The book is progressing…
I thought about doing yet ANOTHER vlog post today because – I feel exhausted. The thought of writing felt draining but I knew I’d get lost through myriad tangents if I recorded a vlog post and veer off course too much. Also, I’d have to show my hideous and drained face to camera which, frankly, no one deserves having to be exposed to. So…I am writing instead. I can take my time, think, and maybe put together something coherent and possibly even vaguely interesting? We’ll see!
Firstly, I’ll give a progress update on the book. I’m at the 50k mark with roughly 20k to go. It sounds like a lot, but I’ve kept the things I know I could talk and write about ALL DAY LONG until last. There are other things that need sorting too. I’ve got to sort the layout, sort the images that will be going into it, as well as proofread it. I have just under 7 weeks left and feel confident that it will all be done by then.
Thanks Frank
I had a good but tiring weekend. On Friday night I went to see Echo & The Bunnymen at Kelvingrove Bandstand. An evening made possible by the generosity of one Francis X Gallagher. It makes me laugh when I think of the times Jim would write about him and make him sound like this imposing figure you wouldn’t want to mess with. Lol. He’s never been anything but kind and friendly to me. Kind of reminds me of how intimidated the thought of meeting my father-in-law for the first time was. When I would speak to him on the phone before I moved over to the UK, he’d sound sssooo imposing. But when we met, we got on like a house on fire. He loved innuendo and silly jokes and we shared that bawdry sense of humour. For reasons I never really have understood – I’ve always put it down to abandonment issues – I’ve always gravitated more to men with conversation in social situations. I have always sought and preferred the company of men. As I say – abandonment issues, I’m sure.
I digress!
Thanks to Frank’s generosity, I was able to see the Bunnymen last Friday night. Having gone to see Johnny Marr, I had wished to go to another bandstand gig. I had Future Islands in mind when the shows were announced – and back then Frank offered to get me into any gigs I wanted to – but I didn’t want to take liberties or be expectant come the time of the gigs. I bought the Johnny Marr ticket as soon as the gigs went on sale. After I’d been to the gig, Frank got back in contact with me saying that if I wanted to go to any other shows to let him know and he’d sort it out. Again, I didn’t want to take liberties and I was feeling the pressure of getting the book done and hadn’t asked for an extension of time at that point. I decided that I wouldn’t try for Future Island, so I had a look at the gigs that were left and decided that maybe the Bunnymen could be good. And there were two shows to choose from, and if I kept an eye on the forecast I could pick the better weather day to go.
As it was, the weather was still hit and miss but probably not as bad as it was on Thursday night. I was given a plus one, so the OH grudgingly accompanied me. Neither of us are what you’d call Bunnymen fans. Also, the OH isn’t great with crowds or loud music, so it really isn’t her scene. She REALLY has to be interested in an artist to be even remotely keen to venture out for a gig. Her main purpose was to be my chaperone for the evening.
We got to the bandstand in good time – not before being pissed upon as we made our way down from Kelvinhall subway. We were sitting on our bagsied spot listening to the songs playing over the speakers when Waterfront came on. I was the only person who audibly cheered as it started. Lol! Whoever picked the tunes to be played was having a giraffe at the list chosen – Waterfront, Weather With You, and I’m sure one or two other weather themed tracks were played. I guess they could have really gone to town.
Hey Bruce!
A short while later, I see a familiar face walking through the crowd. Bruce Findlay was there! Of all the people I expected to spot that night, Bruce wasn’t one of them. I took off to catch up with him only to lose sight of him as I made my way over to where I saw he was headed. I went back to my seat, to only then spot him again several minutes later. This time I took another route and was able to keep tabs on where he was as I made my way to him. Support act Zoe Graham had just started by the time I got to Bruce. We had a bit of chinwag. I had checked out a bit of Zoe’s music the day before and was telling Bruce how good she was sounding. I told him about the book which was greeted with a laugh. It’s happened a few times now. Those kinds of things never spur me on to prove the doubters wrong – the just compound all the inner thoughts I have to constantly bat away like, “Why am I bothering,” “Who’s even interested?”, etc. But this time I am determined to see it through. I WILL get a book published! I WILL be the author of a book – available to buy in shops – in bookshops – through retailers. Not just a self-published e-book only available on Amazon. A real, genuine book – in print! And next year I will have a diploma. I will have a qualification that means something.
Despite that wee negative, I loved catching up with Bruce. For a man of 80, he’s still got energy to burn and his love of music is still very evident. He did tell me about his first time seeing the Bunnymen – that it was in Sydney in 1981 at the Manly Vale Hotel during Simple Minds first tour in Australia. The Bunnymen had arrived in the country just prior and were performing the night the SM crew arrived. He said and Jim went to the show (although Jim tells it like it was he and Charlie that went together – they all have skewed memories of these things – it was more than 40 years ago to be fair). Bruce’s recount was that he and Jim were struggling to make it back to the hotel the Minds crew were staying at and the Bunnymen tour bus picked them up and drove them back to their hotel. I asked Bruce about Mac’s penchant for being a mardy bugger – pouring shite on his contemporaries. He said it was tosh – that the Minds and Bunnymen got on well and that all the animosity was just publicity. I maybe would have believed it had Mac not shown himself to be an arse during the show.
The Gig – Spared The Cutter
As for the show itself? We really enjoyed Zoe Graham – we being both myself and Bruce – and myself and the OH. I rejoined the OH about half-way through Zoe’s short set.
As for the Bunnymen, musically they sounded great. Particularly the drummer and keyboard player. They were great. Mac’s voice showed promise at the start, but quickly faltered. I wasn’t sure how well Mac’s voice was going to be. From what little exposure I’d had to live Bunnymen prior to Friday night, it seemed Mac could be very hit and miss, and latterly more ‘miss’ than ‘hit.’ I didn’t know anything other than Bring On The Dancing Horses played in the first half of the broken up set. The first part of the set lasted about 30 minutes before they were off for a 15 minute break. They came back on around 9.50pm and I was conscious we’d have to leave no later than around 10.40pm to make it back in time for the last train back to Ashfield from Queen Street. Around 10.25 they played The Killing Moon and that was the queue to leave once that was slaughtered. Sorry to say it, but the crowd carried the tune better than Mac was, and that’s saying something! Lol. That said, I was disappointed that we had to leave while they were performing The Cutter and as we made our way back through the park to Kelvinhall, I could hear them performing Lips Like Sugar.
2001 at the IMAX
The next night we were off to the IMAX at the Science Centre to see a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s one of the OH’s favourite films. She was a tender six-year-old when she first saw it in the cinema in 1969, her mum taking her to a screening. I had seen it a couple of times in the past but was never able to really stick with it. Either I’d fall asleep or just switch off. But at the IMAX screening on Saturday night, I was fully absorbed in it. Perhaps it took that ‘big screen’ experience to really draw me in? Such a cursory impact it had made on in the past, I was genuinely surprised to see Leonard Rossiter in one of the earlier scenes in the film. I had completely forgotten his cameo in it. I even thought I’d understood the ending – or at least part of it, only to find that in discussing it with the OH on the walk back to Cessnock subway that, no, I had misunderstood the thing I thought finally made sense to me. Lol. Oh, well. I did actually finally enjoy it though.
Being out two nights running left me feeling drained on Sunday but I still got some writing of the book done. And again yesterday. Sleep on Friday and Saturday nights were deep and long-lasting. No middle-of-the-night loo trips needed. I had a solid 6-7 hours sleep both nights. Unfortunately, last night was back to usual type. I fell asleep around midnight, only to wake around 2am needing the loo. I then didn’t get back to sleep until 5.30am this morning. The alarms at 7.15am and 7.45am were heard but ignored and I eventually drew me tired, sorry arse out of bed at around 9.15am.
Hamish Hawk & The Anchoress
I’m praying that tonight and especially Wednesday night’s sleep will be better as we’re off to Manchester and Milton Keynes on Thursday and Friday. Thursday night in Manchester I’ll be seeing Hamish Hawk showcasing his new album, A Firmer Hand. Then on Friday night in Milton Keynes, I’ll be seeing The Anchoress at the Craufurd Arms in Wolverton. Then back home on Saturday via an Easyjet flight from Luton to Edinburgh. (It was cheaper to fly into Edinburgh than Glasgow – perhaps that may be the ONE benefit of it being Fringe season?)
If I have the energy left on Sunday, I may just tell you all about it.
Until then!
Good stuff 😎👍