30 July 2010

The Proud Father

He wears a big smile on his face and behind his glasses are proud, watering eyes. The feeling is overwhelming. He holds his wife's tiny hands to steady his tall body up. His legs are shaking and his heart pounding. I wonder how it feels to be there. Standing on the side of a stage with your wife. Looking at your child, now an adult, a musician playing in front hundreds. 
His eyes run over the crowd and his head tries to absorb the scene. He thinks about how he got there. The images are flooding in his head. Winter 1979. A scream. Joel's tiny pink hand reaching for his. The little red drums that didn't catch the kid's attention. The spark as the 6 years old holds a guitar. All those nights where Carey, Tim and Stephen would come over to the house in Dartford and listen endlessly to Blur, The Flaming Lips, Radiohead, Grandaddy, Oasis, Graham Coxon etc...The teenager, working with the youth group, writing and singing his songs. The creation of the band, practicing and recording at the Bear. The American tour. Joel sitting, his blue eyes set on the last edition of National Geographic.
He was supportive of the boys, never doubting even when he was worried. It wasn't long before people started seeing what he had seen years ago. How brilliant was his son. How the music was glowing in him. Two platinum albums, the Ivor Novello Award. Not bad. Not bad at all.
His hands slide over his face and feel the wrinkles. There has been hard times to. For his family, his grandchildren, for the band. But those kids are driven. They take the strength from their lows and turn it into highs.
He smiles as Carey puts his bass down to take a picture. Now is the big moment. Time to sing. "What a great way to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary" thinks The Proud Father. When the music starts, Joel's melancholic voice takes him to the sky. From above, he sees the stage set in the garden of the Old Royal Naval College; the other choir members also dressed as pirates; the boys playing happily; his son, standing beautifully in the middle of the stage, singing along with the crowd. What a great way to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary indeed.

In 10 years ? The Proud Father may be celebrating again on stage or he'll be enjoying a quite moment with his family, who knows ?
 

14 July 2010

The Football Nerd

It is finally over! When you are not a big football fan (and that's a euphemism to say I found it more enjoyable to brush my toe hair with a cheese greeter) the World Cup is just a pain in your backside. The world think football, breathe football and more annoyingly, talk football. Day and night, seven days a week, it's all about the round ball.
But I have to say that as much as it does my head in, it is impossible not to be overwhelm by the enthusiasm, the hope, the energy that the people release in a city whose pavement is trodden by so many football fans (especially when you live between 2 stadiums – don't ask me what went through my head). “I hate football but the sense of belonging it brings and everybody getting involved is such a nice friendly feeling” one of my friend, rightly stated. I even gave in and went to the pub to watch some games myself. Enjoying sharing a drink with friends, betting on the winner, trying to understand what the fuss was about (I even watched an English game with some colleagues in my office's boardroom while a friend's company completely shut down!).
Some do understand it well. In Camden Town lives a football fan called the Autistic. He's the guy who only wants internet on his mobile to get football scores, as a sport newspaper as home page on his computer, starts the newspapers by the end and can lightly talk about the company in charge of the electricity in a random stadium. Quite scary really.
During the world cup, the big question for many people was : which team am I going to support ? It might seem weird but many people didn't put many hopes on their home countries and were already thinking about plan B. Being French, he didn't take him long to realise he was screwed. England then ? Not much help either...Lucky for him, he happens to study Spanish, that was a much better bet. Isn't betrayal not to support your team til the end some may ask ? I see it like the chicken and egg story : if they let you down, why should you bother? Although I need to add that I personally believe the chicken was first which might impair my judgment.
With his misbehaving curly hair, round black glasses and relaxed trousers, the Football Nerd would leave the site where he engineers and go straight to the pub to watch the evening's game. He collects t-shirts from all around the world football teams but don't wear them as much as he used too (thanks to his girlfriend). Except when the world cup is on. Pure pleasure. My month of Hell (ok I'm exaggerating) is his month of Heaven (I am not exaggerating).
Now it's finished. The pubs are quieter, the streets cleaner, people back to silence, the summer and its ghost town atmosphere has wrapped the city up. The football nerd is back to wearing normal t-shirt and watching unknown 3rd zone teams play. Until the next big football event comes up and brings him back to full life.

You can check out his blog here