Showing posts with label Lurgan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lurgan. Show all posts

Sunday, 11 July 2010

The Day The Music Died


As a young Frank Sinatra once said: 'It's nice to go trav'ling, but it's so much nicer to come home.' After a few days in Bonnie Scotland, with a night in Berwick-on-Tweed thrown in for good measure, it's back to life, back to reality.

So, what have we learned?

1. Keep 'em peeled on the A1 - there's a killer on the loose.
2. The Barrels in Berwick keeps a magnificent pint of Jarl .
3. In said hostelry I learned that the door of No.10 Downing St has 6 panels.
4. And that the Paramount Pictures logo is surrounded by 22 stars.
5. Ray, my cousin, doesn't have anything on his iPod recorded after the 70s. 'Music died the day John Lennon was gunned down' he laments. Cue this framed photo, again from The Barrels.6. Margorie McCall lived once, but was buried twice: True Story!
7. Currie's and Kebab's (sic) are wrong on so many levels.8. I don't do gardens. But then I saw Drummond. Quite stunning.
9. Jack, my first cousin once removed, should be on the stage: he kept us entertained for the whole holiday. Can I have my hat back, Jack?10. The walrus was not Paul. It's Ray. I have the picture to prove it.

John Otway: I Am The Walrus

Monday, 5 July 2010

Making Contacts


We're going north of the border to hook up with my cousin and his family. Ray lives in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, but has won a holiday at some swanky place in Perthshire; so we'll be drinking pints of heavy and feasting on haggis for a few days.*

When we get up there I'll be telling him about David Bailey's latest exhibition; Ray's a huge Beatles fan (probably why he's always been my favourite cousin**) and, amongst Bailey's many contact sheets of The Stones, Michael Caine, The Kray twins et al, are the iconic snaps he took of Lennon & McCartney looking, for the most part, happy in each other's company. Bailey nailed them that day. Of the shoot he said: 'They were culturally so different. Paul was a nice guy, John was an a***hole and I like the a***holes.'

It runs from July 7 to August 13 at Hamiltons Gallery W1. See you there.

John Lennon Interview




* With apologies to any Scottish readers. Well at least I didn't mention deep fried Mars Bars.

** What I like to do he doesn't? No, you're confusing him with my perfect cousin.