Sportsthoughts (29) – the Euros move into the quarter finals

Posted on June 21, 2012 by John S

Twelve successive days of quality football. Brilliant – if you like football. The female side of my family have been tolerant about the evening TV monopoly – for which I am very grateful!

Looking back at my predictions (Sportsthoughts 27) , I’ve got five of my eight fancies into the quarter finals: England, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. No Russia, Poland or… the Netherlands. How did Holland blow it? All about that first game.  They had endless chances against Denmark, failed to take them and let Denmark in for the win.  It was always uphill from there in the Group Of Death – and Holland’s notorious ability to descend into a conflict of personalities seems to have kicked in again. As for Russia, they looked brilliant in the first game against the Czech Republic, but then they went to sleep. Kicking themselves, I imagine.

People feared for Italy, with match fixing allegations emerging again.  But I always fancied them to go through.  They have the tournament know-how. Spain haven’t truly ignited yet, even though they cruised to a 4-0 victory against Ireland. But they look strong and ready to step up a gear.  Germany have looked really strong.  Maybe tournament favourites right now; but with the tight margins between teams you never know.  They have Greece in the quarters, which should be easy, but will it be? Hugely political clash too – the reluctant lenders against the potential defaulters. Two countries whose political futures are inextricably linked at the moment.

France were favourites in the England group.  The draw with England was fairly predictable, but we didn’t expect them to lose to Sweden in the last game. They did, 2-0. So they face Spain in the quarters. Probably the end for them.  Portugal got out of the Group of Death, with Ronaldo waking up in the last game, against Holland. And scoring both Portuguese goals.  It’s not out of the question that he could win the tournament for Portugal, single-handed. He is the only player capable of this. The risk for Portugal is that he plays with that philosophy and doesn’t join up with the the others.

And then to England. Through with two wins and a draw.  By all accounts, a great vibe in the squad. My guess is that this would be because (a) wins make people happy, (b) Roy Hodgson is playing to a formula (4-4-2) that the team feel comfortable with, (c) Roy has made them feel loved, (d) Roy speaks English so the team can understand him. Roy has kept expectations low, though they are now rising. So of course we are now going to win the whole thing! Well, maybe not.  Italy are beatable, but in no way pushovers. If we do get past them, then it’s probably Germany in the semis. That feels like the end of the road, but you never know.  Confidence builds with every win.

Where is that confidence rooted?  I think it is Roy Hodgson setting up the team to play to English strengths.  We like 4-4-2. We can do 4-3-3 too, but playing the ball wide and then crossing in to the target man is our kind of football.  It may not be Spanish tiki-taka, but it works. It is an equally legitimate way of playing the game. My favourite moment of the tournament so far is unquestionably Andy Carroll’s magnificent headed goal against Sweden. First, Stevie Gerrard’s whipped in cross from the right was absolute perfection. Hard, fast, bending. Defender’s nightmare.  Then Andy Carroll rose in the air, strained those neck muscles and powered in the perfect header.  The cross and the header were moments of the highest skill – as good as a Xavi-Iniesta-Silva short passing carve up.

And Danny Wellbeck’s twist and back heel flick, from Theo Walcott’s brilliant run and cut back, wasn’t bad either. Dani Alves and Messi would have been proud doing the same for Barcelona.

It’s great that we now feel good about the England team again. The route to the final will be incredibly hard, but progress is not out of the question. I’m so pleased to see an England team that believes in itself again.  Roy Hodgson deserves massive credit for that. Even if we go out to Italy, that statement remains true.

C’mon the Eng-er-land!

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My Top Ten – Bruce Springsteen

Posted on June 19, 2012 by John S

I’ve been gearing up for this one!  The Boss.  The Main Man. Bruce’s music has meant so much to me since the late seventies, when the release of “Darkness on the Edge of Town” drew me in and never let go. More than any other artist, his music has provided a soundtrack to my life. Some of my top ten choices reflect that – they aren’t necessarily the absolute classics that everyone recognises, but songs that resonate with me for special reasons. I’ll explain as I go along. So, somehow I’ve left out “Born To Run”, “The River”, “Dancing in The Dark”, amongst others.  Not because they aren’t absolutely brilliant.  No, it’s just that narrowing to ten is very, very brutal…

(I’m changing how you can listen to the tracks now that I can upload from my own iTunes collection. Just click on the track.  It should open in a separate window, so you can continue reading while listening, should you wish.)

10. The Promised Land from Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)

A song that is at once joyous, defiant and angry.  The dogs on main street howl, cause they understand… one of the great Springsteen lines. Ultimately a song about optimism: a ordinary man doing the right thing, hoping, believing that there will be a reward someday. A classic Springsteen theme, and so typical of “Darkness On The Edge Of Town”.  I love it for its upbeat sound and that lyrical defiance. You punch the air as those dogs howl.

9. The Ghost Of Tom Joad from the Ghost of Tom Joad (1995)

This is a plaintive song from an album of plaintive, downbeat songs. Bruce at his most contemplative. The resonance of the song comes from a memory: the memory of my time as the father of a young boy, maybe a year old, hurting with the flu, lying asleep on my lap, burning forehead, restless sleep, utterly dependent on my care. “Tom Joad” on the stereo, those whispering emotions, the wrenching harmonica. Right at that moment it was the song of my life. My mission.

8. Highway Patrolman from Nebraska (1992)

Another song with a deep resonance for me. “Nebraska”, the album, was a departure for Springsteen: a suite of mostly acoustic, dark, simple tunes that stripped his music down to its essence.  The anger of the ordinary man was still there.  The battle to make a better life. The sparse sounds brought the sentiments to the fore.  “Highway Patrolman” describes the dilemma of a policeman whose brother, Frankie, is on the wayward side. It’s a song the strikes to the heart in its exposition of family loyalty… man turns his back on his family, well he just ain’t no good. The simplicity of the song makes it easy to play on the guitar: D, G and A. But also incredibly moving, as you repeat those lyrics about the singer and his brother taking turns dancing with Maria, as the band played “Nights of The Johnstown Flood”. I still tingle as I sing it.

7. Born In The U.S.A. [Live] from Live in New York City (2001)

When “Born In The USA” came out, in 1984, I wasn’t that keen on it, though of course I bought it and enjoyed most of the songs. It was the moment – in the UK at least – when the world discovered Bruce, added him to the acceptable music roster.  He’d made the dinner party soundtrack, and I didn’t much like that. Great for him of course: “Dancing In The Dark” was his first big hit single over here. As for “Born In The USA” itself, it was a bombastic tune that was hijacked by Presidents, even though the lyrics were about the sufferings of a Vietnam veteran. But time healed, and when it came to “Born In The USA”, Bruce turned it into an amazing, swampy blues song, full of angst and passion. There are a few versions around, including a great one on the outtakes album, “Tracks”.  But this version here, from “Live In New York City”, is just amazing. The guitars could be Jimmy Page, playing one of his wild blues.  And Bruce just howls.  You know in this version that this is about the dark side of America, but that Bruce is still in love with his country. That’s why he howls.

6. Independence Day from The River (1980)

When “The River” came out in 1980, I was 21 and just leaving university, to embark on the working life in London. In 1981, Bruce played Wembley Arena in London, and to this day I rate it as the best concert I have ever seen. “Independence Day” felt like the song that described the transition in my life.  Not the break from my father, which Bruce sang so movingly about – university had already eased the way. But just the sense of change and the poignancy of the final thrust into adulthood. And such a beautiful tune, so tenderly sung. Topped off with one of Clarence Clemons’ loveliest sax solos.  So say goodbye, it’s Independence Day…. this time.

5. Something In The Night from Darkness On The Edge Of Town (1978)

“Darkness On The Edge Of Town” is such a powerful album, full of all the anger and frustration that Bruce would have been feeling at the time, with the legal disputes that held up his career for a good three years. As a 19 year old, when I first heard it, the combination of that anger, that frustration, but also that hope and defiance, hit home like an arrow to the heart. “Something In The Night” wasn’t the first song to resonate, but over the years I’ve come to recognise it as one of the most powerful tunes on the album. It builds slowly, edged along by the piano, until Bruce begins to howl.  He does a lot of howling in this song. It’s the pure expression of the rage he must have been feeling at the time. About half way through the song, as he begins, nothing is forgiven and forgotten… things build to an absolute climax and there’s just a big huh! which seems like the moment of pure catharsis. This is the song where Bruce really lets it all hang out.  I’m in awe as he does.

4. New York City Serenade from The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle (1973)

This is a long rambling tune from Bruce’s second, wonderful album. It’s a paean to the small time losers, struggling to make their way in the big city, but full of hope – Bruce’s perennial theme. The main reason I love this tune so much is the extended intro.  The piano that sounds like it could be from “West Side Story”, the Spanish guitars so stirring, a rasping refrain. There’s this sense of sadness, but also majesty. This is a New York City symphony, and I think the prototype for the biggest one of all… to be continued.

3. Thunder Road from Born To Run (1975)

The screen door slams, Mary’s dress waves, like a vision she dances across the floor as the radio plays. Is there a better opening to a song?  Does anything express the essence of pop music better than that? The girl, the radio, the dance, the dress. “Thunder Road” is the the ultimate celebration song on “Born To Run” for me, even more so than the title track. Two people against the world, feeling vulnerable but taking solace from their togetherness. And of course cars and rock’n’roll.  This is classic Bruce after all! “Thunder Road” doesn’t have layers of sound, but it feels like it does.  It is an anthem.  The theme tune of defiance, hope, celebration in the face of adversity. Ending in a sax solo from Clarence that just says, yes oh yes!

2. Racing In The Street from Darkness On The Edge Of Town (1978)

The song that filtered into my world through a transistor radio in 1978 as I lay in my bed listening to a token pop show on BBC Radio 3, the classical music channel. My entry into the true understanding of Bruce Springsteen’s music. As I lay there in the dark listening to the sentiments of “Racing In The Street”, the darkness, the sadness, but the beauty and the hope, I knew I had discovered a sound that would stay with me forever.  “Racing In The Street” is the centrepoint of “Darkness On The Edge Of Town”, simultaneously its darkest moment and its most uplifting.  Why the latter? Well, the music is just so gorgeous, so singalong, the words so evocative. The girl’s sitting there, on the porch of her daddy’s house. Staring into the night. Cinematic. There’s a ripple of “Then He Kissed Me” through the song, especially the instrumental refrain in the middle. It’s an easy song to parody.  But even more so, an easy song to love from the depths of your heart. I’m rambling. Like the Strokes sang, it’s hard to explain... When it matters so much.

1. Meeting Across The River and Jungleland from Born To Run (1975)

So I’m I cheating a little by having two songs as my number one, but I really do see these two as part of the same New York City symphony, the successor to “New York City Serenade”.  This is the suite that I’ll listen to when I want to celebrate something with a song, or want to listen to something that will give me strength to face an ordeal.  Music that strikes to my soul.  “Meeting Across The River” is a lovely, jazzy prelude. I can see Brooklyn Bridge as I listen.  The small time losers of the song add poignancy and a kind of hope. If they can aspire, can’t we all? And then the magnificent, the awesome, the uncontestable, “Jungleland”.  I don’t know what else to say other than this is the magnificent best of music.  My favourite song in the world. Stirring and celebratory in adversity. Memorable lines… kids flash guitars just like switchblades… and a saxophone symphony from Clarence Clemons, like no other. RIP, the Big Man.

I’ll stop there, as you’ll get my drift. This is the best of the best.

Near Misses

I could start another huge list, but I have to regret finding no room from anything from the first album, “Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ”. “For You” or “Growing Up”. Or anything thing else from the “E Street Shuffle”, like “4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy)”.  otherwise known as “Sandy”!  Anything from “Born To Run” and “Darkness On The Edge Of Town” would be worthy. “The River” has some classics like “Stolen Car” and “Point Blank”, as well as “Hungry Heart”. ‘”Born To Run” has “Downbound Train”, and “Tunnel of Love” the title tune and “Tougher Than The Rest”. As we move into the nineties and beyond, the albums don’t have quite the same visceral attachment, but there are still so many good songs. “The Rising” is a magnificent album, taking its cue from 9/11, and “Magic” has some punching tunes, not least the rather wistful “Girls in Their Summer Clothes”. And the latest album, “Wrecking Ball”, is a wonderful piece, with “Jack Of All Trades” threatening to break in to my top ten. I also nearly put another track from “Live In New York City”, “If I Should Fall Behind” into that top list A lovely sentiment and great the way each band member takes a turn to sing.  Nils Lofgren’s delicate voice especially appeals.

So many great albums and great songs.  My Top Ten errs on the heavy side, emotionally. That’s Bruce’s USP, for me. But I like his rock’n’roll too.  I might just do an alternative top ten of upbeat happy songs. There are plenty!

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A Paris, Juin 2012

Posted on June 12, 2012 by John S

We used the opportunity provided by the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations to take a family trip to Paris last week. Always good for a bit of nostalgia, having lived there between 1989 and 91.  Hope you enjoy the photos below. There’s a wider selection on my Flickr site if you’d like to see them – see the right hand toolbar.

Lets start with a little Style Council, from “Cafe Bleu”, to capture the mood.

Me Ship Came In!

We caught the Eurostar on Sunday afternoon, early enough to enjoy a stroll along the Seine in early evening. We were staying in a hotel near the Odeon, just off the Boulevard St Germain. We wandered down Rue Mazarine to the river and crossed at the footbridge that takes you to the Louvre. There were masses of locks on the fencing, declarations of love…

And some strange poles.

Some scenes along the river, heading towards Ile de la Cite.

Then of course it was Notre Dame.

From Notre Dame we crossed back onto the Left Bank, and stumbled upon our favourite Japanese restaurant,  a little place called Matsuya, on Rue Galande, not far from St Michel. My wife and I used to eat there back in 1990.  It is still serving the same lovely and reasonably-priced dishes more than twenty years later! Afterwards we strolled through the backstreets connecting St Michel with St Germain.  A particular favourite is Rue de Buci. At night it looks like this.

The evening ended with another nostalgic event – a drink at Les Deux Magots, on the Boulevard St Germain, opposite the old St Germain des Pres church. Prices not for the faint-hearted, but the most wonderful location to watch the world go by.

Those drinks!

On Monday morning I popped out ahead of the family, to take a few shots of the local architecture. I love the detail of the Parisian buildings, the curves, the shutters and railings. These next photos taken on Rue de l’Odeon and Rue de Seine.

 Shutters…

Monday, before lunch, we braved the Louvre. We’d bought some fast track tickets to avoid the two hour queues, but still, inside, in the popular spaces, it was mayhem. A vision of hell, with everyone wielding a camera. On the higher floors it was more tranquil, and I loved revisting one of my favourite artists, Corot, a precursor to the Impressionists.

Le Pont de Mantes

Volterra, le Municipe

L’eglise de Marissel, pres de Beauvais

Souvenir de Mortefontaine

The skies outside were stormy and the Pyramid looked stark against the grey light.

After the fraught exchanges of the Louvre, we had a relaxing lunch in the Rue St Honore and the tried our luck in the Orangerie, in the Tuileries Gardens. Home of the Monet water lily paintings, as well as some wonderful collections of Cezanne, Derain and Soutine, amongst others. Maybe more about them some other time – it really is an intriguing collection.

On our last day, Tuesday, we went to the Musee Rodin.  We’d had enough of the big spaces on Monday.  The Rodin has an entrancing collection of sculptures, inside and outside, but is contained, manageable. Relaxing.

 

On the way to the Rodin, and back, I loved the architecture of the Sixieme. A few shots…

 Back to St Germain after a nice lunch in the Cafe Metro on the Rue de Rennes, we did a bit of shopping.  While I was hanging around, I took a few shots of the Rue de Buci and environs in the daylight.

And that was it.  Back to Gare du Nord.  Hour and a half to get through passport control. Took the edge of the holiday, briefly.  Now, all the good memories dominate. And let’s end the photo gallery with the obligatory shot of the Tour Eiffel (from Concorde) , and a cool bit of grafitti from the Rue de Seine.

Paris, je t’aime… 

Some more Style Council to end the journey, with Tracey Thorn on sultry vocals.

The Paris Match

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Sportsthoughts (28) – Bobby Moore, the Maestro

Posted on June 8, 2012 by John S

Last Saturday, 3 June, I went to the new Wembley Stadium for the first time.  England were playing Belgium in a friendly.  We won the game 1-0, rather against the run of play. It wasn’t the most scintillating of games – in fact the paper aeroplane throwing, using the red and white England cards that had been left on the seats, grabbed more attention in the first half.  But a win is a win, and Danny Welbeck took his goal very well. A few beers were had, and of course there was a curry afterwards. A good day.

Our rendezvous before the game was the Bobby Moore statue. As imperious as the great man was on the field.  Master of all he surveyed. West Ham, England. 108 caps. World Cup captain 1966.

The man Pele embraced as an equal after their titantic clash in the 1970 World Cup group stages. Brazil 1 England 0.

Never recognised with the knighthood he deserved by the establishment in his lifetime, sadly cut short at the age of 51. His post-football career was one of missed opportunities, but we will never forget his greatness as a footballer. And the statue at Wembley finally gives him the prominence he deserves.

My captain, my leader, my right hand man. He was the spirit and heartbeat of the team. A cool, calculating footballer I could trust with my life. He was the supreme professional, the best I ever worked with. Without him England would never have won the World Cup….. Sir Alf Ramsey, England manager.

BOBBY MOORE WAS THE BEST DEFENDER IN THE HISTORY OF THE GAME – FRANZ BECKENBAUER (Der Kaiser, the greatest defender/midfielder the game has ever known)

              

And Bobby Moore, with Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, is the reason why I support West Ham United to this very day.

BOBBY MOORE – NUMBER SIX

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Sportsthoughts (27) – Euro 2012 predictions!

Posted on June 8, 2012 by John S

So the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine starts today, with Poland v Greece and Russia v Czech Republic. The opposite of the Group of Death, but some useful teams in there, still. As there is in every group. The Euros still have a real competitiveness about them, narrowed down as they are to 16 teams. A nice simple format too: four groups of four, top two proceeding to quarter finals. So what are UEFA doing? Increasing it to 24 teams next time! Oh well.

On to the business. Here are my predictions!

Group A top two: Russia, Poland

Group B : Germany, Netherlands

Group C: Spain, Italy

Group D: France, England

Quarter Finals

Russia 1 Netherlands 2

Germany 3 Poland 0

Spain 2 England 2 . England win on penalties! (Remember Euro 96… Seaman!)

France 2 Italy 1

Semis

Netherlands 1 England 2

Germany 3 France 2

FINAL

England 1 Germany………. 0!

Roy Hodgson’s two banks of four stifle their way to victory!

In the alternative time/space continuum known as reality, Spain do of course knock England out in the quarters and go on to the final. There, I fancy Germany to come out on top.

But until that first terrible England performance, let us fantasise about what could be.

1-0 to the Enger-land!

Boring, boring England!

(Georgie Graham’s Arsenal, come back, all is forgiven!)

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Coldplay at the Emirates Stadium, 2 June 2012

Posted on June 8, 2012 by John S

My son, Kieran,  and I went to see Coldplay at Arsenal’s Stadium in Islington, North London, last Friday. Photos taken with my iPhone – let’s call them impressionistic!

You might have seen our joint top ten of Coldplay songs – if not check my Top Tens series.  They are probably THE band at the moment where our tastes overlap. Not surprisingly, I’m rather more inclined towards the earlier albums, Kieran to the newer ones. But we have a lot of common ground.

It was a fantastic concert, a real show. Of course the music was great – Coldplay really know how to perform their songs on the big stage. But it was the presentation too.  The stage lights, the lasers, the astonishingly good circular screens at the back of the stage, the mass of confetti that surged over the audience in the second song, “Hurts Like Heaven”, the multicoloured wristbands we all wore, which lit up when activated to create a marvellous array of colour at selected moments during the concert.

This all matters in a stadium concert.  It’s the sign of a band that really does want to give their audience a brilliant experience. It’s a reason why Coldplay are one of the great stadium bands today.

The weather had turned after a week or two of blazing sunshine.  A soft drizzle wafted into the stadium as the band took to the stage.  Fortunately it didn’t last too long, and after watching the early part of the show from the seats on the lower tier we moved into the standing crowd.  I was struck by the range of ages. Teenagers were side by side with thirty somethings and the middle-agers like myself. Coldplay have this wide appeal.  And why?  The tunes, of course. Especially all those big choruses that raise the spirits and make you want to punch the air.  Hence the power of the wristbands and the spectacular colour show they created.

The music had something for everyone. Seven of our top ten featured – never mind that one exclusion, “What If”, is my all time favourite! Though will it be for much longer?  The total anthem that is “Paradise”, which fittingly closed the main part of the show, is rapidly becoming my most listened-to Coldplay song.  It’s so simple – and so captivating. Para, para, para-dise…. wristbands flickering, iridescent.

The classics were dotted around the show: “In My Place” third up, “The Scientist” and “Yellow” (pulsating rhythms) at six and seven. “God Put A Smile On Your face” at nine, “Warning Sign” at twelve. And then the new favourites: “Viva la Vida”, “Charlie Brown”, “Violet Hill”, and Para, para…

For the beginning of the encore, the band rushed round to the back of the arena and played on a small stage. Armed with acoustic guitars they played “Us Against The World” from “Mylo Xyloto” and “Speed of Sound”.

Then they rushed back to the main stage and cranked up the volume for “Clocks” and then “Fix You”. Is “Fix You” the biggest Coldplay anthem of all?  It felt like it.  The crowd at one in celebration. Communion.

The band finished with “Every Teardrop is  A Waterfall”, another of the new classics. Fantastic for Kieran and his generation, for whom this is one of the biggest songs.

A wonderful show. Something for everyone.  Played with elan and humility. Coldplay are big, bigger than big.  But they are still grounded.  That, I think is part of the appeal.  The songs, in a way, are unassuming. You can say, like I used to, that they are essentially U2 and Radiohead-lite. But you’d be wrong.  They are more than that.  They are a band who have perfected the art of the anthem. Heartfelt, humble, huge. Songs that convey simple but deep feelings.  You don’t need an interpreter to get the lyrics or the music. It’s music for the people.  And that is an art.

It’s hard to be that good.

Coldplay – the people’s band

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Have You Heard? – (16) “2 Kindsa Love” by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Posted on May 30, 2012 by John S

OK, so I was just listening to music as I cooked the dinner tonight.  My 3,000 song Rockmix playlist on the iPod.  (Total list = 22,000, so I like to narrow it down sometimes!).

On comes “2 Kindsa Love” by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion as I’m frying the vegetables. What a song! Punk-rockabilly-rock’n’roll. It’s a riff you just have to stop for and jerk around  a little, or even bring out the air guitar.

It just ROCKS. The red peppers can wait!

It’s off an album called “Now I Got Worry” from 1996.

It’s pure noise. “2 Kindsa Love” is my favourite, closely followed by “Love All Of Me”, which has some crazy slide guitar.

 

Listening to the album as I write this, I think the band may have been an influence on the White Stripes. And that is praise indeed!

So, yeah, this post was just on a whim.  But it’s all about rock’n’roll…

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Picasso and Modern British Art at the Tate Britain

Posted on May 29, 2012 by John S

Been meaning to write about this for a while, having been a couple of times to the exhibition.  It’s a mix of things: partly a collection of Picasso works that have found their way into British hands and partly a collection of works by British artists who have been inspired – or in one case, provoked – by Picasso. The first time I found it a bit of a mish-mash. Second time it began to cohere… and inspire. There is some wonderful art.

I’m just going to write about of some of the pieces I found particularly striking. It’s not going to be an A Level essay on Picasso! The pictures, which are all taken from Google Images, are a bit fuzzy in places, hopefully give a flavour; but if you can get to the Tate, I really recommend you do so. The exhibition is on until 15 July.

This is a journey through the rooms as they were set out at the exhibition. And my focus is on how the Picasso paintings interact with those of the British artists. So there’s quite a bit of straight Picasso that I don’t cover. So if you like what is here, I can tell you that the totality is even better!

The first thing that struck me was the inspiration Duncan Grant’s “Design for a Firescreen” (1912) drew from Picasso’s  “Jars and Lemons” (1907).

Picasso

Grant

I love the colours and angularity of both these paintings.

In the same room as Grant’s pictures we have some of Wyndham Lewis’s works.  He apparently defined himself in opposition to Picasso.  But you can see the similarities. This is a period, around 1910, when Cubism was emerging.  Faces, figures were distorting, before being completely rearranged.  There’s something quite sinister about Lewis’ figures. They are intriguing but rather disconcerting. The painting I most liked in the Tate collection though, was “Workshop” (1914-15).

There’s something very “modern”, industrial, about it.  Vivid but impersonal.  Bizarrely, I was reminded of a kids’ cartoon I watched years ago when my own children were into Cartoon Network. It may have been the “Powerpuff Girls”, but they, or whoever the protagonists were, were locked in battle with some evil person in a strange stately home.  The villain had a British accent – of course. Not sure why, but I found the episode fascinating. I thought that the makers must have been having some kind of hallucigenic experience as they created the storyboard. And now five year old children were enjoying it. I wonder if the makers had ever seen “Workshop”…

Another interior I really liked was “Interior at Gordon Square” by Duncan Grant, said to be influenced by the geometry of Picasso’s early Cubism. I just like the colours and shapes!

The next association was between Picasso and Ben Nicholson. Nicholson was influenced by Picasso’s Cubist art and some of the “disfigurations” of the human (mostly female) form which flowed from that. Both Picasso and Nicholson were clearly influenced by “primitive” art from Africa and the Pacific.  A grand tradition, stretching back at least to the Impressionists, with Gauguin to the fore.

Picasso’s “Head of A Woman” (1926) is intriguing. To me there are two heads at play.  One face on, another, to the right, in profile. In both, I’m reminded of ancient Egyptian art.

“Guitar, Compote Dish and Grapes’ (1924) continues the Cubist theme of breaking objects into multi-dimensions, but with a more vivid portrayal of the objects. You really can just enjoy the picture for its abstract shapes and striking colours. No theory required!

Nicholson’s paintings in the exhibition draw on a variety of Picasso’s themes. “1932 (Au Chat Botte) could be from the classic Cubist period.

Guitars feature too.”1933 (Musical Instruments)”

And there are some dark profiles that draw on the classical theme – in Nicholson’s case they look Greek rather than Egyptian. I can’t find a picture of the one I really like, “1933 (St Remy, Provence)”.  The model was his lover, fellow artist, Barbara Hepworth. But there are etched hints of the same in this picture, “1933 (Coin and musical instruments)”. Note the profile in the top left quarter.

Picasso had a varied and turbulent love life by all accounts, and throughout his life that is reflected in his paintings.  There are other factors at play, be it the allusion to poetry, the links to surrealism, the disturbing politics of the twenties and thirties.  All contribute to the disaggregation, distortion and haphazard reassembly of everyday images, especially of the women in his life. There are a series of paintings of women on the beach, reduced to a variety of strange triangles and body parts. Here’s one, “Nude On The beach” (1932)

More recognisable, are two classic paintings, tributes to two of his lovers. “Nude Woman In A Red Armchair” (1932) is said to be a portrait of Marie-Therese Walter. It is on the cover of the catalogue of the exhibition – vivid, enticing, but also recognisable, unlike a lot of the others, as a human form!

Another extraordinary portrait is the picture of the “Weeping Woman” (1937).  This was one of a number of paintings done at the same time as Picasso created his masterpiece, “Guernica”. The anguish – and beauty – in this potrait is extraordinary. And hark the detail – look at how the teardrops transform into fingernails, for example. The model here was Dora Maar.

There’s a room full of Henry Moore sculptures, linked to some of Picasso’s rather large, statuesque paintings of the female form. I didn’t dwell on them, but moved on to Francis Bacon, who turned to painting as a result of seeing some of Picasso’s work in the twenties. There is something quite hideous about the mutated figures that feature in Bacon’s paintings in this exhibition; but there was another interior, in the mould of Grant’s, that I really liked. Again, it was the colours and a sense of a forest, a watery glaze, a mountain stream. In an interior! It’s just my imagination, running away with me… (thanks to Smokey Robinson!)

Graham Sutherland’s paintings from the forties feel like they may have been inspired by the same horror as Picasso experienced over Guernica. His painting of Jesus on the cross – “Crucifixion” (1946) – is powerfully disconcerting.

On a simpler level, I really do like his picture of “Gorse on Sea Wall” (1939). I’d have this one on my wall!

And that leaves David Hockney. He wears his Picasso allegiance on his sleeve.  And does it with humour. I love his two drawings in the exhibition where he pays homage to Picasso, by portraying himself with the great man.

“The Student: Homage To Picasso” (1973)

“Artist and Model” (1973-4)

And I like this piece of photo-cubism. Of course featuring a guitar. “Still Life Blue guitar” (1982).

And to end it all, as you are leaving the exhibition, you are met with one of Picasso’s iconic paintings.  “The Three Dancers” (1925). Primitive, bizarre, erotic, discombobulated, musical, colourful, multi-dimensional, poetic, celebratory.  Picasso in a nutshell.

A wonderful exhibition, that teaches you so much, and sets the imagination free…

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The Buzzocks, Brixton O2 Academy 26 May 2012

Posted on May 29, 2012 by John S

The Buzzcocks. One of the great punk bands. Up there with the Pistols, Clash and Jam. Northern songs of lost love, exclusion, misery.  But with the best pop melodies of any punk band. Their album “Another Music In A Different Kitchen” remains one of my true favourites.

So what better than to go down to the Brixton Academy (now an O2) to enjoy a top quality blast of nostalgia? The show was called “Back To Front”.  It started with a session from the reformed Buzzcocks – singer/guitarists Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle. Don’t remember Diggle doing much singing back in 1978, but he does now. Then we had the centrepiece: the old band bashing out the classics. And then… the legendary Howard Devoto, who left the band early on to form Magazine, singing the songs that formed the band’s first EP, “Spiral Scratch”.

This was punk history in the flesh, it really was.

But, but…

Ehhh, the first session the new stuff went on for an hour, and the sound was awful. I’m 53, maybe prefer my folk and jazz live these days, but I was up for it.  But there was so much distortion at the top end of the guitar that it was as if the Jesus and Mary Chain were playing their feedback-drenched songs throughout. The new songs seemed quite good – what I could make out of them.  Steve Diggle had turned into a rock artist, punching the air and looking a bit like Paul Weller. Pete Shelley wandered about in a baggy black dart player’s shirt, playing his Ramones riffs.

A better sound and half the length and I’d probably have been on iTunes when I got home, seeking out the new sounds.  Instead, I was just just relieved when it ended.

Then the classic section.  Band members from the time, John Maher and Steve Garvey, joining Pete and Steve. Starting with “Fast Cars”, one of my total favourites. Jeremy Clarkson would hate it. Took me a while to work out that was what it was.  It’s partly because I can only hear in one ear, but that distortion was there again.  Anyway, it was fun: lots of the old favourites from “Another Music” and various singles.  Because of the sound, the ones that came out best were the jerky numbers like “Fiction Romance”, rather than the wall of sound riffers.  I enjoyed “Moving Away From The Pulsebeat” with the first ever punk drum solo, and I think we had “Autonomy”, “I Don’t Mind”, “No Reply” and “Get On Our Own”. And definitely, towards the end “What Do I Get”, “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays”. And then, for an encore, “Ever Fallen In Love…” and “Orgasm Addict”. Can’t complain – all the classics.

But I just couldn’t cope with the sound – and being with friends who like to be quite near the front, I wasn’t so enamoured with the sight of fifty-something geezers with shaven heads reliving their youth, throwing their considerable bulks around the crowd, in an approximation of the pogo-ing they no doubt did back in the seventies.  On the other hand, it was good to see some youngsters getting down to the punk sounds too. There were even one or two dads with their teenage kids, which I thought was great. And, just guessing, a lot of Germans. Buzzcocks package tour? How un-punk is that?

So I came away feeling equivocal. My problem.  Mainly because I just couldn’t hear the songs. Songs I absolutely love. I felt slightly cheated, but it wasn’t the band’s fault.  It was the sound system. Or me. Maybe I was just coming down from the euphoria of Quins’ Premiership win that afternoon. (See my Sportsthoughts 26).

I went to the back for the Howard Devoto bit, as I needed to make a quick getaway, grabbed a quick half of lager and left before it had finished.  I couldn’t believe I was doing that.  I’d said to my son that I’d meet him in central London after a party he was at.  But would I have left if I was loving it?  No.

It won’t affect my love for “Another Music”, but I might hold off going to other punk reunions.  Just stick with the seventies memory and enjoy the more tuneful live experiences from now on. Next up, Coldplay on 1 June at Arsenal’s stadium.

Aaah, that will be cool! And nice. Oh well… still a rock’n’roller in my head.

And here are two of the great Buzzcocks tracks – the start and finish to “Another Music In A Different Kitchen”. If you haven’t heard this album I exhort you to do so!

Fast Cars

Moving Away From The Pulsebeat

You can switch this one off at 5.20. there’s one of those hidden track things that don’t really work after that.

And just to finish, maybe the two best Buzzcocks pop tunes.

What Do I Get_

Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)

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Sportsthoughts (26) – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Like The Mighty Quins!

Posted on May 28, 2012 by John S

We did it!.  We won the Premiership Final!

Quins 30 Leicester 23!

Blimey, it was tense at the end. Full time about to end, but Leicester still in possession, virtually on Quins’ line, put in at the scrum. Play continues until they lose possession. I was starting to think, OK they might score, but hopefully they’ll go blindside and give George Ford a really difficult conversion kick.  We might win 30-28. Otherwise, extra time.  What will THAT be like?

But Quins held out and eventually some arcane infringement by Leicester in the murk of the scrum, or ruck or something, led to a penalty to Quins.  Happily booted out.  Game won!

I must watch the highlights to work out exactly what happened. We were too busy celebrating to worry about the technical detail.

This photo is of the moment the game was won.

Of course it was a close game.  Leicester are a truly great side.  This was their eighth consecutive Premiership final. If any team knows how to win these things it is them.  That was a worry: this was Quins’ first final. Another worry: just a few weeks ago, Leicester beat Quins 43-33 at the Stoop, with a crushing second half display.

But this time, in the May sunshine, Quins went at them and kept it going throughout. A real running, offloading game.  It was a challenge: let’s see who wilts first. The answer was neither, but the pressure Quins exerted meant that we got more penalties than usual from the whistle of ref Wayne Barnes, who has become a bit of a Quins hate figure. (I’m not quite sure why to be honest, but you know what fans are like about refs). Nev – Nick Evans – duly kicked most of them over.  He missed two chances, and both of them hit the post. The first led to Quins regaining possession, playing the phases and going wide brilliantly for winger Tom Williams to score. So it was an excellent tactical miss!

We were so pleased about that one.  Tom was the fall guy in the Bloodgate scandal three years ago. He’s remained a solid member of the squad, notwithstanding.  In and out, sometimes with the younger speed merchants usurping him.  But he’s fought his way back and played superbly this season. Mr Reliable.  No surprise that Conor O’Shea, head coach, turned to him once again, when nerve and experience and commitment was going to count. Hard on young Sam Smith, who has been brilliant this season;  but he has time on his side.  He will be an England player, no doubt. And hopefully a Quins stalwart for the next ten years.

The lead ebbed and flowed. Leicester at one point went 13-11 up in the first half, when a disastrous Quins line out led to an interception and Steve Mafi striding up the pitch unopposed for a Leicester try. Then, just before half time, a Leicester player, Thom Waldrom, was yellow carded.  While he was off, Quins scored nine points (including the penalty he had conceded). That took it to 20-13 Quins.  Looking good. Then it was looking great as more good pressure led to Captain Marvel, Chris Robshaw, powering through for another try.  30-13  Surely that was it?

But no. It was almost as if, as the game approached the last ten minutes, that Quins thought, this is Leicester, they win games from nowhere.  From a Quins scrum the ball somehow fell into the hands of Ben Youngs, Leicester scrum half.  He raced through, passed to Anthony Allen who scored.  Ford converted and then got another penalty soon after. It was going horribly wrong at the last! 30-23…

But, no, it didn’t go horribly wrong after all. Quins regrouped and held Leicester off this time.  The ultimate triumph against the ultimate playoff team.

Time for celebration!

One last thought.  After Bloodgate, Conor O’Shea took over as head coach.  First season had moments, but despite some bright attacking play the team wasn’t quite there.  Last season, things got better, and triumph in the Amlin Cup, which included an amazing away semi final victory against Munster, started to instill real belief in the team.  And this season, despite chucking away the Heineken Cup opportunity in the pool stages, having beaten Toulouse away, the team stayed strong, overcame a couple of mid season defeats, held off Leicester and Saracens, and won the League. And then the playoffs. Conor O’Shea deserves massive credit for this.  He has encouraged a truly attacking philosophy, which makes Quins great to watch, and has clearly engendered a team spirit that is second to none. The front row, which maybe had been a relative weakness, has been, especially over the latter part of the season, quite awesome. This doesn’t happen out of nowhere.  It is hard work and hard coaching as well as natural development by the players.  I think it is all helped too by an academy system which is bringing so many home-grown players into the first team squad. They all believe in the Harlequins ethos – playing rugby with style and passion, and true team spirit.

Wow, it makes me proud just writing this!

So good on yer, Connor! (And the rest of the coaching team).

 

Note: the photos here are all copied from Google Images.  They are all Getty Images except for the one with champagne glistening, which is PA.

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