Gertsamtkunstwerk

Evenings out, past and future

The Bach Choir / Philharmonia / Hunt, Royal Festival Hall, London; a concert I went to nearly two weeks ago. The Independent doesn't like Christ on the Mount of Olives:

Yet its continuity is oddly choppy, its material obstinately unmemorable.

However, it's a piece with which I have recently fallen inextricably in love, and keep playing and playing, one of the very few works for which I have an urge to get the score, and, incidentally, the CD which is playing even now, gets an excellent review in yesterday's New York Times

Mr. Domingo has by far the most substantial role, and he sings with enviable robustness for a man over 60. A committed Wagnerian in recent decades, he has no trouble with Huber's German lyrics, imparting tender feeling to the words, especially in his anguished duet with Ms. Orgonasova. For her part, she is undaunted by high-flying passages.

That duet is sublime gorgeousness.

Cautious and reserved praise for Carmen, which I'm seeing next week.

A disgraceful review in the Observer of Arabella, which I saw last week. It is not the critics' place to criticise the audience. The audience who are paying - possibly three times (taxes, donations and ticket purchase) - for the presumably free seat enjoyed by the critic. A very nice seat, too, no doubt, one that prevented him from knowing that the booing audience was actually pissed off by not being able to see a significant proportion of the action from the cheaper seats bought with a guarantee of clear sight of the stage.

I am so disappointed that I missed Karita Mattila.

Bring back the shell suit?

What not to wear

I have to say, the chavs round here are still wearing shellsuits, and leggings with white stilettos.

Of this list, I have worn

• leggings - which, actually, are fabulous for slobbing round the house, and most people I know have sworn by them when pregnant
• white stilettos - I had a pair of three-inch white stilettos when I was a bridesmaid to my sister; I changed into canvas pumps as soon as the sit-down bit was over; one of my cousins, yes, Ginny, it's you I'm thinking about, thought my white stilettos hilarious
• bodies with poppers - guilty, I'm afraid, But it was a nice satin and old lace body that looked just fab
• shoulder pads - was it possible to buy a suit in the early to mid nineties without shoulder pads?
• stonewash jeans - I had a pair in the late Eighties
• dungarees - yup, very early eighties, though...

Oh god, I was a walking fashion catastrophe.

What a strange day

I haven't blogged about this before, because, oh, I don't know, because, I suppose. Early this morning Jimmy's father died. Not unexpectedly; he'd been in hospital a couple of weeks, everything was packing up, the doctors were talking about hospices, he'd had th epriest in a few times, and went onto the morphine - and the singing of Rebel Songs - a couple of days ago.

I don't know realy how to react. I'm not emotionally upset - we weren't close, and I have this awful mentality that finds it difficult to grieve for people who die old (he was eighty five). but of course Jimmy's upset, and I try to be a comfort, but he just wanted to go back to the house and be alone. After we had watched Eagles, Eagles glory day, of course.

It's going to mean a lot of changes round here. But too soon to think about them properly.

In the meantime I have just spent the evening watching telly.

This man needs shooting

Norman Tebbitt says obesity caused by gay rights, especially gay marriage.

Oaf, idiot. Not only he is he a crass bigot, and therefore worthy of shooting, but absolutely illogical. Some of these bigots actually manage to create a false but superficially convincing logic. He can't even do that.

What a shame he survived the Brighton. bomb. Which was probably planted by those famous gay IRA terrorists... Update Wrong, misguided, too busy trying to be too clever making silly jokes about gay IRA terrorists.

Classic Ads

'2 ½ hours of classic themes and music made popular by TV ads'
£15.99 this cost me. It is such a naff concept, and I want to say I hate it, but let me play it and see what happens.

I put it on random play, and the first track to come on is Nessun Dorma sung by Luciano Pavarotti. Okay, this will, probably get me expelled from the Three Tenors Yahoo Group, but I really really don't like Pav's voice. Oh sure, he used to hit a few High Cs, but that isn't a sine qua non for me anyway. Sometimes when I hear him sing, I think, "Oh that's technically very good," but I don't want to think that when I hear a singer - I want an emotional reaction, I want a quasi-sexual reaction. You would think that Nessun Dorma is the only thing he's ever sung. Unfortunately not.

Lascia Ch'io Pianga by Handel, sung by Lesley Garratt is nearly beautiful, but Angela Gheorghiu and even Cecilia Bartoli sing it so much better in my Collection.

This sort of Collection comes into its own for introducing me to the wonders of Adiemus/Cantilena (Cheltenham & Gloucester ad), who we've now seen live, and Jimmy absolutely adored. And I would suggest it was worth buying for Vangelis's 1492: Conquest of Paradise (Smirnoff), and, another glorious discovery, the Kyrie from Ariel Ramirez's Misa Criolla, sung gorgeously by José Carreras. I do so love Josep's voice pre late 80s. I know it's a terrible thing to say, but he was never the same after the leukemia.

It also has the Pie Jesu from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem, on which the singing of Barbara Bonney is an infinite improvement on the Sarah Brightman version we all love puke over. I thought I had a tape somewhere of ALW'S Requiem, but I can't find it. Maybe it was chewed up by a cassette player made ill by the odious Sarah BrightmanLloydWebber. I suppose I had a reason for buying it but buggered if I can remember what the reason was.

Most of the other tracks are okay, good or even very good pieces found better elsewhere in my collection, often in their proper context. But then, to really piss me off, they add in tracks such as Phat Planet by Leftfield, Open Heart Zoo, by Martin Grech whoever in ghastliness he might be (Lexus), the deeply irritating Slip Into Somthing More Comfortable - Kinobe (Magnum/Kronenbourg 1664), and the Renault Clio music by Robert Palmer, not exactly his masterwork. If I had wanted these in my collection, surely I would have bought 'Now That's What I Call Dull Repetitive Uninspiring Crap'

And Bond. They need shooting. The less said about this travesty the better....

And then, the amazing thing about this compilation it then plays Summertime sung by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, which is so many degrees of magnitude better than any other version in my collection, it entirely justifies the £15.99. And I don't think I have Ella's Someone to Watch Over Me elsewhere. What a luscious voice...

Well, that was an interesting experiment that turned into a pleasant surprise. It was just starting off with Nessun Fucking Dorma put me in a bad mood! Indeed, with the exception of the Renault Clio, and some Nocturne by Rolf Lavland (Blue Cross) the second disc is perfect for late at night: Britten's Playful Pizzicato; Joan Sutherland singing Casta Diva; Tchaikovsky's gorgeous Waltz of the Flowers; and Sarah Vaughan singing Make Yourself Comfortable...

On what frequency can I find Classic FM?

The Best Punk Album in the World...Ever

The title says it all, really!

I slightly regret being just a bit too young to be a Punk. I know some of it was manufactured, but that aside, there is so much energy in Punk. I could never understand then, and I can't understand now, why old codgers say it lacks music. They obviously haven't listened properly.

Forty eight tracks. Obviously I won't write about all of them. However,

• Babylon's Burning -The Ruts: my brother used to love singing this. Indeed, I am sure that somewhere in a drawer at my mother's house is a tape, long forgotten, of Matt aged 4 singing Babylon's Burning. Long forgotten - but wouldn't his wife love to hear it. Blackmail is a nasty word...
• Denis - Blondie I never really classed Blondie as Punk, but I do like them. This charted at just the time I was getting into chart music, and it sounds as raw and fresh 26 (ouch) years on as it did when I was in Junior 3 (what they now call Yr 5).
• Anarchy In The UK - Sex Pistols. Pure incomparable class. I'm thinking of spreading a rumour that Bryn Terfel is set to record a version of this - the ultimate 'crossover', I think. Does anyone want to help spread the rumour?
• My Way - Sid Vicious About twenty five years ago there was a TV programme saying this was the most recorded song of all time. I can't pretend to have heard all versions, but, then and now, I believe this to be the best. Definitely on the shortlist for my funeral music!
• Sound of the Suburbs - The Members Surely the soundtrack to Punk. I had forgotten quite how much I like this!
• Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) - The Buzzcocks - my favourite song by my favourite Punk band. When they performed this on TOTP, I was knocked sideways. Then the Fine Young Cannibals did a pointless and ruinous cover
• Into the Valley - Skids. Two words - Stuart Adamson (the late, great). Swoon! Great song! Also great on TOTP. Especially love the guitar!
• Milk and Alcohol - Dr. Feelgood. I think this was also covered by my brother aged 4. Pauline and I were such bad influences on him as a toddler. (She was more into Heavy Metal, which has never done it for me)
• 2468 Motorway - Tom Robinson. The first pop star I saw in concert - at the Karnival Party in the Portland Building Ballroom at University (look, I've been to very few pop concerts in my whole life...)
• Teenage Kicks - The Undertones - just class
• Deutscher Girls At this moment, I think this is the best Adam and the Ants song. I could change my mind tomorrow...
• We're Only Making Plans For Nigel - XTC. One of the most underrated bands of all time. Always reminds me of this lad on the bus called Nigel. At the time this was in the charts, one of my classmates was seriously after Nigel. And seriously into XTC.
• I am the Fly - Wire: I love the relentlessly grinding guitar. The nihilist lyrics epitomise the appeal of Punk.
• God Save the Queen - The Sex Pistols. Musically, this is really quite dreadful. But lyrically and conceptually, it's epoch-making. 123, all together now: "God Save the Queen, the fascist regime...no future no future no future for you."
• Stop Sobbing by The Pretenders and Is She Really Going Out With Him - Joe Jackson aren't really punk. But they're quite pleasant.
• I never realised at the time that Jilted John was a spoof Punk song - he's John Shuttleworth. I once got 100 lines for singing 'Gordon is a moron' deliberately within the hearing of a teacher whose first name was Gordon.
• It is rare that friendships have an 'our tune' but if it were possible, Magazine's Shot By Both Sides would have served that purpose...if it were not for the existence of Song From Under the Floorboard, which is a terrible omission from this compilation...

Not a turkey on the entire Double CD

Some Friendly Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches

By the Charlatans and the Happy Mondays. All part of that Madchester Scene. I guess you had to be there. I wasn't. But my brother was, and it from his collection that I taped these. They're okay. I guess they were better at the time. I glad I didn't spend serious money on these moderately talented mediocrities.

I think there's somemore Happies somewhere in the collection, but what comes alphabetically after the Charlatans?

Liszt

I don't really like Liszt, so why I have this tape in my collection is a mystery. It comprises the first and second piano concerto and Totentanz. And, actually, it's not bad. ALthough, when the tape is eventually eaten up, I won't be in a hurry to replace it with a CD. That having been said, the second concerto could grow on me. There's some serious bass going on it. I think it's for this one that Liszt nicked whole chunks from Wagner (liszt was Wagner's father-in-law).

May 1986 - finishing school

Altrincham have won the FA Trophy, beating Runcorn. Yeah!

Today has been a strange mixture of satisfying and unsatisfying. Satisfying because I have done a very reasonable amount of work; I have done both sorts of Maths; a large amount of learning Prime Minister and Cabinet; and when I have written this I will do some Italian. It has been satisfying because I have ticks for the £5000 prize on the Supamatch a Manchester Evening News scratchcard – therefore I need four more ticks with nearly sixty days of it to come. Satisfying because my Stats is going in: I need to make sure I don’t make careless mistakes; satisfying because I really believe I am absorbing my govt.

Why isn’t it satisfying. Well, I have stuffed my face with grub; because my Pure Maths is impossible. Oh yeah, Alex phoned this lunchtime , he wanted to know what happened on Thursday – “too busy at school” he suggested before I had time to say anything. Obviously he’s keen; I haven’t the guts to say I’m not interested; at least I got my message over that I’m working hard for A-Levels. But now I’m all depressed because I do like him, but I really do not think that I could handle a relationship like that; it’s too intense.

I’m beginning to feel a little bit more confident about my A-Levels. A little bit.

What is the point of staying off school with the aim of working when you end up having your working time constantly interrupted by the parents. I think they reckon I’m here for a holiday; don’t they realise that my A-Levels start in two days.

Mozart is God - discuss

I suspect that it is probably sacrilegious or even blasphemous to suggest such a thing. I suppose it's random how a cult becomes a religion. Can you imagine if all the world adopted Mozart as their religion, what a beautiful place the world would be?

More seriously, and without going into the depths of theological debate, I think that to listen to Mozart is to be convinced that there is a Greater Being in the universe. I don't think I have ever heard a piece of music by Mozart that is bad, and I would say that just about everything - certainly from the mature period - has the capacity to be extraordinarily moving. Is it the tunes, is it the harmonies? Tunes are just a random selection of notes. Harmony is just mathematics, you know. I was so brilliant at O Level Harmony.

So, how can these random notes and application of advanced calculus become magic? Trying to list favourite pieces is a challenge. I'll include that and that, but  then maybe I should I list that, and it ends up being il catalogo e' questo.

So, here is the catalogue of Mozart I really like, even more than the rest:

• L� ci darem la mano, from Don Giovanni - I particularly love a version I have on video of The Gold and Silver gala from Covent Garden where Plácido Domingo and Susan Graham sing it very very very seductively.
• Andante from Piano Concerto #21 in C _ amongst other versions in my collection is this one - track five.
• Clarinet Quintet - we did the first two movements as one of our set pieces for O Level - studying the score, and also looking into the life and work of Mozart. It was a fabulous way to revise. Basically. learn your notes with the music playing, then go into the exam and sing it yourself, and the facts come tumbling out. Guaranteed A grade. That is the reason I got into it. But I continue to like it because of its perfect structure, simple melodies
• Agnus Dei from Coronation Mass K317 (just before I became a councillor, a member of the electorate rang me up; this was playing and she said, 'oh no, I've disturbed you when you've just got out of the bath.' It didn't sound weird.)
• Laudate Dominum from Vesperae Solennes de Confessore K317 (the 'Amen ' alone is better than 99.99999999% of music).

I am publishing this now, even though there is much more Mozart to come, but I have recently changed my tactics to blog every disc, rather than just select the crème de la crème

I am currently listening to the highlights of Die Zauberflüte, which I bought a few years ago - I decided that I was going to improve my mind and get highlights of every opera on CD, but then I got side-tracked by a lack of time and money, the reason I had originally decided on highlights, rather than full...! A very weird opera - all based on Masonic symbolism and supposedly set in ancient Egypt. but for all its weirdness, the music is sublime.

Obesity

According to this, I need to lose three stone to get into the 'acceptable' category.

If I lost three stone, not only would I look ill, I would be ill.

I have big bones.

Il Trovatore

I thought that as I am getting the Del Prado partworks opera DVDs on a fortnightly basis, I might as well review them as I watch them. On in between weeks, I shall review the other videos and DVDs in my collection.

The plot is kind of complicated to explain but quite easy to follow, and includes quite a few gruesome deaths. For some reason I keep getting it mixed up with La Forza Del Destino, when in fact they have nothing in common except for music by Verdi, based on plays by Spanish playwrights of about the same time, and various gruesome deaths, taking refuge in a convent, the friend who is determined to spend his life looking, and the key involvement of gypsies.

Okay, so quite similar then. But Forza's most famous tune is the Stella Artois advert.

I actually got this one last week but only got round to playing it today. When I bought it I turned my nose up because of the presence in it of Pavarotti, who does nothing for me. But I resolved to buy each one in the series in order to expand my mind.

Trov is one of the popular greats from Verdi's middle period. The most famous piece from it is the Anvil Chorus, but 'Di quella pira' is also famous. Verdi wrote it to end on a high A, but convention has it that it ends on a high C - Salvatore Licitra was booed at La Scala for following Riccardo 'Perfectionist' Muti's instructions to sing the A, as per the score. In this performance, it is transposed to finish on a B, which seems silly. Not that I have any objection to transposition - quite the opposite - but it would seem sensible to me, if the High C can't be hit, to go with the A as Verdi intended.

Nobody especially impressed me in this performance. Leonora was played by Eva Marton, famous for having a big voice - and screechy. Pavarotti's opening lines grated on me immediately. He played Manrico exactly as I saw him play La Boh�me's Rudolfo on the TV a few weeks back - Rodolfo as Pav; Manrico as Pav. Stand and bark, I think it's called. Express love for Leonora with a false fixed grin; express anger at his 'mother's' imminent execution by knitting the eyebrows. No interaction or apparent chemistry with the other players. I know Pav has a lot of fans, and technically, his singing is brilliant. It's just that his voice does not push any of the right buttons for me; there are many of his fans who would much prefer to listen than to watch.

A very static and dull Trov, with many flaws. The accompanying booklet calls it a 'lavish cast' (I suspect it might be the ugliest cast ever committed to videotape). However, in talking about Sherrill Milnes the booklet says

This great artist immortalised his version of the complex Verdian character on one of the most wonderful recordings of The Troubadour ever; released in 1970 and conducted by Zubin Mehta (RCA). The exceptional cast included Leontyne Price, Plácido Domingo and Fiorenza Cossotto.

In other words, this 1988 Met telecast is being sold because it exists, rather than for any intrinsic merit.

Britain's Best Buildings

It's the sort of programme you circle in the Radio Times, not so much as a 'must see' but a 'that would be nice if I'm in the mood'. Now time to change it to a 'must see'

A real treasure. Presented by the inimitable Dan Cruickshank, who oozes enthusiasm and respect for his subject. On Sunday we watched as he explained the Masonic significance of the Georgian layout of Bath. Tonight - repeated on Sunday - he showed us the design and engineering of the Forth Bridge. He also showed us the human sacrifice that lay behind its building and expressed his sadness that there is no memorial to the ordinary workers, especially the 57 who died, and his contempt that there is a memorial for the then Prince of Wales who hammered in the final, golden, rivet.

He described it as beautiful, in that every component fulfills its function perfectly. Reverence and awe.

IMHO, Dan Cruickshank is a real star of TV. I don't suppose we willread about him in the tabloids - thank god - but whilst there is Dan Cruickshank, there is a BBC to be proud of.

He murdered Josie Jump

I shouldn't laugh but I find it hilarious to read that the landlord of a hotel Balamory has been telling small children about how he has Josie Jump buried under the patio.

When we visited Tobermory last summer, the place was overrun by 3-7 year olds wearing pink and following in the footsteps of their heroes.

It's not really that sensible place to take kids of that age. We were chatting with one family, who were bored stupid because of the wind and rain and the treacherous single-track-road-with-passing-places leading out of the town.

Nice town to stay a few days, especially if you like eating and drinking. But I wouldn't take a small child there.

Bladdered and arseholed

Oh fuck, wine is evil. We only had three bottles between usm, whjic amounts to noyt very much each.

I am so goiuing to sleep for ever tomorrow whichis a shame because ALanm Mortgage is cominground and expects me to have done blah de blah de blah.

Wine id ficking ecil. It should be banned.

nd friends. Its do fuc,ling difficult, forst he was my friend then he got together ith her, get married I said, s othey did, now she's my froind, an dI shouldn't take sides but from what she says I dob't want to know him and I know there are two sides to every dtory but I can'y cope with people splitting up and I'm a crap nmatcmaker becayse they always end up getting divorced.

Win eis fucking evil. Even whjne wasjed down by an ALicante Paellla. Her Madrilena Paella sounded more civilised than a fucking Alicante. How do you convince an American - even one wanting Englisgd cotenzry that the Englisgh in Spain are not all - hey look, I di dth eHTLM - barbarians but some Englishg like a Paella evcen if it is ALicante not fuckinmg Madrilena with chicken or Valencian with pork and chorizo.

Oh shit I'm fuvkinbg areholed.

Letter to the Radio Times

I am looking forward to the BBC's so-called 'Opera Month' - even though there doesn't seem to be much broadcast than in a typical month in my youth...

I was sadly disappointed in reading the ridiculous article on Luciano Pavarotti. The first reason was asking the question "Is he the greatest?" The evidence comes from 'his conductor' and a very measured, non-committal comment from Roberto Alagna (who believes that Roberto Alagna is the greatest tenor!)

There was no attempt to seriously analyse this question. For example - no mention made of his minuscule repertory (no Tchaikowsky, no modern works - and how can any singer be called 'great' when they have never done Wagner), no mention of his inability to read music, his very modest acting talents, his notoriuos habit of cancelling at the last minute, not to mention his obvious poor judgement in making Andrea Bocelli his protege. Nobody who actually knows anything about opera seriously rates Pav, except for his erstwhile ability to pull off a few High 'Cs'

The second aspect that annoyed me was the ridiculous and patronising insert "Sounds Familiar". Surely the majority of the target audience for this programme/Radio Times article may actually know a few operatic arias from sources other than TV advertisements. Maybe they have CDs of arias sung by Pavarotti, or by great singers. Would it be stretching it a bit to suggest that some of them may have actually listened to whole operas, perhaps on CD DVD/TV, or heaven forfend, actually at an Opera House.

Come on Radio Times - please don't treat us all as idiots

Hmm, I have way too much time on my hands - and the Letters Page says 'keep it brief'

Arabella

Not an opera I am familiar with. It was okay, without being brilliant, or, to be honest, even very good. Karita Mattila, reportedly one of, if not the best Straussian sopranos, was suffering from an allergy and replaced by Nancy Gustafson, who is due to sing the role next week, anyway. I wasn't that impressed, her voice just didn't seem big enough to carry properly to the cheap seats.

There was a problem with the production, which was alluded to in yesterday's Guardian review. The set was quite minimalist, consisting mainly of a gently spiring staircase leading up to a raised platform at the back of the stage. A fair amount of the action and singing took place from this raised platform, leaving me with the bizarre sight of only being able to see the singers from the waist down, their top halves obscured by the proscenium arch.

I have a mind to complain to the Royal Opera, because I bought my ticket online and the website states "All seats bookable online have a clear view of the stage." I didn't, and feel like threatening them with the Sale of Goods Act or Trades Description Act or something.

It was one of those performances where I would have happily have done without the singing just to listen to the orchestra, which sounded gorgeously lush under Christoph von Dohnányi. The plot was okay, and reasonably well staged and acted (except for the problem with the raised platform).

Barbara Bonney sounded good as Zdenka, and Thomas Hampson was impressive as Mandryka, although I don't especially care for his voice. He is rumoured to bbe so vain as to own 250 mirrors, but I didn't see any sign of it.

I was particularly impressed by Artur Korn as Arabella's father. the biggest cheer of the evening was for Diana Damrau, playing the small but exquisite part of The Fiakermilli - cabaret artiste. Perhaps she had a claque with her.

I suppose the best thing to say about this is "It's No Rosenkavalier..."

Name dropping

There I was on the Terrace of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden chatting on the phone to my sister, when I said, "I'm just going inside..." and she mocked the clunkity-tap of my heels on the wooden floor.

Inside, I explained that I had been stood literally next to Melvyn Bragg. She was calling "Coo-ee, coo-ee," down the phone, and asked me to get his autograph. But I said, I was not going to get his autograph because that would be really childish, plus I wasn't going to stand next to him and yell down the phone, "Ooh, I'm stood next to Melvyn Bragg..."

He looks younger and better looking - lively eyes - in RL than on the telly.

That old Catholic guilt thing

It probably gets really boring, me banging on and on about the same old CDs over-and-over again, but you have to understand that my life is very limited at the moment. Even a trip to a local Town Centre for a few shops leaves me exhausted. I took all of Sunday to recover from the excitement of the FA Cup Final, preceded by the Spanish Royal Wedding.

So I can only really blog about what happens in my internal world, dominated by CDs, DVDs, TV and the internet. Sorry...

It's probably not good to keep playing the same CD over-and-over again. But I want to. I love it - Beethoven's Christus am Ölberge.

Absolutely fab music - Beethoven at his underrated best, IMO. And three really fab singers. Okay, two, I think the Bass is good, not fab.

But my problem is, and this all stems back to the guilt brainwashed into me as part of my Catholic upbringing/education, that when I listen to music I really really like, it evokes in me an emotional and physical reaction, bordering on the erotic ie I'm sexually aroused.

But that can't be right - after all, this is sacred music. Passion, in this context, means Good Friday (actually, Maundy Thursday, if I remember my New Testament right...), and to be erotically stimulated by such music is very very bad.

Curse my Catholic guilt thing.

(Mind you my friend always claim to have a Jewish guilt thing, even though, technically she's not Jewish - her late father was - and she was brought up secular).

Various Arts Links

If only I'd had a rotten tomato - on ENO's Valkyrie

Fanfare for the common man - interview with Karl Jenkins

The overture to greatness - archive of letters about Glyndebourne.

Portrait of a lady - preview and review of Arabella...tonight!

Carmen at ENO - in two weeks!

Reviews of Carmen and Opera North's touring Eight Little Greats
Feature on Leonard Cohen, Buddhist monk

Interview with the wonderful Marian Keyes - poised on the dividing line between chick lit and literature, IMO.

Ruud says Ronaldo man of match

Step Aside, Becks

I so hate it when anyone is labelled the 'New (Insert Name)'

Ronaldo

All season we have been saying he has talent but is frustrating. Yesterday, football's newest superstar delivered.

Soul boy Ronaldo shows off talents of a young master

Oh what bliss it is to be a Manchester United fan with such talented youngsters eg Ronaldo and Fletcher at our disposal...

Don't write us off yet!

We won the cup!

I really fancy going to a Portuguese restaurant this weekend.

You'd think after all these years I would have got used to them changing ends at half time.

I reckon they should have blood replacements in football, like they do in rugby.

I go to refill my coffee cup and we get a penaty! Extra hay for Ruud van Nistelroy tonight!

I do so prefer the laidback BBC commentary to the ridiculous hyperbole of Sky. Mind you, Motty must be getting close to retirement.

Ruud's scored again.

Ooh, ooh, ooh Ole's coming on! Shame that Cristiano's come off...but he is the newest entrant to my pantheon of heroes!

So WTF has Ruud got Man of the Match?

Three - nil! Yeaaaaaaahhhhhh!

We've won the Cup!

Did I ever tell you about the time I was alone in a room with the FA Cup and the premiership trophy?

Cup Final!

Palm Blogging on the sofa 1 - 2 pm

I hate Millwall, and I don't feel the slightest guilt pang, despite my former employment with Southwark Education, Millwall FC's Partner in the Community. And their Assistant Manager, Ray Wilkins, is one of the nicest celebrities I've ever met.

I've got this really bad feeling - the pundits are saying there is no way that Millwall can win. I hate it when pundits do that.

You can't beat the way that the BBC does the build-up, despite Only Fools and Horses and Danny Baker, because they played The Only Living Boy In New Cross.

Oh fuck, if we lose, we get ridiculed by Arsenal, Chelsea and Crystal Palace fans; if we win, it's 'only' against Millwall.

This Sport Aid thing, I'd love to do it, but I'm not sure I'd be able to walk a mile, let alone run right now.

Ooh my boys are getting off the bus - Giggsy, Keano, Ole, Gury (he's from Bury), 'there's only one' Ronaldo, Fletcher...

The last time I missed a United FA Cup Final was 1977, when my sister, mother and I went to the Northern Ballet Theatre at the Royal Northern College of Music (somehow typical of my family...!). I watched 1976, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1999. Actually, thinking about it, I only half saw 1995 because I was at a Union Conference in Bournemouth, surrounded by Everton fans from Girobank. Bad day. I spent the next week in hospital.

Oh fuck, I'm running out of fags. Do I dash out and get some, or assume that Jimmy will get some from Sainsburys?

The fabled Mark Robins goal at Forest 1990 that started It all off. I was there...

1994 I was at a friend's house and we discovered a bag of weed down the sofa. I don't remember much of that match!

Eric Cantona!!!!!!!!!

Teddy Teddy Teddy Teddy Sheringham he went to Man U and won fuck all the Treble.

Maxwell Davies Masses

The other night on the phone, my mother and I were happily slagging off Peter Maxwell Davies, then she pointed out to me he has a new CD out conducted by the lovely Martin, first love of my life (1984).

Would it be very sad to buy it, even though I don't like Peter Maxwell Davies - but the Guardian calls these 'among his most approachable works'.

It's one thing collecting CDs where Martin is playing the organ - Taverner's Akathist of Thanksgiving and, er, Princess Diana's funeral (TV audience 4 billion) - but probably a bit sad buying a CD where he's conducting...

Elgar

I like Elgar, I know I do. I was brought up on Elgar. I have a CD, part of my four box set of English composers. It includes the Cockaigne Overture, Introduction and Allegro for Strings, Serenade for String Orchestra and Enigma Variations. Admittedly it was on whilst I was reading through the archive posts of a Yahoo Group I have just joined. But., still, the only piece that stirred me was Nimrod.

Ah well, another time.

Incidentally, regarding Dissing Delius, my mother mentioned on the phone last night that my father hated Delius.

Cup Final Weekend

I'm playing it differently this year. I don't know who's in the team, I don't know what frocks the wives will be wearing (let's face it, I don't even know the names of most of the wives...), I haven't bought any specials or Match Weekly or Shoot or South London Press's FA Cup Final Edition (ooh, no, no). I will not begin preview until 1 pm when the BBC' TV coverage begins.

However, I am excited. I'm trying to decide whether to wear my red shirt, or my *lucky* green and yellow Newton Heath shirt. Planning food and drink for the match.

And don't forget the other Final taking place tomorrow - ACT Brumbies v Canterbury Crusaders. My mother, sister, brother and sister-in-law saw the Crusaders triumphant against the Brumbies in Canterbury. Let's hope tomorrow's final is a repeat...!

Come On You Reds!

Tracey Chapman and Fairground Attraction and Jason Donovan

Off the tapes, hence the lack of proper alphabetical order...

The first tape contains Tracy Chapman's eponymous debut album, plus Fairground Attraction's First of A Million Kisses. The second is Tracy Chapman's Crossroads, b/w Jason Donovan's Ten Good Reasons.

The cassette case is written out in Grum's handwriting. We shared a house in the final year at Uni. I suppose these were taped off Grum, or maybe Helen, or one of Grum's friends.

Tracy Chapman seems to have faded entirely into oblivion, which is a real shame. Every song on the first album is really worthwhile. I suppose I just really like pop/rock that is heavily influenced by folk. My favourite songs include Fast Car - excellent words, and pleasant tune combining to make a very special ballad; and Baby Can I Hold You, but the entire album is full of good songs rather than three-singles-and-mediocre-space-fillers.

Put this on my list of favourite all time albums.

And as a bonus, after TC is finished there are two great tracks on the tape by possibly Latin Quarter, or someone who sounds like them, about Nicaragua and South Africa...

Because I liked TC's first album so much I bought her follow up Crossroads. This was when I was living in Westcliff on Sea; the date on the tape is 28.1.90, four months after I started *real* work, and was buying albums every week, and putting them onto cassette, partly for prudence, partly for the walkman.

Put simply, Crossroads is not as good as the first one, but is still pleasant to listen to. I especially like Bridges and All That You have Is Your Soul, which are haunting.

Fairground Attraction also hit it big and disappeared; and are also pop/rock influenced by folk. Pleasant songs include A Smile in a Whisper; Clare; and Allelujah. An album full of songs that are good, none great, and one that, somehow, manages to be less than the sum of its parts.

Jason Donovan's Ten Good Reasons. I have to admit that I am a bit of a Jase fan. Helen, Janet and I went to see him in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in 1991. Helen and I liked it so much we went back in 1992. On both occasions we screamed like teenyboppers. Albeit with a sense of post-modern irony. As we left the second time, Helen said "And to think that some women never have an orgasm..." She said it loud when we were surrounded by old people and primary school kids...

I'm not going to sit here and try and convince anybody that Jason is great or whatever. But period of time when I (and much of the rest of the nation) was hooked on Neighbours, and into the mid-nineties, I was a fan. Largely for his looks, although I still think his voice is not unpleasant.

Five of the tracks on this record make up five of the thirteen on the Greatest Hits CD, which is a bit naughty, I think.

The sort of album that gets me bopping around to every track singing the words word perfect.

Oh heck, this is so annoying. Absolutely typical bloody Stock , Aitken, and Waterman. Mass produced crap songs with a catchy beat that anyone can dance to. Your better judgement says No, No, No, but something stupid inside you overrules your better judgement. Still, Sealed with a Kiss is pretty nice, and Especially For You, with Kylie, of course, is a sort of classic, in its own way...

Ok, who comes alphabetically after Tracy Chapman in the tapes. Clue, I taped it off my brother in 91 or 92 when he would have been 16 or 17.

I've just killed another celebrity

When I posted before about significant breaking news I was thinking of putting "such as someone famous dying". but I didn't, because knowing me, someone famous would die.

Former TUC leader Len Murray has died aged 82

You youngsters won't understand this, but in the formative years of my childhood - especially during the Winter of Discontent - being General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress meant he was never off the telly.

I think I precipitated this on Saturday, when Jimmy asked me to get him a whisky, and I said he had a choice of Famous Grouse or Glen Moray. Then I said "Glen Moray, didn't he used to be General Secretary Of the TUC.

I have been previously responsible for the deaths of Dirk Bogarde and Jill Dando.

It was, however, my sister's friend Elaine who killed Princess Diana.

Blogging hiatus will resume forthwith.

May 1986 - Local Elections, Party and Aftermath

Trafford Council, having been under *safe* Tory control for its entire history (like Altrincham and Sale councils before it), looked like it might be a Labour gain. The ward in which I lived was - and is - a key marginal. We had two seats being contested - one on the normal cyclical one third rule and one in a by-election caused by a Tory resignation

Confused - you will be...Well, I was. It's them pesky men, you see...

I am combining the two days, and I might as well say now that there is no way I can deny that I have written it all on the 9th May because the 8th was probably the most exciting day of my life – and that of plenty of other people.
It started rather unexcitedly – I had a lie in, and the news was, well, the most significant item was the fact Manny Shinwell has died; sad that, but he’s had a good innings – 101 years 7 months; and when you think about it, we could get a sympathy vote.

I did some Maths; then I went out to church, because it is in fact Ascension Day. Then I met John, and somebody I was later to learn was Dave. I asked what I could do, so I was told I would be picked up later. On the way home, I, together with the parents, went to vote. Paul was there collecting numbers, together with a Tory bid who I later learnt was Mary Codger (not her real name), one of the Tory candidates.

After lunch, John called round, together with Dave2. There were loads of people at the “Committee Room” – including Alex, and Fran. I had a good natter with Fran. At one stage I was sitting on Alex's knee, due to alack of chairs. People left, others arrived.

I went off to sit in Broadheath school to collect numbers. I spent about three quarters of an hour with a youngmiddle aged Tory, an ex-pupil of Loreto. She was bearable, although we agreed not to discuss politics. Having said that, I commented on how bright all the pictures were on the wall; she pointed out that it covered the cracks. I nearly pointed out why the walls had cracks; but we weren’t discussing politics.