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These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things

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It’s Friday evening, the sun is out, and there was a lovely vibe about the town as I passed through it on my way home a short while ago.

On the basis that a happy little buzz is always worth sharing, what better occasion for a short and sweet post in which I call out some of the things that have rung my personal bell this week.

1. The Nine Inch Noize album that came out last Friday. All of your favourite 90s Industrial Rock classics given a Techno facelift by Boys Noize, with added excited crowd noise. Please, please tour this material.

2. Mixtape

Coming out in a few short days on most games formats. An opportunity to roll back the years and be a teenager all over again, accompanied (it says here) by the soundtrack of a generation. Provided your generation takes in Devo, Smashing Pumpkins, Iggy Pop, Joy Division, Roxy Music, Lush, and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Stand up while driving! Run through picket-fenced backyards! Steal a shopping trolley! Ride a flaming stallion of delinquency! All the stuff you meant to do in your own teenage years but never got round to. I can’t wait.

Trailer in comments.

3. The Strokes providing an unexpected Coachella highlight with an absolutely sensational, and certainly visually arresting, rendition of Oblivius. Plus, tremendous Lou Reed t-shirt action from Albert Hammond Jr.

Video in comments.

4. Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen, returning to the London stage for the first time in a couple of decades. Richard Schiff, Alex Kingston and Damien Molony burning the place down at the Hampstead Theatre. Saw it the other night and it’s wonderful, and horribly pertinent on so many levels.

How about you? What are you currently enjoying and/or looking forward to?

3

Comments

        • “Stand up while driving! Run through picket-fenced backyards! Steal a shopping trolley! Ride a flaming stallion of delinquency! All the stuff you meant to do in your own teenage years but never got round to.”

          Looks really good! But the kids who were doing that stuff were more likely to be listening to Motley Crue or Twisted Sister rather than Roxy Music I reckon.

    • Just popping back to this thread to say: Mixtape is absolutely wonderful.

      It’s only about four hours long and it’s not remotely demanding, but what a beautifully executed paean to the teenage wasteland.

      The soundtrack is wonderful too – it’s introduced me to some lovely songs I hadn’t heard, and each track is beautifully matched to the sequence it accompanies.

      Would heartily recommend to anyone who loves music and has the faintest interest in video games.

  3. Always a pleasure to share a few recent favourites…

    BIODLAREN – THE QUIET BEEKEEPER -SWEDISH MOVIE

    BIOGRAF REFLEXEN screened this atmospheric, lo-fi, rather melancholic family drama last Sunday. It was filmed in Värmland, a very beautiful region which borders on Norway, and all the dialogue is in Värmlandska, a dialect that even Locust would be struggling with. Our son is at college up there in Arvika and he doesn’t understand a word.

    Mercifully, there were subtitles in Swedish. The acting is superb and the film really captures the atmosphere of small town life.

    HUMAN VOICES – A NOVEL BY PENELOPE FITZGERALD
    A novel about the rather eccentric life led by those working in Broadcasting House in the early years of WW2 based on the author’s own experience. Fitzgerald is a new name for me and she is rather moreish. A great descriptive ability and a dark sense of humour.

    I have a fascination for films and books about WW2 London as this was something my parents lived through. John Boorman’s HOPE AND GLORY and Lone Scherfig’s THEIR FINEST are great personal favourites.

    DEN FLYGANDE BOKRULLEN – STOCKHOLM KLEZMER BAND

    Last Saturday was Culture Night here in Stockholm with hundreds of free events all over Stockholm. My daughter, Zoe, and I went to a local event. Klezmer Night at Bagarmossen Folkets Hus. Not only did they have a dance workshop but also there was a concert by Den Flygande Bokrullen, a superb Stockholm klezmer combo who have been going for donkeys’ years.

    They played a one hour concert and then played another hour for people to dance. The joint was jumping!

    They are a local band for local people. They have no ambitions to conquer the world or play in gigantic sports arenas. Respect.

    I’ve bought my ticket for Roskilde 2026 which has got me thinking of high spots of previous years…

    KINGS OF CONVENIENCE have never disappointed….

    But every year there are new earworms….

    BIXIGA 70 from Brazil were ridiculously enjoyable.

    • Hmm, I’ve never considered Värmländska to be difficult to understand, but I guess even in Värmland there must be different local versions of the dialect, and some of them might be worse than the ones I’ve heard!
      Then again; my mum is Norwegian, so perhaps that’s why I find it easy to understand.
      Certainly didn’t need the subtitles in that trailer!
      It’s a very beautiful dialect, and is constantly voted in the top of Swedish dialects when such polls are made!

      • Great answer, Locust. It does indeed sound rather like Norwegian.

        Monica Zetterlund, Mando Diao, Gustav FrĂśding….Värmland has produced several fine musicians and poets.

        Just discovered that Fredrik LindstrÜm has done a whole programme about Värmländska.

  5. 1. Detective Hole (Netflix) – Christ it’s grim, and weird. But if you like your cops to be twitchy alcoholics and your serial killers to be bible-bashing weirdos, this one’s for you.

    2. Home (AppleTV). Documentary series (2 seasons) about how imaginative architects, designers etc all over the world have dealt with making a place to live. It’s fascinating and inspiring.
    https://tv.apple.com/gb/show/home/umc.cmc.5xjrgoblr5l5i1ypamtayuhe9

    3. Was our 17th wedding anniversary yesterday, and we went to a Peruvian restaurant that has randomly appeared in a shopping centre in a little place called Wollongbar, about 40 miles away. Gorgeous food – I’m now going to become a Peruvian cook.

    4. In a moment of madness I bought 5 pairs of undercrackers with waistbands reading Monday to Friday. This morning (Saturday) I put the Thursday pair on. The gods were presumably occupied elsewhere, so the earth didn’t shift on its axis. It’s these small acts of rebellion that make life worth living.

    • Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole detective series are favourites of mine. Particularly the earlier ones, translated into English by Don Bartlett, who seems to have had a particularly good feel forNesbo’s writing style.
      I’m not a Netflix subscriber, unfortunately, so I can’t tell if the TV dramatisation is good or not. I hope it is and in that case that I get to see it somehow, sometime.

      I note with a bit of excitement that Apple TV are going to be airing a new series “Berlin Noir” based on Philip Kerr’s superb Bernie Gunther book series. Bernie is a cynical but good-hearted Berlin detective, navigating his way through the rise of Naziism, it’s consequences as the Nazis take power and even it’s aftermath.
      I’ve subscribed briefly twice in the past to Apple TV’s “Slow Horses” adaptation of Mick Herron’s Slough House novels. I will be subscribing again later in the year, when the 6th series airs, so hopefully I’ll be able to check out “Berlin Noir” at the same time.
      I don’t have the ability, within my budget, to subscribe long-term to streaming TV services apart from Amazon Prime TV, which comes as part of my Prime subscription anyway. Speaking of that, I’m enjoying re-watching “Northern Exposure” on Amazon Prime. A great flashback to my early ’90s TV watching.

      • I’ll be in for Berlin Noir, definitely – loved the books.

        I dip in and out of streaming services according to need – and try to remember to unsubscribe once the moment has passed. I’ve always stuck with Netflix though, for some reason – been with them since I used to rent DVDs from them.

        • Currently working my way through the Bernie Gunther books (publication order not chronological), so will be looking for the Berlin Noir series. In my head Bernie looks like Ken Stott so I suspect I’ll be disappointed.

          • Odd that they’re calling it Berlin Noir which is the collective title for the first three books when it seems to be based on the final published book Metropolis….although it’s actually the earliest in the time line of the novels . I too never imagined Bernie looking like the actor they’ve chosen, perhaps on the back of his success in Slow Horses.

            • I’m sure Lowden has indeed been chosen on the back of his Slow Horses role. He’ll probably be fine for a dramatisation of Metropolis.
              I do wonder, given the extended timeline between Metropolis, set in 1928, and Greeks Bearing Gifts which was set nearly 30 years later in 1957, if they’re going to have more than one actor playing an aging Bernie.
              Assuming they manage to make it a recurring series, of course. There are 14 books in the series.

              • Indeed, Metropolis has a young Bernie at the beginning of his police career and as you say it’s
                hard to
                imagine the
                same actor portraying him almost 50 years later if the series
                progresses.that far.

    • Detective Hole. English dialogue forced to fit into a semblance of what the characters are saying in Norwegian, rather than being subtitled, leading to absolutely terrible writing. One episode was enough.

  7. Going to Japan in Oct so we have been watching some Japanese tv series. Helps with the cultural vibe and you see places the you tube travel things don’t show.

    We have watched 2 Midnight Diner on Netflix and 3 Star Bar on our govt run SBS.

    The shows remind me of slow cooking , a gentler pace, little shouting or talking over each other. Quite charming.

    Three Star Bar streaming now on SBS On Demand

  8. I’m enjoying that my mouth is not in pain despite having a tooth and cracked roots extracted yesterday evening. I’m looking forward to a first date tomorrow – it’s going to be a walk in the park (literally) and the forecast is for sunshine.

  9. I’m enjoying, as is Mrs Path, the excitement and anticipation of welcoming a new pup into the family. Ruby the Rotty arrives next month, coming from a lovely home in Coalville. Will keep Indi on her toes, she decidedly rootless sans Wilma.

      • Sadly, yes. Heavy of heart and stricken with guilt, we had to throw in the towel…. Ruby was (is) a glorious pooch, but the logistics were beyond us. Firstly, she was too much for poor old Indi, who was petrified of this little creature constantly at her tail, ears and nethers, and hid, salivating, whenever the two were together. Even after a fortnight, it seemed wrong to have to banish the old girl whilst all attention, 24/24, was bestowed on her delightful demon usurper. Secondly, although, after a week of overnight 2 hourly alarm sets, she was able to be left overnight, in her cage, with the door open, in the ute, she routinely wrecked the small space provided. So those 12-6 “nights” were tempered with her unintentional dirty protest greeting us in the morning, tramped into doors, walls and paws. As Mrs Path’s health does not allow random hours and unplanned exertion, most of this came down me, and I was flagging, even if she took the shifts to allow me to nap and go to bed early. Normal life, as in keeping the house ship-shape, going out, walking Indi and our beloved swimming all went out the window. Yes, this would have had an end in sight, but Lord knows when, a friend wilting with a much less headstrong puppy in similar circumstances, a year on.
        The breeder had always offered to have her back if needed, and, that ultimately had to be, with a lot of tears, followed by a huge sense of having dodged one heck of a bullet
        We have both always had dogs for, collectively, over 30 years, so to say this experience sober and shocking would not be an understatement.
        So one dog only, for us, at the moment. Indi is much happier with that. Wil we still want another, when the inevitable happens? For sure, but maybe, like ourselves, a little bit older, a 1 or 2 year old. No guarantees, I know, but it is what we think now.
        Thanks, @fitterstoke, for asking. I was hoping no-one would.

  10. Walking. I’m doing a lot of it nowadays due to having a functioning right hip once more.
    Painting. I’m slowly relaxing back into spoiling bits of paper again due to having a functioning left eye once more.
    The Romantic Piano Concerto Box Set from Hyperion contains many absolute gems of rarely played examples of the piano concerto. It’s a joy of a box set, every day I’m discovering some piece of new to me music.
    Rereading The Alexandria Quartet many years after I first read it.
    Starting to play Wordle again.
    Strawberry tea and digestive biscuits.

  11. Coachella-wise I checked out the xx comeback, well one song at least, which was Intro. I have to say it gave me goosebumps to hear them play that sparse, dramatic piece again. Who knew a lone figure bashing the hell out of a cymbal could be so compelling?

  15. I’ve been exploring the later Little Feat albums which give lie to the view that after Lowell passed there’s nothing to see. This is a current fave.

  16. I have a few things at the moment…

    1. Playing my National Guitar – an M1 Mahogany Tricone. Although I don’t really post about it, Delta blues is one of my passions and I reserve the right to have a go at playing it.

    2. Music in general – I am getting deeper into music theory and this is increasing my appreciation of all types of stuff, genres, whatever – and simultaneously doing some production of my own compositions for a bit of fun. It really opens the ears. I have no intention of really doing anything with the end results, it’s just the equivalent of pottering in a shed.

    3. Deadloch – an Aussie comedy crime drama, with much swearing. The most laughing I’ve done since ‘Kicking Bishop Brennan Up the Arse’. It’s Amazon Prime, which might put a few people off, but just have a go. I promise you will enjoy it.

    4. YouTube interview with Ed O’Brien of Radiohead on ‘That Pedal Show’. He illustrates how creative you can be with some relatively straightforward pedals and an open mind. He’s one of the nicest people in the biz, and you learn from this that he is the secret ingredient that elevates Radiohead into what they are.

    5. Speaking of which, Thom Yorke at the Sydney Opera House (also YouTube.) – learned about that from a post here. It’s a thing of rare beauty. I love his solo albums.

    6. The White Album. Enough said.

    • Another fan of Deadloch here. Haven’t got round to the second series yet (currently catching up with a few series of American Horror Story – bonkers, not for the nervous, and really rather good. Now on series 5, Hotel, with Lady Gaga being as camp as Christmas yet chilly at the same time) but thoroughly enjoyed the first.

      Thought the performances were very good all round, I liked the heroines’ take-no-nonsense attitude, and it has that rough-and-ready humour that Aussies seem to do so well.

      Once I’ve recovered from the madness of AHS, I’ll be off to Deadloch again.

    • I forgot one: the band Pacifica. Argentinian power pop duo, who apparently met over YouTube where they were each posting low key covers. I’d been aware of Ines Adam already (she did a cover version of King Crimson’s Matte Kudasi a few years ago). Since getting together as a duo they’ve become a proper band, learned how to write really good songs, and seemingly are quite popular.

    • I’d love a resonator but I’ve never found one I like. Actually I did like the Gretsh Bobtail played in Germany but getting out home put me off. I had the cheaper Gretsh one and didn’t like it at all so I sold it on pretty swiftly. I’ve got a square neck reso which I like very much – an Epiphone Spider.

      • The Gretsch ones are excellent. I remember the Epiphone Spider and its round neck brother “The Biscuit” – I always wanted one, but then they just stopped being made. Currently the Gold Tone range designed by Paul Beard are probably the best bang for buck.

        • The Gold Tone are excellent. I had a square neck for a while but moved it on eventually. It made me realise the Spider is perfect for what I need and I didn’t play the GT even though it was lovely so it had to go. I’ve done a fair bit of recording with the Spider and it always just sounds “right”.

          If I saw a Bobtail at a sensible price and it was at good as I remember I’d grab it.

            • Mrs. T bought it for me for my birthday decades ago. I used it a lot in a duo at the time so I got a dobro pickup for it from the States and asked my local music shop to fit it for me. The guy rang me a few hours later and said it’s ready “but you’ll either love it or hate it”. It was the latter. He had broken the dobro pickup trying to fit it so without asking me he cut a hole in top and fitted a Strat pickup! I was speechless. Cutting a hole in someone’s guitar without asking them! Obviously it doesn’t sound like a dobro, more like a lap steel. I fitted a chrome surround which looks nice next to the chrome sound hole screen. Needless to say I never let him loose on any of my other guitars.

  17. Just today, making some excellent vegan pancakes for a solo breakfast, solo because The Light is at work (her working at the weekend is not one of my favourite things i hasten to add), going for a walk around the gorgeous bluebell woods close to home, and right now having my first outdoors pint of the year. There was a power cut at home, now resolved according to the website I checked, but none at the pub so the decision made itself. Now heading home to make dinner involving yesterday’s sourdough loaf (oat and honey with a kalamata olive inclusion), then telly and wine. Apart from doing pretty much all of it solo is been a textbook Saturday.

  19. Today I have derived considerable contentment from:
    Running my local Parkrun in glorious morning sunshine, and getting my best time in ages

    A lovely concert from Nadia Reid, with splendid support from Juni Habel

    And, glory be, Spurs actually winning a football match.

    • Some similarities here, Park run was about 0 wind chill after 14 last week but I managed my best time of the year (only my 4th so far though)

      And an enjoyable Liverpool game to watch for a change when I returned home.

      No concerts but I finally bought a portable minidisc player, been looking for one for a while. Not a bargain (a Sony), but it’s nice, in decent condition and seems to work pretty well

    • I ran my 3rd parkrun yesterday, missed a PB by 3 seconds, but much contentment and relief was derived – I think I’m still concerned I won’t get round and finish, as if anyone there would blink. 3 people walked having taken around 70 minutes – all part of the fun*

      After a swift change in the car park (under a blanket specifically designed for such things) I hopped round the corner to watch Somerset Women demolish Surrey in the Women’s 50 over cup. Given how poor Somerset were last year, and how strong Surrey are (chock full of international players) it was quite a result.

      Outstanding memory of the day was a Somerset fielder dropping an absolute dolly of a catch right on the boundary just in front of where I was sat with a few others in the stand, and literally doubling up with embarrassment. Even before a couple of her teammates could jog across and give her a hug, a huge bloke sat two seats along from me was bellowing to her “Don’t you worry girl, you’ll get the next one, you’ll be fine” which prompted a round of applause from the rest of us and a shy wave from said fielder. And of course, the batter she dropped was bowled 3 balls later.

      * in the not content corner was the news that parkrun is one of ten sports organisations being threatened with legal action by Sharron Davies, her Women’s Sports Union and what I assume must be the deep pockets of the UK arm of the US Alliance Defending Freedom. The ADF are a Christian Right anti LGBTQ group, which is enabling Davies to attack parkrun for allowing participants to self identify their gender, as well as suggest this presents a safeguarding risk in parkrun’s (non existent) changing facilities. Wrong thread for a longer rant, but my piss has been boiled.

      • Couldn’t agree more, and thank you for saying this.

        Sharron Davies should be ashamed of herself – this campaign has clearly extended beyond a legitimate protection of women’s rights and into the arena of pure ideological malice.

        There are no changing facilities at park run, there are no men’s and women’s events, and there is no competition. In fact, that’s the whole point; it’s a bunch of people going for a run in the park for the sole sake of enjoying doing so together. Only a proper prick would try to stick her oar in and sow division at such an event.

  20. Things I have enjoyed / found rewarding ove rhe past couple of weeks include invigilating at spoken French, Spanish and Mandarin exams and hopefully being of some value to very nervous Year 11 ( and younger) kids. Visiting a very old friend and her partner in Witney, a place I hadn’t visited since my great grandfather’s funeral in 1972. And going to see Red Shoes in Norwich.

    I am lookin forward to going to see the Tao of Glass and the Buxton G&S festival in the summer.

      • When I had to invigilate I worked out how many bricks were in the school gym, also spelling out rude words from the alphabet signs placed on the wall to mark out the columns by standing underneath the chosen letters.

          • I sat some of my college exams in Preston Guildhall, a huge room which can sit more than 2000 people as a concert venue. The invigilators would wander way up into the banked seats and I would speculate that they were playing PacMan.

      • It might seem obvious, but easy to lose sight of the key things amongst the plethora of rules and regs. Be approachable and encouraging, at the same time remember you are literally the adult in the room. It’s your job to appear confident, give out a vibe that you know what you are doing and that issues will be revolved. Not necessarily by you, but by someone. And get there early and check everything is set up correctly., particularly if IT is involved.

  21. Looking forward to a culture weekend in the NW in July with friends: Fri the ai wei wei performance at factory (2 hrs of the 24); sat psbs at Lytham st Anne’s; Sun hiroshige prints at the Whitworth. Banging.

  22. seems like a good place to mention Blades Of The Guardians, which is the most fun I’ve had at the cinema in ages. It’s classic wuxia, the story of a bounty hunter who has to escort his charge across the Chinese desert, with plenty of others trying to stop him. It’s directed by the legendary Yuen Woo-Ping, who gave us Iron Monkey (probably the greatest martial arts movie ever) and who was also responsible for the fight sequences in The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, and even at 80, he has lost none of his wire fu genius. It’s an absolute feast of spellbinding choreography and insane stunt work, with sequences that left me grinning in my seat like a five year old on his first trip to the cinema. Imagine if Iron Monkey and Fury Road had a baby and you’re getting there.

      • What a world will now open to you! I’ve barely scratched the surface of wuxia, but some films in the genre that I’ve seen have been terrific. Sometimes I’ve found the plots too complex for their own good (which might partly be down to subtleties being lost in translation), but, almost without exception, the action scenes are terrific.

        Some of my favourites:
        House of Flying Daggers
        Hero – with Jet Li, a man clearly born to be a major martial arts star
        Shadow – a beautiful-looking film, with amazing black-and-white production design
        The Assassin

        Also, it’s more of a war epic than wuxia, but it includes stunning action: Red Cliff, especially the full, four-hour version. It features one of the best stunts/scenes I’ve ever seen: IIRC, a warrior jumps down the side of a tower, kills somebody on a balcony as he goes whizzing past it, and then lands perfectly. The sort of moment that makes you gasp in admiration.

          • Not very often, as far as I’m aware – they appear to be quite a niche area outside the Far East. I generally learn of them only when they turn up on disc and I’m browsing through HMV’s World Cinema section.

  23. A lovely sunny walk up and round Oswestry hill fort. And a very filling bowl of Mac and Cheese with added Tuscan Sausage. I was expecting a hint of fennel but there was none. I managed to not let this spoil a very pleasant day.

  24. Late addition from me.

    I ran the London marathon yesterday. First marathon I’ve ever run, although I do run a lot of halfs.

    An absolutely phenomenal experience. I didn’t think I could love the city any more than I already did, but this was just a whole other level. 26.2 miles of people of every creed, colour and orientation being their best selves and cheering one another on. Steel drum bands, drum & bass sound systems, gospel choirs, old blokes DJing at the bottom of their own driveways. Watching it all go by I could honestly have cried at pretty much any moment.

    A load of dear friends came to watch, and the only person I’m still in touch with from secondary school drove three hours to unexpectedly show up at my front door with his other half on Saturday night because he is a fantastic mate. There were friendly faces all along the way. I saw my Mum in the crowd – she’d made friends with all the strangers around her and got them all shouting my name. I got to stop and kiss my wife along the way. It was the absolute best of everything, mixed in with some occasionally brutal pain. The pain had faded before the race even ended, the joy will quite probably be with me forever.

    The cherry on the cake was Sawe running under 2 hours. A completely unbelievable feat, adding a little extra enchantment to an already magical day. It made me very happy indeed.

    London has always been a kind of heaven for me. It’s not perfect, by any means, and I can understand how others might not love it, but it’s given me so much, and I have always been hopelessly idealistic about the place. Just the idea of this many different sorts of people living around one another without the whole thing going completely awry. Everyone bringing a little of their own background to the party, and the sense that you can take or leave it. That no one expects you to fit in, because the place is too vast and busy and chaotic to ever be able to articulate what “fitting in” would even entail. The glorious mess of if all.

    Last year I went and visited Japan for the first time, and I absolutely loved the place. And on our last day in Tokyo, as we watched yet another example of everything being clean and precision tooled and everyone seeming to flow in the same direction effortlessly, one of my kids asked me “Dad, what’s wrong with our county”.

    And then we landed home, and I went for a night out, and coming back through Waterloo station late at night I was reminded of why I love this place so much. The noise, the chaos, the colour. The gang of kids dancing to music from an iPhone, the old man doing donuts on the concourse in hot pink rollerboots. The young couples wending their way home, Terry meeting Julie over and over again for decade after decade as the river rolls past us all. And that night I breathed a little happy sigh to myself for all that glorious chaos. That impossible, crackling energy. Nothing wrong with it at all.

    The marathon, for me, was all of that blown out a thousand fold. And I’m sure it was probably just the adrenaline, and maybe all city marathons reveal the inherent beauty of their host. But fucking hell if it didn’t make me choke a little with joy that I get to live around this – be a part of all this, bring my own little weirdness to all this. Fucking hell if it didn’t make me feel grateful and entirely humbled for everything this town has ever done for me, and that I get to run around the place, figuratively and literally. That I get to actually belong somewhere, and that it’s here.

    I will 100% be back next year. Either to run it again or to cheer on others who do. Just to be part of something so truly lovely in any way that I possibly can.

      • Cheers!

        I have tried very hard not to make this experience about running a certain time. I have a tendency to become a bit hyperfocused around goals and I really wanted to make sure I enjoyed the experience.

        I got round in 3 hours 37, which I was happy with. I really took a lot from the whole thing, and felt very present for all of it, which was the truly important bit.

        • That’s hugely impressive! And, yes, not the most important thing, but you also ran in a race where a world record was effectively broken and a time achieved that at one time was thought to be impossible.

          * I have heard the new shoes are helpful though

    • That’s a lovely bit of writing, and congratulations.

      Health problems mean I could no more run the marathon than I could run for, er, a bus, but watching it on TV and seeing the mutual joy and support is always profoundly moving.

      Going from the sticks down to That London is always exciting, but I usually come away thinking “I’m not sure I could live here.” The chaos and crowds are difficult for me and often make me feel on edge, but I can put up with them temporarily because there is so much to see and do in the capital.

      Although I like visiting it, I wish that the powers that be, investors, and the organisers of big events could remember that there are places outside London, and maybe some more money could be spent making those places worth visiting too.

      Still, well done, Bingo!

      • Same for me except I have done a half marathon once. I love visiting London for a few days, but it can be a bit too much and so bloody expensive!

    • Lovely writing & one thing I miss about living in London is marathon day. Going along & supporting friends & anyone else taking part is a wonderful experience & shows the city at it’s best

    • Suburban North West London kid here, born mid 60s into a semi detatched Metroland world. I haven’t lived there since 1988 but a lot of my working life has been in and around The City and West End so I know my way around quite well. Now we’re looking at retirement, I find I don’t want to be too far from London and what it has to offer: Gigs, museums, galleries. I still enjoy time spent in London, we’ll be there in July for my daughter’s graduate year screening their short films at the BFI and I want to see a couple of exhibitions (Samurai at The British Museum, Beartrice Gonzales at The Barbican as well as the Britpop, Barbican Library)
      I’m not tired of London or life yet.

    • What a wonderful post. Superbly done on the running and the writing, Bingo.

      This whole thread has been uplifting in fact. Couldn’t have come at a better time. Sadly, we’ve lost two close friends to illness over the past 10 days. My wife and I have been rather shell-shocked. The first an unfortunately expected passing. Nevertheless the end was sudden and the kick was hard. And the second couldn’t have been predicted in a thousand years. A fine, fit and healthy.man in his mid-50’s succumbed to a series of strokes while on holiday in France with his family.

      Like all of us they seemed invincible and eternal. I attended one of the funerals last week and was struck by how young I thought we all looked. Faces I’ve known since we were all in our 20’s are 35 plus years older now but I couldn’t see it. I never have been able to. Isn’t that odd?

      Anyway, what a positive post and affirming thread. What a boost it’s been.

    • I’ve been pretty miserable, so have avoided this thread. I broke my foot and can’t do much. I have nothing to really look forward to for the next 12 weeks. The worst thing is I can’t walk the dog. He keeps looking at me solemnly. I didn’t appreciate how important his walks are for me. To be outside, in nature, regularly every day, clears my mind and cheers me up. Especially, witnessing him bouncing around, happy as Larry, chasing sticks without a care in world.

      Nevertheless, your post is brilliant, Bingo, as always. So enthusiastic and uplifting. Thank you.

      👍

    • That’s a wonderful post and congratulations on completing it. Growing up in Woking meant that London was accessible and fun throughout my teens and 20s. I lived and worked in London for the last three years before leaving for NZ. I really should have worked in Central London as soon as I possibly could rather in the surrounding suburbs. Living and working there changed my outlook on life and turned things around completely. For that reason I will always love London.

  25. I’m a sucker for a good pop tune & this new one from Icona Pop has had me reaching for the repeat button numerous times, it’s a stormer

    On top of that I started rewatching Get Back (5th time now) & it just gets better with each watch. I don’t know what I find more intriguing, the tension of them in Twickenham, or the fun they are having when in Savile Row.

    Podcast wise I have just discovered the Billy Corgan one, his chats with Courtney Love & Melissa Auf der Maur were very interesting.

      • I accept it could be a frustrating one to some as they both talk over each other a lot, but it was very enjoyable & I am currently working my way through the backlog.

        I just read Melissa Auf der Maurs book & her episode was a great top up to the book

  26. My daughter was home from university for the Easter break. We both enjoy going into London to window shop/actual shop for books and records. I have introduced her to Denmark Street, aka Tin Pan Alley, which still holds on to the bulk of musical instrument shops despite the recent development of Tottenham Court Road tube.

    A branch of Rough Trade is there. She loves it. As do I. Last time we were there I picked up a copy of Dire Straits debut album. I’ve never owned the vinyl until now. I borrowed a friends copy when it first came out. He raved about it. It fascinated me. The thin Strat sound, the endless call and response playing all the way through. And the lyrical references to places I knew.

    I put it on the turntable when we got home. The warm ‘clump’ of the stylus easing down and the hum. Then that first echoing lick…

    One of my favourite things.

    • That’s lovely Beezer. That feeling of unwrapping a new vinyl acquisition, the clunk of the needle and the few beats of anticipation before it begins.

      I recently picked up a second hand copy of Joni Mitchell’s “Court and Spark”. Where has it been all my life? It’s absolutely lush.

  27. A bit like Tiggs. I’ve not been avoiding this thread – in fact, I’ve enjoyed reading the pleasure that everyone’s been getting from their favourite things, since Bingo started the thread. But I have nothing to contribute just now.

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