Come on you blues

This is not one of mine but instead a poem by Paul Cookson, Everton fan, Slade fan and Poet In Residence at National Football Museum.

His words sum up the feelings of all blues going into tomorrow's game. Come on you blues.

THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE

The People’s Club
The people’s choice
Underdogs we may be
But favourites of the people we are

Paupers compared to their princes
But we are the Royal Blue
And we have the chance to be
Kings for a day

A season against the odds
Shoestring magic, majestic leadership
Punching above our weight
Teamwork, togetherness and tenacity

If a script had been written
Then we would be the perfect ending
The natural conclusion and final chapter
The happy ever after that most fans want

So let’s win it for everyone
Make this day magic
Special, unforgettable
The day of a lifetime

Win it for the patient ones
The ones who know their history
The ones who’ve waited and waited
And believed through thick and thin

Win it for the new, the young ones
Make this their defining moment
The one they can say
“We were there, we were part of it all”

Win it for the lucky ones
The ones with golden tickets
The ones who roar together
The ones adorning Wembley

Win it for those at home on sofa edges
Those in pub rooms, family and friends
Those with ears glued to radios
Those checking texts at weddings they can’t get out of

Win it for the fans, the everyman fan
Who wants to see football win, not money and commerce
The ones who believe in hard work, passion and honesty
Not diving and cheating, anger and dissent

And if we lose
If that is in our given script
Then may it be heroic, honest and proud
Accepting all consequences with sporting grace

May football be the winner
Football the sport, football the game
Not football the business or sponsorship
But football the people, not the pound signs

So let’s win it now, once and forever
For those no longer with us
Those who wore allegiance and believed
May their memories be illuminated by victory this one time

Win it for us all
Loyal and true
The People’s Club
Royal and blue

Bob Dylan

Friday 1st May 2009 (Liverpool Echo Arena)

Set List: Watching The River Flow, Don't Think Twice, It's All Right, Things Have Changed, Boots Of Spanish Leather, The Levee's Gonna Break, Sugar Baby, Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum, Po' Boy, It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding), Just Like A Woman, Highway 61 Revisited, Something, Thunder On The Mountain, Like A Rolling Stone, All Along The Watchtower, Spirit On The Water and Blowin' In The Wind.

Liverpool’s impressive new waterside arena has seen numerous big names come through its doors in the last year. It would take a convincing argument to say that there has been anyone more stellar than Bob Dylan taking to its stage.

As a veteran attendee of numerous gigs down the years, the folk troubadour’s name was the one that had escaped the list of bands and musicians that I had seen; this gig gladly rectified that glaring omission.

Despite this being my maiden Dylan gig, I was well versed in what to expect from his set list; as a prelude to the gig I spent the afternoon listening to a few of his older hits. The expectation that I would hear these songs in the form that I was familiar never crossed my mind.

In some instances you were unsure of a particular song until you heard snippets of familiar lyrical couplets, It’s Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) again was one song that differed to the original version so much, that I only realised what song it was when he sang, ‘He not busy being born, Is busy dying’; Even that was difficult to discern beneath Dylan’s rasping vocals.

When arguing with those who don’t appreciate the nature of his vocal abilities would probably have had a field day tonight. In truth the voice has never been a thing of greatness and given its limitations, it has mainly been a vehicle for his poetry and lyricism. Though that said there is something heartening in hearing the lived-in croak of his voice.

The song arrangements of today have no doubt been changed to enable the songs to work with aging Dylan vocal range, like a Rolling Stone is another example of song that on records lifts from the opening bars and swirls away into the stratosphere; today’s version is a lot more restrained but it still gets the crowd going.

Probably the only arrangement that sounded familiar all night was All Along the Watchtower and that was only because the impressively assembled band had opted to perform Jimi Hendrix’s version of the Dylan penned song.

Dylan barely spoke throughout the evening but this wasn’t to be construed as a display of surliness or contempt on his part. It was merely the consummate professionalism of the artists that got on with the job in hand as he rattled through 17 songs in just under two hours.

Any perceived aloofness could be countered with his gesture of playing to the crowd with a cover of the Beatles’ Something - no doubt in tribute to his friend George Harrison. As you can imagine that was well received by the Liverpool audience.

Unconventionally the gig stated early and saw the crowd depart into the balmy Liverpool night at a time when most gigs would usually be starting. Though most would have enjoyed what had gone before, hopefully I can make it to a second Dylan gig sometime soon.

Fade out

Previous blog posts this month have mentioned the Scriptwriting challenge that I had somehow found myself signed up to. Having toyed with similar challenges in the past, I have always managed to talk myself out of taking part in them at the last moment. So I set myself the task of 100 pages in 30 days - not really expecting to succeed.

God knows how I got here but I crossed the finish line with 10 days to spare. How did I do it? Well there was certainly no daily work ethic it was mainly a case of 10 page splurges here and there. The last few days probably saw me write 30 pages just so I could complete and put the thing to bed. Not that I was getting fed up with, just that I needed to concentrate on other more prosaic things…such as work!

I have not really had time to stop and think what I have taken part in, as back in March with only a weekend to gather my thoughts I set out on this journey. It has been an interesting and rewarding period that has know seen the completion of my first full-length script; which I plan to edit and redraft. I will do this along with the script from the scriptwriting course that I have recently completed. When I’m happy with both, I will look towards sending them off to see if they can be performed.

Another good aspect of the month was meeting a vibrant community of writers in the Liverpool area. We have met at various points in the month to encourage and support each other. The plans are to continue meeting up and getting involved in other projects. One is the Nanowrimo In Novemeber which I’m seriously contemplating taking part in. For or now it’s a period of non-scriptwriting….though I’m sure I said that at the end of the last one.

Get in!!!!

After 14 years in the cup wilderness Everton are in the FA Cup Final, following their win over Manchester United today.

Woo and indeed hoo!

Record Store Day

When it comes to shopping the tactic is usually in and out with a minimum of fuss; this is different when it comes to book stores and in particular record shops. The tendency usually is to linger as long as I possibly can, until I have parted with some cash.

This thrill is something of a dying art as local record stores disappear from our high streets - as the Internet and in particular stores like Amazon take away the serendipitous thrill of browsing through racks of compact discs and vinyl. There has been many a time where I have browsed the stock and muttered to myself ‘I can get that cheaper online’. The quick dispatch and relative cheapness has changed browsing habits with wish lists and suggestions based on previous purchases. Which is never good after you have bought your mum something at Christmas – ‘you’ve bought Mama Mia, you will probably like Michael Ball‘. I don’t think so!

There has many a documentary recently lamenting the loss of the humble record store, there has even been a book written by Graham Jones called Last Shop Standing: Whatever Happened to Record Shops? – Which details the decline of the humble record store (Incidentally it is on my Amazon wish list waiting to be purchased). There is awareness that these are the last days of the record store – something that has been taken for granted for many a year.

There are many a store like this that I have visited down the years sadly too numerous to list here particular favourites such as Penny Lane Records Bold Street and one downstairs by Waterloo station, Crosby – whose name escapes me, that are no more. It says it all when even big firms such as Our Price, Musiczone and Zavvi can’t continue to trade.

That is why today has been designated as International Record Store Day, with countless numbers of stores around the world lining up events to entice those who had not frequented their local record store in a while. Rarely a week goes by without me visiting a record store, in fact I’m still wading through some of the treats picked up having visited my favourite haunts in Manchester of Vinyl Exchange, Piccadilly & Fopp in Manchester last week. My own personal contribution to the day was a visit and the purchase of a couple of cds at St Helens' only remaining independent record store Kaleidoscope Records. Sadly it never appears to be busy whenever I go there but it does have a good reputation as it is often featured in MOJO magazine. It has a good selection of vinyl and compact discs, as well as a selection of releases by local bands.

As I contemplate the replacement of my HIFI (as it increasingly shows wear and tear), the one thing that stops me in my tracks is the fact that new players seldom come with turntables. This is not a Luddite complaining about the changing world, I have embraced the download culture, but I still long to hold music in physical format, with its lyric sheet and cover art. Days like this highlight that these types of store are still there and serving the public.

Happy Record Store Day.

Scriptfrenzy

Thirteen days in and I'm still on course to complete the 100 pages target by the end of the month. I must admit I have had a few slack days when the Scriptfrenzy has seemed more of a whimper, but when I have manged to get on with the job in hand I have made some good progress.

Today I have reached something of milestone in that I'm half way there, tonight I passed the 50 page barrier. Only 50 pages and 17 days to go.

Fade in slowly

And we're off. Just as I'm about to wind down in work for a well deserved Easter break, I have taken on the task of writing 100 pages of script in the next 30 days. Tonight sees the first meeting (write/fade in) of the writers I met on Friday, it should be good. The ideas are flowing and hopefully I will be able to get them on page later today.

The 30 days start now.