Sunday 20 September 2009

SLOW DON’T.

Today I awaken with “Prison Girls” by Neko Case running through my head. It sounds strangely Soviet. The time is just 9AM, a genuine lie in for me and coupled with this song a majestic entry into Sunday.

Spirits are high after yesterday, it was a fulfilling day.

As I flip on the Andrew Marr Show following Nick Cave’s appearance last week this week he is speaking to Jay-Z. What is going on with this world?

My morning involves plenty of writing although my progress on Gestures now feels as if it is stalling.

Soon it is not long before my attention is drawn to Youtube and thoughts of Huggy Bear and finally somebody has uploaded the Huggy Bear performance of “Her Jazz” from The Word. The quality of the clip is pretty great and the performance is as incendiary as I remember it being. This was truly a legendary moment for DIY punk music, with Riot Grrrl I guess Huggy Bear represented some kind of bridging of the gap between Nirvana and Bis. This only fuels my desire to do my book on the ten years of optimism that Generation X lent.

This week I leave early to head over to the olds at Balkerne Heights for the Sunday lunch routine because Manchester United are playing Manchester City at 1.30PM. Manchester City now represent the boo boys of the premier league, the team that you want to fail because of their associations with another dickhead owner from outside football (and outside the country) coming in with false promises and a large cheque book. What happens when this guy realises that he has been sold a pup with Manchester City and they are a dog of a club, barely a top flight consideration? It’s going to happen. What happens in five years time and he jumps ship after losing millions (maybe billions) of pounds? What sort of wreckage will the club be in then? Food thought.

I remember the last time these two teams played each other, it was on Sky at ATP as I watched the game in the Sports Bar with Pauly and his brother and found myself getting loud and drunk that day supporting Manchester City in a time before the money madness and Tevez was in a red shirt.

Even before the end of the game people on Twitter and Facebook are saying that it is a “Premiership classic.” It all started well as Rooney scored after two minutes as if to perform a gesture of putting Manchester City in their place. Later however as Tevez gets one over Foster as he makes a mistake and gifts Barry an equaliser. Into the second half and it feels as if all the goals come off the back of errors not least when the City keeper appears to be thinking a Fletcher header is going past the post. Manchester City are at least tenacious with their fast responses and quick equalisers including Bellamy’s last minute leveller. Somehow though the referee seems to find six minutes of injury time, which eventually allows Owen to come on as a sub and score the winner in a 4-3 victory. Off the back of this Mark Hughes is genuinely livid and you cannot blame him. However because it is Manchester City it is funny and for once it is possible to indulge in Manchester United’s injury time antics as for once they represent the lesser of two evils.

As we settle into the Sunday routine of lunch and the newspapers I am astounded by the heavy dose of Jordan/Katie Price dominating the News Of The World magazine. Has there ever been a more disgusting celebrity?

Today is tough to take after all the noise and energy of yesterday. It is a comedown and anticlimax. While the dog sits next to me on the sofa I watch as he twitches and yelps as he has a nightmare. Snowy used to do this all the time but I haven’t seen Bobby do it before. Bobby has been very slow taking on Snowy’s characteristics, it has been strange having a new dog that looks exactly like my old dog and yet acts so differently. As his nightmare appears to get worse and worse eventually I nudge him to bring him round at which point with half closed eyes he looks at me as if to say “what did you wake me up for?”

The next game on Sky is Chelsea v Tottenham which Chelsea comprehensively win 3-0 against a Tottenham team that is making a really strong showing so far this season. The game fails to hold me though as I begin to look elsewhere (the internet) for my entertainment.

When the game finishes I retake the hot seat and the TV remote stumbling across the American Office on Comedy Central. The episodes appear to be from the current season are really funny and clever. Rashida Jones is in it now and she looks amazing, I remember when she did that show NY-LON years ago and have always been disappointed that it has never been released on DVD.

While I am watching decent and intelligent comedy all that can be heard from elsewhere in their apartment is mum guffawing and laughing loudly at Celebrity Family Fortunes. This serves to depress me no end as it is hosted by that not talent hack Vernon Kay who I feel is exactly what is wrong with this country with his yes man stance being hidden/disguised by/with his cheeky smile as he flatters to deceive. This is the decline in everything and anything.

Eventually I head home and manage to do some important writing, really accomplishing ground on what lies ahead of me. It is satisfying and productive. Perhaps it took experiencing no talent to summon up an inkling of some talent (in me).

I feel emotional with envy this evening. It appears as if everyone is moving to Leytonstone now including my American Friend. Here now is a second bullet dodged by not moving in with Mark.

The day ends with hitting a bath before watching Coldplay on the South Bank Show. I genuinely try to take something I like from this show but as so much money is spent on getting amazing footage of their tour it all feels wasted as beyond all the lightshows and gimmicks there really is not substance within their actual music or message. When towards the end Chris Martin is spotted at a charity gig stating how he still has to write a song as great as “Never Forget” by Gary Barlow it really stinks of setting your goals horribly low in order to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Its all smothered in shit.

Tonight Bedazzled was supposed to be on TV at 11.40PM but my late night plans are scuppered by rugby as it delays the movie by an hour.

Everything is stacked against me it would seem.