, so why bother giving tacit approval to a warmonger and liar. Last time round I voted Labour because the candidate was Gerald Kaufman, but there's no similarly compelling reason in Stockport.

Labels: 2005

Feeling crap this weekend, but at least sickness is an excuse to laze about and read. Starting a Nick Hornby book also reminded me to make a list of albums, a plan that has been simmering since 100 Greatest Albums last weekend). So, here are 5 albums that were a paradigm shift in my musical education;

The Smiths - The Smiths
Aswad - Live'n'Direct
Roy Harper - Stormcock
ACDC - Highway to Hell
NWA - Straight Outta Compton

Labels: 2005

I always look forward to the Guardian's Monday match report over Sunday's. With match facts already detailed, some unusual angle is needed and this morning did not disappoint. Evidence of a toke in the Islington sun and unfulfilled politial writing ambitions, I think, in the Charlton match report for this St George's weekend;

"It was Clarke's predecessor as Home Secretary, David Blunkett, who recently urged the English to proclaim their Englishness - a bit rich from a member of the government that has made Britishness a badge of international shame. Norwich needed no encouragement. If Darren Huckerby, their talisman before Ashton, had not been kept on the bench, recovering from a virus, they would have started with nine Englishmen. They even wear the colours of Norfolk's spring countryside, early green and oilseed rape. Truly they represent their people."

Labels: 2005

Excellent result this weekend, but if it goes to the wire we'll most regret giving away two (totally stolen) points at Selhurst Park last week. Assuming we both beat Southampton, our result against Birmingham needs to be better than theirs at Newcastle to give us a chance. Even more than millions of pounds for Premiership survival, it would be great to stuff Mark Bright's words back down his throat after 90 minutes of non-stop commentary whingeing last week.

Labels: 2005

It's a bit concerting to read Oliver James' article - Is your boss a psychopath? - and see some things listed that seem to be perfectly useful workplace skills;

"Case studies by psychologists have claimed that "successful psychopaths" really exist. These are portrayed as emotionally detached, with superficial charm and an unbounded preparedness to use others, differing only from personality-disordered criminal psychopaths in being law-abiding and less impulsive."

Labels: 2005

Saw this at the Cornerhouse last night. It's a character study of a man gradually being consumed by obsession as his life falls apart. Sean Penn provides a typically exceptional performance as Sam Bick, an estranged father and furniture salesman who hates his job and spends his time dreaming desperately of starting up a business with a government loan.

The mention of the assassination is misleading; it happens in a haphazard way near the end of the film, and up to that point Richard Nixon is a metaphorical device, representing the broken promises, distrust and lies in Sam's paranoid mind, only eventually becoming a focus for his action.

The plot is really the gradual dismantling of Sam's life. His wife is involved with another man, his kids are distant, he fails at his job and his loan is turned down. All this time, Sam is gradually coming apart; Sean Penn plays the first part of the film like a man who's physically struggling to hold it together, visibly taut with the effort. A pivotal point in the film, which Sean Penn delivers with incredible intensity, is a late night phone call answered by his wife's lover, which ends with Sam begging for contact as she hangs up. From this point onwards, Sam spirals out of control towards a pathetic and typically inept end.

It's harrowing but engrossing viewing. If you've seen Falling Down and remember the man outside the bank telling the world that he's not economically viable, this film could be the story of that man. (N.B. The film is inspired by real events; read about the real Sam Bick).

Labels: 2005

Oscar models the early birthday present that he's been given for being a good boy at school.

Labels: 2005

Jo attended an update meeting with the teachers and behavioural support people at Oscar's school today and apparently the last 6 weeks since the last meeting have seen amazing progress.

Last time we met and he was still not really paying much attention to other kids in class, although happier spending time in 1-1 with the teachers. Now the psychologist, who did an observation last week, reports that he initiated contact with other kids SEVENTEEN times in the hour she was watching.

And, perhaps not coincidentally, he brought home his first party invitation last week. I'm feeling very proud.

Labels: 2005

Pat Phoenix, Stuart Hall, Bez from Happy Mondays, Myra Hindley, Sir Bobby Charlton, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, Bernard Manning, Alan Turing, LS Lowry, Sir Charles Hallé... your boys took a HELLUVA beating!!

Labels: 2005

First activity of the day risked a tangle with the university's email police; "They were FUCKING BRILLIANT!", the message said.

As Doves had taken the stage the night before and greeted the packed hometown crowd with "All right, Ardwick?" we knew it was going to be an evening of pure Manc.

The opener was Pounding from The Last Broadcast. Before last night it was the under-noticed 9th track on the album - a sad reflection of how rarely my concentration is allowed focus for more than about 15 minutes these days - but weeks of anticipation was released as the chorus erupted, "Seize the time, cause it's now or never baby". The hook was in my head for days and the moment in my memory forever.

Black and White Town bounced along to a backdrop of Northern scenes; Rusholme kebab shops, scruffy Salford ginnels and Victorian brick. The visuals were employed sparingly but to great effect, and I especially like the Manhattan skyline for the explosive NY, a few minutes of intensity that worried the acoustic strings of Jimi Goodwin on rhythm guitar. Christ, that's a track you can never hear loud enough.

Here it Comes brought Jez Williams out from behind his drums to provide lead vocals and the track was accompanied by mesmerising dance footage that could've passed for Brooklyn breakdance if you didn't notice the frontage of Wigan Casino and the white boys with bad hair.

The set seemed to last long into the night, a relentless parade of thoughtful and crafted songs from their three brilliant albums, Lost Souls, The Last Broadcast and the new Some Cities;

Pounding
Words
Black and White Town
Almost Forgot Myself
Where We're Calling From
New York
Sea Song
Sky Starts Falling
Caught by the River
Ambition
Last Broadcast
Snowden
One of These Days
Cedar Room
Here It Comes (Encore)
Satellite (Encore)
There Goes the Fear (Encore)
Unknown (Encore)

There Goes the Fear, absolute show stopper though it is with it's overpowering themes of regret and its carnival crescendo, wasn't actually the end. The band did one last rocking instrumental jam to something I didn't recognise, but can guess was something from their Sub Sub days in the local dance scene.

It was probably a one-off for the locals, and as we streamed out onto Marple Road, I felt the spirit of New Order was also surely among us.

Labels: 2005

The interview with Richard Pryor in today's Independent describes when he decided to stop emulating Bill Cosby and become his own man;

"The fog rolled in," Pryor says. "I finally asked the sold-out crowd: 'What the fuck am I doing here?' Then I walked off stage. I shed my phoney image and started building my self- respect. I read a copy of Malcolm X's collected speeches and listened to Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On'? And I searched for the truth."

Adrian Gilpin described his own Damascene conversion in the celebrity lecture he delivered at the university last night. After 10 years showing managers how to learn from great leaders, he reached his own turning point when he realised that greatness only comes from following your own path. The rest of the evening was designed to help us locate that path.

I didn't generally find myself convinced, though. He brought together a number of ideas in an entertaining way, but in terms of a practical and cohesive whole, it amounted to less than the sum of the parts. The one bit of advice I acted on this morning was to only do the things you believe in - my 'list of things to do' got culled with this in mind. (It was a great way to start the day, though.)

Seriously, though, his most interesting point was about inspiring others with a vision of how things could be, illustrated with the clip from Gladiator in which Russell Crowe readies his troops for battle in Germania through the visualisation of success; "Three weeks from now, I will be harvesting my crops. Imagine where you will be, and it will be so."

I'm not sure that "Next year you'll be changing people's lives with your database design tips" quite has the same ring, but it's definitely food for thought.

Labels: 2005

It was a camping trip of two halves. We got all the way to the campsite in the Long Mynd when the car gave up the ghost by the local post office. Given the Countryside Alliance posters on view they probably thought the gypsies had moved in as we sat there stranded in the car park, kids in the back seat tearing a frozen banoffee pie to pieces like hyenas.

We left the breakdown recovery till the following day and got one of the locals to tow us to the campsite behind a tractor. (Oscar most impressed.) Unable to go for provisions, though, dinner was steak fried in butter on the bleuet and served with bread and ketchup, followed by a dessert of rice crispies. Real survivalist stuff!

Saturday was a vast improvement. The sun was shining the next morning and we had a great time playing pirates and princesses by the river in our fantastic wooden adventure boat before heading off to The Crown for a fat lunch of roast beast and chips.
If only all breakdowns could leave you stranded near a pub…

Labels: 2005