to be Frank

“Although I'm only fourteen, I know quite well what I want, I know who is right and who is wrong. I have my opinions, my own ideas and principles, and although it may sound pretty mad from an adolescent, I feel more of a person than a child, I feel quite independent of anyone.”

Fourteen today. Where do the years go?

Abse family news

1. Exclusive: Slater & Gordon set to acquire Cardiff-based Leo Abse & Cohen

2. Dannie Abse, doctor, poet, novelist and playwright, born 22 September 1923; died 28 September 2014

exiles

I will be taking the Bomber along to an early season friendly against Battersea Ironsides this morning.

John and Rod, who shared a flat with me in Putney nigh on thirty years ago, are also due back on a visit. (John from New Zealand and Rod from DR Congo) though I haven't seen them yet.

Rod reminded me that the three of us actually turned out in the same London Cornish RFC team against the Ironsides all that time ago.

Maps to the stars

A couple of years ago I judged A Dangerous Method one of the worst films. I have ever seen.

Next David Cronenberg brought us Cosmopolis. Again it was utter rubbish.

Now Maps to the Stars has been released to universal acclaim I must be strong and give it plenty of the back of my head.

I have never regretted bailing on Peter Greenaway after Prospero's Books. Imagine the grief that has saved me over twenty odd years.

a game of two halves

It is a serious day today with Parliament recalled and MPs voting on a Government motion to strike Islamic State (IS) terrorists in Iraq within hours. Rory Stewart writes wisely here. I recommend you read it.

It is also a silly day. FIFA 15, the video game, is released and in a bizarre tribute to real life controversy, Luis Suarez‘s ban in football has been extended to the virtual world. You can use the Uruguayan in friendlies but he is otherwise unavailable for selection until the 26th October.

one brick at a time

Do it all night long

Time Out has learned that September 12, 2015 will be the first all-night weekend of the Underground, and that - yes - Colliers Wood will be among the select lines and stations pulling all nighters.

click for a larger image

That's right:

The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold

And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold

should just about cover it from Friday night until Sunday morning this time next year.

Stained Glass off Stane Street

I had to go on an errand to the school this morning. On the way back I noticed Coriander Stained Glass at 27 Kingston Road, Wimbledon. SW191JX.

Herewith their restoration and repair services. I wonder if they could help with the cracked stained glass window in Mum and Dad's house? It has been a vague and occasional itch I can't seem to scratch for years now. Perhaps I will wander up Kingston Road and have a chat. The window is in Wales and they are in London for one thing, so I am not predicting plain sailing.

Oh, and we won the quiz again last night in case you were wondering.

Seahawks shake off Broncos' stunning rally to win in OT

Seattle Seahawks 26, Denver Broncos 20 (OT)

What happened: The Broncos erased a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter, with QB Peyton Manning throwing a 26-yard TD pass to TE Jacob Tamme up the sideline and the tying two-point conversion to WR Demaryius Thomas with 18 seconds to go in regulation. But the Seahawks won the toss in overtime and marched 80 yards in 13 plays for the winning score – a 6-yard TD plunge by RB Marshawn Lynch 5 minutes, 46 seconds into OT.

The Seahawks match (Icons passim) was the live game on Sky Sports last night, so I bought a NowTV day pass and settled down to the game.

Thrilling stuff, though it finished at God knows what hour in the morning, and I do own up to the odd nap during the inevitable longueurs.

booty

I ordered a Xenta 163 Piece Rotary Tool and Accessory Kit from ebuyer the other day. When I opened it I found an eHarmony flier enclosed with it. The heuristics elude me.

Now. Where was I?

iOS 8

I have upgraded my phone and iPad to iOS 8.

The voice recognition seems a lot better. I will find out about the maps shortly as I have to drive to the nearest Halford's for some Ford touch-up paint after scratching my car's passenger door against a pillar in the gym car park.

Speaking of the gym, I wonder what sort of a fit the new Apple health app will be with my obsessive/compulsive tendencies.

Probably rather a good one once they iron the creases out of it.

Something for the weekend?

I defy you not to feel a discomfiting twinge of admiration for Gerard Depardieu, functioning alcoholic extraordinaire. The French actor, who owns a vineyard, has revealed that he drinks 14 bottles of wine a day. “In the morning, it starts at home with champagne or red wine before 10am,” he told So Film magazine. “Then again champagne. Then pastis, maybe half a bottle. Then food, accompanied by two bottles of wine. In the afternoon, champagne, beer and more pastis at around 5pm to finish off the bottle. Later on vodka and/or whisky.”

Despite this gargantuan thirst, Depardieu insists he is as fit as a fiddle and never gets drunk – “just a little pissed”. Even then, it’s easy enough to sober up. “All you need is a 10-minute nap and voilà, a slurp of rosé wine and I feel as fresh as a daisy.”

As good a drinker as I am, I still aspire to this sort of greatness.

This evening I will need something to go with chargrilled rump steak with garlicky crushed potatoes, green beans, roast beetroot and horseradish cream, the interwebs telling me that is the meal best matched with what is left of my weekly veg box.

I think fourteen bottles of, say, Chilean Malbec should fit the bill very nicely.

Removal Tools

Songs of Innocence

U2

If you would like U2’s Songs of Innocence removed from your iTunes music library and iTunes purchases, you can choose to have it removed. Once the album has been removed from your account, it will no longer be available for you to redownload as a previous purchase. If you later decide you want the album, you will need to get it again. The album is free to everyone until October 13, 2014 (PDT) and will be available for purchase after that date.

Do you want to remove Songs of Innocence from your account?

Scotland

UK

If you would like the UK’s Scotland removed from Great Britain, you can choose to have it removed. Once the country has been removed from your nation, it will no longer be automatically available to you. If you later decide you want the country, you will need to try and negotiate to get it again. The Union is free to everyone until September 19, 2014 (UTC) and will not be available after that date.

Do you want to remove Scotland from your nation?

We've had this date with each other from the beginning

A Streetcar Named Desire was broadcast live to cinemas around the world last night. I went to see it in the HMV Curzon and very good it was too. I think I will be attending more http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/ shows.

“They told me to take a streetcar named Desire and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at - Elysian Fields!”

What I'm really talking about is my brand new pair of butterfly roller sakes

I find Ray McGovern chillingly plausible if you have got two hours forty to spare.

We won the quiz again yesterday after coming fifth (fifth!) the week before, but I think that last Monday's questions were set by a secret group of reptilian humanoids called the Babylonian Brotherhood. Who else would remember a Don Johnson single from the 80s or know that Brazil had had a monarchy?

Mark, Marcus, Magic

I went along to Mark's Cocktail Hour gig in the West End last week. He is a man out of time. Generally smartly dressed in a jacket and tie, and living to tinkle the ivories and croon the great American song book with his jazz trio. He should have been a Joey Bishop or Peter Lawford level member of Sinatra's rat pack to be honest.

It was fun. Often in the past the cabaret has been ruined by wanna be stand up comics; damaged and needy individuals who have been told that the way to boost their self respect and earn the respoect of others is to get up in front of a crowd of strangers and start hurling insults. This time we had some good sketches and a close quarter magician which was much better.

Mark's trio was also enhanced with a horn section that included (be still my beating heart) the son of the Bonzo's Vernon Dudley Bohay-Nowell on trumpet.

I also bumped in to Marcus, who I only see every few years, though it seems more often as he has such great stories (I feel that he is with me in spirit when I steal them and tell them to others as if they are about me). I asked him if the film he was working on with Noel Clarke the last time we met made it out of the starting blocks. He smiled modestly and admitted he was the co-producer of Storage 24 which took $72 (£44) dollars in the US box office, making it the lowest grossing film of 2013.

You are only allowed to snigger if you have had the gumption to get a feature film made and released in the US. I take my hat off to him.

bore da

I am just off to take the Bomber and some team mates to training.

We got an email off Jim the coach earlier which says

We have big plans for the U14s end of season tour. Following in the footsteps of last year’s U14s, we have booked Cardiff Arms Park (home to the Cardiff Blues) where we will play two matches against local opposition.

That's something to look forward to. Maybe some of the family can come and watch.

Jack to a King

Chelsea and Swansea, the only two sides in the Premiership with a 100% record meet this afternoon and the winner will go to the top of the table.

A film about the Swans premièred at the Odeon Leicester Square yesterday.

What a long strange trip it's been.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

The Bomber played for the school yesterday despite having to stay at home on Monday and Tuesday after his injury on Sunday. We picked up some sports tape at Boots with the idea of using that to beef up his elastic ankle support and he came through the game unscathed, getting two tries in a 28-17 defeat.

We watched ScrumV on the iPlayer on Wednesday. I hadn't realise how bad Owen Williams' injury was. I have bought a pack of the #StayStrongForOws wristbands.

The Velvet Divorce

I ken, when we had a king, and a chancellor, and parliament — men o' our ain, we could aye peeble them wi' stones when they werena gude bairns — But naebody's nails can reach the length o' Lunnon.

I fully intend the above to be my final word on Scotland's Referendum.