My first car

AYR 462B. The only number plate I can remember from all my previous cars was the first. A red Triumph Herald Convertible, very similar to the photo above, except mine had black seats.

I passed my driving test at the third attempt in 1966. The BSM centre in Chiswick did not seem to provide the same instructor for each lesson. The same year my grandmother died and left £2o0 to each of her grandchildren when they reached 21 years old. I was the only one old enough at the time to receive the inheritance. This helped me to buy my first car.

I had thought about a new Mini or Hillman Imp, but on the forecourt of a nearby garage, I found a two year old Triumph Herald, and with only 6,000 miles on the clock. I was nervous that the clock may have been wound back ( as that was not unusual in those days) but the dealer said they hadn't and suggested that I contact the previous owner and gave me their details. It turned out to have been the wife's car and "she had been no further than London Airport". I guess the unworn tyres and immaculate engine were a giveaway.

So I became the proud owner of a very nearly new, highly desirable convertible. AYR462B.

131 Songs - Number 32

Number 32 - Virginia Plain by Roxy Music

There was one band that Mick and Terry (see Number 31) did encourage me to listen to and that was Roxy Music. If there is one record that reminds me of the early 70's in Peterborough it is this. Brian Ferry was fortunate ( or very clever) with his choices for the original line up. Andy Mackay, Brian Eno, Phil Manzarena and Paul Thomson made the instrumental backing what it was. Absolutely brilliant. And my first concert for years took us to see them when they visited the town around 1975. By this time Brian Eno had left, so I missed Roxy at it's best.

131 Songs - Number 31

Number 31 - Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd

Well, after the last song, I thought I might as well do this one with the same title. And also something similar with the two bands, the decline of original band members Peter Green and Syd Barrett. And this time it took me until 2001 before I appreciated their music, although it has to be said, not all. So I missed their hey day, again in the 1970's. (What a lot I missed in that decade - although I still don't get the bands that my colleagues in Peterborough, Mick and Terry, used to follow. Led Zeppelin and Yes are beyond my understanding).

It is Pink Floyd's 1975 album, of the same name as the chosen song ,that I really like. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" was very nearly my choice, especially being the homage to Syd Barrett. And "Another Brick In The Wall" still moves me.

131 Songs - Number 30

Number 30 - Wish You Were Here by Fleetwood Mac

I was a latecomer to Fleetwood Mac, in fact I cannot remember listening to "Rumours" until the mid 1980's. But once I heard it, I was as captivated as those who choose it as the best album of all time. And so I ended up with most of their back catalogue. I could easily have chosen Peter Green's "Man of the World" from their early recordings, but my favourite member of the group was always Christine McVie. And I have to get past any number of albums from the 1970's until we reach "Mirage" from 1982. The last track features this wonderful Christine composition.

131 Songs - Number 29

Number 29 - Hotel California by The Eagles

I didn't buy many LP's in the 1970's, so the ones I did have were played over and over again, mostly using my headphones. Some Elton John, Roxy Music and ELO and that was about it. There were some classic albums I missed out on, but I caught up with them years later, as later songs in this series will testify.

This album reminds me of Peterborough, the parties and bbq's in the back garden. The drive to work was seven minutes, so I was able to get home at lunchtime. My first job as a Senior QS and early promotion to Area QS as one major contract turned quickly into four. Playing squash after work (not very well) and on the ladder at the club.

There are other tracks on the album which I probably prefer: "The Last Resort" and "Wasted Time" come to mind. But "Hotel California" does have that iconic and unsurpassed guitar solo. And were we not fortunate to have LP's. The covers on a CD cannot compare with a 12 inch picture.

131 Songs - Number 28

Number 28 - Before the Deluge by Jackson Browne

I only really became aware of Jackson Browne in 1986 when "In the Shape of a Heart" from his album "Lives in the Balance" was played on the radio. So I bought the LP and some of his earlier work, and the same year I went to see him at The Hammersmith Apollo. It was the best of all his concerts including those at The Royal Albert Hall in 1996, 2003 and 2009, the last where I took the above photo.

I now have all his 13 studio albums on CD or vinyl, and I could have picked any number of his songs. I could not decide from "For a Dancer" and "Late for the Sky" having once thought that his (co-written) version of "Take It Easy" was a shoe-in. And then there is many people favourite "The Pretender". And although it did not make it onto the "best of" compilation, I have always had a soft spot for "Before the Deluge".

The new beds planted

The weather last week was glorious and very mild, especially after what has seemed a long cold winter. Temperatures even reached 17C on Thursday. So it was time to start planting the new beds. I had about 15 perennials that I had bought in the Wyvale sale in the autumn, a couple from the Tatton Park flower show and some other pots of cuttings taken from the garden.

The old borders at the back had to weeded and the existing shrubs fed and mulched. Finally my edging tool came out to trim the edges to the new beds. The Alium bulbs I planted in the autumn are sprouting nicely, but it will some time before the perennials start to grow. And there is still room for a lot more plants, so it does look a little bare at the moment. We shall see what it looks like in the summer.

The Crazies, The Lovely Bones and Green Zone

A curious mix of zombieland meeting government genocide, The Crazies presses most of the right buttons for a mild horror action flick. A remake of the George A Romero 1973 movie, all sorts of ingredients make for an enjoyable thriller. All that was lacking was a bigger slice of humour, but the cast, led by Timothy Olyphant and Rhada Mitchell, pitch in with gusto.

It must be that the book The Lovely Bones is unfilmable, or else Peter Jackson has made a real hash of taking a much loved novel to the big screen. Where to start. The book is told in the first person by Susie Salmon who has been murdered. That is the highly original key to the book. Of course you cannot narrate a whole film, and this is where it goes wrong. You are not seeing what unfolds from Susie's point of view, and the plot suffers as a result. Her father suspects the culprit twenty percent through the book, but we have to wait and wait. Susie describes beautifully some of her old life, but hardly any gets to be on film. There is also little in the book of the "in between" where Susie finds herself, but Jackson takes the opportunity to flood his movie with awful and distracting CGI scenes partly reminiscent of NZ. The one bright element is the acting of Saoirse Ronan as Susie. Here she fulfills the promise shown in Atonement. One to watch.

Green Zone is a superb thriller from Paul Greengrass. The pace is relentless, the soundtrack loud, and nobody does handheld camera work better. Matt Damon charges around Iraq looking for non existent WMD's and uncovers the false evidence that was the excuse for the invasion. Exciting stuff.

131 Songs - Number 27

Number 27 - In My Life by The Beatles

My favourite Beatles song. Written by John Lennon in 1965 and recorded that October, this was as John put it, his "first real major piece of work". John had been writing poetry and short stories for years. The journalist Kenneth Allsop had suggested to John that he should focus on his feelings about his own life, and this song was that breakthrough.

The lyrics are perfect example of how they can bring out the goosebumps every time you hear it. The credit for the melody is unclear. John always maintained that Paul had helped with one part, whilst Paul thought that he wrote it all. Whatever the truth, it was the words that inspired such a haunting and satisfying song.

PS All my other favourite Beatles songs on my posting of 8th September 2009.

The First Cut

At last, the weather has changed from a cold and dismal winter to Spring like conditions. Only a week ago temperatures struggled up to 4C during the day. But now the sun is out and we are up to the dizzy heights of 14C. So on Monday, it was great to get out in the garden at last. Still chilly in the morning, despite the sun, so it was after lunch that I started on the lawns.

The electric lawn rake came into it's own again, as what started as a localised run over the areas of moss that I could see, became a rake over the whole lawns, front and back. Hence the odd bare patch. And there were barrow loads to collect. After a week or so of dry weather, the top surface of the lawn was fairly dry, so it did not cut up too much when I started with the mower for it's first cut of the year. Not the latest ever first mow, but certainly the latest for a couple of years.

And what a difference it made. With the blooming crocuses in the sunshine, the transformation from the garden's sorry state was miraculous. However, the daffodils have still not flowered, although their buds have been there for weeks. But all daffodils are very late this year, hardly any at the roadside.

Three Sisters at the Oxford Playhouse

This is Chekhov, but not as we know it. A modern "interpretation" by Christopher Hampton wants us to believe this is 21st Century Russia. But however much the production sets us in the present day, I just could not help the feeling that we were there in the 19th Century but they were wearing the clothes of today. 

This is not to say I didn't enjoy watching Prozorovs and their friends explore their unfulfilled lives in the provincial outpost of Perm. The ensemble acting was from the top drawer. I hoped and prayed that Romola Garai (see posting of 27th October) would tour with the production that opened at The Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith. And there she was sitting and reading on stage even as we took our seats. Her superb performance was matched by Clare Dunne and Poppy Miller as her sisters.

The production at the Oxford Playhouse is by Filter (a theatre collective who bring innovation to classic material) and director Sean Homes, artistic director of The Lyric. The staging combines exciting movement with a clarity of speech that is highly satisfying.

131 Songs - Number 26

Number 26 - Subterranean Homesick Blues

There are so many great Bob Dylan songs to choose from. I went back to his tour of 1966 and his performance at The Royal Albert Hall at the end of May. I know he also performed an acoustic set there in May 1965, so it might even have that one. Anyway, Bob and I watched it on our tiny black and white TV in the equally tiny attic flat we shared on Airedale Avenue in Chiswick. The 1966 tour was notable as Bob used amplified instruments for the first time, much to the horror of died in the wool folk fans. Subterranean Lovesick Blues was the first track on his 1965 album "Bringing It All Back Home". I cannot imagine an acoustic version.

There cannot be a more iconic video than that which accompanied the song . It was first used as part of a documentary made about Bob's 1965 tour of England. He holds cue cards with selected phrases from the lyrics. The location is an alley behind the Savoy Hotel. Wow.

Katherine Bigelow

The best news from the Oscars was that Katherine Bigelow won for best director. The Hurt Locker was far superior than Avatar but was not, in my opinon, the best film, or had the best original screenplay, both of which also won an Oscar. A film documenting the last 34 days of a tour of duty for a bomb disposal team had no plot or story of any description. But what it did have was masses of nerve jangling tension, and it was the direction of Katherine Bigelow that transported the movie to greatness.

I have always loved her films. Blue Steel was the first of her thrillers and the excellent Point Break is notorious for making even Keanu Reeves look good. But I will always remember her best for Strange Days, a terrific Millennium sci fi thriller. But it was K19-Widowmaker that was such a flop ( although I thought it was OK) that Katherine had to wait seven years before her next, and Oscar winning movie. Best Director? Of course.