lovelondonscenes – 56

Posted on May 18, 2014 by John S

Just like London buses, don’t do a lovelondonscenes post for a while then two arrive at the same time!

This one is taken from Ebury Bridge, just south of Victoria station, on Friday just gone. Decided to have a walk after work and headed for Sloane Square.  I love the way you get Battersea Power Station in the background – on the other side of the river.

The other day, on a tube strike morning, I rushed past this scene as the mist was being burnt off by the sun, with the power station rising from the haze. I’d been walking from Earls Court. I was already late for a meeting so I didn’t stop to take a photo. I’m regretting now, it as it was a beautiful scene. Need to wait for that next foggy day in London Town!

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lovelondonscenes – 55

Posted on May 18, 2014 by John S

Beautiful day on the Thames. These shots are taken from Fulham, looking towards Hammersmith, at low tide.

If you look background centre by the little red crane, you can see the Wembley stadium arch, some miles away.

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Morrissey – the Autobiography

Posted on May 15, 2014 by John S

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I’ve just finished reading Morrissey’s “Autobigraphy”.  And an excellent read it is too. It’s written in a discursive, sometimes quite poetic style. There are no chapters – just a long narrative, which is mostly chronological. There is a lot of settling of old scores, sometimes with a witty quip, other times, particularly over the court case about Smiths’ royalties, with pages of vituperation. But it is also a tale of love. The love of music.

Morrissey’s private life is fairly closely guarded. There are some hints of relationships, in one case a bit more, but you build a picture from the fragments, the observations, the recollections of places he stayed, people he encountered, the music he played.

And yes, it is, ultimately, all about the music. Its redemptive, liberating power. The discovery of the New York Dolls, Patti Smith and the Ramones and others, as a teenager. Life savers. And above all, the utter transformation when Morrissey hooked up with a local Manchester musician, Billy Duffy, and sang with a band for the first time:

Against the command of everyone I had ever known, I sing! My mouth meets the microphone and the tremolo quaver eats the room with acceptable pitch and…I am removed from the lifelong definition of others, and their opinions matter no more. I am singing the truth by myself, which might also be the truth of others… and give me a whole life… let the voice speak up for once and for all…

What a powerful expression of what making music can do! And in those words I think you see the essence of Morrissey’s enduring appeal. Forever the outsider – and so many people feel they are outsiders – but… I am singing the truth for myself, which might also be the truth for others...

Billy Duffy also introduced Morrissey to Johnny Marr. The rest is history…

The book is at its best, for me, in the first 150 pages, as Morrissey details his rather – or should I say, utterly? – miserable childhood. The dreadful schools, the grim jobs he was faced with, his inability to relate to all but a few fellow outsiders, mavericks. And yet also his loving extended Irish family. He had a safety net of love and companionship. This is a complex story – it’s not all bad.

He is undoubtedly a difficult person, and, in fairness, he recognises that. He is self-deprecating and amusing about his capacity to alienate. Self-awareness is in strong supply.

One of the interesting things in the book for me, is his description of his successful concerts as a solo artist. I don’t think we have ever realised this in this country. Naturally, Morrissey blames the media for this – for its lack of interest. It is hard to disagree, as he details the rapture, the near-riots, the idolisation. America, Mexico, Italy, Scandinavia… in the the latter his audience seems to get younger as he gets older.

He gets to meet many of those artists he idolised as a teenager. He helps to revive the fortunes of the New York Dolls – those still alive – but doesn’t get much gratitude for it. He’s relaxed about that – what else to expect?  David Bowie flits in and out of the story. There’s a moment of true joy as Bowie records one of Morrissey’s songs and plays it to him:

The sound coming from the speakers is the gift of life, and nothing will keep me level after David’s bestowal. Here is the unimaginable culmination of a mad process that began for me sometime in 1970 as On The Buses chirped annoyingly in the background.

Every young artist’s dream? And I love the way he offsets that moment of  fulfilment with a reference to a humdrum ITV comedy, which everyone watched at the time, in the days when we had three channels to choose from. Classic Morrissey, reaching for the stars, but rooted in the quotidian, in the dank streets of seventies Manchester. Always.

The autobiography does not feature much in the way of happiness – after all, one of The Smiths’ best tunes was Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now – but by the end there is a sense of real achievement, something close to contentment. And, credit to the book, to Morrissey’s writing, I feel really pleased for him. I want him to be happy!

Not only that: it has sent me back to his records. The brilliance of The Smiths, but also the depth of his solo catalogue, which I have rather dipped in and out of, over the years.

It has made me feel that I need to reappraise that music that I have neglected, as well as rejoicing in the sounds I have always loved.

And that, surely, tells you what a good book it is. An honest, heartfelt, exciting, moving, funny, vicious, insightful, intriguing story. Written with style, wit and emotion.

I read the book on my tube journeys to and from work. I looked forward to the next instalment every day. I was sorry when it came to the end.

What better recommendation can I make?

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Paris in black and white

Posted on May 8, 2014 by John S

We – the family –  had a few days in Paris just after Easter. We did some of the traditional things and walked around a lot; the girls did some shopping. Photos were taken.  I’ve done Paris before on the blog – see A Paris Juin 2012 So here I’ll just share a few in black and white. A couple of clicks on iPhotos. It feels like a very French thing to do!

I like Line 6 of the Metro, which runs from Charles de Gaulle – Etoile to Nation. It passes close to the Eiffel Tower, but the attraction is that parts of the line hover over the roads, elevated rather than underground. I love just looking out at the buildings around you, two floors or so up.

This is Dupleix station, not far from the Eiffel Tower, though not the nearest.

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This is a shot from the Square Cambronne. There’s a station called Cambronne nearby.

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Still on Line 6, this is Place D’Italie. We are in south east, but still reasonably central Paris here. I got off here and then walked back to the Marais, where we were staying, via the Rue Mouffetard and the Left Bank. It was pouring with rain, but still fun – remembering old haunts when I lived in Paris in 1989-91.

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My son, Kieran, and I took the tourist trail to Sacre Coeur in Montmartre. On the way up from metro Barbes Rochechouart, it was striking how many dodgy geezers on the streets there were, trying to sell mobile phones – presumably stolen. A change from last time I was in the area.

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OK, simple one: the Pyramid in front of the Louvre.

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One of my favourite bars in the Marais. Spent part of my stag do in 1990 there, on the street. So good to see it’s still there. Rue Vieille du Temple.

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Place des Vosges. Wonderful part of the Marais.

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Tour Eiffel from the Bir Hakeim Bridge.

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And just off Bir Hakeim, in Passy, Line 6 again.

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Tour Eiffel, from the Paris Architecture Museum in Trocadero.

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Sportsthoughts (101) – Parking the Bus

Posted on April 28, 2014 by John S

double-decker_1215733cJosé Mourinho celebrates Chelsea's 2-0 victory over Liverpool in the Premier League

On Sunday afternoon Chelsea went to Liverpool and blew the Premier League title chase wide open again. It could have been Liverpool’s coronation had they won their twelfth game in a row. Instead Chelsea, with a weakened, but not weak, team, won 2-0 and played themselves back into the hunt, after the inexplicable loss at home to Sunderland the weekend before. More to the point, it puts Man City in the driving seat again, after their assured victory at Crystal Palace. They are the latest team who will win the League if they win their remaining games (though the maths is currently based on their superior goal difference).

It was a masterful tactical performance by Chelsea. Their defence and midfield sat deep, denying the Liverpool speedsters the room they’d had in earlier victories, notably over Arsenal. Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers, compounded the problem by playing the star of the moment, Raheem Sterling, wide right. Presumably this was to put pressure on Ashley Cole, Chelsea’s left back, who hasn’t been selected for many games this year. It didn’t work. Cole was as assured as ever and Liverpool missed Sterling’s movement and passing at the tip of the midfield diamond. He moved inside in the second half, but too late. The die was cast, Chelsea’s confidence boosted by a late first half goal by Demba Ba, after a catastrophic slip by Steven Gerrard, of all people.

Liverpool continued to retain most of the possession in the second half. At the end of the game the stats showed that they had 72%, against Chelsea’s 28%. And yet they had few clear chances on goal, and Chelsea always looked dangerous on the break. Steven Gerrard, distraught at his earlier mistake, lost his head a bit, and tried to win the game with a succession of hopeful long shots. Luis Suarez, starved of space and without the usual fleet-footed support of Sturridge for much of the game, had a quiet match. And Chelsea, cruelly, rubbed it in at the last, as Willian pounced on a misplaced pass, put Torres through, and then gratefully received the return pass for a simple tap in. 2-0. Fortress Anfield breached by the team always the most likely to.

Afterwards the reaction was predictably hysterical. Brendan Rodgers complained, with maybe a bit of tongue-in-cheek, of Chelsea parking two buses in front of goal. That has prompted an absurd debate on the airwaves and in the papers about whether Chelsea, marshalled by the master of the managerial dark arts, Jose Mourinho, are bad for football. Of course they played deep against Liverpool! That’s the Liverpool who have won eleven games on the trot, ripping teams apart by getting behind their defensive lines with their pace and razor-sharp passing. Man City, Arsenal, Man Utd, Tottenham, included. The lesson, at this point in the season, was surely that Liverpool couldn’t be outdone at their own game, that in a trade for goals, they’d come out on top. So yes, Mourinho parked a bus, or even two. But his side also knew when to break, to pounce, and did it ruthlessly.

After watching Saracen’s defensive brilliance in the Heineken Cup semi final against Clermont on Saturday (see my Sportsthoughts 100) this was another master class. Of course we all love the marauding attacking games of Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal at their best. But football is also about defending, and usually the team with the strongest defence – or close to it – wins the League. If Liverpool do win it this season – and I hope they do – it will be contrary to the norm, for their defending has been pretty flaky at times.

So no, Chelsea aren’t bad for football. They are part of the rich tapestry. Mourinho is a genius, but not evil. Pragmatic, unromantic, yes. But clever, imaginative, strategic and great value for the media. One of the great characters. As someone asked on Twitter yesterday, who wouldn’t want Mourinho managing their club? If they were really, really honest? Even Arsenal fans. In fact, especially Arsenal fans.

Of course he is sometimes a hypocrite. When West Ham parked their rather rickety bus at Stamford Bridge a couple of months ago and eked out a 0-0 draw (which set them off on the revival that saved the season) Mourinho accused them of playing “19th century football”. A memorable insult, if historically inaccurate, as teams played with seven or eight attackers in those days. The difference was that West Ham’s ambition was the 0-0, whereas Chelsea were lying in wait yesterday, ready to break, to win the game on the counter. As they did.

So hail the mighty Jose. Good luck against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday in the second leg of the Champions League semi final. 0-0 after the first leg in Spain, where the proverbial autobus was also in evidence.

And hail Brendan Rodgers too, for transforming Liverpool into the most exciting team in the Premier League. If there is justice in this footballing world, they will be English champions this season.

 

(Both photos from Google Images. Jose Mourinho, via the Guardian, photographer Paul McFegan/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar)

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Sportsthoughts (100) – Awesome Saracens crush Clermont

Posted on April 26, 2014 by John S

My 100th Sportsthoughts. Appropriate that it celebrates a truly outstanding sporting feat. Heineken Cup semi final at Twickenham. England’s best club team at the moment, Saracens, against the mighty Clermont Auvergne, up there with Toulon and Toulouse as the best of the French. Clermont regarded as favourites, with just a hint of doubt about their away form (although they beat Quins 16-13 in a hard-fought game in the group stage at the Stoop.)

Score: Saracens 46 Clermont 6. Whaaat happened?

Before I say something about the game, let me say how unreal this feels to be writing a blog in praise of Sarries. It would be the same as lauding Chelsea in the football. The big spenders (how they manage within the salary cap I don’t know). Poached a couple of Quins’ players in recent years: David Strettle and James Johnston. Fans have become newly arrogant, though there still aren’t that many of them. I had intended to write about Quins’ 24-20 victory over Leicester at the Stoop the Friday before last. Two comebacks required, fantastic atmosphere, keeps us in the hunt – just – for a top four place in the Premiership. But I had a busy weekend and then went off to Paris for a few days. The moment for a blog passed. Hard life!

So over to the semi final. The first half was close-fought and featured some unbelievably aggressive defending by Saracens. Their tackle count was amazing and was the result of the linespeed of the defending lines. With flanker Jacques Burger, Namibian behemoth, to the fore. The speed at which he launched into the Clermont attackers, with no regard at all for his own safety, was frightening. He deservedly won the Man Of The Match award, although there were plenty of other contenders.

But the first half also featured three – maybe four – big decisions, by referee Nigel Owens, which all went Sarries’ way. He is one of the best refs, and I’m not suggesting bias in any way, although I imagine the French media will have a field day. Sarries’ first try was beautifully crafted, with England reject Chris Ashton going through. A hint of the forward pass during the move, but no-one seemed to make much of a fuss about that.

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Next was more controversial, as Owens awarded a penalty try to Saracens, having judged that Aussie Brock James, the Clermont fly half, had deliberately knocked the ball away in a challenge with the Sarries’ Argentinian centre Marcelo Bosch inside the Clermont try zone. Fair enough to give a penalty and yellow card to James. But the penalty try, when it wasn’t at all clear who might have scored, was harsh.

Clermont then started to put on the pressure. They scored what looked like a beautifully-worked try after a lineout ploy. It was disallowed for alleged blocking by a Clermont player on a Saracens defender. It looked marginal to me. On another day, the benefit of the doubt might have been given to Clermont.

Then, after a general melee, Sarries’ Owen Farrell emerged in space, having looked like he’d knocked the ball on, and ran through unchallenged for a try. Replays did show that the ball had hit his knee rather than hands when going forward, but again, on another day…

It meant that Saracens were 24-6 up at half time.

What would Clermont do to get back into the game? The answer was very little. There was a period of stalemate and then Sarries started to break through. Clermont lost hope and shape. Chris Ashton emerged as one of Sarries’ heroes, scoring two tries and and making another with a superb break and long pass. Andy Goode was excellent as full back, and points kicker on the day, as Owen Farrell had a bruised foot – not that you would have noticed, given the excellence of his general play. There were awesome defensive displays by hooker Schalk Brits, captain and second row Steve Borthwick and centre Brad Barritt, amongst others.

Essentially, Saracens blasted the Clermont pressure with fierce tackling, benefited from a couple of refereeing decisions, soaked up a bit more pressure and then let rip as Clermont’s morale wilted. It was an incredibly impressive display of rugby. Sky’s co-commentator Stuart Barnes – prone to hyperbole, but also speaking from experience as an international player – deemed it the finest club performance he had seen.

That will no doubt be disputed, especially by the Saracens-haters. The refereeing decisions will no doubt take centre stage in the reports on the game.

But while I don’t feel qualified to rank the performance against others, I will say that it was an amazing performance by Saracens – and let us not forget that it was against a normally outstanding French team.

Saracens will face either Toulon or Ireland’s Munster in the final in Cardiff. I will be rooting for Sarries, notwithstanding my normal dislike of the team, as a Quins fan. Rooting for the English boys and admiring their international colleagues. Even, and maybe especially, Jacques Burger…

Saracens v ASM Clermont Auvergne - Heineken Cup Semi-Final

(Both the photos here are copied from Google Images and are courtesy of Getty images)  

 

 

 

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An afternoon in London with Augustines and Oasis

Posted on April 20, 2014 by John S

19 April 2014. I picked up a couple of things from Twitter that were happening in central London that looked liked fun. The Berwick Street festival in Soho that was celebrating  record stores and vinyl music – part of a nationwide event – and then a photo exhibition in Shoreditch, courtesy of the Londonnewcastle project, of Oasis in their early years: Chasing the Sun 1993-97.

Loved them both!

I turned up in Berwick Street in time to see the mighty Augustines. Rocking out with passion, as ever.

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Then up to Shoreditch. Not my patch, as a West London boy. But interesting, overshadowed by the City.

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The Oasis exhibition was brilliant. Fantastic photos from the first few years. There was also a recreation of the scene for “Definitely Maybe,” Oasis’s first album. People were queuing up to take their place in that iconic scene. And there were film shots in a big room.

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I’m wary of reproducing too many photos of the exhibition, but here’s just one, by the great photographer Jill Furmanovsky.

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Here’s one of the Definitely Maybe album cover recreation. The room reproduced with loving care, including guitars. Three lads enjoying it in this shot.

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And the punters in the film studio.

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A reminder of how good Oasis were.

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An interesting art space too. Here’s a view from outside.

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Do we love London? Yes we do!

 

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lovelondonscenes – 54

Posted on April 19, 2014 by John S

Brentford High Street, 10.30pm, the night that Brentford FC won automatic promotion to the Championship, after years of League One playoff misery.

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Sportsthoughts (99) – The rise of Liverpool; the fall of Arsenal

Posted on April 14, 2014 by John S

And so the Premier League reaches a climax. The big showdown yesterday between Liverpool and Manchester City ended 3-2 to Liverpool. A superb game of football, with Liverpool going 2-0 up, City clawing their way back to 2-2 and looking strong, then Kompany skewing a clearance straight into the path of Coutinho who finished with aplomb to win the game for Liverpool.

Liverpool now two points clear at the top: 77 v Chelsea’s 75 and City on 70 with two games in hand, which, if won, would take them to 76. No other team in it now, with Arsenal having fallen away. Liverpool play Chelsea in two weeks time. The next big decider. Both teams can now win the league if they win all their games.

But how did this happen? How did Liverpool race to the top and Arsenal fall away so badly? On 1 January this year, the top five, all played 19 games, was Arsenal 42 points, City 41, Chelsea 40, Everton 37, Liverpool 36. So Liverpool, having been six points behind Arsenal at the start of the year, are now 13 points ahead. Where did it all go right and wrong?

The symbolic moment is clear. 8 February, Saturday lunchtime, Liverpool 5 Arsenal 1. Liverpool came flying out of the traps and turned Arsenal into nervous wrecks in that first half. 4-0 at half time. Two of the goals were scored by centre back Skrtel, but it was the rampant forward play by Suarez, Sterling and Sturridge and Coutinho, fed by the precision passing of Steven Gerrard, that discombobulated Arsenal. An Arsenal team that arrived at Anfield still top of the League.

Arsenal have never recovered from the shock and Liverpool haven’t looked back.

At the beginning of the season I predicted that the winner of the Premier League would be Chelsea or Man City, with my usual dream that Arsenal might somehow pull it off. (When it comes to winning the League I don’t even think about West Ham doing it.) I could still be right. City and Chelsea are still in there. If Jose Mourinho hatches a successful plan to clip Liverpool’s wings, it could be the Londoners that squeeze ahead on the finishing line. If it’s a draw at Anfield, City could sneak through by winning the rest of their games. And, as ever, at this time of the season, there could be some weird results, with lower teams fighting for their Premier League lives, or, if safe, relaxing and turning on a top performance.

So it’s not clear cut at all, but Liverpool are in pole position – and I never contemplated that. Who did?

There has been a transformation over the season. From a solid team with good prospects, Liverpool have blossomed into the most exciting attacking force seen in the Premier League for a long time. Luis Suarez has been amazing – after missing the first six games of the season through his ban for biting.  Daniel Sturridge has fulfilled his potential – a speedy, slinky, ruthless striker, working perfectly with Suarez. Raheem Sterling has just got better and better, either on the right wing or lurking just behind the strikers. Awesome pace and trickery. Philippe Coutinho has roamed everywhere, probing, clinical. And Jordan Henderson and Steven Gerrard have patrolled the nether regions of midfield, allowing the four man attack to thrive and putting through any number of killer passes. Gerrard has reinvented himself in the deep-lying “quarterback” role, while Henderson has overcome early doubts  after his transfer from Sunderland to lay claim to be the most dynamic English midfielder in the league.

It has been a steady build over the season. A slow accumulation of good results which allowed manager Brendan Rodgers to take more attacking risks – playing Sterling and Coutinho at the same time, for example, sacrificing defensive solidity. It has paid off. In a few games the defence has been shaky, but the attack has always made up for it. The 6-3 away win at Cardiff is a classic example.

I now hope Liverpool win the title. It will be a victory for football played the right way. And under a young British manager.

I still have a suspicion that Chelsea will work Liverpool out, especially with Henderson suspended after his horrendous red card tackle on Nasri yesterday and with Sturridge doubtful. The Liverpool squad isn’t as deep as Chelsea’s or City’s. We shall see.

As for Arsenal….

Aaaah. It looked to be going so well. After that first home defeat to Villa, the team could do no wrong, emboldened by the purchase of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid.  Aaron Ramsey was looking like the best midfielder in the Premier League for a while. The defence, with Mertesacker and Koscielny at the core, was looking the most watertight for years.

But the doubts started to creep in when the team lost 6-3 to Man City in December, shortly after losing 2-0 to Napoli in the Champions league and relinquishing top spot in the qualifying group. Not what you want against one of your title rivals. At that point all the key players were still around, but the injuries then started to kick in. Ramsey, thigh, late December. Walcott, knee, early January, out for the rest of the season. Wilshere, in and out, then foot, March. Ozil, losing a bit of his early season spark, hamstring, March. Others too, but we are talking about ALL the first choice midfielders and the paciest, best forward, out by March. The rot set in before all the injuries, but recovery from the setbacks was made all the harder by losing most of the best players.

Yes, all teams have injuries, but Arenal’s were devastating. They ripped the heart out of the team, the fluid midfield five who swirled around front man Giroud, pulling opposition defences apart. Slowly, the precision, the pace, disappeared. Giroud lost his goal-scoring touch too and started to sulk. And those doubts crept back into the defence. The old Arsenal of the last few years returned. Brilliant on their day, usually against lesser teams; brittle when challenged by better sides. They did OK in the Champions league, going out after a spirited fight against Bayern Munich (their punishment for coming second in the group stage); but the 5-1 defeat to Liverpool was followed by a 6-0 reverse against Chelsea and a 3-0 to Everton. Suddenly the fight is to stay in the Top Four, after still being top in February.

What I am seeing now is a team that loses heart too easily, that lacks the power, pace and precision that it had early season and which Liverpool so clearly has now. The confidence is drained and Arsene Wenger seems to have run out of ideas about what to do. And the players to do it. But they just got past Wigan in the FA Cup semi final, so there is still something to look forward to this season. Surely they will beat Hull in the final.

And maybe that win in adversity – getting through on penalties, but very good penalties – will provide a spark for the rest of the season and secure that 4th place, ahead of Everton.

Next up, later today (as I finish this) a home game against West Ham. My No1 team (West Ham) against my second. The current Arsenal might struggle against West Ham’s physicality. But I expect their superior skills will shine through in the end.  If West Ham do sneak a win – and it has happened before at Arsenal – it’s Europa League for the Gunners. And yet more questions about Wenger’s future.

Nervous times for Arsenal. Exciting times for Liverpool.

They could be playing each other in the Community Shield this August. Or it could be Chelsea v Hull….

 

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lovelondonscenes – 53

Posted on April 10, 2014 by John S

Beautiful spring morning this Wednesday just gone. St James’s Park was at its best.

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The Pelican posse was out in force.

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One lone groover…

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