Royal Oak

Nelson Algren - A Wall On The Wild Side

My only Farrell is on the Pat Martino "Strings" album, which I was listening to the other day. "Minority" is a real flag-waver.

"This Spinal Tap meets Brideshead launch" Imagine that....

Two words - Paul Weller.

IMO, this just isn't right. Why would you want to listen to four men in their 50s rehash youthful nonsense? I was too young for punk rock. By the time I knew what it was, it was long dead (think Kenny Everett doing Sid Snot). In Manchester student / indie nightclubs of the 80s/90s, one would see small groups of ageing punks, clad in leather jackets with Cramps or Dead Kennedys patches, with the mohicans, their cider and their glue. They seemed hopelessly old and anachronistic then.

I remember these cartoons being shown in the UK, possibly just after John Lennon died. I was beginning to think I'd imagined them!

Damn, you beat me to it!

Iceberg Slim - Long White Con

Lady Gardner of Parkes Sir Hyde Parker General Douglas MacArthur General Dreedle Major Major Milo Minderbinder

Well put. One shouldn't be afraid of abandoning books one finds dull just because they are highly rated. I liked this one, although it's a little stodgy; it could have done with an edit. If you enjoy it, I recommend you try A Walk on the Wild Side, which is much better. I ordered them both at the same time. I must say, "Wild Side" was the one I originally searched for, but decided to buy the pair.

Bill - you're obviously a big fan. I am currently reading "Tinker Tailor" on the recommendation of my wife. I am bored with it - none of it makes sense to me. What am I doing wrong? You're doing nothing wrong. LeCarre was in his depths by then. His best are his earliest 5 or so novels, and he's written better ones (like The Night Manager) in later years. I couldn't follow Tinker either. Struggled to the end then got rid of the copies of The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People that I had been planning to read next. I consoled myself while reading Tinker with spotting instances of bad grammar and poor sentence construction. A pity, as I liked The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. You surprise me Crisp. Those three novels, published collectively as 'Smiley vs Karla' are easily my favourite Le Carre's and are generally regarded as not only his best work but the best of the genre. While they all have complex plots I never found them particularly difficult to follow, just superb storytelling. Part of the problem may be that Le Carré deliberately sets out to mystify the reader as part of his narrative method. Very often his central characters don't know what's going on themselves, particularly in the earlier parts of the books. His use of secret service jargon ("lamplighters" etc) without explanation is another factor. But all gets resolved eventually. My wife kept telling me to stick with it, but it continued to bore me. I already do enough stuff which bores me, so it's been ditched. Now reading Nelson ALgren's "Man With The Golden Arm"

Thought this was a Randy Newman thread....

I agree. In 1988 I cycled from Manchester to Blackpool (about 65 miles). I was 19, I had trained for several weeks beforehand, but it was a real eye-opener. For a few miles I found myself at the head of a big pack, feeling good about myself. All of a sudden, the Raleigh Banana Team silently ghosted past me as if I were standing still. I remember getting on my bike again about 2 weeks later and my legs were like jelly. I don't think I've cycled more than a mile ever since - certainly not at all for over 15 years. I don't give a shit what others do. I ride because I enjoy it. I've never road trying to compete with others. That would just ruin the experience for me. It wasn't about competing Tom. I simply didn't want to get back on the bike for a few weeks after, then I found I'd got a pilonidal sinus. I had surgery and it was over 3 years before the wound healed for good. After that I finished with cycling, other than the occasional short ride for purely practical purposes.

Just watched Spinal Tap for the millionth time. Still made me laugh.

I agree. In 1988 I cycled from Manchester to Blackpool (about 65 miles). I was 19, I had trained for several weeks beforehand, but it was a real eye-opener. For a few miles I found myself at the head of a big pack, feeling good about myself. All of a sudden, the Raleigh Banana Team silently ghosted past me as if I were standing still. I remember getting on my bike again about 2 weeks later and my legs were like jelly. I don't think I've cycled more than a mile ever since - certainly not at all for over 15 years.

When I occasionally watched the show as a boy, I always thought he was called "One Epstein".

Bill - you're obviously a big fan. I am currently reading "Tinker Tailor" on the recommendation of my wife. I am bored with it - none of it makes sense to me. What am I doing wrong?

I saw the episode of Sherlock, and I agree. Why must they make everything too smartarsed, too sci-fi and unbelieveable?

Nothing on TV, so I checked out the "On Demand" selection, and found the entire series of "Boys From The Blackstuff". Watched this as a teenager, and found it stood up well 30 years later. The Yosser Hughes episode was particularly good. I did read somewhere that Bernard Hill was profoundly affected by playing Yosser.

Finally finished (after about a year) "Sophie's Choice". The film was on TV a couple of nights ago - try as I may, I could never see Meryl Streep playing the role.

Just finished "Trick Baby" by Iceberg Slim, a 25p find in a charity shop.

Me too - one of my two patio roses is still in bloom. A mild Winter here in the NW so far too.

There are a couple of videos on Youtube which I find mesmerising and so watch fairly often. One is Jimmy Smith doing "Walk On The Wild Side" from a jazz TV show, the other is a Horace Silver quintet playing "Senor Blues". I've heard these tunes dozens of times, obviously, but SEEING them definitely added something.

Watched a documentary called "The Fight Of Their Lives" last night, about the Nigel Benn / Gerald McLellan fight of 1995 which left McLellan disabled. McLellan's plight was grim to watch. Benn came across a troubled man too.

Dobie Gray was played regularly in my house when I was growing up, dad was a big fan. Shame.