Brown

Mightily impressed by the debut of "Mrs Brown's Boys" on BBC1 last night. Very, very funny.


I always wondered would Brendan O'Carroll manage to get the stageshow and DVDs across in the same way on terrestrial television. And the answer is a resounding yes!


Part of the reason for this is the whole show is played in front of a live audience. No canned laughter in this sitcom.


The best bit last night was where Mrs. Brown found she was short of money in the pub. So she simply walked off to another part of the set and collected her purse from the kitchen - all the film cameras on show as O'Carroll did this. So inspired. And very Pythonesque.


The cast were cracking each other up as the episode progressed, so reminiscent of "Not Only But Also". It was top-notch stuff.


Me and Mum have seen him at the Empire twice in "Mrs Brown" mode. He's a genius. When I lived over the water, there was a pub down the road called the "Silver Granite" where O'Carroll started his stand-up career. The landlord of the pub was a midget, so Brendan spent the entire night taking the piss out of the poor man, until he was chased out by an angry doorman!!!


O'Carroll is extremely crude, lude and utterly offensive. I lost count of the "f" word usage. Totally recommended.

hellbent

I'm fairly certain that there are forces at work hellbent on creating a new world order for their own benefit. A peaceful world is not an agenda these people follow. It's a game to them. And a lot of worry for everyone else. 

David Icke talks a lot of sense. Except about Europe, but you can't have everything.

The "revolutions" in the Middle East are very unsettling. They seem to be working their way up. Nobody really took any notice of the uproar in Tunisia. Then the front pages of the papers showed interest in the uprising in Egypt. Alarm bells started ringing when protests began in Bahrain. And now Gaddaffi is being hounded out of Libya.

Gaddaffi has been dubbed the darling of Western governments in recent years. His well-publicised meeting with Tony Blair probably being the moment of his rehabilitation into ordinary political circles. 


The truth was rather different. His henchmen and secret services were still torturing enemies of the State, and clamping down hard on political opposition.


So it's gladdening the people of Libya, buoyed by events in Egypt, want some form of democracy.


But is it them who've are maneuvering these events, or other people? Probably never know.

And just to add insult to injury, a very nervous Iran (based on what's going on in Libya and Bahrain) has sent a couple of warships up the Suez canal - for the first time in decades - supposedly on a training exercise....near Israel.


The planet is a powder keg. And it's no use the likes of the Daily Express screaming a headline out today that proclaims "A MIGRANT COMES TO THE U.K EVERY 60 SECONDS". 


If we were all allowed to roam and discover everyone else's cultures and ways, it's fairly likely we would have a much more tolerant and peaceful world. But the human ego is so, so complex....and dangerous!

Scenic

We've bought a new car - a 56-plate Renault Scenic 1.6 16V. In Oyster Gold.

Pictures to follow.

Basically, both myself and Jayne have had long discussions about our car situation. And we can't afford to run two cars at the present time. Insurance has gone through the roof and I don't even want to go into the price of petrol.

So we've traded both our cars in and bought this new one. It's very futuristic. The handbrake is to the right of the steering wheel and it has a computerised-dashboard that's quite similar to the Starship Enterprise!

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sad to see Anya3 go.

Of all the Arosas and the Lupo I've had and played with, Anya3 gave me the least satisfaction to be honest. It was a good car, but when things went wrong, they really went wrong!!! I needed a fair few hundred quid to keep her on the road, which I ain't got either. Jayne was in a similar situation with her car. Our trip to Wales showed that although her 1.4 engined Scenic did it, it was heavy going too.

We hope by getting a new car, in a way we'll be saving money. And there's all sorts of stuff coming up in the next year. Stay tuned.

wales

I'm catching up as ever with the blog. Last week, we all went for a day trip to North Wales. This originated by a plan I had with Aaron for the two of us to go to a disused quarry near Denbigh that I know, armed with just his drums and my SG and ROCK out until our heart's content. But there's other people to consider and we had a lot of laughs in the process.

And we took Bella the puppy - who currently is the Spawn of Satan!!!!

Our first stop was Blaenau Ffestiniog, where we had a picnic and visited the station and narrow gauge railway. The place was all shut up, nobody about, but it still made for some stunning scenery.

I've always wanted to do a day trip on the train from here to Ffestiniog. I nearly did it the other year, and hopefully still will, because today certainly wetted my appetite.

Our next stop was to check out a caravan park in Snowdonia called Ogwen Bank that Jayne and the kids had spent happy holidays at previously. Again, it was shut, but we picked up a brochure and took some great pics.

Then we went on towards Betws-y-Coed, but passed through the foreboding mountains and lakes surrounding Bedgellert........

We parked off at Betws-y-Coed for a bit of shopping, but made a stop at Swallow Falls, where a self-service turnstile led down about 200 steps (and up again!) to the waterfalls. Which Aaron stands against. 

It was a fun day out and I really enjoyed it. I love Wales, the north part especially because I spent a lot of my childhood there - the Costa Del Scouse!!!!

kids

I took Aaron, Bethany and Jay down to both Sefton and Calderstones Park today.

It was a bright, if cold, February day. As this blog knows, I love both these places, and I think the kids love them too.

 Three children at Fairy Glen.

Aaron shows us Fairy Glen.

Bethany on a weird shaped telly screen.

Jay smiling at Fairy Glen.

 Bethany loves her leaves.

Shock photo of the year - Aaron exercising at Calderstones Park.

Bethany and Jay on the swing in Sefton Park.

It's the half term holidays for the kids and, as ever, we're short of cash but it's not stopping us giving the kids a good time. I'm off this week, well, until next Wednesday actually. There's a new rota in work, so I'm glad to stay occupied.

PRS

Also in work, we've had the misfortune to receive a couple of phone calls from the above organisation - the Performing Rights Society.

The PRS is a limited company set up to collect musicians' royalties from various sources. One way in which they're becoming very litigious is in the workplace. The PRS say that an employer must have a basic £44 "licence" to broadcast their members music via a radio, for example. Even talk-based radio such as Radio Five Live isn't immune to the PRS and their tactics. The PRS claim that the incidental music and jingles all fall under their juristrisction because it's likely the composers of the material are signed up to....yep, you guessed it, the PRS.

The PRS have always been around, but in recent times - with the increase in illegal downloading of music - they've needed to find another way to justify their existence to their members. So, taking an easy option, they've began chasing and bullying small firms (like ours) for payment - regardless of whether we have a radio in work or not.

They rang us up twice. The second time, Ron pretty much told them to go away.

Even so, it's created a weird feeling. Why do I feel like I'm being bullied by these parasites? What right have they to interfere with my relatively-pleasant day? I don't have the radio on to listen to particular music, because I have no idea what Radio City's gonna play next? The PRS claim over 75,000 artists and musicians are signed up to their organisation. I would like a list of who's on it or not, so when a song by one of their members comes on the radio, I can turn it off. And so on, etc......

This is a scam. And if they bother me again, I'll be straight on to Liverpool Trading Standards.

Be careful who you listen to......

company

Thankfully, I was proved wrong by Anya3's engine trouble. All the symptoms were the same as the EGR valve malfunctioning, and the problem was very close to the EGR valve too. But, luckily for my meagre bank balance, a stopper on an air pipe had come off, so the engine was sucking more air into the system than it should've been, making the engine misfire.

Still cost me £20 to sort out, but better than £150.

Speaking of vehicles and the like, Ron's bought a new van for work since the demise of the old "Loogie". It's an 04-plate Transit Connect van. A guy brought it round to show us. Me and Ron went for a test drive, found everything above board and, this morning, like the man from Del Monte, Ron said yes.

I think it's good that the people who will normally drive the company vehicle have a say in what company vehicle the company purchases. Notice I've used the word "company" a lot?

Company. Just for good measure.

For me personally, I'll be glad to be hopefully getting back out on the road a bit more than I have in recent times. I don't like being stuck in the office and stores all day. I'm a delivery driver, and a damned good one too. And I enjoy it.

Ladybird

My favourite newspaper, along with the "Morning Star", the "Daily Mirror" is doing the laudable act of giving away Ladybird reader books for children. As someone who grew up reading all about Peter and Jane and their exploits, I'm truly blessed. Top marks for passing these fantastic books onto another generation.

Personal favourites include these titles.....

Carry on, lad, carry on...........

Chelsea

Oooooh, this was the tastiest result all season. My preview, or parts of it, were completely off-target, but I couldn't care less. What a result and it was so well-deserved!

My hat is off to Kenny Dalglish. I dunno what he's said or done to my club over the past month, but the results speak for themselves. Twelve points out of twelve in the last four games, back to back away victories for the first time in the league for 17 months.

A lot of credit to this turnaround is being directed at Steve Clarke, the ex-Chelsea coach and the man swapping all the tactics around, whilst Kenny has a word in the players' ears.

This same bunch of players were dispirited and lacking in any urgency during Hodgson's dreadful tenure at Liverpool. The $64,000 question should be, why wasn't Dalglish given the manager's job back in the summer????

And a bonus for ten should be why doesn't he get the job full-time on the back of form like this??

Kenny, typically, deflects these sort of musings and simply says the club is doing its' job. There's a twinkle in his eyes at the moment, and it's a heart-warming sight to see him celebrate a Liverpool goal - no different to when he was playing. There's a steady confidence in everything the man says and does. It's a man who's at peace with the world now - the haunted face of Hillsborough and Heysel has been tightly put away in a box called "shut".

Above all he represents absolutely EVERYTHING that is good about Liverpool Football Club. Kenny is a link to a bygone age when we wiped the floor with the best football that the world had to offer. Dalglish is stooped in "The Liverpool Way". He's down-to-earth, doesn't boast, has belief in his players and is always taking every game as it comes.

Today, we played got bodies behind the ball, and got bodies flying forward in attack. The excellent form of Raul Merieles is quite astonishing. This is a box-to-box player on the same lines as Terry McDermott. His forward runs are very, very difficult to defend against.

Carra, back from injury, held the defence together like he'd never been away. A superb block tackle from you-know-who was ample evidence of a player showing their true class. Kuyt, as lone striker, held the ball up very well and never let the Chelsea backline have a moment's peace with his harrying and scurrying. Glen Johnson showed more of his improved form in the unfamiliar left-back role. Martin Kelly has made the right-back spot his own - hard in the tackle and excellent coming forward with his pin-point crossing ability. And Lucas, yet again, broke up Chelsea attack after attack with some perfect covering in front of his defence.

Only sour point was the awful miss by Maxi - but he'll have better days.

The whole team played very, very well and on this sort of form I wouldn't bet against us qualifying for the European Cup come May.

See it was Danny Agger who pole-axed El Nino. Didn't have him down for that!!!

preview

It's not often I do a preview before a Liverpool game, but I will today.

I sincerely hope Lucas Levia pole-axes Fernando Torres out of the game. If Lucas gets sent off in the process, and we lose 5-0 anyway, then that's small change for putting this bleating sod of a player out of our collective hearts.

Or Skrtel, CrosbyCarra, in fact any of them can do the job.

Torres musings in the last week have been nothing short of disgraceful. His heart's still with Athletico Madrid, his boyhood team he went on to captain. Well, that's fair enough, but the four years he's spent at Liverpool haven't existed in the meantime.

We've got both Suarez and Carroll, but do you think, regardless of the millions of goals they could both score over the years for us, I'll see their time here as anything other than a stepping stone for other challenges? I can't or won't. There's been players at Anfield who've left but have never truly LEFT if you know what I mean? My boyhood hero, Craig Johnston, hung up his boots at the age of 27 to care for his sick sister in Australia - but at the time it was seen as a way to get a transfer elsewhere. He didn't, he was genuine, and his collection of Liverpool mementos is still as close to his heart as it was when he first joined.

I don't think, aside from Skippy, Robbie Fowler or Luis Garcia, I've held a player in such high esteem than Torres. He should just keep his mouth shut and get on with playing rather than spouting shite that degenerates Liverpool Football Club at every turn.

So today is payback time. You don't shit on Scousers, because we have an uncanny knack of doing the same back.

Liverpool FC Waterloo YNWA JFT96. We plan to live forever - so far, so good!

Anya3

Me and my big mouth!

Yesterday, I was telling Jayne of how, over the years, Anya3 hasn't caused me too much grief. Yet, today, I got a rude awakening on my way to do Saturday's chippy run because the engine was running like absolute crap. Probably I was deluding myself thinking she'd perk up as the engine got warmer, because she got worse.

How can I describe the engine failure. Imagine the car was running on two of its' four cylinders - very jittery, zero acceleration, and tons of exhaust vapour.

For the second time in two years, the EGR (Exhaust Gas Regulator) valve has failed. This computer component is supposed to make the engine run smoother and be fuel efficent. Not today it wasn't.

The big problem I have now is this job, the last time I got it done, cost me £150. My regular mechanic, Doug, hasn't the facilities to replace this part - instead he sent me to one of his mates, ironically quite close to work, who has the workshop facilities to do it. I'd still need the £150 though.

I also need a new battery, and the timing belt is 10,000 miles overdue replacing (another £150 job). I just haven't got the money to get these jobs done and, sadly, it probably isn't cost-effective to do them.

I have a big decision to make - do I sell Anya3 and give up the ghost? And the answer, barring a miracle, is probably yes!

In an ideal world, not a decision I'd be making.