One more day till Halloween.

I think I get more excited than the kids (although they are crawling up the wall) now Halloween is on  our doorstep.  The living room resembles a joke shop during the spooky period and I can't walk for carved pumpkins everywhere.  I'm the only one to yet find my 'uniform' (I posted about by trouble finding a mask) whereas the rest of the family's was sorted out last week.  I do have my eye on a pair of overalls mind:  I found some  'Michael Myers-esque' ones in my local hardware store (P Walsh and Son) which I'm going to try and pick up in the late afternoon, should they have them in stock.  Failing that, it's a trip out to Wickes a few miles out in South Manchester.  If I adhere exactly to the required clothing I should also try and pick up some 'US Military Jungle Boots'...I don't suppose I can pick those up in the village missing, as we are, a Army and Navy shop.

The overalls (looking on P Walsh's website) suggest they only stock Navy blue: I require them in, erm, 'horror flick green' for them to be authentic.  I could attempt to dye them, but is it possible to dye navy blue to green?  Perhaps I should bleach them first then apply the green dye?  Might I then end up with a Haight Ashbury tie-dye effect?  Hardly frightening enough to scare off local trick or treaters is it?

Following the tenets of this particular costume design (sadly sans offical mask...I'll be part Jason Voorhees) I also have to 'weather' the overalls, so they look used and 'murderised'.  I'll wash them a few times, pokes a few holes in them, add a dash of fake blood and scrub them up with sandpaper...all this will be done this evening...I think I'm getting a little too involved here.

For the main part however, I look forward to the feast and drink and party before settling down to a cinematic spookypiece...it's a toss up between Don't Look now; the Exorcist; the Shining; Carnival of souls (which is quite 'shiversome') and the original Halloween (which might win out).  

Failing that, Halloween II is on BBC2 later in the evening.  Whilst not quite in the same league as the first one, it still boasts Dean Cundey's wonderful cinematography and John Carpenters electronic primal score (essentially the same soundtrack at the first movie but created with synthesizers).  

Here's to the onset of Winter...

Hurry up it's Halloween...

It's two days to go for this rediscovered festival.  A pagan ritual we'd all but forgotten about and passed off as silly American 'holiday' has, during the last couple of years, grown larger and larger a new generation (or perhaps my generation re enacting our own childhoods).  Despite calls from certain pockets of the church and community for Halloween to be subdued or eradicated from whence it came (despite pre dating a certain religion or two) it looks like it's here to stay.  Cable/Satellite telly has helped somewhat – with a raft of 'paranormal' channels and kids channels showing a whole host of 'spooky' outpours it's hard not to bump into the odd ghoul or two.  And of course commercialism had piled in like there's no tomorrow: I'm a little unsure as to whether my local sainsburys is a supermarket or a ghostly bazaar at the moment.

Still, I have to admit to enjoying this – I did as a kid and I now I have my own (kids) they too have a smile on their face this time of year.  An excuse to throw a party just as the UK hibernates under the dark and cold should be compulsory.

So therefore, I've been looking at knocking a bit of a costume together.  With Michael Myers being my 'favourite' screen villains I set about organising my costume.  A quick search online should surely reap a host of places I could purchase a mask from?  Not so apparently.  As the original mask was based on Captain Shatner's face, his 'people' have denied permission to mask manufacturers to carry on making this mask.  Hence a raft of dodgy looking bunch on sale.  However, during my searches I came across an American based site that discusses the specialisation of authentic Michael Myers masks: there a cottage industry based on this and it's pretty fascinating stuff.  The folks on there, for the main part, make these themselves in small art studios in the states.  They, of course, carry a fairly hefty charge ($300 mark - £200 or thereabouts)  but the quality is pretty special.  I was looking at spending a few quid on mine, certainly nothing like the prices shown in this site (have a look at this ) but it's sparked something inside my head (loved the original Halloween film as a kid and into adulthood)...a new hobby perhaps...maybe next year I'll have the mask I've always coveted and I can cast my Asda Dracula plastic one aside.

Philip Inspector

Thanks to a ghostly reminder in a coffee shop/bar (Fuel in Withington) earlier in the week and managed to dial a memo chip in my brains and remembered to watch the Phil Spector documentary last night on BBC2 (Arena).  Fascinating programme and serves to remind us that the 'beeb' can produce fine television when it wants to.  Directed by Vikram Jayanti (who has won more than a few Bafta's and was behind the docu-flick Rumble in the Jungle) this was an highly entertaining insight into the life of Phil Spector.  The backdrop, inevitably (given the murder charge pushed him back into the limelight) was his murder trial from last year.  With no verdict reached Spector is currently awaiting a retrial.

Whatever you feel about this little wall of genius he's undoubtedly a fascinating character.  He started writing and performing (with the teddy bears) when he was 18 releasing the hit record 'To know him is to love him'.  The programme pounded the chops with song after song – a host of classic records were directed the eccentric Spector, with the odd surprise flashed once in a while:  I'd never knew he wrote 'Spanish Harlem' for example.  A text of history was placed over the court footage, reminding me of the wording they used for Top of The Pops 2.  His work with the Ronettes, Tina Turner, the Beatles and John Lennon was lovingly inserted into this 90 odd minute documentary.  I'm not quite sure he was much of a fan of Paul McCartney – that was made quite clear in his discussions on the ex beatle.

Less was mentioned about his more erratic (and dark) behaviour which have oiled the rumour mills for many years.  Much less (apart from the court scenes) was talked about the night in question when a girlfriend of his, actress Lana Clarkson, was either murdered or committed suicide (I'm still none the wiser to be fair).

It was good to hear the music he produced for Lennon in the early seventies (including, of course, Imagine – the piano incidentally appeared behind him in the interview scenes), although it might have been nice to include a bit of Dion's 'Born to be with you' and maybe a dash of the Ramones, but I guess time was against the producers of this documentary such was, I can only guess, the amount of footage they had to constrict.

Christmas will hit us all in the face like a cold piece of gammon soon enough.  Now's the time to make sure you have a copy of 'A Christmas Gift for you from Phil Spector'.

Fuel for Thought

I popped into Fuel in Withington for a meet up and coffee (far too early in the day for a Belgian ale).  It's a great little addition to my inner city village, and alongside Solomon Grundy across the road almost single handedly lift the main drag into something a little more interesting than your average village.  As a village it's admittedly a little rough around the edges, but the fantastic community spirit and bohemian dens like this make up for the 'seen better days' places.  Given a year or two, this will be even better...the spring clean started a couple of years back and is seemingly on hold due to the 'wall street crush'.  It boasts the fantastic olde pub that is the Red Lion, so personally it would be a hard place to leave, if I ever had to...and in reality it would most likely only be a mile or two down the road.

I'm sure an old Phil Spector track was playing the background of FUEL, that or a similar sounding tune which just so happened to remind me of a Ronettes song (da do ron ron).  It appeared that I'd left my ears on the kitchen table that day (I often do when making high calibre coffee).  FUEL is known for it's love of Folk Music and Vegan/Vegetarian leanings (the successful Red Deer Club hold nights here).  So perhaps it was a variant on a folk and 60's soul I heard, twisted 180 degrees round to sound like Ronnie Ronette/Spector.  It sounded lube all the same.

A mash of coffee, discussions on business/creative ventures and life felt exciting even with the rain teeming it down onto the tarmac marble effect pavements outside.  Almost...almost felt like resuscitating my decade long fixation with vegetarianism I let go of several years ago.  They do good veggie food in here, but now wasn't the time to chow down gracefully on their wares.  That would have to be another time.   

Upstairs there is a room which you can hire out for parties.  I've been to a couple here and for it's size, it's a perfect venue: much better, in my opinion than those old church halls which make my brain curl up and adopt the position of a frazzle crisp.

Yes – Phil Spector.  A documentary (a very rare documentary and interview with the man) is to be aired over the weekend.  I'm looking forward to it, but I'd almost forgot to note it down till the 'fragrance' of his wall of sound at least, hit me in FUEL.

Face friends from the past end.

Social networking sites have been alive and kicking for some time now.  For the most part the novelty has worn off just a smidgeon (the likes pokes and garish/obscene virals) and they seem to have settled into a 'warm tool' (best way I can currently describe them).  Current and recent friends and colleagues populate these sites (admittedly facebook for the main) and have taken over the role of an email account with the added bonus of checking up what your cohorts have been up to of late.  The odd cheeky game of scrabble and poker with random deep south Americans and you've got yourself a new 'pastime/wastetime'.

Of late however I've been virtually touched up by members of my past the frontal lobe of my brain end had forgotten all about.  My school years have returned in pixelated form to the point I'm not sure where logging begins and memory ends.  First it was one or two faces from my comprehensive years, a simple 'hi, remember me' line or two.  Then the doors are opened for the formative years in junior school (anything up to age 11 I guess).  The strange thing is, I can barely remember three quarters of the people I went to school with: names and faces have been so far mashed into the back of my cheese box that I'm totally surprised at the storage quality of our brain servers.  

You see, as soon as a name or face appears several inches from my face I find myself back twenty odd years back in time – this  has happened with increasing regularity of the past few weeks.  Good friends, seemingly banished forever as far as my memory goes have suddenly returned (of course, there might have been reasons for forgetting some people, but time papers over many cracks).

And then the old 35mm photo's, processed at boots many years ago are slowly being digitised (and look far more evocative than the bulk of digital camera's in everyone's hands).  

It's been a bit of a revelation during the past couple of weeks.  I'd previously told myself I wouldn't really enter my past in such a manner – it should be perfectly happy where it lay.  But I'm slowly coming round to revisiting this period.  I moved away from my home town around eighteen years ago, so most of thee people I haven't seen for years.  However I really don't think it's infeasible for me to consider, god help me, a reunion....

Food and Drink and Logan's Run.

So, the Manchester Food and Drink festival has put down it's knives and forks for another year.  Bit of a strange one this time around.  Although it has grown during the last decade to become one (if not the) largest in the country, there has been criticism this time around for it's location.  Spinningfields was chosen above Albert Square as the main 'HQ' for the foodie activity.  This was undoubtedly down to the main sponsors being Spinningfields, hence it made complete sense (to them at least) to choose the location to up their profile.  Still in it's infancy (many of the building are yet to be complete) Spinningfields is a kind of smaller, more central Canary Wharf: big banks and law firms all perched inside glass and chrome towers.  It's been described as cold and sterile, amongst other tags and even the most casual bystander can't help but notice the lack of independent business's here.  The likes of Giraffe, GBK, Carluccio's, Cafe Rouge, an Italian chain I can't quite remember the name of and a few good few more are all here.  The restaurants are busy enough over the weekend but there's a distinct lack of footfall in the area as a whole.  Sure, the buildings are spanking new, fresh and modern, but they are rather cold for the most part.  But these are mainly back office banking boxes for the monolithic banking corporations.  I actually like the area...very futuristic, 'European' and other clean another notch on Manchester's determination to play on a much larger stage.  It also contains the CJC building, quite simply one of the best new buildings in the UK.  This was designed by an Australian firm of  architects, Denton Corker Marshall and they've created the largest courts building in the country since the Royal Courts of Justice were built in London over a hundred years ago.  From one of Spinningfields's squares this is pretty much the first thing that takes your eye: an enormous glass curtain wall which I personally think is outstanding.  It's from this square that this year's Food and Drink festival was held....and held mainly in teepee's.  Given better weather of the time of the festival and had more people been aware of the location, this would've been much more of a success.  I think perhaps in the future that it ought really to relocate back to Albert's Square and perhaps have a 'feeder' here in Spinningfields.

Conversely (and rather confusingly), St Anne's sqaure had it's own food and drink market and I guess most people were here rather than walking aimlessly around Spinningfields looking for wigwams.

I caught a couple of Chef demo's and sampled a bit of food (overpriced really), but thank god for the real ale tent (with the likes of the Marble Beer house) which, with the real fire going inside took you away from the corporate surrounds outside and sent you back in time to some Mongolian hunting party...albeit with PDA's and Apple Macbooks squirting their electro-magnons into the environment.

A pop around a Norwich based Village.

I found myself back in Norfolk last week, stopping off my girlfriends family following a wedding in London.  We usually make the trip down there a few times each year, although it's been a while since out last visit: in fact the last time I was down there was when a huge, duvet of snow covered the lands around for miles.  Picturesque villages suddenly becoming those perfect Victorian/Georgian period Christmas card scenes (see photo...although bear with me, I only had a camera phone, unfortunately in which to capture the moments).  Although extraordinarily quiet and not (if honest) a great deal happening in the rural villages of this county, it's still ever so pleasant.

There's a few charming pubs dotted around the area, usually coming complete with thatched roof for extra brownie points.  

In the village of Attleborough (but a couple of miles from where her parents live) there is a cracking looking pub called the 'White Lodge'.  We seem to drive past this on the way (or way back) from other places so I can't really comment on what it is like inside, but the reviews seem favourable so I'll pop in next time I'm down there.  I've been in a couple more in that village and I can't say I had my best experiences (landlady almost growling at us because we had the audacity to enter he pub whilst she was eating!) and another that looks like the door will punch you in the face if you get within 6 feet of the place.  There's a few of those in every town and village up and down the country and certainly not specific to any region.  Still, there's a couple more decent looking olde style pubs I'd like to try out...I find it increasingly harder to pass a cosy, archaic but good looking gin palace without desiring to enter its warm charms.

I suspect we'll be back down there at Christmas time so I'll try and make a visit or two to these places whilst there.