Head Space Daily Words...

At the time of posting these words, it is a mere 26 days, 10 hours, 49  minutes and 52 seconds until the World Cup kicks off. I know this because my boys have an App which tells them how long it is until major sporting events get under way. In case you were wondering, it is only 811 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes and 41 seconds until the Brazil Olympics starts in 2016. Technology bombards us with this wealth of information, which also includes every fact on every football player appearing in the World Cup - players who nowadays can earn in one week what it will take many of us many years to accumulate. I read the other day of Samir Nasri's girlfriend tweeting a foul mouthed tirade at the French manager on leaving her beloved Samir out of the French World Cup squad. Good move Mr.Deschamps, the last thing you need are sweary  trouble making WAGs following the team around. Whilst football players have grown ever further away from the fans who support the clubs for whom they play, one thing that has remained constant in a World Cup year, hardly changing in look or design and of vital importance to every young (and slightly older) football fan, is the Panini Sticker album. At my son's school, the Panini album seems to have been usurped by the way inferior Match Attax cards. This is the equivalent of buying CDs or MP3s over vinyl (see HSD Tune as an example.) One is throw away, inconsequential and less satisfying, whilst the other is to be savoured, enjoyed and invested with memories. For example, who can really look at Terry Fenwick in the 1986 Panini album and not wonder why, as the last man, he didn't bring down Maradona and 'take one for the team,' as little Diego waltzed past our entire team on the way to scoring one of the all time great World Cup goals. 

Who can seriously turn to the Brazil team in the 1982 sticker album and not be dumbfounded by reading the coolest names to ever be assembled in a football team. In 1982, I can truly remember two of the greatest games of football I have ever witnessed. One was obviously Aston villa beating Bayern Munich 1-0 in Rotterdam on May 26th, to lift the European Cup; the other was Brazil v Italy in their final Second Round Group game of the World Cup in Spain. I can still transport myself back to the noise and excitement of the afternoon. I was at a friends house after school and you could cut the tension with a knife. The noise of the stadium that day and the excitement it instilled, still lives with me. The incessant, high pitched drone of air horns saturated the atmosphere. Zico, Socrates and Falcao were running things in midfield but slack defending allowed Paolo Rossi to bag a hat trick and send Italy to the quarter finals with a 3-2 victory. That is possibly the best game of football I have ever seen and I must get hold of a copy on DVD. My Panini album, like a family photo album takes me back to that moment. 

My boys current album is slowly taking shape as they take their swaps to school and negotiate deals for shinies and sought after players - their first introduction to wheeling and dealing. Word soon spreads as to which stickers are 'rare' and there has been some jealousy towards a kid who has already completed the album!! He has missed the point though. It is not about finishing it in the quickest amount of time. You want to be collecting the stickers throughout the tournament, so that all of a sudden the average looking guy from South Korea who has just done something sensational, becomes a talked about player and a sought after sticker. Footballing nobodies can out of nowhere become household names and that is why the sticker album is so important, because it contains all these memories to be looked back on when you are older - just like me with my 1982 and '86 albums and one day in the future, my boys will be able to look back with the same sense of nostalgia. I just wish I had collected the 1990 Panini sticker album...

Head Space Daily Image...

A recent photo I took of the ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture at the Olympic Park, from alongside the Olympic pool building, with Canary Wharf in the distance...

Head Space Daily Tune...

William Onyeabor - Good Name

I picked up the 'Who Is William Onyeabor?' album the other day and it made me remember just why buying vinyl is a beautiful thing. Not only have Luka Bop Records managed to persuade this elusive guy to release his fine music as a compilation, it also comes on three pieces of quality vinyl, with fantastic artwork for each record. Not only do I get to hear the music at its best, but the artwork can be fully appreciated. What an artist to discover as well!! In deepest Eastern Nigeria, William - who is now a tribal leader -  was making music in the late 1970s using an early synthesiser. This predates, synth pop, Afrika Bambaata and Detroit techno but you can hear elements of all of them on this record. Whilst all the British, European and American music was feeding off each other, little did they know that a Nigerian guy was making his own version with this incredible Afro, elctro funk!!

Head Space Daily Words...

We went to Cornwall for the first time as a family several years ago, when the kids were younger - and it was horrendous. The first week of August, when you think there may be a chance of decent weather was cold and it rained constantly. For some reason we thought a week in a teepee would be a good idea. How wrong could you be? There was no space inside, the rain leaked in through the hole created in the roof, where the poles joined and the walls were lined with slugs. A children's back garden wigwam would have been more use. The other downside is that when it is raining and you have children to entertain, there is bugger all to do in Cornwall. As we drove across the desolation of Bodmin moor, those memories of the first time came flooding back. There wasn't the sense of returning to to an old friend which you get when you go back to a much loved holiday destination. This time we were stopping in a 'compact,' converted farm building, which was literally in the middle of nowhere. When you looked out from the field behind our barn, all you could see for miles, were more fields and moorland. The colour palette had entirely changed from London. Shades of green and brown met the blue sky and white clouds. Once my city dwelling mind had adjusted to the fact that there wasn't a local shop two minutes walk away, it was fine. As it turned out our accommodation was the perfect base, as the weather was glorious and we were out and about all the time. In April, as far as the weather is concerned, you go away with no expectations, thinking that any dry day is a bonus and if the sun is shining, even better. We got lucky. Each day was spent on a different windswept, sun drenched, rugged beach or two, taking in some lethargic Cornish towns, or visiting interesting places. It may have been sunny but it wasn't especially warm, which tricked me into not putting on sun cream on day one and ending up with a sun burnt nose, which is currently peeling. The stark contrast of people on Great British beaches and their reactions to the weather conditions was in evidence, with some wrapped up against the elements, such as myself and my missus in our winter coats and scarves, whilst others treated it like they were on the Costa Del Sol at the height of summer, my kids were in their trunks, playing in the sea. Kids seem immune to the cold. The beaches were impressive, particularly Sennen and St.Ives, the fish and chips from 'The Top Chippy' in Porthleven were sensational, the Barbara Hepworth museum and sculpture garden is a must see and St.Michael's Mount is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I'm not one for period drama but I started watching the opening episode of Jamaica Inn on BBC1 the other day, which is set in Cornwall. The word bleak doesn't even come close. My view of Cornwall though is no longer bleak and slug infested but positive and I see it as a place to explore. No period drama is going to change that view...

The sun sets over Porthleven...

Head Space Daily Image...

Here are a few pictures from a recent family visit to Cornwall...

Two hang gliders fly a little close to the sun…

A view from the Barbara Hepworth sculpture garden…

                           

St. Michael's Mount looking splendid in the sunshine...

Some wind protection on Gwithian beach…
























The surf at Sennen...

Head Space Daily Tune...

Don Thomas - Come On Train…

My latest Northern soul tune. Be uplifted...

Head Space Daily Words...

Today was my first day off work for a couple of months and it was good to be back in the 'hood. The local post office has been done up all red and spacious. The guy who runs it proudly told me how it was now part of 1,750 post offices in Britain and that they offered loads of services. The girl who works in the dry cleaners was telling me how she has caught her younger brother trying to feign sickness to bunk off school, by chewing food and leaving it on his pillow, to make it look as if he has just vomited. I had a good chat with the lady working in the local bakers, whose daughter plays in my U9s football team, about the mix of kids in the team and how well they are doing. An elderly couple who live at the top of our road were telling me all about shark fishing in Lewes and then I performed my good deed for the day by running to hail a bus for another elderly couple who live on our street. If that's not all, the lad next door came off his scooter, banging his head and scraping his face, the lady from the bakers son was injured playing football and had to go to hospital, then I bumped into a girl who lives a few streets away, who plays for the girls team of a major football club and whose team has a good chance to finish second in their league. Life moves at a pace and it was good to be able to spend a day at home...

Head Space Daily Image...

Two fantastic old deers smoking cigarettes outside Westfield in Stratford this week...

Head Space Daily Tune...

Billy Butler - Right track

A reissue of Billy Butler - Right Track on Okeh Records is my latest Northern Soul purchase. This tune is huge, just listen to that brass section at 1 minute and 8 seconds into the tune and put a massive smile on your face...