Pynchon

With barely any effort whatsoever, actually, yer Pynchon has managed to obtain two tickets for the Stones at the O2 stadium at the end of August. It has cost an arm and a leg, but to say I am excited would be a definite understatement. The Stones are one of those bands that I have never seen live that I have always really wanted to see. It has just occurred to me that by the end of August I will have seen at least one member of the five greatest bands of the sixties playing live.

You know who they are.

The Beatles. (I have seen Macca twice.)
The Rolling Stones. (Roll on August.)
The Who. (The week after next I will have seen them 6 times.)
The Kinks. (I have seen Ray Davies live.)
The Small Faces. (Ian McLagen is Rod Stewart's musical director and plays keyboards in his band. Also, and I'm sure you know this, the first Small Faces album cut post Steve Marriott's departure features Rod Stewart on lead vocals. I have seen Rod Stewart and Ian McLagen live. Ergo, case proven.)

Call me a smug git. I don't care.

What was that? You bought two tickets, you say?

Yes I have. After thinking about it overnight, Lorraine said that she would like to see the Stones with me. A bit of a surprise, it must be said, although whether she actually chooses the trip over work remains to be seen. I hope she does. The gig is on the Sunday before the August Bank Holiday, so I have suggested that we go down on the Saturday, see something in the West End on that day, go to the gig on the Sunday, see something else in the West End on the Monday and then go home on the Tuesday.

Lorraine is not sure. She says I am rushing her.

Pain in the arse. There is holiday time to be booked at work, especially since we are losing staff left, right and centre, it might be difficult to get the time off. Hotel to be booked. Transport arrangements to be made.

Am I rushing things? I don't think that I am.

(By the way, none of this will make any difference to my plans for a West End trip before that. I intend to go as soon as funds are available.)

Today I went to see Shane Meadows new film, "This Is England".



I blow hot and cold on Shane Meadows. I thought that "TwentyFourSeven" was boring. I thought that "A Room For Romeo Brass" was amazing. I thought that "Once Upon A Time In The Midlands" was not what it could have been and relied too much on the gimmick casting of too many well known British character actors. I thought that "Dead Man's Shoes" was a masterpiece.

And so to "This Is England".

In 1983 a lonely bullied young boy Shaun, who's Father has been killed in the previous years' Falklands conflict, makes friends with a group of skinheads. They are not cliched skinheads. In the main they are nice, decent and even kind people. Shaun is made welcome. The group become a surrogate family to him. When a tough, racist, hardcore skinhead called Combo gets out of prison and reintroduces himself to the group, Shaun finds a Father Figure and the family starts to splinter.

Labels: Lorraine, Movies, Music, Theatre