Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Choose Life

It's been 25 years. How can that be? 

Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh's novel, was turned into an iconic movie, premiered 25 years ago.

Seriously. 

I have a copy of Trainspotting kicking around here. I remember reading it on a train on a day trip to Brighton when I got to that awful toilet scene - The worst toilet in Scotland. It's bad enough on the screen - in the book, it's even more horrific. I felt pretty rank for the rest of the trip after reading that. I also remember it took a bit to get into the book's thick Scottish accent. I remember thinking of a Scottish friend, and read the book in my head in her voice. 


I'll always have a soft spot for Trainspotting - both the book and the movie. The escapades of Renton, Spud, Sick Boy and poor Tommy were as daring as they were relatable in a strange kind of way. Of course, you loved to hate Begbie, and curse Diane for, well, being Diane. 

Then there's the soundtrack from the film. Born Slippy was a bit of an anthem of it's day (Shout it, lager, lager, lager, larger...). There's songs by Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Blur, Pulp, New Order and Blondie. 

And there's the absolute hopelessness of being in your twenties and thinking you're bulletproof. 

Thankfully, heroin has never been a part of my life, but at the time this came out, I was doing a little clubbing. Not much, but enough to see what was out there. Enough to know that party drugs weren't really for me. 

Trainspotting caught the zeitgeist of the 90's. Part hedonism, party Post-Thatcher, pre-Blair Britain. It has the greyness of a time on the bring of huge change. The Spice Girls were about to appear, bringing with them the chutzpah of a new era to come.

This was the underworld of a country on the brink of hugh change. 

It contained the humour of the ordinary man. 

It was shocking, and funny and eye opening all at once. 

And I can't beleive it was 25 years ago when this all came out, and I was a part of it.

Today's song: 


Today's Cards:

The Enchanted Map Deck:  Protecting Treasure
Archetype Card: Detective
Cards Against Humanity: Here is the church, here is the steeple. Open the doors and there is...A sick burnout. 

No comments:

Post a Comment