Funfare for the Common Man

Notes from my notebook, circa early 21st century Thoughts pop into your head at the most unlikely times: in the middle of the night (not so unlikely, actually), while working out, in the shower, on the toilet, walking down the road, playing with your child, right after your cat has settled in comfortably on your lap and your notebook is out of reach. Whatever the time, no matter, you’re all-too-often not in a position to get your thoughts down somewhere. And then when it comes time to sitting and writing… …your mind goes blank. The thoughts get lost. From an otherwise unremarkable article, this opening sentence: ‘A bleak fact of writing is that honing sentences is often far easier than honing the thoughts they convey. A corollary fact is that polished, elegant prose serves as a useful, if not always intentional, hiding place for half-baked ideas.’ (The Literature of the Pandemic Is Already Here, The Atlantic ) The more I write, the more I want to write, the mor...

During my first year at university, in Boston, I went to a lot of gigs. I was really into Britpop at the time – Blur, Oasis, Suede and Pulp in particular – and they were massive in the UK, selling out decent-sized arenas. But the beauty of seeing them in America, where they were less popular, was that they played smaller venues of less than 1000 people, right at the height of their popularity. I loved it. I didn’t only listen to Britpop – I had my other [guilty? shameful?] pleasures, one of whom was The Offspring. I’m only slightly embarrassed to admit to liking them back then – this was in 1994-95 – but it could be worse. They weren’t (aren’t?) that bad, are they? Surely Nickelback, Matchbox Twenty and Blink 182 are worse, right? (at the time their big hits were ‘Self-Esteem’ and ‘Come Out and Play’) Anyway, they were far more popular than the usual British bands I went to see, and so were playing in a much bigger venue: the Worcester Centrum. My friend Simon and I – we went ...