Sunday 30 September 2007 09:46
It's the Great North Run today. I can't believe the past year's gone so quickly ... or that there was talk of actually doing it this year. It looks as though the weather's going to be as nice as last year too, but I don't think I can be bothered to walk down the hill to watch. Best to leave all that energetic stuff to 50,000 other people.
Sunday 30 September 2007 03:19
Another copy and paste from the Eels site ...E reports from the filming of BBC's upcoming PARALLEL UNIVERSES, PARALLEL LIVES film in the October Issue of BBC Sky at Night magazine. Read it HERE
Sunday 30 September 2007 03:03
A man called E
13.09.07 Mike Haydock
You may not recognise Mark Oliver Everett even some of his biggest fans would walk straight past him in the street. Also known as "E", the unassuming Eels frontman defines himself as a "poor excuse for a rock star", someone who shuns the limelight in favour of making music that challenges audiences and does not kowtow to the mainstream.
The Eels have therefore often been more of a critical success than a commercial triumph, although they have still had six top 40 albums in the UK over the past decade, two of which (1996's "Beautiful Freak" and "Daisies of the Galaxy" in 2000) peaked in the top 10. But alongside these highs, Everett has also had to cope with crushing lows: at the age of 44, he is the only surviving member of his immediate family.
His father, quantum physicist Hugh Everett III, died of a heart attack at 51. Everett discovered him one morning, spread-eagled on the bed. His sister, Liz, committed suicide in 1996 after several earlier failed attempts, and two years later his mum died of lung cancer. As though that wasn't painful enough, one of his cousins was a flight attendant on the plane which hit the Pentagon on September 11th 2001.
Understandably, Everett has been reluctant to reflect on his past and write down his life story, despite some badgering from friends. But now, with the Eels celebrating 10 years of existence, he felt the time was right, and the most remarkable thing about the resulting book (Things the Grandchildren Should Know, Little, Brown, January) is his optimism and lack of bitterness.
"There
have definitely been times when I was angry when I was younger," he
says. "I'm really fortunate because I've had a load of amazing
experiences to go with all the horrible experiences, and the amazing
experiences have been really amazing I mean, I'm a rock star!
That's one of the reasons why I wanted the book to come out. It could
be inspiring in the way that it's about this clueless kid from Virginia
that has all sorts of weird and wacky and horrible adventures, and
somehow ends up making something out of his life."
Nothing to hide behind
Of course, writing his autobiography has been a whole different challenge from that of writing a song, not least because this is his life stripped bare, naked on a page. "There's always something you can hide behind in the music," he says. "Writing a book, there's no safety net. There's nothing you can change in the mix. It's just the ink and the paper and the words, and it's so exacting.
"Having
to go back and revisit certain periods of my life was particularly
hard. There were some days when I was working on the book that were
just excruciating. I just have this mechanism where I like to rise to
challenges; I'd try to write a book because it made me feel
uncomfortable. And I have to say that now it's done, while I do still
feel very uncomfortable about the idea of people actually reading it,
it also feels good that I'm done with all that, all those years in a
nice little package."
Telling it like it is
In writing his memoir, Mark was inspired by the "candid" tone of Ray Charles' autobiography, Brother Ray, and aimed for a similarly conversational tone. "I tried to imagine some person, not a fan, sitting at the kitchen table across from me and talking to them," he says. "That's how I wanted it. I wanted it to feel like it wasn't written, just said. As unpretentiously as possible."
He deliberately avoided ornate language, peeling away the details of the major episodes in his life to leave only the stark, often painful, facts. "That's how it is in real life," he says with a knowing smile. "When somebody dies or something horrible happens in your life, you're not told the news with flowery language."
Saturday 29 September 2007 12:49
There was a man sitting at the back of the bus last night. He was holding a bottle of cider and was quite drunk. He was also apparently going to Sunderland, although the bus was actually bound for Newcastle. I attempted to inform him of this, but he had difficulty understanding, saying only that he'd just lost the woman he loved (there had to be a woman involved).
I gave up when he wet himself. I also thought it wise to move seats.
On realising that his leg was getting wet, he proceeded to pee into his bottle of cider. Shortly afterwards, he appeared to forget this action and resumed drinking his cocktail.
Saturday 29 September 2007 01:01
THE IDEA REALLY came to me the day I got my new false teeth.I remember the morning well. At about a quarter to eight I'd nipped out of bed and ...
I was asked recently to write something about my favourite book, in around 100 words.
But, technically speaking, I can do it in 13. Though, while that would comfortably fit, the statement wouldn't quite convey the emotion. I could stretch it a little to meet the hundred words, but that'd not be quite right.
Anyway, 13 or 100+, that's the opening line(s) from my favourite book. It's my favourite book. I'd quote more than 13 words, but no one would understand.
Thursday 27 September 2007 22:16
Yesterday I was in Belfast. Today Preston. And back again tomorrow. You'd think it couldn't get any worse wouldn't you? But then I checked my e-mail tonight, receiving, among other junk mail, a Newcastle Academy gig update. The fact that Robin Trower is playing there next year is bad enough, but I had to go and make the stupid mistake of telling Peter. Guess who I'm now going to see next May.Wednesday 26 September 2007 23:51
Ebay's great you know. I just bought stick-on Daisies for the wheelie bin. A photo may follow when they arrive.
Oh, and an extract from a recent conversation ...
Sophe: Spudgun's got fleas!
Gary: You've got fleas?
Sophe: No, silly, I've got nits.
Tuesday 25 September 2007 23:51
Will someone please shoot Jonathan Ross?! He's doing my head in. I'm watching Film 2007 and
the man's a major irritation. He's clearly reading from an autocue,
from a script he'd never seen before recording. What crap.
Monday 24 September 2007 23:57
The film quality's a bit grainy, the sound's like something recorded in a biscuit tin and the acting ranges from awful to over the top. I just watched the third episode of One Summer. And it's as brilliant as I remembered.Sunday 23 September 2007 23:46
Sophe bought me a lolly today. Just think; a six year old buys lollies out of her pocket money. Her own idea. That's cool stuff.
Talking of which; I met my children for lunch and I'm only just back home. I love my children very much and it was great to have some time together, just the three of us.
Saturday 22 September 2007 20:08
For quite some time now, I've toyed with the idea of removing a small patch of plaster in the bedroom, to see if the wall's original stone. Well, I finally got around to making an exploratory hole. I'm not quite sure what to do now though.
Friday 21 September 2007 22:29
Telford probably has one of the worst town centres in the country. It may rank lower than Stevenage or Sunderland, but it's still not very nice. It's not actually a town centre in the accepted sense, but really a shopping centre, some offices and roundabouts. People don't actually live there and everything closes on an evening. However, take a walk outside the town centre and Telford becomes a different place. Just look at this picture; it's everything our garden was supposed to be.
There's wildlife too (ok so it's the wrong colour)
And, although I realise it's technically (or actually) not in telford, the oldest metal (iron) built bridge in the world. I do wonder, though, who in 1779 could have afforded to pay a halfpenny to walk across.
Wednesday 19 September 2007 14:12
I'm just back from the vet's with Bird. He's now sitting, pretty much as he always does, looking out of the window. I have to keep giving him antibiotics until they run out and then, well there isn't any then. The vet said he'd never survive anaesthetic now because he's too old and has lost too much weight. She said I need to take him back when he finds it hard to get around. I can't believe I can get so fucking upset over a bird.Tuesday 18 September 2007 20:48
Bird's due back to see the vet tomorrow. The lump on his wing looks slightly better, less angry, but it's not gotten any smaller. I had some things that I'd thought about putting down here, but after sitting looking at Bird I've lost the will. I'm tired and a bit worried. I know he's just a bird, but he's Bird.Saturday 15 September 2007 23:12
Although my cold's clearing up, nothing seems to be going right at the moment. Bird's a little better, seems happier, more active and more himself, but the antibiotics hardly seem to be affecting the lump on his wing. He's still a few days left on antibiotics though, so we just have to wait.
Hardly on the same scale, but the White Stripes tour has been cancelled, just a few days after I'd bought tickets.
Wednesday 12 September 2007 22:30
I have a cold.Monday 10 September 2007 23:32
I carried an old lady's bag for her today. It wasn't very far, only from the Life centre to Central Station. I said I was going in that direction anyway in case she thought I was going out of my way. The bag, though, was huge and probably weighed more than the old lady herself. I swear my arm still aches. Anyway, she told me that she'd been struggling and was just on the point of giving up when I turned up. Or, rather, when I was sent. I should have known that God had something to do with it.Monday 10 September 2007 14:33
I'm just back from Bird's second ever visit to the vet. It wasn't a nice experience for both of us, but he's now sitting in his cage, tidying up his feathers. Last year he had an unidentifiable lump, a cyst of some sort they thought. They said that birds often don't take too well to anaesthetic and he was getting on a bit too. Still, they removed it and he came out fine.
But he's now got another one. He's 14 now, and the cyst/abcess is bigger, so the vet didn't want to try to remove it. However, she thought that antibiotics might work
I have to take him back next week, so hopefully he'll be ok in a few days. Fingers crossed and stuff.
Monday 10 September 2007 01:38
I'd not intended a late night; after all, I do have work in the morning. But by pure chance I found that an old Channel 4 TV series, One Summer, is finally available on DVD. I've been looking for it, off and on, for years now and I'd pretty much given up after reading it'd never been released on video or DVD. I actually hesitated before ordering though. I mean, it was a very long time ago (early 80s) and it might be rubbish after over 20 years. It could just be too dated, or possibly it was never as good as my memory led me to believe. It's hard to accept how much my life's changed since I last saw Billy and Icky. However, whether I watch it or not, I had to buy the DVD.
I'm now wondering whether Johnny Jarvis might be released one day too.
Sunday 9 September 2007 22:09
Sheriff Hill, a village literally set upon a hill, as everyone knows, derives its name from the passing up of the sheriffs on their way to meet the judges at assize time. The procession usually passed on a Saturday, which was held as a kind of gala day, halting at the Old Cannon Inn to meet these most august personages of the law.
This place a hundred years ago was studded with miserable mud huts and cottages, occupied by such nomads as besom-makers, cloggers, muggers, and perhaps gipsies ... all of which are things of the past.
Instead it has now become a favourite hill-top residential place for the people of Gateshead, and there is no more bracing air within easy reach than is to be found in these highlands of ours, and few more expansive views.
Many years ago Sheriff Hill was recommended as a health resort by a then famous Newcastle doctor, and as evidence of such a recommendation the village has ever had a famous record for longevity.
Lumley D (1932) THE STORY OF GATESHEAD TOWN: FROM THE EARLIEST AGE TO THE MID-VICTORIAN, Northumberland Press Ltd, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
Sunday 9 September 2007 21:49
I went to Tynemouth today, mainly to have a walk around the Metro station market. I ended up taking a walk along the coast to Cullercoats, then Whitley Bay. It was a nice day for a walk and the sea was a little rough. It had that wild look that makes it fascinating to just sit and watch. See what I mean. |
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This next one's of the bay at Cullercoats; it's smaller and the tide was in, but it looked great today.
Sunday 9 September 2007 01:21
In order to attempt to regain the level of fitness Ienjoyed prior to moving to a house on top of a stupidly big hill, I recently decided to start cycling again. Today, I cycled to Wallsend, along Hardian's way (route 72).
En route, I passed the Bounty. OK, so it wasn't the original (because it sank a long time ago). But it was the Marlon Brando/Trevor Howard version.
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I know it's a movie replica (and one third bigger than the original, apparently), but the US flag looks so wrong. Anyway, some cool cranes.
Saturday 8 September 2007 02:57
In my next life I shall be celibate.Back to:
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