October 8, 2009
Old Ghosts
After a fair amount of what can only be described as twatting around, I finally managed to upgrade my iPhone, and indeed I am typing on the altogether satisfactory new model right now. Full on blogging may be somewhat pushing the limit of bearability, but let's see how we go.
What finally drove me to the Apple Store early one morning, aside from exasperation with O2's phenomenal uselessness, was what seemed to be a terminal problem with the old one not syncing and refusing to run any apps. As it turned out, this was actually a corruption of my iTunes library, but by the time I worked that out I had the shiny new gizmo (and the 18 month bottom-rung contract) in my hot little hands and it was too late to go back. Not that I would have anyway, since I've been trying to do this since June.
In any case, one of the phone's first duties after that nonsense was sorted out was to photograph a bunch of aged ex-cinema staff who dragged themselves out to a King's Cross pub to drink and reminisce about their erstwhile workplace and various absent friends.
Most of these people I hadn't seen since the early 90s, and it was strange to be doing so again; mostly in a good way. Some looked exactly the same, some unrecognisably different. One, Mary, brought some copies of the pic in the previous post, which is how I came to post it. I can't for the life of me think what the circumstances were that led to it being taken, but I'm glad it was.
As several of us observed, it's hard to imagine getting together for a reunion with the people you worked with in some random bar twenty years ago, and at one level this was that sort of casual part-time job. But at the same time it wasn't. The Scala was a real institution, a legend in its own time and still a cultural touchstone even now, shorthand for the sort of sleazy pretentious arthouse dive they just don't make 'em like anymore. Alas.
Anyway, the reunion pics are up on Facebook. I'll add a link when I'm working with less constraints. And maybe get around to reporting on Pere Ubu or my welcome talk or some other stuff. But for now, this is about as much typing as I can stand...
Posted by matt at October 8, 2009 11:33 PM