Fame for the 'pool

I sometimes tell people that I come from Blackpool. This isn't strictly true. I actually come from Lytham, which is about five miles down the road / round the coast from Blackpool. I say it partly because far more people have heard of Blackpool, and partly because I did go to secondary school in Blackpool, and consequently spent many teenage Saturdays 'up town' and many teenage nights in Very Bad seafront nightclubs with names like Sands. Part of me *does* come from Blackpool, as anyone who has caught me staring longingly at the big light up Santas in garden centres recently could testify.

So the odds were high that I would tune in to the first episode of Blackpool, the new musical murder mystery series from the BBC, which is set in an amusement arcade on Central Beach with a cast of paunchy Brylcreemed small time crooks and brassy women in expensive but slightly too small dresses. It took a bit of getting used to, but by the time Ripley the arcade owner and DI Carlisle the Glaswegian detective were singing along to These Boots Were Made For Walking I was hooked. I think it's going to shape up nicely, and Ripley's house has classic Blackpool interiors taste down to a T, so it's got that nostalgic edge as well. Perfect Thursday night viewing.

And as if that weren't enough, we caught the late show at the Phoenix cinema last night, which was The White Stripes: Live Under Blackpool Lights, a grainy, wonky film of what looked like an insanely intense gig at the Empress Ballroom in January this year.

What a band: who'd have thought two people could make so much noise? I would give anything to have a voice like Jack White's, let alone be able to play guitar like that. The version of Jolene nearly made me cry, so I am very happy to hear it's coming out as a single. Could this be the song I can finally find on iTunes? And what a venue: I saw the Stone Roses in the Empress Ballroom in 1989 and it blew me away. They filmed that as well. Which seems to confirm that there must be something about the place. You don't get legendary gig films shot in Basingstoke now, do you?

joella