DB's blog

My Rock Years: 1981 Volume 1

A very good year: got married (Charles & Di copied us. Saw "For your eyes only" on our honeymoon), Botham's Ashes (I'd love to have a DVD set of that series), Toxteth riots (they even had a little riot in Coventry where I was living, the original "Ghost Town"), coldest winter for decades (OK it wasn't all good) and pretty good for music, but things were slowing down a bit - much too good to cram into one disc, but stretching it a little for two. Went for the 2 disc option in the end (this was the last year for which I even considered this option):

Vienna - Ultravox

Under Pressure - Queen & David Bowie

Ghost Town - Specials

The River - Bruce Springsteen

I'm lucky - Joan Armatrading

Dead Ringer for Love - Meatloaf & Cher

For your Eyes only - Sheena Easton

Don't you want me - Human League

Joan of Arc - OMD

Start me up - Rolling Sones

Suffer the Children - Tears for Fears

The Thin Wall - Ultravox

One of us - ABBA

You better - Who

Pretty in Pink - Psychedelic Furs

Tunnel of Love - Dire Straits

Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads

Summer viewing

 

An Education [DVD] [2009]

Here's a selection of the DVD's I've been watching recently (in addition to the separately reviewed Prisoner and Alice in Wonderland). They were all prezzies - birthday, Fathers' day, anniversary, wife's birthday - & they were all very good. Brick Lane was beautifully photographed (particularly the Bangladesh scenes) & pretty faithful to the book, albeit abridged. It's funny watching the Sherlock Holmes film while the Sherlock series is on BBC. Although they were set in different eras I thought there was a lot of similarity in the mood & style. I had a slight doubt about An Education - I thought the girl was much too precocious for a first child or only child who hung around with girls of her own age. It would have been more believable if she had an elder sibling. Inglorious Basterds - great fun.

 

Brick Lane [DVD] [2007]

 

Sherlock Holmes [DVD] [2009]

 

Inglourious Basterds [DVD] [2009]

Edgbaston Saturday & Sunday

Travelled over for a couple of days' test cricket (England v Pakistan) with a colleague & met up with my brother & some friends. Saturday was rain affected (although 4 hours play were still possible). After a particularly severe afternoon downfall, when at one stage it looked like there might not be any more play, we all adjourned to a The Old Moseley Arms. When the sun came out & play resumed, colleague & I returned to the ground, brother & friends continued drinking. Met up with them again after the match for an excellent curry (Kababish restaurant, which I have previously lauded here), but by this time bro was pretty far gone, so although we told him several times that we would be staying over for Sunday night (he & friends only had tickets for the Saturday) & wanted to meet up again on Sunday evening, he forgot, stood us up, turned his phone off & went to bed. So we returned to the Broad St area & had a curry at the Blue Mango (where we had eaten on Friday night - again very good). When we walked in Ian Botham was already there & shortly afterwards David Gower came in!

England played some impressive cricket both mornings, and some pretty lousy cricket both afternoons, but in the end won comfortably enough.