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| Drinking
- its a way of life innit? Well that's how it feels sometimes. There
has been much talk over the years of the 'English Disease'. Much
wringing of hands by the press (both broadsheet and tabloids). And
frequent documentaries on the telly showing the carnage on UK (and
other) streets - all part of our typical nights out. I'd be a hypocrite if I was to get too sanctimonius (don't worry that isn't going to stop me though!) I've had my fair share of drunken behavior down the years and I'm sure I've still got a few episodes in me yet to come. In drinking as in much else I was a late developer. In my later school days as my peers were blazing a trail through the drinking establishments of Wakefield I scarcely went out. To be fair I didn't have any money and it was unlikely that I would get served in any case. Even when I turned eighteen my drinking was limited to halves of sweet cider (and not too many). It was at university where things began to change. A shy person living away from home amongst strangers requires something to break down barriers and meet people. So I discovered the social confidence that alcohol gives you. To be fair I din't overindulge too badly even then - the exception was probably my 21st which started with triples for a quid in the Bigg Market and ended with me being bashed on the nose in the cloakroom queue at the Stage Door night club several hours later (and yes Dan Allamand - that was your fault!) Starting work was where I really hit my stride. Leaving home for a second time and moving to High Wycombe was the start. I found myself in a whole group of youngsters (mainly male - I work in IT after all) who were not only living away from home but also had some money to spend. Weekends and even week nights typically involved a skinful and some fairly tame mischief. In retrospect the turning point was two events that occurred at roughly the same time. I met Mrs Windbag on a night out in Sheffield and I also discovered hangovers. Once again I was a late developer (I'm talking about both girls and hangovers here). Thankfully my hangovers are quite bad which serves as encouragement to tone down my drinking. With the benefit of hindsight I can see that I needed to fill a gap in my life. I was always hoping to meet somebody on my nights out. And to a certain extent it maybe worked - since I was scarcely sober on that night in Sheffield. I can't say that I regretted those nights out. I had fun (what I can remember of it) and there are a few good anecdotes and I learnt lessons along the way. Things that particularly stick in my mind were a bank holiday Sunday in Torquay; waking up at a party with eyeliner drawings over my face; and a night out in a kilt in Soho. And so I don't begrudge people going out and being daft and over indulging. We were all young once and sometimes it does us good to get out of ourselves. What depresses me slightly are the more mundane elements to the whole drinking culture. A bottle of wine of an evening to take the edge off the day's work; getting hammered on Westgate every weekend; and of course going off somewhere sunny to drink away the week. I'm not talking about youngsters here - its more the people my age who haven't found something else to fill whatever gap it is they have in their lives. After Long Division I was at Jay Dee's fast food emporium at 2 am on Westgate (what can I say - we were hungry!!) and given I'd had my first drink at noon the previous day I wasn't sober by any standard - but I'd probably drank about 5 pints over a 14 hour period. Slow and steady with plenty of gaps along the way. It was an eye opener to observe our fellow revellers in action. Still it wasn't as bad as the week before when we witnessed a middle aged woman in the taxi queue so completely out of it that she couldn't tell anybody where she wanted to go and then proceeded to wet herself on the street. As I said before I'll probably be in a state a few more times before I pop my clogs but I'm hopeful I can retain some shreds of dignity along the way. **
Its my current favourite cover version. Its by JC Brooks and the Uptown sound who are a pretty steady retro soul band. The version they do of 'I am trying to break your heart' by Wilco is pretty special though. They manage to put a new spin on it whilst putting in plenty of nods to the original. Though the words are the same the interpretation of 'the story' feels different. Check it out here. |
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