Category Archives: life and times

163. Film noir

Posted on 10 September, 2007 by | Leave a comment

film-noir-los-angeles.jpg‘Sure as hell that didn’t work, but I finished the sucker eventually,’ mumbled downbeat, unshavenly scruffy lawyer Joel F Bradstock, to no one in particular.

His nicotine-stained fingers trembled slightly now as he rolled another cigarette and pulled hard on the half-drained bottle of Bushmills beside him.stressed-midwest-lawyer.jpg

A minute went by as he let the long-awaited dawn rise up over the city. He could hear high heels in the stairwell now, so he hurriedly fumbled the friendly bottle amongst the chaotic slew of box files, safely out of Rita’s sight.

He’d have to conquer the single malt habit eventually, but Monday never was a good day to start that struggle.
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Posted in 2007, divided by an ocean, life and times

162. The bravest run of all – Jane Tomlinson

Posted on 5 September, 2007 by | 4 comments

jane-tomlinson-1964-2007.jpgThe BBC reported yesterday that Jane Tomlinson had finally lost her fight against breast cancer.

I don’t agree.

It was an unequal battle, certainly.

But the cancer never stood a chance.

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Posted in 2007, heroes, history, life and times

161. Kenya 1: The road to Mombasa

Posted on 29 August, 2007 by | 14 comments

kilifi-mombasa-road-by-putneymarkflickrcom.jpgAfrica.

The night air presses hot and thick outside the windows. The ancient bus groans and heaves itself another mile along the road. It’s four a.m.

A slim throw of light weaves ahead, as we slalom around endless potholes, the creaking chassis of the bus vibrating stiffly with every bounce of broken shocks.

And beyond our beam, it’s only darkness. As black as pitch – there is no distant orange streetlight glow here; no twinkling, reassuring glimmer of a distant homestead to break the gloom.

The rain is falling softly now, sluicing insistently down the windscreen. There are no wipers on the bus. But after a while, the drops somehow reassemble a filmy view of the road in front, and it doesn’t matter any more.

This is the main East African coastal highway – but don’t imagine any shiny roadsigns to announce that fact. No white lines, nor other traffic, either. Just deeply pitted, decaying tarmac. Puddles and blackness stretching far ahead.
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Posted in 2007, Africa, Kenya, life and times, summer, world

160. A year of Roads of Stone

Posted on 21 August, 2007 by | 11 comments

roads of stoneI want so much to open your eyes
Cos I need you to look into mine
– Snow Patrol 2006

Roads of Stone is a year old this month. And a landmark is almost always a signpost on the way.

Some of the writing here goes back further, of course, but it’s been a fascinating experiment to build an independent site. Roads of Stone is hosted on a multi-user platform, WordPress.com, so that most of the difficult stuff is taken care of. But there’s been a lot to learn.
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Posted in 2007, life and times

151. Our secret space – Epsom and Ashtead Common

Posted on 10 June, 2007 by | 9 comments

When the worrying starts to hurt
And the world feels like graves of dirt
Just close your eyes until
You can imagine this place – yeah
Our secret space, at will
Snow Patrol – May 2006

New job. New town. New colleagues. New commute.

Less time to write. More time to worry.

It’s a sunny week in early June, when Epsom hosts the Derby. The biggest event in the flat-racing calendar. The original article, the horse race founded by Lord Derby, after which so many imitations are named, all around the globe.

A few weeks have passed, and it may be summer at last, but here in Epsom a new and unfamiliar mould is pressing all around me. The sun is high outside, and today I need to escape the stuffy office, the grim shopping mall and the choking traffic, and to remind myself of who I am. Just for an hour, I need to run.

On this day, of all days, I turn my back on the ladies in posh hats and the dusty punters with their champagne-soaked shoes and shredded betting tickets. I head out of Epsom the other way.

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Posted in 2007, life and times, music, summer, Surrey and Sussex, training

143. Shame about the Boat Race … Oxford vs Cambrige 1829-2007

Posted on 12 April, 2007 by | 11 comments

oxford-dark-blue-heroes-2007.jpgThe oldest regularly-held sporting event in the world reached its 153rd edition in London last Saturday, and I was lucky enough to watch the coverage along with millions all around the globe.

The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, from Putney to Mortlake.

Rowing – it’s a sport I know so little, which taught me so much of what I know.

Now I could tell you that sport is all about fitness. I could tell you that it’s about improvement, and dedication and companionship. I could relate the heightened mental acuity felt by the long distance runner, show you the slow-motion symmetry of a perfect iron shot towards the flag on a silent summer’s evening, or try to describe the sound of a mountainside half-shrouded in cloud.

Sport might really be about all of those things. But I know that’s not true.

It was rowing which taught me that lesson. It was the summer I spent doing this. The summer when I learnt that sport is all about fear.

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Posted in 2007, heroes, history, life and times, London, racing, rowing