A series of irritating events

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Pete Langman

Well, July was a funny old month, and no mistake. The rain fell, the summer came, went, and came again, and I did myself the opposite of proud.
It started against Linden Park, where the age-old issue of people playing out of their league came back to haunt me. This time it was a bowler who has no business plying his trade in div 10. simply too quick, and too accurate. He cleaned us all up, and sent me back into the hutch with an lbw shout I had no argument with. Annoying, but that’s life. Then came a short run of half-starts in which, frankly, I’ve been struggling with my natural inclinations after the last few decent innings. Continue reading →

What a difference a day makes

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Pete Langman

Well, I’m not entirely convinced it makes that much difference, all things considered, but sometimes it’s impossible to make like-for-like comparisons without unleashing a world of irritation, a sort of sachet of fleas. When I compared last season to this I did so before the game when, last year, I scored my best ever … a glorious and most enjoyable 78. By the point chosen this year, I’d hit 247 runs at 15.4, almost entirely left-handed; last year I had scored 194 at 12. since then, I’ve scored 0, 0, and 2. last year, I scored 78, 17, 1. Continue reading →

The best ever guitar solo

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Pete Langman

The question, perennial, dull and unanswereable, was posed once again by the Guardian. Here’s my take. I don’t think they understood it:

[Disclaimer: I improvised this, so it's just over the word limit. It's un-proofed, un-edited, and undercooked.]

Frank Zappa once said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. Ironic, then, that the readers’ panel, in itself in effect a competition to see who can write the most affecting piece of short prose, ought this week to concern the evaluation of another mostly subjective artistic production: the rock guitar solo. Continue reading →

Worse things happen in East Chailey

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Pete Langman

[first published May 2012]

After all the moaning, the cursing, the sheltering under the nearest rainproof canopy, there was finally the promise of some cricket. Top down, I sped through the East Sussex countryside ignoring the fact that it was still a little chilly. Through East Chailey, I slowed along with the car in front and spied the reason. Someone on the road, jacket over their head, two men standing above them. Four cars aligned around the area of the crash. Continue reading →

King Mob

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Pete Langman

King Mob full transcript

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Pete Langman

A transcript of my interview with Glenn Matlock, Chris Spedding and Steven Parsons of King Mob.

The usual rules apply – if you want to use this, then please ask me first, and cite me correctly. Cheers!

There’s a lot of waiting around

Glen – you know radio four, that poncy news program, they said ‘now we’re going over to floella poncenby-smythe who’s with charlie watts from the rolling stones, today celebrating thirty years playing in the rolling stones, and she said ‘charlie, you’ve been playing live for thirty years, and he said ‘you’ve got it wrong there love …’ and she said ‘what do you mean, surely you formed in such and such a date and now it’s such and such a date’, and he said I might have been in the band for thirty years, but it’s not thirty years’ playing, its five years playing and twenty-five years hanging about’ Continue reading →

Blackbeard’s Last Voyage

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Pete Langman

This here book I wrote a while back. This illustrated chapter is courtesy of the excellent Kaira Mezulis. Read the first few chapters of BlackBeard’s Last Voyage.