Summer's here and the time is right...

For sticking your head in the freezer. Hot, eh?

We have some new readers, Ben Bryant tells me. Howard Carr and Andy Hunter have been checking out the posts, though I don't see any contributions from them so far.

And Roger Bartley is threatening to add some contributions about some of our former classmates. He's also let some other folk know about the blog -- he writes:

"I sent word of JerseyDayz to Darrell (I see he's been in touch!), Adam Newey, Johnny Pallot and Johannes Adelmann. Why don't you send the link to Jon Giles at the OVs and see who emerges from the woodwork."

So that's exactly what I am going to do.
And for anyone wondering about Johannes Adelmann -- he came over from Germany and spent I think a year or two at Vic teaching as part of his degree. Good bloke and a very good basketball player, though I remember he found it more than a bit frustraing trying to enthuse a group of about 30 sixth-formers who were mostly interested in acting the fool on court...


Anyone remember anything else about teachers/pupils at Vic or Girls' College?
Can anyone remember the school song -- Latin version? It was the only Latin I ever learned, apart from 'caveat emptor' and 'provus ovum'...

Anyone reading this that wants to contribute, it's dead easy, and doesn't cost anything - just a minute of your time to create an account. Or if you'd rather, you can email me at
ray.lemaistre@ntlworld.com

One thing I have noticed, though -- we have an all-male list of contributors. Come on girls (if you're out there) -- add some thoughts/posts/messages or get in touch.

Back to work -- it's earnings/financial reporting season for the companies I cover for my publication, so it's back to the conference calls and financial spin.... "Losing lots of money was always part of our long-term strategy" etc etc

All's Quiet....

I've been a bit bogged down with work'n'stuff, so have neglected the blog. Shame on me.

Quick update -- Ben Bryant's little lad Harrison, just a few days old, is a little cutie (to use a rather sickly expression) if the pics received this weekend are anything to go by. Congrats again to Ben and Casey down Rozel way.

Daz Smith clearly hasn't changed :-)
Here's his opening gambit from a recent email:

"Acapulco! Photos.... yes, this blog could be a v dangerous thing, more dangerous than a set of painting ladders leaning away from the edge of the Bartley pool."

Answers on a postcard...

The 'photos' he refers to are the pics he sent me, which I MUST upload soon.
And it reminded me, I have a photo somewhere of Roger dressed as, er, maybe a 'native American' at one of Jez Briggs's parties, accompanied by Gyu Webb doing an impersonation of Gene Simmons from KISS - picture that one, my friends...

I shall try to find it and get and scanned into digital format. Daz is right -- photos could be dangerous...

Talking Heads

Let's talk muzak....

I've always been one to live in the past as far as entertainment goes -- watched 1960s movies in the 1980s, and now I'm watching 198os filsm in the 'Noughties' -- and, with the treasure trove that is iTunes, I am now up to my ears in 1970s/1980s music... what a treat.

I'm currently totally obsessed with a live double album by the Talking Heads, 'The Name of This band is the Talking Heads.' The 1977-1979 period is by far the superior -- if you can, check out this album's version of Psycho Killer, The Book I Read, The Big Country, and Stay Hungry. Just immense.

If I hear one more James Blunt song, I will throw up.

Darrell 'Daz' Smith Down Under

Another of the Class of 1982 is now based in Australia -- Darrell Smith has sent me an email having read the previous post about Roger Bartley's classic early 1980s parties in Jersey.

Daz has been to one of Rog's more recent shindigs and has the photographic evidence to prove it, and when I get a few minutes I'll be sharing the visuals... nice one, Daz.

The boy Smith is running his own software company in Sydney, and has a girlfriend and a rabbit.
More details will surely follow...

Richard Hardy-Bishop -- hard man?

I was swapping emails with Kingsley Cox and he mentioned two people:

1) Graeme Holmes -- I know he went in TV/film production but haven't heard from him in 14/15 years.

2) In response to me mentioning Richard Hardy-Bishop as someone in our year that maybe had dropped off people's radars, Kingsley says he remembers him because "once he bashed Birrell's head into the ground over and over again." And I remember his as a reasonably mild-mannered guy who was on my table for A Level maths!!

So the question is -- Richard Hardy-Bishop -- hard man or not?

Michael Stein is the latest find...

I swapped emails with Michael Tuesday, so hoping to get more on what he's doing/up to etc and to tap him for some contacts such as Charlie Journeaux.

More to follow....

Kingsley Cox has been in touch...

King has been in touch -- he's in England at the moment, in Newhaven, Sussex, for the summer.

He lives in Stony Brook, Long Island, New York state, about 60 miles east of Manhattan. He is married with twin girls of 7 and a son of 10.

In case you missed the previous post, check out his web pages at

http://www.syndar.org/New_Folder/kingsley_cox.htm

News About Ben Bryant

Ben Bryant has just become a dad for the first time.

He and Casey have just had a boy, Harrison Peter. All are well. That will change when Ben realizes he will also be deprived of sleep for months on end.

Ben and Casey live in Jersey, out Rozel way.

Unconfirmed reports suggest Harrison has already been dressed in a navy blue baby suit with the Chelsea logo, and that Casey vetoed Mourinho as an additional middle name.

If within 5 or 6 years Harrison is finding the ball bouncing off strange parts of his body and into the net after a prolonged period of goal-hanging, we'll know he has inherited all his dad's genes.

Be sure to toast Harrison, Casey and the boy Bryant next time you have a drink...

Jersey news -- drunk people get peckish...

I decided, for the first time EVER, to see if the Jersey Evening Post is online, in case it might provide some source data for the blog.
Well, it is, sort of, and, while checking out the site
http://www.thisisjersey.com/
this item caught my eye:

If you drink, don't cook
By Harry McRandle
IF you are drunk or tired, don't cook.
http://www.thisisjersey.com/news/news2.html

Guess what? Drunk people get the munchies and decide to use a 1950s-style deep fat fryer (have these people never heard of oven chips?) and then burn down their homes or set fire to the cat, or something....

It amused me for 2 reasons:

1) It's a classic local newspaper story.... page filler stuff.

2) The reporter is Harry McRandle, who didn't go the Vic College, but who I know of old and saw last summer at my brother's wedding. A great bloke, and NEVER to be seen without a drink in his hand. I must ask him if he has a penchant for freshly cut french fries at four in the morning next time I am leaning against him....

Remember the Bird Flu? Hollywood does

This is off the beaten track somewhat, but amusing, I'd say...

Here's a promotional poster for an as yet un-made film that was advertized at a film and TV conference I attended in April this year, just when folk were wondering when we would all die from strolling within 10 feet of a duck or from eating a chicken wing...



"Virus in Paradise"...

Luv it....

I like today's Surrealist greeting....

"As the bile slowly rises in my incandescent eluxulator, your mere presence has a calming effect upon my rabies."

I couldn't have put it better on a Monday morning...

Why Zidane got sent off...

So, for those of you who watched the World Cup final and care about what happened, I'm pretty sure I know why Zidane committed his 'moment of madness'....

My lip-reading isn't as good as it was in the days of the Trinity Disco, but I am pretty sure Marco Materazzi, the man on the sharp end of Zidane's head, said -- "Looks like you're thinning out on top..." -- and the rest is histoire, as they say across the l'eau...

Surrealist Compliment Generator

If you haven't tried this out yet, check out the link to the right.
It can be a bit hit and miss, but I got this one this morning:

"The holes in your earloabs ever make me think fondly of the pock-marked landscapes upon the lunar surface."

Ah, thanks....

Duran Duran....

Al McGregor posted a comment below about Roger Bartley's parties -- that they were inspired more by 'Girls on Film' than A Flock of Seagulls.

That just reminded me of a recent laugh-out-loud TV moment featuring Simon Le Bon. He was talking about the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Duran Duran formed and started to generate hits. He said he was inspired to write lyrics by "New York punk poetess Patti Smith". (See www.pattismith.net)

Er, so Patti Smith was the inspiration for the deep and poetic stanzas that comprise 'Girls on Film', 'Hungry Like the Wolf' and 'Rio'?

And I'm sure he wasn't being 'ironic'. Actually, that would have made him even more of a prat.

Classic Jersey punk lyrics

Classic stuff... no one from Vic or JCG involved, but great Jersey 'punk' songs from

The Artists Formerly Known As:
-- Two Dogs at it
-- Untraceable ?
-- Faith no Morel
-- Dorey, Crill, Bailhache and Jeunne
-- Bonne Nuit Tylor
etc

Lyrics not for those easily offended

http://user.itl.net/~cmsphill/guests/jsybands/2dogs/index.htm

Next up, Roger Bartley

OK, remember Roger's brilliant parties?
He's in California and has set up his own TV production company...

http://www.rbpi.tv/

I am disappointed, frankly. Go to the home page and the signature music is not Flock of Seagulls? What gives Rog?

Who remembers Kingsley Cox?

I feel OK about posting this because if Kingsley didn't want people to know what he was doing these days he wouldn't have this on the Web!

http://www.syndar.org/New_Folder/kingsley_cox.htm

Kingsley was always highly opinionated, and, guess what, he hasn't changed, it would seem. Check out his thoughts on tennis... it's a sport for the elderly and infirm only, apparently... :-)

He still looks the same though -- own up Kingsley, when was that photo taken?

Why not use FriendReunited?

A good question Ray...

Well, it's a bit of a pain because it's a 'walled garden.' Naturally it wants all communications to take place within the confines of its service, which is fine - it's a business and that's how it makes money.

Don't get me wrong - good service, very useful and good fun.

But it doesn't suit my purposes. I shall certainly be using its data, though, to get updates on people. I'd encourage people to add information to FriendsReunited too.

Ray

Opening gambit

Well, just hours after swapping instant messages with Alasdair McGregor (lives in Perth, Australia currently) and 'chatting' about some of the characters we remembered from the Class of 1982 at Victoria College and the Jersey College for Girls (JCG), we decided to create a blog to help us pull together (non-intrusive, non-abusive) information about those folk.

And here it is.

I couldn't think of anything more inspiring than JerseyDayz, but what the hey.

So, what we want are links, posts and communications about the people that attended Jersey's Victoria College (Vic) and JCG 1975-1982 (joining and leaving years), especially those that made it through to do A levels, and then party all through the summer of '82. (I can still hear Martyn Fry giving it his all as lead singer of ABC - that, as much as anything, says 1982 to me).

We already know exactly where some people are and what they're doing -- Roger Bartley, Ben Bryant, Rob Reid, and quite a few others. So I will chat again with the boy McGregor and compile a starting list of who's where and doing what and we'll go from there.

I'll admit this was largely inspired by the recent JCG reunion organized by Sophie Larbalastier (Sophie de Faye to many of us). Good effort Sophie!! I saw the pics from the event and they really brought back a lot of great memories.

Anyhoo, should, by some amazing chance, someone from those days actually READ THIS, then get in touch by posting a comment with some contact details or drop me an email at
ray.lemaistre@ntlworld.com

For the record, I live in Epsom, Surrey, and have been a business journalist for 18 years. Married to Denise, who I met at Stirling University (I did film studies - no smirking please!), and we have two naturally amazing children (both girls, 11-years-old Alice and Olivia, who's about to turn 8).

I'm going to use this blog to sound off about things in general too, such as films, food, football, music, and anything else that comes to mind. Feel free to chime in.

It looks like this doesn't have a spellchecker and I can't be arsed to type in Word and paste over, so excuse any poor spelling.

Ray