Had a lovely welcome to 2004 this morning: feathers strewn all over the hallway floor and the bloody remnants of some bird on the steps; an early morning gift from the cat. Gee thanks. Also just talked to my dad on the phone and found out he is diabetic. His dad also had it, and so does his brother, so it looks like that’s something else I can look forward to in later life. Still, I’m just glad that he knows what was causing him to feel so ill, and happy knowing he has my mom to look after him. I’ll call my brother later today and leave a message on his mobile telling him the news. I wonder if he will care? I had a dream about him the other night. It was really horrible, he was all emaciated and wasted… not pleasant.

I had strange dreams last night too. School dreams, kind of, only I was back in school and J was my teacher and she was being really horrible to me. C was in the dream too. She was sitting beside me, only she kept trying to get further away like being near me was too much to bear. Kind of depressing.

Sorry, really cheery stuff for the first of the year, huh?

So listening to Red House Painters this morning, it seems somehow fitting.

Last night was dull too. I mean, I’m no big fan of New Year anyway, and since I quit drinking, well, it’s even less appealing… yeah… I’m just a grumpy old bastard, I know it, I know it. Anyways, C went out with friends for the night. I think they ended up at the Cavern. Me, I sat on the sofa and watched TV. I’ve had this DVD of ‘A Clockwork Orange’ sitting on the shelf for months unwatched, so I figured I’d give it a look. I’d never actually seen it before, nor read the book despite, or perhaps because of it being such a rock’n’roll cultural icon. So yeah, I watched it, although I really struggled to not fast forward through it because sheesh, it is SO boring and shit and naff. I couldn’t believe it was so bad. What is its reputation built upon? The fact that it was banned in the UK for such a long time? Whatever. The only fun thing was picking up all the references that were swiped for bands and labels etc… Like Korova records, and Korova Milk Bar, Moloko, The Malchicks (yeah, I bet there have been a million bands called the Malchicks, but I’m thinking of that one from the ‘80s, weren’t they originally Valerie and The Malchicks, and then later shortened it?), that kind of thing. But the movie itself? Jeez, if you haven’t already seen it, just do yourself a favour and don’t fucking bother. Or, no, actually, DO see it so you can down all those assholes who tell you what a classic it is.

I also watched most of Dylan’s ‘Don’t Look Back’. That was so much better, of course. It’s such a great document, and fuck it, Dylan just looks so fucking cool it’s unfair. I guess it’s hard to understand now just how a skinny kid in a leather jacket, Levis and a bad haircut wielding only an acoustic guitar and a harmonica taped to his neck could have so much impact. Or maybe it’s not. Maybe it just depends on who you are, what kind of stuff turns you on… I mean, shit, I wasn’t there either in 1965, and I only got into Dylan a couple years back really, but it still blows me away, the thought of this guy clambering on stage, with just so much presence and hell, talk about Punk Rock!? Who needs all that posturing, all that leaping around and all that spiked hair and utter bollocks. All you need is great songs and an electricity that comes from another planet. Which isn’t asking much, is it?

And like, now I just turned off Red House Painters and stuck on ‘Blonde On Blonde’ and I’m recalling that scene in ‘High Fidelity’ where the big obnoxious store assistant buttonholes a customer and stacks him up with albums, and he’s like ‘ I can’t believe you don’t own this album!’ and then puts it on the pile and gives him a sympathetic pat on the back and something like ‘everything will be okay now’. And, uh, I got that all crapped up and I’m shit at that kind of thing, recounting stuff from movies or books (mainly because I have no memory), but whatever, I thought that was a great scene, because it’s so true. And if you don’t own ‘Blonde On Blonde’, hell, just go out and rectify the situation right now. Or swipe your (gran)dad’s.

Which brings me to the point of ‘Eat The Document’, that movie sequel to ‘Don’t Look Back’ that no-one I know seems to own or to have even seen. The document of that ’66 tour that split apart the fabric of rock’n’roll… can you BELIEVE that? A singer brings along an electric band to play with him and all hell breaks loose… What was HAPPENING in people’s lives in ’66 that such a small thing should have such a huge impact? Sheesh.

In fact I just looked on eBay and there’s a DVD of Eat The Document going for 45 notes. Is that too much? I am sorely tempted…

Back to ‘High Fidelity’ though, and we watched that the other night. It was okay. And I think that’s about the most positive I’m ever likely to get with regards anything to do with Nick Hornby. The transference to the USA really helped I think, oh and the Cusacks of course… Speaking of whom, you should take this quiz. No prizes for guessing which character I turned out to be…

What else? Uh, well, I am somewhat relieved to have finally completed my 2003 photo collection. I shy away from calling it a photo diary anymore because obviously it wasn’t really a diary at all, especially since the photos don’t always correspond to the exact day they appear on. Is that giving away secrets? What the heck. So, for example, the last few days were so boring and I rarely left the house except to ride my bike, and when I ride my bike I ride my bike. Stopping for photos isn’t really on the agenda, especially when it’s so cold and miserable. So… a lot of the shots for the end of December were actually taken yesterday when we took an afternoon trip out to Sidmouth. It was cold and windy as all hell, but it was kind of fun. I hooked up an iPod to the car stereo and that seemed to work well. The iPod was on random song shuffle and there was a moment of odd synchronicity as we drove into the town and McCarthy started playing. I guess it would have been even better if it had been the Visitors that came on, but McCarthy was good enough because of course they were one of the great shared obsessions of myself and the Sidmouth crew back in the late ‘80s, and it’s a safe bet to say that McCarthy would have been playing the first time I ever went there to visit with Christian and Stuart and the rest of the gang. So yeah, that was good. Oh, and speaking of Stuart, I noticed a thanks to Stuart Troupe on a Blue Aeroplanes CD the other day and I wondered if that was a typo and if in fact really did mean Stuart Troop? Maybe someone will let me know…

So, Sidmouth. C took photos on her new phone and I snapped away with my little Canon. There was some great sky action going on; sun peeking through heavy clouds out in the east, and over on the west some white clouds skimming the top of the bluff. It looked amazing. We strolled through the gardens and down the Jacob’s Ladder to the beach. It was kind of nice to just get out and see something else, although I wished it was summer and I could have ridden there. I should get out for a ride today really, but it’s so windy and horrible out. Oh crap. I hate winter so much.

Happy New Year.

Comments

[Stuart]

Happy New Year, Alistair.

I look forward to another year of enjoying your excellent site.

One thing that's been nagging me for ages, and I feel I must, at last, ask you: are you American?

thanks

P.S. I also saw 'Clockwork Orange' for the first time this year. Yes, it is utter rubbish. I can accept, however, that at the time it came out it was quite shocking/innovative or whatever it's lauded for being. 'High Fidelity' is also rubbish.

[Tim]

Re: Clockwork Orange. Hey, you think the movie's bad? You can't have seen the stage musical, with Phil Daniels and Rod from EastEnders. Music by The Edge, I seem to remember... Jesus...

The book's pretty good, though, I seem to remember.

Happy New Year from BKK. Are you Belgian?

T