Phil Sherry : Spring 2008

Whilst wandering around the local Zavvi during their administration/closure sales, I spotted a bargain: Hitchcock 14 Disc Box Set. All discs have extras in the form of behind the scenes interviews with any actors who are still alive, Hitchcock’s daughter, etc. Great value. Anyway, me and The Missus decided we’d watch them in chronological order (as listed above). We’re only three movies in and already we’re loving it.

Saboteur & Shadow Of A Doubt are both black and white movies, and both amazingly old in every way (which caused us to giggle more than a little bit, sorry). The next movie we watched was Rope. From the minute it started, we could tell things had stepped up a little. Apart from being in “glorious technicolor”, everything was just so much more… Hitchcock. The classic Hitchcock tension was there; the acting was worlds apart from the previous movies; the music wasn’t totally 40’s, etc. Each scene was one long take, which would last around ten minutes, as that was the average length of film in the camera. I wonder how many modern actors could last that long without fluffing their lines. We were both totally gripped and thought it to be most excellent (and, like, totally bodacious, dude).

It soon struck me that I’d love to have the money to fund a remake.

Jake just hit me with a meme, so as it’s a Sunday and I’m looking for things to do in an effort to put off the housework, I present you with seven things you may (or may not) know about me:

1. When I was about 12, part of my English class involved being asked to write two pages about my favourite book. With much excitement, I wrote an entire text book about Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy and got told off for writing too much. I gave up English homework there and then, leading another English teacher to tell me I’d never amount to anything. I guess that’s why I’ve had a couple of books published and translated into foreign languages then, eh?
2. I had an operation to remove baby teeth from my nasal cavity when I was 14. That was about as much fun as it sounds.
3. My favourite places in the world are San Fransisco, Waikiki, Sydney, New York, Stockholm, and, of course… Liverpool.
4. I was born within 10 miles of Liverpool’s Liver Buildings and lived within that radius until I was 34. I’m merely a visitor these days, but it will always be Home.
5. Paul McCartney once referred to me as “a bloody good bass player”.
6. I have been to San Dimas High School. I had a most excellent time and insisted on being called “Philip John Sherry, Eqsuire” for the duration.
7. Blaze Bayley (singer of Wolfsbane, a Heavy Metal band from the mid-90’s; he also recorded two albums as Iron Maiden’s singer) once told me I was being “far too heavy metal” and asked me to calm it down a little so that I didn’t get the band into trouble.

I don’t really know many people who blog these days, so I’ll just have to pass it on to The Missus, Chris Mills, Jon Hicks, and Jon Sidnell. If I can think of three more people, I’ll whack them with it.

My favourite guitarist and slight hero, James Patrick Page, Esq., is officially a pensioner today.

Keep on rockin’ that Les Paul, Jimmy.

It’s that time of year again.

After spending the last two weeks at home, over-indulging in everything possible, getting up late and staying up later, not really going out anywhere… the time has come to go back to work.

Back to: getting up at sparrow fart, seeing the same old miserable faces on the train every morning, putting in a full day at the office, seeing the same even-more-miserable-by-now faces on the way home, and then not getting home until after 8pm. Lather, rinse, repeat. Try not to have too many psychotic thoughts along the way.

I make it sound like I hate my working day, but that’s not really how it is. The most annoying part is the people who share my commute. I love my job and the people I work with; I just hate the swarms of people I have to battle through every day. Mainly: students. I don’t imagine for one second that this problem is confined to students in Newcastle, but I have breaking news for any students who might be reading this:

• You’re not the first person to do that wacky thing with your hair!
• You’re not all individual if you look the fucking same!
• You didn’t invent that oh-so-quirky fashion!
• You’re not the first person to discover [insert 70’s band name]!

Utter fuckwits!

I was like you, once.

There. I said it. I am a Grumpy Old Man.