Spring still appears reluctant to establish itself this year but then again, April Showers and all that. I can recall a handful of erratic Aprils in the last decade that left me frustrated and contemplating walking around with a light box around my neck.
I was listening to one of my favourite shows in the early hours of the morning and the host, another SAD sufferer, made mention of how at the time of recording he was greatly lifted by the blue sky which reminded him of the vast blue skies you get in the States. I pretended to know what he was talking about. While I spent 12 years as co-lead in seminal US cop drama ‘Kid Cop’ (1980 – ’92), that show existed only in my imagination and in real life, I’ve never even come close to going to the US. I’ve never had any real desire to either. Mind you, you could apply that to pretty much anywhere, given I haven’t travelled for 15 years now.
There was a time in the noughties when I’d be flying several times a month. I think the only way I ever rediscover my enthusiasm for travelling again now (actually, that’s a lie – I was never enthusiastic about it) is going to if it’s a one-way ticket and I at some point fulfil that now long-dormant dream that almost came true of emigrating, something that would see me square the circle started by my late parents who came here from Spain. Apart from it being something I really wanted to do for the bulk of the noughties, it’s just something that’s always fascinated me because it’s such a massive challenge to start life in a new country, and I have the advantage of being bilingual. I would try and do what my parents and my aunt and uncle did. I would though look to improve on the latter who settled for accumulating one new word of English for each year of the 58 they’ve been in London.
It's unlikely that starting a new life abroad thing will happen now and who’s to say it would be any better than the rubbish that currently passes for a life here. I’m starting to think though that I would go abroad to gig. It’s a realistic target. I’d start by looking at whether trains are possible first. Then it would be crossing by boat, in which case I’d probably need to leave about a week before the gig and find a way of conquering the sea sickness. Flying would be the last resort and I’d be doing so as someone now teetotal for the last 13 years so quashing my fear of flying with booze wouldn’t be an option.
I’ve completely lost my thread again. Back to the host and his blue skies. He mentioned that we’d had a long winter but one that in his opinion hadn’t been a harsh one. I slightly disagree with that. Yes, we didn’t have loads of snow, but we had a couple of very cold snaps and the ground frost for a second consecutive winter was as bad as we’ve had in years. I know that from the pain of running three times a week all-year-round. This winter particularly challenged me running-wise. There were many times when my feet were numb while on a run, which of course can lead to an injury.
I woke up this morning, or I never quite went to sleep really, with my back playing up owing to my current sleeping arrangement. It’s so bad at the moment that even painkillers aren’t shifting the pain for a few hours. There was a complete lack of mobility this morning and after loading up on carbs early, I struggled out to the park three hours later for the planned big run knowing it was going to be far more difficult because of the backpain. There was just zero give on the lower back. I felt like I was carrying a bag on my back today, not overly heavy, but just a considerable weight that was making things more difficult.
Still, I dug out a 14k this lunchtime – a slowish one owing to the muddy conditions – that under normal circumstances would be enough to help me sleep better tonight but as already mentioned, the current sleeping situation until the end of the week means it’s likely to be pain killers every morning to get by. Even stretching my back isn’t shifting this level of pain. It’s nowhere near as bad as the 90s though when 11 years in a fold-up bed wrecked my back. I was always struggling back then. Two decades later, or is it three (?), I’d never have believed I’d have turned into one of those tiresome run1kerrs. But that’s what happens when you don’t have much of a life and live on your own, I guess.
Run1kerr action - longest run (only) of this second Strava-run1kerr era.
I find that running and gigging are similar in terms of working out the times for each run/set. After four years of three runs a week in the same park, I know what stretches on what routes will give me in terms of distance. If I don’t fancy one of the real bas**rd climbs on a given day and decide on an alternative route, or the circuits I use to top and tail my longer runs (effectively a long warm up at the start before I launch into the first steep climb), I know how many metres or Ks that’s going to give me and I build my run accordingly. Likewise with the gigging.
If I’m doing a shorter set, I know the timings of the segments I’m dropping and what it’s likely to leave me with (no easy thing given I’m poor with numbers). I factor in the crowd work timings for longer sets, how much time I can give myself maximum with the crowd before it might obliterate my timings for the rest of the set. Somehow, I manage to keep this all in my head on stage. It’s the kind of mental arithmetic I haven’t really done much of for years.
I’m a big believer in the running helping creatively. It’s great to be fit and after surgery a few years ago on my broken foot, I’d gotten so unfit I never thought I’d get myself into good enough shape to be able to run anywhere if I needed to. It’s like having a superpower. But time and time again, the running has helped me to resolve big creative problems. I zero in on creative issues on my run and am often able to unravel them in a way I’m not able to do easily away from the running.
Today, knowing I was targeting 14k, I knew I had to try and think about the one problem that has stalled the current script. I’ve had so much going on the last few months culminating in the very sad situation with my uncle, that I’ve just not been able to focus properly on much other than the stand-up, and I’ve almost come to resent how the gigging has come to dominate my creative life.
After 4 or 5k today, I still hadn’t mentally reined in on the script and how to overcome the issue holding it up. I was telling myself that maybe I could just continue with the run. Not every run had to see me thinking, rehearsing that night’s set or trying to work out some writing obstacle. Maybe I could, for once, just try and live in the moment.
The problem for me with that is I find running quite boring, especially the first 6k. Like I said, possibly in my last post, once I break through the first 6k, which had been rare for months, then my mindset changes. I know I’ve been through the worst of the run and now I’ve set myself up for the long run I want, and which is going to make me feel better. Today, that would probably have been enough to keep me going, but I’ve been so concerned about the script that I felt I had to try and see what I could come up with on the run.
Around 6 or 7k, the first script possibilities started to come into my mind, strong enough bits to record into my phone while I came off one of the climbs. There was then another bit around the 10k mark, and then, well, I wouldn’t call it a flurry because the script doesn’t need a flurry, it just needs a solution to one particular plotline, there was a stream of stuff (wait – ‘stream’ is ‘flurry’ isn’t it?) for me to jot down by the time I left the park. It may turn out not to be what I need, but if it isn’t, it’s close. It’s also highly unusual, and I like ‘highly unusual’. Without the run, that wouldn’t have happened.
The back is still as stiff as anything. The legs now feel like they’re encased in cement, despite a good warmdown. Both issues have now been exacerbated by the afternoon Star Wars Football Champions League match in which defending champions Tattooine crushed newbies Kashyyyk 4-0 in the Last 16 second leg tie to secure their place in the lucrative group stage.
Meantime, have a look at some of the crazy prices Star Wars Action figures are going for. Being a writer of course, I go nowhere near these auctions.
One of the ‘Last 17’ 1985 action figures. These always go for crazy money. £500 for a ‘Barada’.
The most I ever paid was £8 for Bossk the bounty hunter around the start of lockdown when I was actually getting a lot of freelance work. What a buy that was. He’s gone onto be the record goal scorer in this Star Wars Football Silver Age, plundering close to 70 goals in just 6.5 seasons. It’s inevitable that in the next couple of seasons he’ll become Bespin’s record goalscorer (though the current holder Lobot has now returned to the club, but his new midfield role means that he won’t be adding to his century of Bespin goals with the same gusto of old).
I enjoyed yesterday’s Liverpool v Arsenal game, otherwise known as the Please Don’t Hug Me derby. I’m a huge fan of Aaron Ramsdale, the young Arsenal ‘keeper. It’s not just that he’s an outstanding stopper. It’s his personality. He’s very confident and cocky, but he’s pulled off saves in the last couple of years that have been extraordinary, so he can back up that level of confidence. He should be England’s number one.
It is now twenty years since England produced a goalkeeper who maintained their form into their thirties. In the era of Shilton-Clemence-Corrigan-Woods-Seaman, England had custodians who remained top quality (in the case of Shilton and Clemence) while Seaman, though I wasn’t a fan, was still reasonably formidable. Since then, we’ve had the curious career of David James. Very promising in his early Liverpool years under Roy Evans before a dramatic fall from grace and then an unlikely late-career revival that saw him emerge as England’s number one ‘keeper in South Africa in 2010 after Rob Green paid the price for his almighty howler against the USA. Before that, Paul Robinson had amassed something like 44 or 45 caps before his form went off the cliff, while Joe Hart, who ended on 75 caps, mirrored Robinson’s mid-career-collapse. It is a curious thing that in the last two decades, England’s top ‘keepers have been in decline by the time they hit 30.
TV-wise, I’ve been watching ‘The House of Paisley’ on the BBC. Regardless of your politics, Ian Paisley guy was just one of the great orators. A compelling figure and a good series. I’m on the final part.
I’m also now on the penultimate episode of Magpie Murders. I’m a big fan of Anthony Horowitz’s books, except the James Bond ones. His Sherlock Holmes pastiche ‘Moriarty’ was outstanding. I’m not sure Magpie Murders is anywhere near his best work, and I don’t recall much of the book, but I do remember liking it. The TV adaptation, penned by the author himself, is decent. It’s not breaking any new ground but it’s still enjoyable.
And that’s me.
I’ve negotiated my way through two unwanted Bank Holidays (three if Easter Sunday also counts) and I’m glad things get back to normal tomorrow.
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