If life is a to-do list, I managed a big tick on Friday evening, in Nottingham, when I finally got to see the glorious Liza Minnelli. Cabaret — the movie — was a portal to my adulthood. It won Best Film Oscar in 1973, and I clearly recall bunking off school to see it. What drew me to it? Don’t know.… READ MORE.... …
Blog Posts
One track mind Having discovered the secret of eternal youth, I’m feeling pleased with myself. Last entry, I mentioned my success in running with the Kaiser Chiefs. This led me to try putting together a playlist of music of a similar pace, in the hope of extending the effect. But I couldn’t get it to work seamlessly enough. Then I remembered podrunner, a free service provided by DJ Steve Boyett.… READ MORE.... …
As a pasty-faced youth, I was handed down a chemistry set by a swotty cousin. It was never clear to me what I should do with this boxful of powders and vials, but that didn’t stop me occasionally mixing up a few chemicals in arbitrary fashion, along with some water and usually, for some unknown reason, a splash of malt vinegar and a fistful of sugar.… READ MORE.... …
Always brightest before the dawn The landscape may look kinda familiar. We’ve been here before. I’m in that odd position of trying to rally the inner troops, while knowing that the last few battles have been lost. Boston, Dublin, Two Oceans… all had high-decibel fanfares, but all dwindled into ponderous bass horn finales. I sent out all the invitations but didn’t turn up at the party.… READ MORE.... …
The Cliff edge The trouble with a lost weekend is that the ripples of loss extend way beyond its apparent temporal bounds. At the time of reckoning, you find it’s a lost week. Mine finished two days ago, but I can still sense it. And along with mere time, plenty more gets swept out to sea: momentum, fascination, appetite, engagement. Plans and good intentions.… READ MORE.... …
Scales of injustice There’s this bloke who forgets his wedding anniversary. His spoilt wife is furious, and growls at him: "Tomorrow there’d better be something in the driveway for me that goes from zero to 200 in a matter of seconds." The next morning, she finds a small package in the driveway. She opens it and finds some brand new bathroom scales… Compared with her, I’m regarding my own bathroom scales quite favourably.… READ MORE.... …
Crying out loud Another step forward. Four miles on a mild and bright evening, with the run element of the run:walk ratio back over 50%. The aim is to keep it creeping up, but I won’t let it reach 100% before I’m a stone lighter than I was at the start of this week. The good news, as predicted, is that the pounds are sliding off.… READ MORE.... …
Notes from the ledge I woke this morning feeling troubled and empty, but didn’t know why. It was something beyond normal Monday fatigue, and the distant nausea that’s part of the aftermath of football weekends. Yes, I ate an Everest of mashed potato last night — a self-referential monument to my inability to judge food portions (as I would have it), or to my greed (as M would prefer).… READ MORE.... …
Tyra-knee-saurus Rex Yesterday, for the first time in nearly 40 years, I went to see the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum. I wanted to look upon these mighty works and despair, just as I had done as a kid. But I fancy the Tyrannosaurus Rex has shrunk a little since I was 10. Back then it was an unimaginably frightful behemoth.… READ MORE.... …
All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey It’s a while since I thumped the marathon tub. Let’s do it now. Taking the baton from the desperate lunge of the previous entry, I did manage to see the doc — eventually. He rang in sick first time round — a self-referential conundrum of the type I enjoy — but I persisted, despite the dial on the knee throbostat clicking back a few notches by the time I got there.… READ MORE.... …