I should know better

I go to the cinema a lot. I always have.

But taste changes. After years of arthouse, I have sunk into a happy miasma of escapism. After all., time teaches you that there is a lot which is best escaped. I can remember , for instance, in my youth being fascinated by Italian Neo Realism - GERMANY YEAR ZERO and so on - but I now revisit these and their like and find them amazingly depressing in the light of experience. Been there, done that, don`t have any answers.....(have a very soft spot for Werner Herzog, though)

So anyway, my recent visits have not exactly been seeking answers to social problems or personal angst...

Let`s be honest - this old Trekkie loved the new STAR TREK!

Another visit was a bit strange. You know you are old when scenes from your past life begin to turn up in nostalgia comedies. So it was with mixed feelings that I went to see THE BOAT THAT ROCKED.

It`s a comedy about the pirate boats. And for those of you who don`t remember, way back in my youth the BBC had a radio monopoly in this country, and if you wanted to hear any range of pop music you had to tune to Luxembourg, broadcasting from abroad and so not needing a licence - or to the pirate stations, broadcasting from leaky old boats just outside the 3 mile limit and having no interest at all in licences. The best known one would be Caroline. And in my depraved youth, I knew some of the lads who DJd on the boats, and a jolly lot they were too.

Well, it was indeed odd. Not very funny either. Poor, scrappy writing. It seems they had a vision of broadcasting from a flat calm, sunkissed sea, constantly stoned and beseiged by boatloads of young women (some wearing clothes that were alarmingly familiar.) From what I was told at the time, if you decreased the totty frequency by 90%. and factored in gales, constant seasickness, leaky unseaworthy boats and isolation - but yes, they all said they loved it - the music, the excitment of being on the wrong side of the law, a start in the profession....

It brought back memories. Most of those lads went on to significant careers. One I knew is dead, and still has a fan following. They were a fun crowd...

Except, there was this one Irish fellow I met in their company. Not sure that he was on the boats at all, and he was a dour character, always very serious about his future prospects...

I wonder what happened to Wogan?