First Loves Blogfest

Courtesy of Alex J. Cavanaugh

The aim of this is simple: Your first movie/film, your first song/band, your first book and first person - four first loves in one day wrapped up nicely in one blogfest. Simple... or so they think.

My first film: Blade Runner

Not THE first film I saw and enjoyed, but certainly the first film I fell in love with. I think I was 18 at the time and went to see it in a local cinema down the road from the flat I lived in. The cinema was called 'The Globe' on the corner of Welfield Road, in Roath, Cardiff. It was a shabby, run-down affair and I remember wearing my coat all the way through as it was freezing in there - even the walls glistened with damp. But it just made the experience of watching this film all the more amazing, as the cinema almost became a part of the film with its damp, cold atmosphere and tired, worn out decor blending in so well with that of the setting of the film. The final scene with Deckard and the last replicant, Roy Batty, was just so powerful for me there were no words to express my emotional state as a result.

My first music: Dr Who theme tune & 'Oliver's Army' by Elvis Costello

The reason for two in one is basically down to the fact I bought them together as my first ever record purchase as a 16 year old doing his 'own thing' in Cardiff city centre. Though I don't recall the name of the place where I bought them from.

Dr Who theme tune - the original - was one of those things I'd wait for on a Saturday afternoon after World of Sport had finished. Mum was usually preparing Saturday tea, which was always ham cobs with butter. Normally as a kid (bear in mind I'm talking not even 10 years old at the time), I'd have dozed off on the settee, so the cosiness of the coal fire would leave me feeling snug and the familiar sound of my mother moving back and forth from kitchen and living room, accompanied by the clink of china and cutlery just added to the feeling of a safe and loving environment for me. Then those initial 'dang-da-dang' synthesizer sounds would spew from the tv and mum would call to me, 'Mark, wake up, Dr Who is starting!'

As for Elvis Costello, I loved 'Oliver's Army' from the first moment I heard it, and I can still sing along to it word for word the whole way through when it plays - just like I remember my national insurance number without looking at it and my first car number plate :)



My first book: Dr Who and the Daleks by David Whitaker

Well, it was a natural progression for a Dr Who fan, such as myself, to move to the next best thing from the program I loved - the book.
I had seen my older brother reading books and recall one night trying to get to sleep in our shared bedroom, which was difficult due to the fact he had the light on to read by. I recall asking him why he was laughing so much? His reply, 'I'm reading a funny book.' That book I now know to be 'Catch 22'. But it still made no sense to me; how does a book make you laugh? Oh, the ignorance of youth, eh?

So, my sense of awe and wonderment at reading this fantastic book (come on, it was my first ever book!) made me realise how I loved to read, and wanted more. That, and the sense of achievement on completing a whole book, fantastic!



My first love: My first real girlfriend (first fiancée)
For obvious reasons I will not use her name, not because I have something to hide or have any negative feelings, but out of respect.

I was just 17 and it was high summer. I had a really good pal called Alun Price, who was about four inches taller and a couple of years younger. He had a bit of a reputation for being a bit of a 'nutter' at his school, but he was my squad mate in the City of Cardiff Swimming Club and best friend. We had such a great laugh together. Anyway, Alun invited me to go roller skating at the local Top Rank in Cardiff. Typical lads, we were full of energy, laughter and ignorant innocence.

We were sat by the rink edge--which just happened to be the Top Rank dance floor--the music was booming, the lighting subdued, split with stabs of multi-coloured flashes of disco lights and glitter ball. Laughter and shrieks filled the air. The sound of hundreds of rolling wheels on a wooden floor rumbled above it all. It was fantastic.

As we were tying up our skates a small group of girls ambled by and one in particular caught my eye. I nudged Alun, 'Look at her, she's gorgeous!' I said. He looked up and asked which one. I pointed her out, and he smirked and said, 'I know her, she goes to my school.'
Now I can't recall if he offered to go speak to her or just went of his own accord? Either way he went, and in a few minutes returned, smiling broadly. He told me her name and, to my utter amazement, that she also liked the look of me.

We all spent the evening roller skating together, laughing and enjoying life.
Later, when it was time to go home, I walked her to the bus stop. We chatted, joked and laughed, discovering more about each other in the process. I didn't want the moment to end.

I was falling hard.

She then broke the news of her leaving to spend the summer with her mother, who lived in the US having remarried. I was gutted. But she gave me the address and I wrote to her everyday without fail (I'm embarrassed to say, my writing back then was appalling).
It was a time of immeasurable happiness for me, and always will be. One of the milestones of my youth.

And if she were to ever read this, which is beyond doubtful, I would like to say... 'thank you', with all my heart.