March maundering.

[Sweder]

The first Rocky film was a remarkable piece of work, winning the Academy Award for Best Picture against such giants as All The Presidents Men, Network and the outstanding Taxi Driver. The film's maximum pathos blended with a brutal dedication to rise above life’s limitations makes Stallone’s seminal piece work for me.

I wouldn’t give you tuppence for the sequels (though I’ve seen most of them), but Peter Wolmarans’ theme, Gonna Fly Now, still gives me chills. When I first started running I used to head off down the three-quarter mile drop past Lewes Prison and hit the cycle path along the A27. On the return I had that bastard hill to climb, so I cut a CD with that piece of music due to come in at roughly the point where I’d reach the base of the hill. Man, by the time I’d pounded up that street with the crescendo washing through my headphones stone me if I didn’t feel like a World Champion.

It’s corny as hell, but it worked for me.