My Six Be Four Universe

Justice

2011-04-15T23:33:00.000+01:00

22 years ago, 96 football fans never came home from a F.A Cup Semi Final match in Sheffield. They were the innocent victims of a botched police operation headed by an inexperienced senior officer.

The people responsible for the Hillsborough disaster have never been brought to book in a criminal case. They should. They should come out of their hiding places and, at the very least, defend their actions on that day. Their silence speaks volumes. Their gutlessness is appalling.

Justice For The 96. Don't Buy The S*n. Never, EVER forget!

Liverpool FC Waterloo YNWA xxxx

finished

2011-04-14T20:08:00.000+01:00

A couple more pics of the for-now finished garden. A lot more work to do when funds allow!

horses

2011-04-14T17:17:00.000+01:00

I regularly take Bella for walks up on Fazakerley Sidings, the disused and overgrown railway yard closed by British Rail back in 1987. This now-nature reserve backs onto Aintree Racecourse, and the week before the races, I got some shots of the fences. I don't know too much about the course, but I think this is Becher's Brook?

I don't like horse racing. I think it's cruel to run horses solely for the benefit of profit. The inhuman way the jockey rode Ballabriggs to victory in this year's National was a disgrace, and I think the lad got off lightly with a five-day ban. And two dead horses does the event no good at all either.

Maybe next year we can have all the jockeys whipped by the horses to within an inch of their lives. Then there WILL be an outcry. Our general attitude towards animals is sickening.

pond

2011-04-14T10:45:00.000+01:00

We have a pond in the back garden. or we did. The thing with it was it was leaking into the soil all the time, and we were constantly refilling the pond on an almost daily basis.

It wasn't fair on the fish, so we got an aquarium to put the smaller goldfish in, which now sits proudly in our front room. The larger fish were taken by Ian from work, up to his daughter's pond in Bolton. Of the thirty fish we started with, only two died. I found a dead one in the pond after I started work dismantling the thing, and he other I sadly murdered because it was swimming at an odd angle and obviously had something wrong with it anyway. Not nice to kill a fish in any event. I will rot in hell.

So below is the work we've done over the last two days. I will call this process "landscaping", others will call it "wanton destruction on an unforgiveable scale". You decide.

On the second day, we got three tonnes of soil dropped off to fill our now empty pond. Guess who moved it all?

And the finished product. It needs to settle because I tried to walk over it and just sunk! I put a load of hardcore (bricks, not porn!) in the bottom to make a base, and hopefully that'll work.

We're planting an apple tree as a centre piece here, and we've bought lots of other interesting plants to hopefully make it look as good as we can make it. Stay tuned for more pics and info!

City

2011-04-14T10:14:00.000+01:00

Nice simple victory against Manchester City the other night.

We were fantastic, but I have to wonder about City? Are they always this awful? Or just over-rated? Big game at the weekend against your neighbours perhaps?

Andy Carroll proved he's going to take some stopping as time progresses. I've likened him to a young Duncan Ferguson, but I think that's being a little disingenuous to the lad. Andy looks interested, whereas with Dunc and Disorderly it rather depended what side of bed he got out of.

Special mention to a couple of the young lads in the team the other night. Jay Spearing, kind of deputising for Gerrard, is making a lot of the right moves out on the park - ably assisted by player of the season so far Lucas. He could become a damned good all-round midfielder - he can pass, tackle like a tiger and motor all day. The only thing letting him down - in fact the whole midfield for that matter - is a lack of goals. But surely it's only time.

Young John Flanagan got a surprise call up to the first team, and settled well at right-back. Whilst you can't judge a player based solely on one game, he looked solid enough, but not as dynamic as the injured Martin Kelly. But these kids should grasp at every game they can get.

This season is over, and even a European place is in serious doubt. So let's just enjoy what we have left, and play without the pressure which can be so overwhelming at times.

bloggy

2011-04-14T10:02:00.000+01:00

I haven't been feeling particularly bloggy in recent weeks. I just couldn't be arsed with it, that's the best / worst excuse I have to offer. But me is determined to try and make up for it now. I think it had something to do with the phone call I got from Mum last night when she said that our Jay was quite taken and amused by an early Terry Gilliam animation I found on YouTube called "Christmas Cards". This ground-breaking piece of work wasn't for Monty Python, but the earlier "Do Not Adjust Your Set" in which Gilliam joined forces with Jones, Palin and Idle for the first time. So it's worth showing again......

It's been a busy couple of weeks, that I'll show in words and pictures.

Last weekend was Jayne's folks, Ged and Carol's 40th Wedding Anniversary. We all went, including Mum, and it was a good night. The thing for me was it was a kind of precursor to our wedding reception in that this is the venue we'd be using. And it looked a lot better at night all done up than the morning after....

Sorry for putting that little video up. This is to show the world that I have two left feet and no semblance of sanity whatsoever. But as long as Aaron enjoyed himself.

Handing out the cake proved too much for our little Bethany

Jayne and her "Chuckie Egg"

harmony

2011-04-01T21:36:00.000+01:00

Here's a shot of Aaron, Bethany and their half-sister, Melanie, who all met up for the first time earlier on this week.

The circumstances and background of this meeting, which included Melanie's mum Jane, is beyond the remit of the blog. But let's just say that a lot of a goodwill and harmony has been created because of it .

Melanie and Jane are a couple of exiled Scousers currently living in Yorkshire. Their return would not only be beneficial to me, Jayne, Aaron and Bethany, but more so for them. Asap!

climb

2011-03-27T23:00:00.000+01:00

Browsing around the Interweb, I came across the website of St.Faiths Church (http://www.stfaithsgreatcrosby.org.uk/) in Waterloo - just yards from where I grew up on Milton Road.

Their picture galleries made all the memories come flooding back, especially this one. It was taken from the bell tower, and looks down over the roof of the main hall. As a kid, I regularly used to climb up on the church roof and walk along the guttering - lovingly shown on this photo.

There was the time I got stuck up there, and rather than have the fire brigade come and rescue me - there by getting into all sorts of trouble with the church authorities and my folks - I climbed down a 50 foot drainpipe. Our Mick was on the ground below, watching me in abject terror. I clung on for dear life, but my left leg once gave way shaking in fear. But I made it down in one piece, though looking back now, I really should've fallen and either injured myself very badly or worse.

I tell you, I can laugh now......

Mancland

2011-03-27T22:48:00.000+01:00

I went up to Manchester today for their Transport Museum's "Spring Festival". Whoppeeee!!!!!

Oddly, it wasn't as packed as it usually is. Probably to do with the recession and that? But it was still possible to fart continuously and no bugger would know who it was? Result!

It was a nice cheap day out for me. Manchester itself is lovely. Being the first day of summer as well. The people are still, and will always be, the biggest shower of inbreds the planet will ever see. But the city centre is a lesson to the rest of us. Whereas Liverpool is basically just "Liverpool One" and all your big brands, Manchester wisely mixes the alternative retailers with the big names, and it works. Stick in a tram line, huge office blocks and loads of impressive water features and you have a vibrant European city, and it's no wonder people look to Mancland as the country's second-metropolis.

Manc folk don't deserve it, obviously. I would say that.

But the transport show was a let-down. I was after some old PSV Circle fact sheets for the Liverpool area, and nobody had them. But if you wanted some over-priced hard-backed books about bus services in Outer Mongolia, this was your event.

I overheard one stall-holder say to his mate, "it's shit this year."

But I'd recommend the odd trip to Manchester. It's always interesting to see how the other half live.

widdleplop

2011-03-20T23:03:00.000Z

Bethany's had the lurgy, and has been innocently putting it around the entire family - me included.

Except when Jayne got it, she spent hours on the bog. Aaron got it, he threw up. I got it, and I suffered both.

I was out doing a Friday night chippy run, and the symptoms came on me so quickly. I really hope I haven't spread it around the chippy!! But I came home around nine o'clock and went to the toilet three times in succession before midnight, and on two of those occasions I both threw up, and kacked my pants with watery widdleplop.

Do you know how humiliating it is to experience both these sensations at once?

The kids were away, so Jayne banished me to Bethany's room. During the night, I woke up convinced that razor blades were going to come out all over my body, especially my mouth. But it's amazing what a good drink of water can do for you! I was likely dehydrated and hallucinating.

Spent Saturday on the couch. But today I was a lot more mobile.

These vomiting bugs are clever buggers. I lost six pounds in weight in 24 hours!!!

If you're a blog reader and you've had personal contact with me in the last 48 hours, I'd start to worry!!!

neanderthals

2011-03-20T22:50:00.000Z

After a very disappointing exit in the UEFA Cup to a team I've never heard of, or that no one but no one will give a shit about when they're eliminated from the competition in the next round, it's nice to be back to winning ways at Sunderland.

Hate Sunderland. Hate their supporters. Only hassle I've ever had at Anfield was coming out of a match into a crowd of Sunderland neanderthals. With me Mum, of all people.

The partnership of Suarez and Carroll looks like it may pay huge dividends? When you get two hugely talented strikers playing off each other, it's like cucumber on the eyes. Another Keegan and Toshack maybe?

And I loved Dirk Kuyt's black eye? Where did you get that from, lad?

room

2011-03-15T00:32:00.000Z

Me and Jayne went to look at a wedding venue today.

We were kept waiting at this swanky hotel in the centre of Liverpool, but the wait was probably worth it. The way the day will work is we're getting married in the morning, coming to this venue for a wedding lunch for close family, then both me and Jayne are staying at this place for the night.

The wedding reception is the following day, only to give us a breather because we're doing our own catering.

What sold us was the overnight room we can hire. It was modern, airy and so, so bright with a huge bed. The room faced out with a splendid view of our city.

We've put a deposit down for the venue already.

I'm still utterly confused though? This is next year, but it'll come around so quickly. I'm the kind of person who can't think about tomorrow, let alone twelve months down the line. Jayne, on the other hand, is completely organised, or appears to be. There's that show on the telly where the men organise the wedding - I couldn't do that because I rarely know me arse from me elbow.

Japan

2011-03-15T00:19:00.000Z

The events in Japan are horrifying, to say the least.

A great many innocents will suffer greatly because of a natural disaster, and an awful man-made version too.

Humankind won't defeat nature. Sure, we'll get in our pop-shots every now and then, but we are at our planet's mercy. There is a train of thought that the Earth, slowly but surely, is getting rid of the human race in much the same way we go to the toilet to have a long, satisfying dump. A crude analogy, but true all the same.

Then there's the human race and our insatiable appetite for progress and profit.

What knobhead decided to build a nuclear power station so close to a known rupture in the Earth's crust??? No, let's backtrack a second, there's a more basic and serious question to ask - what knobhead decided to build a nuclear power station???????

Didn't the Japanese people learn ANYTHING from the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

The answer is fairly simple - no. Because the demand for energy has countermanded any grain of common sense that atomic power is dangerous, and way, way out of our league to properly understand or control.

And, sadly, a huge wad of money can be made from it too - the moral argument against nuclear power goes out of the window there and then.

The scenes from Japan are heartbreaking and humbling. The power of nature is completely overwhelming. Mother Nature has fired a warning shot, but will we, as a species, take any notice??????

Predictable answer to the usual address.

salesman

2011-03-11T09:47:00.000Z

Because Ron's on holiday from work, me has got mostly involved sorting out prices and doing quotations and the like. In essence, I've been a salesman. But I'll be honest - I haven't had much of a clue what I've been doing.

Probably a lot of it was correct procedure, and some wrong. The thing is I've just picked up doing this sort of work by trial and error in a way. You've got to use your wits (if indeed I have any!) and try and work within a capitalist framework and make some money.

Which I don't like.

In an ideal world, I'd sell everything at cost. As long as I cleared my overheads, that'd be cool. Instead, sadly, we live in a world where profit is god.

Fortunately, I think I've been ethically okay this week, and a lot of the information on prices I need is in the customer files. There are some customers, however, who try it on, and pit us against another supplier to get a better price. They're scum, these people. They have no concern for anyone but their bank balances.

I've spent most of my life at work as a delivery driver, and it's only in the last few years where I've gotten on the sales side more. I'm still learning, and as much as it has its' perks and laughs, I think I prefer it still out on the road. Time will tell.

sense

2011-03-10T21:24:00.000Z

In a welcome instant of common sense, a reporter for the Daily Star newspaper - Richard Peppiatt - resigned after having his conscience pipped at the multitude of false stories he was involved in writing over the last two years, culminating in a work of fiction concerning the tabloid's favourite organisation, the ultra-racist English Defence League.

His resignation letter appeared in The Guardian newspaper, just follow the link, it's a beaut.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/mar/04/daily-star-reporter-letter-full

The thing about the Daily Star is it's aimed at predominately working-class readership who love their Page Three tits in the morning, but are one small step on the evolutionary ladder past a S*n reader (if, indeed, they can read!). Even so, the editorial is so blatantly anti-Islamic in its' breadth, that they feel they can print absolutely anything to show the Muslim faith in a bad light. The outrage is, because the Daily Star has withdrawn from the Press Complaints Commission, they have to answer to absolutely nobody.

Fair play to Mr. Peppiatt, he's admitted his wrongs, and hopefully he's learned from them. Now for the rest of them......

venue

2011-03-08T09:11:00.000Z

Another thing about the wedding.......

We've booked our reception venue. It's a local Conservative Club.

Yes, I know what you're thinking. And I think the same too. But it's cheap, and gives me plenty of material for my wedding speech. Which I would like to go like this.......

"Well, it's a real pleasure for an ardant Communist such as myself to be standing here today in such a bastion of the capitalist agenda. I've suffered for my politics, now it's your turn.

You may wonder why I'm standing on this podium wearing dark glasses. The thing is, if it's good enough for Kim Jong-il, it's good enough for me...etc, etc....."

So now y'all know. Life is too short to be small, as the great Neil Innes once told me. I'm still briefly alive.

fuss

2011-03-07T23:31:00.001Z

Me and Jayne went to the local register office today to give them notice of next year's wedding.

It was really funny because the registrar had each of us in on our own asking us questions. It was a polite form of interrogation in relaxed surroundings. While Jayne was getting the third-degree, I sat outside looking at the ornately-painted ceiling of cream background, green leaves and red flowers. Bliss.

When the registrar was satisfied with our status, and took £67 from us for our notices fee, she showed us the room we can use for the ceremony (another £43). It was all very nice and tastefully laid out. And the thing is, you're basically in and out of the place in ten minutes.

More bliss.

The thing with me and Jayne is we don't really want the fuss. She's been married once before, and would like to do things rather differently. If it wasn't for the kids, we'd probably get married on the hop, and tell the world later.

Still, this time next year, my circumstances will be rather different. Do I get a tax concession being married????

bus

2011-03-06T23:19:00.000Z

I was reading a blog from a Newcastle lad who'd bought an old bus to do up and drive.

Basically, getting the bus roadworthy was a fortune. But the advantages after restoration are undeniable. Any bus over 30 years old can be driven on an ordinary car licence, as long as no more than 8 passengers are carried. His full comprehensive insurance cost £152 a year!!!! Tax cost zero too. And storage put him back a miserly £50 a month.

As you can imagine, it got me thinking.

There's nothing more I'd love to do than buy an old Merseyside Atlantean (a little like that PDR1A/1 Special below) and drive around until my heart's content. Or kit it out and travel the world. Like Cliff Richard......

Basically, I have no interest in getting properly involved in the bus preservation movement. I make donations to them wherever possible anyway. But just for something for me, it'd be a giggle.

Jayne has no objections and as soon as she starts doing the Lottery, the sooner I can hopefully make my dream a reality!

United

2011-03-06T23:04:00.000Z

Very simple victory today against a truly awful Manchester United.

What confuses me is how United are top of the league? Because they're the worst MUFCPLC side I've seen in over 20 years. Mind, I suppose the fact they're still top of the table shows how bloody woeful the rest of us are.

But credit to us - we maimed these bastards today. There are those who will point to the absence of Vidic and the over-rated Ferdinand as reasons to United's loss. Nonsense, we were just the better side. Better organised. Just better.

Dirk Kuyt is a true unsung hero this season. His work-rate is phenomenal, and he bagged the easiest hat-trick of all time today. But the Man Of The Match was the outstanding Luis Suarez. His movement was just too much for a ragged United. The replays of his John Barnes impersonation - taking four defenders out inside the 18-yard box - will be richly deserved.

I still think we're too off the pace to trouble the top four. And I'm still resigned to the fact that the Manc Scum will probably win the title again before we do. But days like this provide a well-earned rest-bite from probable future events.

Monkees

2011-03-03T23:36:00.000Z

Jayne's got the two of us tickets for the Monkees upcoming gig at the Echo Arena in May.

I personally couldn't care less whether the band are all in their mid-to-late 60s - they're another set of heroes who I've had the pleasure of growing up listening to and watching. I may be a second-generation Monkees fan, but I'm one all the same.

Career highlights? Too many to mention. It'd be so easy to pick out any of the classic singles, but it's the lesser known work that's always gripped my attention. Stuff like "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" and "Circle Sky" (both Mike Nesmith originals) still see regular action on my I-Tunes. And their glorious disaster movie that is "Head" predated Monty Python by a year with its' stream-of-consciousness approach and weirdly off-beat psychedelic kilter. Brilliant stuff.

Hoping upon hope that the reluctant Nesmith joins Micky Dolenz, David Jones and Peter Tork on stage during this tour. It could be the last time they'll be capable of being together as a group.

And then there's Cheap Trick....again!!!

Cheap Trick are playing their only confirmed UK date this year in Bristol (after a show in Dublin) on June 12th. Both me and Aaron would love to go, but the logistics are tricky and it won't be cheap either. But their gig in Mancland back in November was simply the best Rock I've ever heard or seen in a live setting, and to miss them would be a huge shame.

So we'll see......

puppy

2011-03-01T22:06:00.000Z

Here's some new pics of our puppy, Bella. She's four months old now and the best way to describe her is imagine putting a lit firework in with a box of matches.

I take her for walks at least twice a day. A short one in the morning before I go to work, usually accompanied by Bethany. And the big one at night. The long walk is becoming an increasing challenge because I wonder where else there is to take Bella around the locality. Tonight, for example, I took her all the way to Warbreck Moor and back, which is about three miles. Or the Gillmoss bus depot and back is about the same.

I have to say that this exercise is probably as good for me as it is for her. The original idea about the late-night dog walk was to knacker Bella out so she'd just konk out when I got her home, ensuring us all a good night's sleep. It hasn't really worked out like that.

What tends to happen is Bella will have a mad half-hour racing around and barking. Or fight with the cat. Her energy levels are incredible. All these long walks seem to do is empower her!

We love her though. She's the sort of dog who you wonder how life ever was without her.

daffodils

2011-03-01T21:56:00.000Z

The first daffodils of spring are up and blossoming in our back garden.

The strange thing is I planted these bulbs back in the autumn, and judging by the weather we've had over the last five months, it's a wonder they've bloomed at all.

Still, it means there's probably some nice weather on the way...whenever!

Brown

2011-02-22T15:36:00.000Z

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

2011-02-22T13:33:00.000Z

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

2011-02-22T13:07:00.001Z

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

2011-02-22T12:57:00.000Z

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

2011-02-16T21:48:00.001Z

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

2011-02-10T23:50:00.002Z

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

2011-02-10T23:39:00.003Z

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

2011-02-07T22:19:00.005Z

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

2011-02-06T23:30:00.002Z

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

2011-02-06T12:06:00.005Z

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

2011-02-06T00:09:00.003Z

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.

money

2011-01-31T23:40:00.002Z

Can't be arsed putting up pictures to go with this blog entry. Like a lot of us (well, me, our Mick and me Mum) we've kept up with the transfer window.

An absolutely sickening sight seeing Fernando Torres, complete with gormless grin, holding a Chelsea shirt, and vomit-inducing was his interview, shown on Sky Sports, about how wonderful it is to play for Chelsea.

I thought he was better than this. But obviously, his motivation for money is unerring. I don't believe he's gone to Chelsea to further his career. No footy player worth their salt goes to Chelsea in the wish of winning trophies. Because when they do, it's at the whim of the billionaire owner. And not organic meticulous management of highly-skilled footballers.

It's arse. Like in most industries, the shareholders / owners want quick, successful returns.

I can't really comment on our signings because we've gone with the flow. I knew nothing about Carroll until he appeared for Ing-er-land earlier on this season, and he reminds me of a young Duncan Ferguson. Suarez couldn't stop scoring for Ajax, and let's hope that trend continues.

numbed

2011-01-30T22:46:00.002Z

Just numbed by this piece of speculation / news / bullshit /etc......

It's no secret that Torres has been out of sorts this season, and last term for that matter. He's shown gasps of brilliance rather than his regular genius. It's the look of a severely distracted man.

I have no problem with El Nino looking for a move elsewhere to further his career. But his timing is awful, and nothing short of a slap in the face on everyone involved with Liverpool Football Club.

At a time when Kenny is urging us all to stick together, and things seem to be going in more positive direction, Torres' is seriously undermining everything we're trying to do at the moment.

Special mention has to be made to Guillem Balague, the Spanish football journalist very close to all things Spain and Liverpool Football Club. I thought he had more brains than to erupt bollocks like this. He is impeccably placed to speak for Torres, and I feel he's done us a great disservice by opening his rather large mouth and speaking in generalisations rather than hard fact.

But if Torres doesn't want to play for us now, and Chelsea can't come up with the cash, I'd happily stick him in with the reserves for the rest of the season as a lesson on how not to upset and anger those people who've put so much faith in him.

Not nice......

seething

2011-01-24T22:37:00.002Z

I'm really, really offended. Some knobheads on YouTube have complained that some of my videos I've posted playing old ELO and Move vinyl is too fast on the turntable.

And they're right. My turntable is too fast, but I've had it over 20 years and it's done me so well over that time, particularly transferring all my Beatles vinyl to CD.

But I'm still seething. Because all I'm doing is trying to share some vintage vinyl with folk that's unusual, rare and interesting, and all they bloody do is moan that it's too fast.

When they themselves have these priceless (to me anyway) relics, then take the time and patience to transfer these old 45s, and are in a position to share the them with everyone - then they have the right to criticise me and what I do.

I just wish some people would just shut up. If they haven't got anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

Glitter

2011-01-23T18:39:00.002Z

I hate saying this but one of my favourite records of all time is "Rock and Roll Part 2" by Gary Glitter.

The fact that he had squidildy-pop to do with the recording is doesn't make me feel any better. It was basically a solo recording by Mike Leadner (he who wrote the string arrangement for the Beatles' "She's Leaving Home") to cash in on the Glam Rock fad and Paul "Gary Glitter" Gadd needed a job and became a brand.

The rest is a sort of history.

I love the record, though, I've just put it back on my I-Tunes, but I still have misgivings.

I have no time for Gadd/Glitter as a person. He is a vile, twisted and sick individual who's still deluded enough to think he's done nowt wrong. Or is his naivety just an act? Probably never find out.

There was a docu-drama a year or so back on Channel 4 called "The Execution Of Gary Glitter" in which it envisaged a Britain that had re-introduced the death penalty. And Mr Gadd got it. It was one of the most disturbing pieces of television I've ever seen - mainly because I disagree with capital punishment. I also thought it was beyond decency to use Gadd as an example, I felt it sensationalised the serious nature of the programme.

I wish I could listen to these records without knowing what I know - Rock doesn't need dilemmas like this.

Wolves

2011-01-23T18:20:00.002Z

Dunno what Kenny said to us before a tricky away visit to Wolves, but this was the best Liverpool have played (in an attacking sense) for a very, very long time.

Let's not beat around the bush - there's no mugs in the Premiership. Every team will pose us a different set of problems. But Kenny was spot-on yesterday, and for the first time in many a month Fernando Torres was supported by a rampaging midfield every time he got the ball.

I've not been overtly impressed by Raul Meireles in recent weeks - his distribution and general awareness have been sorely lacking. But his screamer against the Shite was just a warm-up for the contender for goal of the season against hapless Wolves. Talk about a perfectly executed first-time volley! No keeper in the world would've gotten anywhere near it.

Everything Meireles did was top-draw. His support for Torres was excellent and, on this form, Steven Gerrard would have a real problem getting back into the side.

We're still quite nervy at the back, but that was over-shadowed by the urgency to get bodies forward. What Rafa and Hodgson never really got to grips with was the way you win games is by scoring goals, something Kenny has been quick to put into action.

In his Saturday footy column, the spot-on Brian Reade rightly put forward what a lot of fans secretly desire but won't say, meaning the next full-time Liverpool manager would be Jose Mourinho. He'll be wanting if Kenny keeps us on this sort of form.

supernatural

2011-01-20T23:18:00.004Z

I don't understand weather that much, so when we've had a couple of days of fog, I'm still at a loss to explain it. It's gone very, very cold in Liverpool again too. Both things must be related - so I say!

Below's a pic taken from the Radio City website showing the fog over the shrouded River Mersey.

There's something truly spooky about images like this in my city. Maybe I'm in this reflective mood because I've started reading most of Tom Slemen's "Haunted Liverpool" books again - the library in Fazakerley has loads of them. And there's nothing quite like sitting off between chippy deliveries in Crosby on a cold, misty Scouse night and delving into my city's often gruesome and illogical past.

Another good ghostly Internet phenomenon is ex-Radio City broadcaster Howard Hughes and his Unexplained podcasts and website.

The only real supernatural experience I've had was the time I was on Crosby Beach in the dead of night on walk because I couldn't sleep. That in itself wasn't particularly "supernatural" but I swear blind that those Gormley statues were on the move.

I'm quite an analytical person who thinks a spade is a spade. And I get frustrated sometimes because I probably miss a lot of otherworldy stuff going on around me because of it.

venues

2011-01-20T23:04:00.002Z

Both me and Jayne are making gentle enquiries into possible wedding reception venues.

There's two we're quite interested in - one's a Catholic social club, and the other is (takes a deep breath) the local Conservative Club!

I can just imagine my wedding speech, "well, it's a real political struggle for an ardent Communist such as myself to be standing here in this bastion of capitalist dogma, etc, etc....."

Both venues are really nice and relatively inexpensive to hire. We're doing our own catering too, so not only will we enjoy ourselves, but it's likely to be a lot of hard work too.

scared

2011-01-17T22:44:00.003Z

The good and the very bad were on show at Anfield yesterday.

The "good" in the fact that our first -half performance was as good as anything I've seen from Liverpool this season. Torres terrorized the Shite's backline with some vintage running, and Merieles' first goal for the club was a good one. Tight at the back too. Couldn't complain.

Second-half was woefully "bad". I don't know what Gollum said to the Shite at half-time but they tore us to shreds for the first fifteen minutes. The injury to Danny Agger didn't help matters because as much as I like Soto The Greek, he's badly matched with the liability that is Martin Skrtel. I thought we were lucky for the draw by the end.

No matter how much Kenny juggles this side around there will be problems, because the majority of the players are simply not good enough. We're relegation fodder on this sort of form at the moment - I hate saying that, but it's true.

Hyypia, Alonso, Garcia, Finnan, Riise, Arbeloa, Crouch, Bellamy, Keane and Mascherano have not been adequetely replaced. We've scraped around the bargain bins buying players who have no right to wear a Liverpool shirt. Or a Liverpool reserve shirt. Zingari League and all that.

Henry, who was at the game, and Werner really need to be made acutely aware of the mess this Liverpool side are in, and do everything in their power to remedy the situation. Fast. Because this is one mess that will go away before the end of May, I tell you.

I'm scared, I really am.

swimming

2011-01-17T22:27:00.002Z

I went swimming tonight at the Ellergreen Leisure Centre in Norris Green. Or was it Croxteth? Or Clubmoor? Or Dog & Gun? I really didn't know except Anya was locked up and all valuables were kept out of sight. But the Centre itself was functional, bright and clean. Thumbs up there!

As seasoned readers will know I am the world's worst swimmer - if I'd been on the Titanic I'd have been with de fishies!!!!

I have absolutely no hand to leg co-ordination at all. As a consequence I probably expel as much energy keeping things together doing a length of the pool than most folk doing twenty lengths. I've been trying to teach myself to do the breaststroke for the last twenty-years with little success. I figured that if there was nobody else in the pool I'd have a better chance rather than swallowing ten gallons of chloride-tainted water.

But I'll give it a regular go from now on. Have to. I never used Crosby Baths as much as I should have when I lived round the corner.

At the other end of the spectrum, I took Bethany to her regular swimming lessons last week. And she's a mermaid. Very impressive. I barely learned to do the doggy paddle at Butlins by the time I was ten. I ain't much better now.

dishcloth

2011-01-14T15:53:00.002Z

Another pearl of Jayne's wisdom.....

She just asked me, "can I have a Coke please?"

"Do you want it in a glass?" I asked innocently.

"No," she replies, "on a dishcloth....."

See what I have to put up with?????

MS

2011-01-13T23:38:00.003Z

Anyone who follows what our kid's up to will know he's doing a charity walk from Waterloo to Southport during May 2011 to raise money for the MS Society.

His page on the Just Giving website explains his motives and condition a lot more concisely and coherently than I ever could. Like him, I would ask y'all (and I know I have readership in Australia, Singapore, Greenland, and Southport) to consider making a donation, however small, to this utterly worthy cause in the hope of finding a cure to combat the onset of MS. Ta!

defeats

2011-01-13T08:38:00.003Z

Two games and two defeats for Kenny.

Some awful refereeing has contributed to his second spell as boss. But, mainly, it's a lot to do with the attitude of some of the players. They're not good enough.

I once saw an interesting way of rating players in an Everton fanzine. It went like this......

PLAYERS WHO WOULD IMPROVE BEING PART OF THE 1970 BRAZILIAN WORLD CUP SQUAD - Raul Meireles, Daniel Agger, Fabio Aurelio, Joe Cole, Maxi Rodriguez.

PLAYERS WHO COULDN'T IMPROVE BEING PART OF THE 1970 BRAZILIAN WORLD CUP SQUAD - Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres.

PLAYERS WHO WOULDN'T GET ANYWHERE NEAR THE 1970 BRAZILIAN WORLD CUP SQUAD - The Rest!

It's the last batch who get too much of a chance in my opinion. There's probably kids in the reserves with all the talent in the world, yet coaching staff or managers won't touch them because they're scared of the consequences of failure. Immediate results are the norm now, though that's never been a worry for Ryan Babel.

It's like pop music. Record companies won't gamble anymore. They don't see the wisdom of nurturing talent, because both parties will gain in the long term. Market forces override ethics.

Unless you're Chelsea or Manchester City and have owners who sort out a player problem by buying any suitable player in the world, you have to juggle and try and get it right. But as Kenny's finding out, and Hodgson before him proved, it's a hard road. My main grouse with Hodgson was bending over backwards to the likes of Ferguson. Not good.

PLC

2011-01-09T21:47:00.002Z

Not particularly surprising result at the Mancpit today. Personally, I thought we acquitted ourselves quite well and I came away from it not too despondent.

Whether Kenny is the right man to take us forward is still pretty much an open question? But the signs today were an improvement in onfield attitude by most of the starting eleven compared to the dirge that went on at Blackburn.

It was never, ever a penalty, but Danny Agger should know better when he's close on a horse like Berbatov. Typical of the bias and close-mindedness of the sponsors, they gave him Man of the Match. The reality is he's an outright cheat.

But where the vastly-overrated Howard Webb made a mistake giving PLC an early penalty, I have no complaints about his straight red card to Steven Gerrard. It was a horrendous tackle that could've been a lot worse. I'm all for us putting our feet in and taking a man out, but for shit's sake, at least make some contact with the ball. Which the Whiston Wonder didn't.

The most worrying aspect of this match was the indifferent form and attitude of Fernando Torres. If he's keeping his head down in order to secure a move elsewhere, it may backfire on him. The other argument is he's being played up-front alone, and it's too much to expect him to hold the ball up for others to come on too. With Gerrard off the pitch, and Kuyt doing his usual headless-chicken impression, El Nino had another quiet game.

It's very early days again with Kenny. And he has the job of his life on his hands. Good luck, mate!

sleeplessness

2011-01-09T20:44:00.002Z

Me and Jayne went to collect Bella from the Dogs' Trust in Huyton yesterday.

She's been an absolute joy so far. Very well behaved for an eight week old puppy. And, crucially, she gets on with our cat, Bayley. I think they each think the other one is a cat / dog and have taken to each other like brother and sister.

The first night with her, though, was a nightmare. Bella slept in our room, in her new bed of course. But I was up with her most of the time. At about twenty to six, I gave up trying to keep her asleep and came downstairs with her. We dozed on and off until just after 8am, when Jayne got up.

So what did I do? That's right, I went back to bed! The night shift was over.

We're hoping to keep her in her new den downstairs tonight, but we expect sleeplessness! For now....

Jayne

2011-01-09T20:31:00.002Z

Jayne put this as a post on her FB page.....

If you have a wonderful man, who helps balance your whole world...who isn't perfect, but is perfect for you...who works hard and would do anything for you. Who makes you laugh and drives you crazy, who is your best friend, who you want to grow old with, and who you are thankful for everyday, and who you could NOT live without then post this as your status

I said to her, "is that all about me?"

"No," she replied sardonically, "it's the bloke across the road!!!"

I fell off the chair laughing. It doesn't take much does it?

Dad

2011-01-09T00:45:00.002Z

Dad died sixteen years ago today.

The last time I saw him is worth mentioning here. It was two days before. The odd thing is I'm living a stone's throw away from where he passed on so it's a strange feeling being so close, yet so far.

I'd been up to Manchester that day with a mate, and bought some bits and pieces. Later on, I said to Mum I was going up to Fazakerley Hospital to see Dad. He was back in there, another relapse, it wouldn't have been anything unusual except I now had confirmed what I already knew - he was dying. We'd been told on the Thursday just gone.

He was in a ward room on his own on the ninth floor. That night, he was also being visited by his mate from the T.A, Steve, and we chatted amiably for a bit.

Steve got off and left me and Dad alone. I'd bought him a book from Manchester, the full, unabridged version of Douglas Adams' "Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy". It was a massive volume - a full 600-pages. He was just getting into reading all these sci-fi/fantasy books - Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels being a particular favourite.

I said to him, "there you go, something to keep you amused."

And I didn't click it at that time, but his reply summed up the reality he was facing - "I won't get through that, son."

I had to take a chair back to an adjoining room before I left, so I passed him again sitting upright in bed. I stood there at the doorway to this wardroom. I smiled at him, he smiled back at me.

It was the last time I saw him. Less than two days later he was having a chinwag with his maker.

The thing about death is there's very little you can do about it. You can't do that much for the dead, it's better to concentrate on the living. So I kept away from the aftermath, looking back probably wrongly.

Take care, Dad, wherever you are xxxxxxxx

charade

2011-01-07T23:58:00.003Z

This charade's gone on for long enough.......

The fact that Hodgson cancelled his Friday press conference (or it was cancelled for him) to the safe confines of an inoffensive grilling at the hands of the club's website suggests that not only has Roy lost the fans, the dressing-room or the support of the board. He's also lost his job.

I expect to see him in the dug-out for this Sunday's target practice at the Theatre Of Delusion. But he won't have picked the team, or have anything to do with the way it will play. He's there as a figurehead. A scapegoat, if you like, for all that's gone wrong with Liverpool Football Club.

Because there's a train of thought that not much of this current trouble is his fault. Sure he's so tactically inept it's not worth talking about. At Blackburn, how the liability that is Paul Konchesky was given a run-out in place of the immensely more talented and solid Fabio Aurelio at left-back defied belief. But two seasons ago we lost two of, arguably, the most influential players in European football in Xabi Alonso and, sadly, Sami Hyypia. Neither has been adequately replaced - if they ever can.

Such a huge gaping wound was bound to cause problems. This was on Rafa's watch, and as a consequence, he endured a miserable season last year. This one's gonna be even worse.

Hodgson has done the best he knows he can under the circumstances. But he's either been played for a fool (maybe?), set up (more likely?) or just out of his tree (yes, that's it!)

It been a bad day for people called Roy. Mr "All-credit-to-debit" Keane went at Ipswich. Now his namesake at Liverpool is a dead man walking. Sad, but inevitable.

widdleplop

2011-01-07T23:41:00.004Z

It's taken me forty years to do it, and this might seem quite unbelievable considering my track record, but I have. Yes, that's right - I've had an Indian.

Not in the sexual way, no, no, no - that's way too coarse and private to talk about on here. No, I mean "Indian" of the takeaway food type.

It was Jayne's idea, obviously, I mean can you see me suggesting it? Because, I'm very close minded when it comes to food. I used to have a deep, deep suspicion when I was younger (erm....30!) about eating anyone's grub but what Mum cooked.

I knew you wouldn't be too surprised.

Jayne went on that JustEat website and ordered a load of veggie Indian food online. Guess who paid? Yes, and as will be seen by later events - in more ways than one.

The scram arrived and apart from the Onion Bhajis, poppadoms and naan bread, I couldn't tell you what else I ate. It was spicy and some form of curry.

Setting aside by aversion for trying anything new, I hungrily woofed down a load of Indian curry and rice that tasted quite, quite splendid!!! So much so that I went back for seconds.

The repeat serving was more heavy-going, but it was an experience and I was glad I took the plunge.

Five hours later, and I've just come from a good 30 minutes on the bog where my poo has altered from "solid" and "hefty", to "watery, brown widdleplop". My favourite.

As much as I liked the food, I think the next time we do it I won't be attacking the palette with the same unbounded vigour as this time just gone.

I still prefer jam butties.....

suffered

2011-01-05T23:41:00.002Z

The current "EastEnders" storyline involving cot death and reaction to it has been much in my thoughts recently. As the blog's recently learned, my Jayne lost a baby and current events are way too close to the bone for her. She said on FB that she wouldn't watch "EastEnders" again, but she did the following night, as did I. You don't wanna see it, but can't keep your eyes off it all the same. It's car-crash television in the bleakest context possible.

I personally wish they were not running this storyline.

Because however worthy it is to highlight the tragedy of unexplained infant-death, and bring the condition to the forefront of the nation's minds, I doubt the producers and writers of the show - however much they edited the more emotionally-distressing scenes - will have covered base as the reaction for people, like Jayne, who have suffered this awful trauma.

I am angry with "EastEnders" because there was sweet f.a I could say or do to comfort Jayne when she bolted from the living room, very, very upset at what she'd seen.

It's all very well giving out a helpline number (or a warning at the before the soap begins) for those affected by the events. And, in their way, they do help. But we're all at home as a family unit and we should be able to support each other in times of need. And I genuinely felt I couldn't.

Be careful what you watch.......

Anglophile

2011-01-02T23:00:00.004Z

As the responsible adult I am, I'm giving Aaron a guided tour of Rock. And I swear his Kiss fixation had nothing to do with me - for a change.

So I gave Aaron a little background about Kiss, and told him that they wouldn't have happened without Slade. Both Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons will happily admit that Slade were a catalyst for the kind of thing they wanted to do with Kiss. Stanley and Simmons saw Slade perform in New York during the summer of 1973 and were transfixed by what they heard and saw. So now, when you see videos of either band side by side, there's a very, very similar vibe to what each are doing.

Although Slade didn't really mean much to mainstream American music in the early-mid 1970s, they left their mark on Cheap Trick, as well as Kiss. CT bass player, Tom Petersson, always recounts the story of where they got their name from because he and Rick Nielsen saw Slade perform on this same 1973 American tour. He says that seeing Slade made him think they "...used every cheap trick in the book...."

And Cheap Trick have recently excellently covered Slade's "When The Lights Are Out" from the "Old, Borrowed and Blue" album of 1974. Brilliant stuff. I've always admired Cheap Trick's taste in covers.

There's a particular strain of American Rock that took all, and I mean, ALL its' pointers from what was going on concerning British guitar pop of the late 60s/early 70s. Cheap Trick are so Anglophile it's untrue. Much the same can be said for Kiss.

Here endeth the lesson!

Bella

2011-01-02T13:15:00.003Z

We're getting a new puppy - Bella.

She's currently eight weeks old and is a Collie Cross-Breed. We went to the local Dogs Trust branch and fell in love.

We've been talking about getting another dog since Leah died back in the summer. Now feels around the right time to start again. There's a home-check to be done, which is one way of getting the kids to help get the house tidy if anything else!

Bella is a beautiful little thing who'll likely grow into someone huge. But that's good, I think we all need the exercise and so will she.

Keep you posted as to Bella's progress.

Bolton

2011-01-02T11:11:00.003Z

Much, much needed win yesterday.

I don't think the status quo's changed. Hodgson's hanging onto his job by a thread, and I doubt a last-gasp winner from Joe Cole will have brought the manager too many plaudits.

Bolton set their stall out much the same as Wolves, but this Liverpool side had a lot more purpose and drive about it than midweek. Still, a 2-1 win is hardly a corner turned, and the problems that beset the manger before the game are still glaring him in the face after it.

I've done a lot of mooching over the interweb in recent days, more so after the Wolves debacle, and I tend to agree with much more learned people than me that Hodgson is a stop-gap until something more permanent's sorted out. Many say he has a three-year contract, but I say so what?

Sadly for Roy, the spectre of both Kenny and Rafa hangs over him. He's lost the respect of the fans, if he had any in the first place, and that's the death-nell at this club.

normal

2011-01-01T00:21:00.003Z

I don't like New Year - never have and never will.

I find it incredible that for just ONE night a year there's a certain amount of "peace and goodwill", "all the best" and all that malarkey. And then everyone goes back to being normal to each other again.

The best of the Human spirit should carry on all year round, not just for ten minutes either side of midnight on the 31st December / 1st January.

God knows I'm the worst person in the world to pontificate, but at least I'm consistently inconsistent in just being me.

Tonight, I did a shortened chippy run, and went to join the family at Jayne's folks' house. We left early, mainly because Bethany was tired. But I think there was a part of us that couldn't be arsed about NY.

Going to bed now, the fireworkers round Fazak have had their fun.

shite

2010-12-30T23:31:00.002Z

Shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite, shite, shite shite, shite, shite!

Shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite shite.....

Hodgson must go.

Shite!

Day

2010-12-25T00:19:00.002Z

It's Christmas Day and I'm sitting on the couch at twenty to one in morning having just finishing wrapping up presents that will be noisily unwrapped in a few hours time.

Even though I'm in a better humour about Christmas this year I think I could still happily do without it. It's for the kids, let's be honest. I think as long as they have fun, the rest is pretty much immaterial.

I have to admit I've "enjoyed" the last two Christmas Days on my own. It was just like the old days when I was back at home, and me and our kid just disappeared mid-morning and let our folks get on with whatever they liked and so did we. My Mum and Dad had a truly enlightened attitude about Christmas when I think about it now. They probably didn't realise it, and still don't.

It does stir up emotions about folk who are no longer in our lives for whatever reason. I can't say I miss my Dad any more on Xmas Day than I do any other day, but I was reminded of mortality very poignantly earlier on today on a visit to Thornton Crematorium.

I haven't spoke about this on the blog before, but Aaron is a twin. His brother, Ryan, died in Jayne's womb before he was born. The little lad never took a breath in our world, and is laid to rest in this cemetery.

The four of us went to pay our respects today. I think it had a particularly strong effect on Aaron, seeing his brother's grave. I once said to Aaron I was concerned he was spending too much time on his own, and his reply was quite firm - he never feels alone because Ryan's with him. Which is some reply for a 13-year old.

Jayne's reaction to Ryan's resting place was of a mother who's never given up loving her child. She was quite stoic, but obviously full of emotion. Bethany's liveliness probably belied the fact she never knew her elder brother, but I could tell she really did feel for both Jayne and Aaron.

As we were leaving we had one of these morbid conversations on how we'd like to be buried. My instructions are quite clear - I would like to be cremated (after the doctors have used any parts of me they see fit for other people - the poor buggers) and my remains scattered on the River Mersey in front of the Liver Buildings to the earth-shattering volume of the Who's "Naked Eye" performed live at the 1970 Isle Of Wight Festival.

After all that...erm...Happy Christmas and stuff!

blast

2010-12-23T23:45:00.002Z

We had a huge downpour of snow last Friday night, and the although there's been very little new white stuff coming down from the skies since, the sub-zero temperatures have made a welcome thaw nigh on impossible.

Although I don't live in Crosby anymore, I've done a few more chippy runs in the run-up to Christmas and the icy roads around the town make one take one's life in one's hands.

On Radio Merseyside there's been a debate on why so few, if any, of the roads between Crosby and Southport, all under the jurisdiction of Sefton Council, have been gritted - or not as the case may be?

Two of the major routes through Crosby - Moor Lane and Edge Lane - remain ice-rinks. Whereas most of the main routes through Liverpool are pretty clear.

I went up to Southport last night to drop some presents off at our kid's, and visit Mum. It was a fairly uneventful journey there and back to be honest - but it took double the time, and ten-times the concentration due to the icy conditions - to complete the journey.

I know councils can't cover absolutely every eventuality. But Sefton Council knew this snow was coming and did bog-all with their three (yes, just THREE) gritting lorries. I have reliable reports the gritters were just driving about to show their faces, yet weren't spreading any grit. The best rumour going about is Sefton Council SOLD their supply of rock salt during last summer to another authority. How mental is that?

The other side of the coin is once you get used to driving in the ice and snow, it can actually be quite a blast! Handbrake turns and gearbox braking are challenges I don't get to practice much. Anya has performed fantastically through this period - the slippery surfaces have presented little problem for my brilliant little Volkswagen.

Our street in Fazakerley is dreadfully bunged up with snow. Technically it should've been gritted as it's a bus route, but we must've been an oversight?

So although I'll be glad to see the back of the snow soon, part of me's gotten quite used this extreme weather. I didn't even feel that minus 17 in Crosby last week.

Probably because I wasn't there!

fred

2010-12-21T23:46:00.004Z

I went with Bethany and Aaron to see "Fred The Movie" today.

Like a lot of folk, I like his stuff on You Tube. It's incredibly infantile and stupid which appeals to me on a very, very, very basic level.

The esteemed Mark Kermode reviewed this film by just screaming "aaaarrrrgggghhhhh" basically, so I wasn't expecting much and little, if nothing is what I got.

I'm not particularly good at reviewing films, but I found this beaut of a review on the Sky.com website that's worth reprinting here.....

Congratulations Lucas Cruikshank on establishing the first YouTube channel to gain a million subscribers. Congratulations on over 300 million views. And congratulations too on creating the most insufferable character in the history of motion pictures.

Anyone unacquainted with the teenage drama queen who doesn’t want him dead within five seconds is a saint. After two minutes, you'll be wishing for martyrdom yourself.

Fred's every utterance is pure torture. It's like listening to Louie Spence, Graham Norton and Donald Duck having their testicles blowtorched.

When he’s not screaming, screeching, squealing or yelling, he's throwing up, whining, tantrumming or falling over in a desperately unfunny manner.

Besides a good kicking, then, all Fred wants is to make sweet music with Judy (Pixie Lott), the hottie next door.

But while vying for her affections with arch-bully Kevin (Jake Weary), his love is put further out of reach when she suddenly moves to another neighbourhood.

Heeding the advice of his macho dad - a figment of his imagination played to zero comic effect by wrestling star Michael Cena - Fred sets out to win fair Judy's heart.

Along the way he proves himself to be a stalker, a shoplifter, and a complete moron. And there's something decidedly creepy about his relationship with his slovenly single mum.

As if Cruikshank needed to underline his lack of wit, he also gives Fred a charmless alter-ego called Derf (geddit?).

Needless to say, only the most charitable of masochists could wish him well. But don't take our word for it, here are some of the comments posted on movie megasite IMDb.

“I felt like killing myself.” ”I've deleted it twice from my DVR and refuse to let my kid watch it.” “The script is abysmal... the direction is dreadful and the acting I don't know where to begin”. “WHO IS IT SUPPOSED TO BE AIMED AT?”

The biggest turkey of 2010 and a contender for worst film of all time, it’s impossible to see how this traumatising ordeal could be made in a country bound by the Geneva Convention.

Drop dead Fred. Seriously.

It's nigh on impossible to transfer a three-minute sketch into a 90 minute film,
and although the feature was generally rubbish, some of the tomfoolery and slapstick going on that kind-of reminded me of the more mentally-absurd side of "The Goodies" in an odd way.

Probable worst film of the year, but I suspect, in time, it'll gain some kind of cult (yes, CULT!) status.

ferris

2010-12-19T23:05:00.003Z

Me and Jayne went to see John Bishop at the Echo Arena last night. We arrived a little early, so with nowt to do, we went for a ride on the thing pictured below.

The Liverpool waterfront has been transformed over the last five years. Where once there was just a massive, dusty open air car park has been replaced with a state-of-the-art concert venue, surrounded by hotels, shops and bars. There's a real atmosphere there now.

The ride on the ferris wheel lasted ten minutes, and cost us £15!!!!! But the views were stunning - 200 feet above the ground. Sadly, many of my photographs didn't turn out as well as I'd have liked, but I'm rather taken with the below shot looking north towards the Pier Head......

After the ride, which petrified a usually unflappable Jayne, we went for a drink at nearby Jury's Inn. Maybe it was just us, but we felt very underdressed in the sense that we're in our scrag, and everyone else was dressed up to the nines. The "Beautiful People" as I call them. They might be famous folk, I really wouldn't know.

The John Bishop show had its' moments. He's a funny bloke, and I must admit I've warmed to him more over the last year. But I feel he's welshing his moment for all it's worth, which is fair-play to him. John seems genuinely perplexed by his rise to fame.

Would I go and see him again? Probably not, but carry on lad...carry on....

fallout

2010-12-18T09:33:00.002Z

Thought we'd avoided the heavy snowfall everyone else has been having. Not so.

The weird thing was how quick it all came down. It seemed that one minute I was out on a clear, dry, yet frosty Liverpool night, at the local chippy getting me and Jayne an insipid chinese meal neither of us enjoyed. And the next - all this....fallout!

I'll put up pics of the snowman I'll have a bash at making later!

loogie

2010-12-16T23:36:00.002Z

Sad to report that the works' van has finally met its' maker.

I was there on the day that Stan bought the van for GB. I distinctly remember it having just SEVEN miles on the clock - it was that new.

The "loogie" as I term it, served us very well - without too much trouble - until GB moved out of the Netherton premises at the end of 2007. I advised Stan not to overuse and overload the van between the depot in Netherton and the head office in Bolton (a mere 30 miles) because it'd get, pardon my French, "twatted".

He took absolutely no notice of anything I said, or anyone else for that matter, and bullied the van to the extreme that it needed several expensive repair jobs doing on it by the time we'd finished the move. Then Stan neglected the servicing (which wasn't done as regularly as I'd have liked anyway) to the point that when Ron took restarted the business, the van needed more attention. The van, in the last year, has flitted in and out of Dougie's garage. But the timing belt went on it the other week, which has caused major internal damage on the engine. And it's at a point now where it's not economically viable to fix it again. So Ron, reluctantly, has had to pull time after 150,000 miles of service for us.

The stupid thing is we'd had got another 50,000 out of the van if it'd had been looked after under the previous management.

Talking of the "previous management", it's exactly a year since GB went under. It seems longer. A lot's gone on in both my personal and working life in the last twelve months that I've completely lost track!!!

lunatics

2010-12-13T21:47:00.004Z

Me, Jayne and bethany went to see Aaron perform with his school band at a Christmas concert at the Anglican Cathedral tonight. The building is one of my favourites in Liverpool, and the event was very enjoyable - despite bonkers religious overtones. In a religious house.

Aaron's now the principal drummer in the band. He has a good sense of rhythm. He's got my drum machine set up in his room, complete with the footpads, and plays along to anything that takes his fancy.

Within the context of his school band, he has to play rather conservatively. And he does it rather well. At home, however, he thinks he's Keith Moon so you can make up your own mind about that!

Pardon the pun, but I'm constantly "drumming" into him about keeping things simple when playing drums because it's only on very, very rare occasions that lunatics like Moon, Townshend, Entwistle and Daltrey get together and make the noise that we know and love as The Who!

Practice makes perfect....hopefully!

arrogant

2010-12-12T00:05:00.003Z

To supplement my income, I do a takeaway delivery run a few times a week. It's a fascinating way of witnessing the best and worst of humanity.

Believe it or not, I always try to see the good in everyone. But my faith is well and truly shattered at least once a week by some penny-pinching knobhead and their precious takeaway meal.

Well, I don't know his name but he lives in a modest terrace house on Kelvinside in Crosby. However, "modest" is probably not a word you'd associate with this fellow. His house is a glut of wealth and extravagance beyond the means of most of us. A curtain-less window gives cause to peer into his brightly-lit and opulent cream and gold-themed lounge. His small front path has been transformed with an intricately-carved water fountain. And the bloke drives a black Rolls Royce with the personalised number plate of "TFB 36".

"TFB 36" probably stands for "Tight-Fisted Bastard - 36 times"

His whole lifestyle and property stand out a mile - overstated to the extreme in a street full of otherwise unassuming houses where most people live in the real world rather than the ga-ga land TFB inhabits. He'd suit the jet-set in Blundellsands, but probably likes the notoriety of being flash where he is, because nobody in the posh part of town would give a monkey's ball about him there.

His bill was for £19.80, and he said to me, "there you go...£20" and I turned to go as if he was alright about the change - as I've done with people for god knows how many years, you just get into a routine. But no, TFB 36 says, "what about my 20p change?????"

I wanted to hit the TFB with a brick at that point.

Now, I know a man of his means hasn't made his money giving it away. But, I'm sorry, I take particular offence at this bloke's attitude...for the sake of 20p on a cold, nearly-freezing, Liverpool night.

I have no respect for stuck-up, arrogant mingebags who, wrongly, think they're the ones doing me a favour. Because they're not. The 50p per delivery I get, I will happily forsake in order not to deal with these freaks of nature.

I do this job with the best of humour at each and every person's door. Most folk are regulars and quite pleasant people I have the pleasure of dealing with. But, unfortunately, there's some who openly berate me (and workers like me) with bloody-mindedness and disdain.

They don't deserve my attention or anyone else's. May their god help them when the revolution comes about. They deserve scorn, ridicule and a fresh watery turd across their front steps.

You're wondering now aren't you......

screwed

2010-12-10T11:38:00.002Z

Due to a callous and aloof government decision to hike university tuition fees, was it any wonder there were student riots in London last night?

As far as I'm concerned, this will be the first of many if Cameron and Osborne have their way with the public purse.

Nick Clegg's attitude throughout this sorry debate has been of a man with his kecks caught down. I said the Tories would stitch the Lib-Dems up good and proper, and it hasn't taken them long has it? The thing with Clegg, Cable and Hughes is they could stop this nonsense HERE AND NOW! But they won't.

Their attitude is one of "we're here to serve ourselves, and not the country."

If the Liberal Democrats have ONE Member of Parliament left at the next election it will be a miracle. They have lost any credibility they previously had, and are the laughing stock of British politics.

On the subject of Prince Charles' car being attacked by protesters yesterday, all I can say is what makes him and his bint any more important or different from everybody else?

In fact, I'd reckon that the damage to HRH was a deliberate attack by Government agents to discredit the student movement.

It's all balls - the country's screwed as if you didn't know that already

parents

2010-12-10T10:33:00.003Z

Me and Jayne went to Aaron's "Parents Day" at his school today.

He's very good at much of what he does at school. He's not too keen on P.E, Aaron's not really a sporty type anyway. He's well-mannered and pleasant to tutor according to the teacher.

It was good to hear, and a far cry from my own parents thing back at school, which I'll come to in a minute.

Strange feeling walking around a, for want of a better term, "secondary modern" school. Reminded me a little too much of where I went. It's a different place, obviously, with a different regime but it's funny how it can catch one out.....

I think I've spoken about the "Parents Evening" debacle I caused back at Chezzy, a fair while ago. For those not in the know, it's worth repeating here.

Fifteen years old, and I'd had enough with school. I'd got to the point where I'd downed tools and was on strike until I could officially leave. The letter came around the class that "Parents Evening" was soon and would all pupils give the form to their folks to sign whether they were coming or not.

I gave the letter to me Dad. Through our talks, he knew I wasn't happy at school. He opened it, had a quick glance, and asked me, "is it worth me and your Mum going in for this, son? We don't want to be embarrassed."

"No, not really, Dad"

"Okay, no problem." In one of the few times he signed anything official of mine, he ticked the "not attending" box, and I duly passed the letter back into school the next day.

A few days later I was in English class with Mrs. Aberdeen - one of the few teachers who I actually liked and gave a toss about in class when so much of my other schoolwork was down the drain. She proclaimed, loudly, "now, at Parents Evening I'm seeing everyone's Mum and Dad....except Andrew's. Can you tell me why, please?"

Cool as you like I answered, "I told them it wouldn't be worth them coming in, Miss."

Her face was a picture - like she'd been smacked in the mouth with a dolphin or something. Quickly, she regained her composure and carried on. But you know what, I felt so ashamed of what I'd said. Mrs Aberdeen didn't deserve my contempt.

If there's one thing I truly regret at school it's that little incident. Silly, but it stucks in my mind like a sore thumb. Not a lot else bothers me.

Anyway, well done Aaron. Keep it up, son!!!

responsible

2010-12-07T13:40:00.003Z

To anyone in the U.K, these will be familiar scenes at the moment. Well, actually, in Liverpool we haven't had much snow to speak of, compared to the rest of the country, but the pictures below show the sort of weather we've been having.

There's an ethereal beauty to frosty scenes - which is something I'd never associate with Liverpool usually!

The daily grind, regardless of whether I'm in work or not, of de-icing the cars goes on. But where, last week, we all looked at each other with exclamations of -8 degrees or whatever, now there's a fairly relaxed and nonchalant attitude to this arctic chill, courtesy of our Russian friends if you believe the weather forecasters.

Mind, I came out of the house just before and nearly went arse over tit on the icy pavement. Remembering a caller on local radio who said that there's laws in Germany for householders to clear snow and de-ice their immediate vicinity. I thought how sensible! So I went up to a local garden centre and bought a big bag of grit - £6.99! Market forces at work!

Where we live it's particularly devoid of any direct sunlight, at the front of house anyway, so the slippery conditions still prevail whilst the weak heat from the sun slowly melts ice elsewhere. I threw down a couple of shovel fulls of grit on our path and the pavement outside - the responsible, caring person that I am. And it's worked a treat.

But for how long is another matter.

Villa

2010-12-07T10:43:00.002Z

Houllier's return to Anfield was a bit pointless. His Aston Villa side are truly woeful, and a very easy win was secured last night without several key players.

One wonders why Le Boss, ably assisted by the irreplaceable Gary McAllister, took on the Villa job? They have their moments, nothing more. However, their owner, Randy Lerner, has taken a cautious, backseat approach to Villa's fortunes and it leaves the impression that being too little involved is almost as bad as being too much (Glazers, Hicks, Gillett, Manderic, etc....)

Easy pickings. Great offside goal by the enigma that is Ryan Babel. Man of the match, yet again, went to Lucas Levia. He calmly went about his job picking off Villa's midfield like flies. Good to see.

More please.

rummaging

2010-12-06T22:26:00.002Z

Since moving, I've begun and finished transferring all my bills and stuff across to Fazakerley. It's been a quick process and my important details are now from here rather than the flat. Cyril's got my new address and all mail's been redirected. For now.

One of the first things I did after I moved was join the local Fazakerley library. When joining, I was asked, strangely, my football allegiance. On reply, I received the following plastic item pictured below......

It's a brilliant piece of "giving the people what they want". My first impression of Liverpool City Council's services is of a very positive nature.

Timed also to arrive to me is a new bank card. My bank, Santander (they who've taken over from Alliance and Leicester) sent a new card to my old address that failed to arrive. I cancelled that one, and asked for a replacement to be sent to here that duly arrived on Saturday, and a new PIN number today. However, the card was good for rummaging around Ebay, yesterday, getting the final bits and pieces for the kids' Christmas.

It's been a stressful couple of days here and its' reasons are not for the blog's eyes. Let's just say that church and sweets can be explosive!!

merrier

2010-12-04T23:57:00.002Z

We started putting up the Christmas decorations today.

This is a comparatively new experience for me. I never bothered when I was at Mum's, and even less when was at B'sands. Jo once put up a fibre-optic Christmas tree in the flat, which was pretty cool to be honest, and I think I liked it because it was quite understated.

Christmas is something this year I'll have to endure for the sake of other people. I've had a couple of quite pleasant years away from all the bullshit, but particularly with Aaron and Bethany, I can't go around this time with a face on me.

If Christmas turns out to be a laugh, then all the merrier. But if it's the same load of bollox that I've percieved it in the past, then I think I'm better prepared to force-smile my way through it now than I've ever been.

Must be age........

tosh

2010-12-02T22:52:00.002Z

Congratulations to Russia for winning the bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

Un-congratulations to England for spitting their dummy out because they think they have a divine right to host the tournament.

The fact that England secured just 2 of the 22 possible votes in the first bidding round shows how little influence the English committee had on the proceedings. Media coverage of the bidding wasn't entirely helpful to the home nation bid either.

Such a shame..............

Maybe FIFA were put off the English bid because of their over-reliance on using all things Mancunian for the presentation. Their was Bobby Charlton, (Manc legend), Prince William Of Old Trafford, David Cameron (Tory tosspot in possible pay of the Glazers), David Beckham (Manc leg-end) and a community worker from Moss Side who made Liam Gallagher sound like a member of the aristocracy.

Manchester isn't the home of football. It might think it is, but it isn't. And facts prove it.

English football has three overwhelmingly successful soccer cities. They are Manchester, London and Liverpool.

If you take the total number of major trophies (League, FA/League Cup and Euro success) each city has won, based on the current number of Premiership football teams based in these cities, it works a little like this........

LIVERPOOL (Liverpool and Everton)

League Championships 27

FA/League Cups 21

European 12

GRAND TOTAL - 60

MANCHESTER (Manchester United and Manchester City)

League Championships 20

FA/League Cups 21

European 6

GRAND TOTAL - 47

LONDON (Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Fulham and West Ham)

League Championships 19

FA/League Cups 37

European 9

GRAND TOTAL - 64

And Manchester self-styles itself as the footballing capital of England? What tosh - in fact, it's another example of the hugely-exaggerated veil of self-importance this deluded bunch of people and their supporters attach to themselves.

London may be the most successful city, but surely Liverpool is still the out-and-out winner based on the two-team ratio as opposed to five.

It's not often I give our Blue friends the benefit of the doubt, but they deserve their place here.

Anyway, the fallout and bitter recriminations to the unsuccessful World Cup bid are a bit of the laugh, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

KKI

2010-11-30T22:30:00.002Z

A little pet project of mine is a photographic record of where I grew up, the places I used to go, and what's still there and what's gone.

I started snapping Waterloo before I moved, but today was the first chance I've had in weeks to do a little more research and reminiscing.

There was a place in Waterloo I used to play in behind the hospital that was called, bizarrely, "King Kong's Island". It's 25 years since I last went there - not knowing whether it still existed anyway. KKI was basically just a tiny wooded area surrounded by bushes and brambles. There was a small pond, and it was great fun building dams, dens and hammocks. The hospital was demolished and rebuilt on a smaller scale, whilst a nursing home was built at the rear.

But, you know, "King Kong's Island" is still there! Today's inspection proved it. I may have been a little cheeky walking through private grounds (actually VERY cheeky!) but I really didn't care. A few trees smaller, but looking much the same as I last left it. A testament to the theory that the builders don't always flatten everything in their tracks.

So this is an ongoing thing, when I get the time. Waterloo was like everywhere else today - cold, icey and very sunny. But recommended!

froze

2010-11-30T09:16:00.002Z

I had a memorable conversation with Jayne a few weeks ago.

"Do you think the weather will as bad this winter as last," she asked?

"Nah, no way," I replied, "and anyway, it's not even winter yet."

Famous last words.

Very, very cold in Liverpool at the moment. I went out to de-ice the cars, like I've been doing for the past week it seems, and yesterday the temperature was a blisteringly hot minus eight.

The night before, I went out on a night-time bike ride that had more to do with relieving my anger about Liverpool losing to Spurs, than keeping fit. It was BITTERLY cold and even after I got home, the relative warmth of the house was a fallacy because heat could never really penetrate the arctic conditions we found ourselves battling against.

Luckily, we've only had a dusting of snow in Liverpool. That happened overnight, but the snow quickly froze to ice, and the side roads, at least, are treacherous.

To readers in Singapore, you're probably wondering what the fuss is all about. To readers in Siberia you're probably wondering what the fuss is all about too!

Us Brits have a reputation for being very "stiff upper lip". It's nonsense. We moan about absolutely EVERYTHING, and the tiniest detail that goes awry in our sheltered lives becomes a gaping wound, overflowing with puss, that near shatters our resolve to get on.

Personally, I'm not arsed anymore. Not a lot surprises me now. Life's too short to be small.

Queen

2010-11-25T23:33:00.002Z

I was embarrassingly reminded of Freddie Mercury's passing on Brian May's website a minute ago. Nineteen years since Fred passed on - it's a sobering thought.

Sadly, I'm not as much into Queen as I once was. The blues influence in their music has put me out a fair bit. And a lot of their recent activity has left me cold to be honest.

The thing with Queen was they had the songs, they had the presence, they had the power but they blew the RESPONSIBILITY that Rock had blessed them with. Ultimately all they really wanted to do was entertain people and make a sackful of money in the process. They let Rock down in a big, bad way with that attitude.

Brian once described their gigs akin to something like the Nuremburg Rally, whereas Fred saw their live shows as an escape for people from their problems for a few hours. The reality was, frustratingly, somewhere in between.

Unfortunately, what Pete Townshend ascribed to for "Lifehouse" went totally past the heads of Queen even though they were in the position to make Rock change the world. "Live Aid" only showed a tantalising glimpse of their true potential.

Now all we're left with is 1974's "Sheer Heart Attack" album and a bloody awful West End musical.

bailout

2010-11-22T22:01:00.002Z

As most regular readers will know, I'm a keen observer of what goes on over in Ireland.

But I'm not entirely surprised at the country's near financial meltdown. I lived in Ireland at the apex of the "Celtic Tiger" economic boom of early noughties and the place was awash with money and prosperity for the first time in the country's long and turbulent history.

However, as an outsider looking in, I always wondered what would happen once huge fiscal support from the EU dried up as new member countries joined the Union?

The result has been catastrophic. During the good times, I suppose no one could blame the flood of money used by the government for all sorts of weird and wonderful projects. It's just a tragedy no one decided to put a little away in case things went tits up.

I used to ask folk over there what would happen when the bubble bursts and they usually gave me blank, uncomprehending faces. They're probably still wondering what the hell to do now?

I can't agree with the mass of criticism against the U.K Government putting £7 billion into the coffers for the Irish bailout package. In one of the few times I'll ever agree with this coalition fiasco, we're protecting our interests in Ireland. So much of the U.K economy is paired with our Irish neighbours that not to help them out is tantamount to lunacy.

On a purely local level, most of the U.K's trade with Ireland goes between Liverpool and Dublin. So think of folk's livelihoods in our twin cities before anything else.

flat

2010-11-19T23:35:00.002Z

I've left the flat.

It's been a great three and a half years there and, despite outward appearances, I will miss the place.

I'd had correspondence with the landlord, Cyril, for the last week or so, and it seemed he was playing his usual game of fobbing me off. The sticking point was two months' notice I would have to give on the flat to leave, which didn't seem at all fair. And before anyone says I signed a lease to the effect of these circumstances, I hadn't. At least not for the past 18 months. The terms of the lease have been something both me and Cyril abided to, in spite of it not being legally signed.

I really wanted to do everything by the book, but I just couldn't see the point in paying £600 of rent for a property I wasn't at. Both me and Jayne were seriously considering just doing a runner, but with grave foreboding......

Imagine my surprise when on Wednesday, Cyril arrives at the flat whilst I was cleaning up and packing the last of my bits.

He told me I'd been the "model tenant" and of the hundreds of people over the years he'd dealt with as tenants, I'd given him the least problems and was the only person in his experience who'd NEVER missed a payment of rent.

He was incredibly kind and warm about me and was willing to help in any way he could. So we've arranged for me to leave the flat officially at the end of the month. I don't owe him a penny, and vice-versa.

I've cancelled a few direct debits. All my bills have been paid up to the 16th of December, by which time my contracts with the utilities finish.

I'm now at Jayne's and we're in the process of changing all my details for stuff over to her address, and informing the relevant councils (both Liverpool and Sefton) of our changed circumstances. We're doing everything completely and utterly above board. As an example, I've to pay my car insurer an extra £178 to change my policy from Blundellsands, L23 to Fazakerley, L10. Not fun, but it has to be done.

The flat's served me very well. The moans about the girl upstairs, the traffic wardens, and the Weetabix incident are small talk compared to the positives I took from the place. I loved the area - the fact that one was five minutes walk from the beach was an obvious plus. The flat itself was incredibly sunny and bright. I loved nothing more on a summer's day than sitting on the step, sipping from a cold can of Coke watching the world go by. That part of Crosby was incredibly busy from a traffic point of view, but it felt so alive in being that way.

I felt enormously blessed to have the chance to create my first proper home away from home there. I worked hard at it and kept the place in as good an order as I could.

I'll miss it, I've had some great times there, and can only hope the next tenant gets as much feeling of it being their home as I did.

Hawes

2010-11-16T22:25:00.005Z

More catching up. Here's some pictures of the weekend me, Jayne, Aaron, Bethany and Mum spent up in Yorkshire. I reached the milestone age of 40 whilst in we delighted in Hawes - a small market town in Wensleydale and nothing to do with partaking sexual favours with morally-defunct women. Hawes, however, is populated by inbreds.

There was a party at Jayne's Uncle Dave's for the family - everyone came up from Liverpool. It was a lot of fun and I was presented with a big cake!

The hotel we stayed at was awful. We'd been at Uncle Dave's, and arrived back at the digs before the rest of the party. Upon coming into the bar, it went silent - all eyes on us. A very unnerving experience.

A little later on, when the rest of our entourage arrived, there was a clear division between locals and us. They all stayed by the bar, sometimes looking across and snarling. I didn't really get hung up on the tension, and left the bar early, but not before who I thought was a punter tried to dance with Jayne's Auntie Viv. Viv was rocking her grandson in her arms, and this bloke came behind her and danced in a lecherous fashion. Turned out this was the landlord!

Our room wasn't too bad - clean and tidy, but the sliding door to the en-suite bog/bathroom kept coming off its' hinges and banging me on the head. Aaron and Bethany slept next door, in a room without functioning heating. It was absolutely freezing when I went in there the following morning.

On Sunday morning, we couldn't get out the place quick enough. The landlord was hanging around, pretending to be busy. His attitude was shocking - he just didn't give a shit. No apology for the previous night's antics.

Likewise, we couldn't wait to get off for home. Hawes was a nice enough place, but there was bog-all to do. We spent most of morning waiting for people to show up or not as the case may be, and when we got our chance, we were away.

Both me and Jayne said beforehand that we could have done without this trip because it was enormously expensive. And as much as we had a laugh, it was nothing we wouldn't have missed. But we should treasure these little trips away, because they're gonna be few and far between next year with saving for our wedding.

humbled

2010-11-14T20:28:00.004Z

I'm playing catch-up again.

On Thursday in work, my colleagues did me proud by giving me a pre-birthday to remember.

As well as loads of nice prezzies and cards, they streamed the place full of balloons and banners - the pride of which was a huge pink penis, pictured below, that hung directly above my desk.

I've been genuinely humbled by my workmates' kindness and generosity. After 15 years together, I mustn't do them in THAT much!!!!

Thanx Ron, Ing and Mandy xxx

Rock

2010-11-12T09:19:00.002Z

Twelve hours later and my ears are still ringing.

Cheap Trick are the masters of their art.

Rick's guitar playing was as potent and driven - brutally loud and obnoxious! Robin still has the voice to melt metal - effortlessly powerful and heartfelt as ever. Tom is the still the world's best 12-string bass player - viciously noisy and bold. Daxx (deputising for the peerless Bun E.) held all the madness together - providing a solid backbone to this remarkable quartet's brand of Power Pop.

It was the best gig I've been too - they were that good. It's said that sometimes you should never see your heroes in the flesh, you'll only be disappointed. Cheap Trick didn't disappoint me. They re-affirmed my faith in Rock.

Rock and Roll will save the world. I saw a glimpse of it last night. You read it here FIRST!

family

2010-11-10T12:41:00.002Z

Things could be moving quickly. I say "could" because both me and Jayne want to get it right.

Ooops, nearly forgot, this is about my flat and not anything else....yet!

I hope to be moving into Jayne's officially in the near future. Some of my stuff is already there, so it kind of feels like home already. But neither of us are taking anything for granted. We know what we want to do, both Aaron and Bethany are on board, and we're going to do it right and legitimately (to the best of our abilities) in the shortest time frame possible.

For both of us this is a time for cool heads in the midst of our forthcoming future together.

We get on really, really well. We love each other to bits, we cuddle, kiss, bonk, pull faces and fart. Granted, we can moan like mad at the other, but this happens once in a blue moon now compared to a difficult patch we had over the summer. I stuck it out because I knew that Jayne was good - she still is and a lot more.

There's no triumphalism in what I'm saying. I know there are those out there who are by the wayside now and it'd be the most fantastic world ever if we could all please everyone all the time. Diplomacy has never been my strong point, and I feel I've been badly lacking in the last twelve months. No point saying "Sorry" because I'm just one of these people who never seems to learn.

I'm 40 years old on Saturday and I've spent most of my life basically doing whatever I've wanted to do - without forethought or needing permission to the point sometimes where I've all the tact of a bull in a china shop. But I can't do this any longer. I can't keep on being here just for me. It's just not fair on the few around me and the consequences are enormously negative should I have chosen a lone path. In fact, I'll contradict myself here and say those consequences in my forty years here so far could probably fill up Hell.

I'm not a bad person. I've just spent too much of my life avoiding responsibility.

Jayne says she knew when she met me I was "The One". In me, she's seen so much potential to be good and she's nurtured me into a half-adjusted member of the human race. I've never let someone in that closely. There's no downside to it, and the little changes I've had to make within myself haven't been too taxing. But Jayne encouraged that - sometimes subtlety, and sometimes quite in my face! But it's all been good.

In return, I've hope that I've given both Jayne and the kids a semblance of security and normality in their lives. Just as they give to me.

So after 40 years of trying, I've found "The One" as well. Funny how it happens?

This is why me, Jayne, Aaron and Bethany are all getting together soon. We're a family. And we're gonna make it work.

See you soon in Fazak.

Badfinger

2010-11-08T23:46:00.002Z

One of my favourite bands of all time are Badfinger. Apple Records have recently re-released their back catalogue, which includes their 1971 masterpiece "Straight Up".

A more complete collection of Power Pop just isn't available. And I'm a connoisseur of the works of Big Star, The Raspberries and The Move.

The story of Badfinger is without doubt the most sad and tragic in the entire history of Rock. The band were royally screwed by their business manager to such a degree that it ended with the suicides of Pete Ham. aged just 27, in 1975, and Liverpool's own Tommy Evans, aged 36, in 1983. It's such a cautionary tale that anybody wanting to get involved in the music business would do well to heed.

But back to "Straight Up". Produced at separate sessions by both Todd Rundgren and George Harrison, it's Badfinger at the peak of their powers. Beginning with the towering ballad "Take It All" which alone proves that the previous year's "Without You" wasn't just a one-off. Followed by the power pop-standard "Baby Blue". Evans' "Money" and "Flying" hark back to Abbey Road-era Beatles. "I'd Die Babe", "Suitcase" and "Sometimes" all written by Joey Molland show the band's Rock side - the latter track a tantalising taster to what Merseybeat could've become. Ham's "Perfection" is just perfection itself - marvellous piece of raga-style power pop topped with an emotive Ham vocal.

Just wonderful! The reissue, a far more welcome release than any of the Beatles' current output, is joy itself.

And while we're on the subject of Power Pop, the great Roy Wood is 64 today. His protegees, Cheap Trick, lie in wait for me on Thursday.......

Chelsea

2010-11-08T20:46:00.004Z

Ooooh, this was a bit special yesterday.

Fernando Torres claims he's not back to his best yet. So may whatever god opposing defences believe in help them when he's fully fit.

His second goal was one of the most sublime finishes I've ever seen. El Nino's precision curling shot was like threading a needle at the first attempt. True genius.

Easily our best result of the season so far, and yet Torres wasn't man of the match. That accolade, in my humble opinion, goes to Lucas Levia.

In much the same way the Skoda car was much derided until new management at Volkswagon turned the brand into a super-efficient motor, Lucas, under Hodgson's regime, has gone from zero to hero.

There were signs last season that the Brazilian was getting his game together, but yesterday he looked the finished article. Lucas thrives on doing all the dirty midfield jobs no one else wants, or has the balls to do. Single-handedly he nullified an expensive and creative Chelsea midfield trio to doing pretty much nothing. By being a pest - throwing a tackle, a leg, a body in the way of anything Chelsea threw at us - he gave the likes of Gerrard, Maxi, Merelies and particularly Kuyt so much time and space to express themselves.

This is a step forward for the team, nothing more. I still think Hodgson's too cautious for his own good, but when we're getting results like this I'll happily admit my erroneous judgment!!

dream

2010-11-08T20:42:00.001Z

A dream come true. Jayne's old acoustic guitar was taking up too much space and didn't stand a chance in my hands.

glasses

2010-11-04T13:04:00.002Z

I learn something new every day, and today's truth was that my Jayne wears glasses. Well, she's supposed to, but had mislaid her pair for nearly a year.

New haircut, new glasses....whatever next????? I'm eager to find out.......

Bolton

2010-11-02T00:00:00.003Z

Nice to see Rafa's still got his Scouse accent and senseayuma.......

Talking a lot of sense there, but also massively contradicting himself. I think Rafa lost the plot for his last season at our place, in much the same way that Roy's not gotten the plot yet.

Back to back wins is a welcome relief. Bolton are the ugliest alehouse side we'll face all season, but we rode our luck a little and got a crucial win.

gift

2010-11-01T21:10:00.005Z

Today, after weeks and weeks of badgering her, Jayne got her hair cut. And doesn't she look gift????

I said to her I wanted to be able to see and kiss the back of a bare neck. She happily obliged!

And because it was a home-haircut, guess who had to hoover up all that discarded blond hair from the floor?

Jayne likes it, I like it and the kids don't. Oh well, what a pity, never mind.......

pointless

2010-10-31T18:32:00.008Z

I went for another of my pointless wanders of old railway stations / yards today. This time I went to find the remains of the vast Fazakerley sidings yard that closed back in 1987.

Here's a 1977 pic of a Wigan-Liverpool Exchange train passing the foot crossing at Fazakerley.

And here's the same view today. Bit different isn't it?

I found very, very little to say there was once an engine yard / goods depot here, and we're only talking just over 20 years ago. The masses of railway sidings were dug up, and replaced by a "country park" of sorts.

Fazakerley sidings are very "blink and you'll miss it", unlike my mapping of the approaches to Exchange, of which a fair amount of evidence is still there to prove its' existence. British Rail really did a hatchet job on Fazak.

knackered

2010-10-31T01:03:00.007+01:00

I took our Jay out yesterday because he's on half-term like just about every kid in the country.

We took the footy down to Sefton Park, then Calderstones Park (where the below photo was taken) and rather than take him for his regular meal at McDonalds, we came back to the flat for some ham butties...well, he ate them, I didn't!

I've been to McDonalds a couple of times this year and have had the misfortune to try some of their food. It's shit.

Me and Jayne went to one next to Walton prison last weekend. I think I'd prefer the prison food to be honest. The meal was just full of sugar. I'd bought one of these veggie wraps and the chilli sauce was like treacle. Not nice.

Anyway, after dinner with Jay, I took him on the beach near me. It was very, very windy and the tide was right in. See the sand blowing up the beach?

I think he was nice and knackered after all that exercise? Recommended for boisterous six-year olds!

Scouse

2010-10-29T22:24:00.002+01:00

Recently, it's been reported that in an attempt to save money, three London councils have bandied together to provide certain services. So bearing this in mind, it's not inconceivable that the below image might never happen.......

I'd love to know where the actual cut-off point between being in Liverpool and not being in Liverpool is? It doesn't stop at the council boundary that's for sure.

Yet the area of Greater Liverpool is governed by three separate local councils - Liverpool, Sefton and Knowsley.

Sefton is a pain of a borough geographically. Because the Southport end of the boundary has never, ever reconciled itself with the "Scouse" end of the boundary. Yet councillors in both areas vote on each other's services and it's caused no end of friction for 35 years.

So the possibility of Crosby / Bootle / Aintree / Maghull joining an enlarged city council area isn't impossible. In fact, in time, I think it's inevitable?

sprog

2010-10-29T18:21:00.015+01:00

It's the half-term break, and as well as Jayne and the kids being off, so have I.

In readiness for future times, I've spent the week at Jayne's as a precursor to hopefully moving in sometime in the near future. It's just a gentle toe-in-the-water to see how things go, and it's been good.

We've had no money to speak of and the weather's been very erratic, so the four of us have been mooching around the house. A lot of times this would be a recipe for arguments and bad feelings, but I think we've looked upon this as an opportunity. Because if we all get along like a house on fire when we're cooped up, then we can hopefully get along at any time.

But we did need some kind of day out, and Jayne suggested a trip to Church Farm, which is in Thurstatson, over on the Wirral peninsula. The publicity proclaimed, "fun for all the family" and "stroke a guinea pig". It cost £10 for a family of four, and we were in and out of the place in about 40 minutes. But I took loads of photos.......

Ducks having a bath.

Goats. One is ready to drop its' sprog any day soon.

This guy was having so much fun he nailed himself to a fence.

The "Nightmare Circus". It was shut. Health and Safety.....

Another lost soul.......

Them highland cattle from Croxteth Park get EVERYWHERE!

A sheep.

Geese. Waiting with baited breath for the Christmas table.

Aaron and "Plonker" the pony.

"Derek" the donkey.

"Lazarus" the baby llama.

"Horatio" the hen.

"Parthenon" the pig.

Jayne and Bethany degunge themselves after touching me.

Church Farm was a complete waste of time. I'm sure the best of intentions was meant when advertising the venture. But no bugger was there, everything was shut, and what was going on cost a fortune.

Jayne immediately apologised for her serious short-sightedness at the futility of the trip by buying us all dinner. Yum!!!

digital

2010-10-25T11:59:00.002+01:00

About 18 months ago I picked up one of these after-market digital TV receivers.

The timing was perfect because I'd just cancelled my Virgin Media TV contract, yet the wiring was still running through my flat. With the aid of the above box and a simple PC program, I was able to access all of Virgin Media's channels - very illegally and for absolutely nothing.

It was brilliant. All the live footy - free. All the new films - free. All the crap porn - free.

However, Virgin have encoded their network with new software, all the channels are barred, and the telly box is now pretty much useless.

But, boy, has it paid itself off? I think it was £120 new, but the full Virgin package is about £70 a month, so figure it out for yourself.

Anyway, can't complain. Back to Freeview.......

Croxteth

2010-10-24T23:06:00.017+01:00

I'm catching up on putting my pictures on my laptop, so last week's trip to Croxteth Park is a little late but worth posting about.

There's so much bad publicity about the word "Croxteth". Sure, it's become synonymous with gang culture but the actual Croxteth Hall and Park are nowhere near the trouble black-spots.

I started my trip there by getting the number 12 bus out to West Derby Village. And it's a village in the truest sense. Just look at the above pic.

The main drive through the estate is so long and straight that it probably passes an international time zone.

And looking back toward West Derby Village.

Are these Highland Yak, or just hairy cows......

Very tame sheep. As long as they think there's food in it for them.

What a gorgeous garden path!

To my delight there was a Walled Garden. That was Walled off from public view.

Croxteth Hall itself.

A lake. With a mini-fountain that was randomly spurting water out. At ducks.

The Iron Bridge. And, believe it or not, that's the River Alt below.

These old nuclear bunkers are a dead giveaway aren't they?

A squirrel. Near the nuclear bunker. Perhaps he/she knows something the rest of us don't?

There's one of these ropewalks adventure playgrounds at Croxteth Hall. It was shut, but the sun was still out.

More water.

If you look carefully there's a 7 1/2" miniature railway track underneath the dead leaves.

And a bridge that's closed off at night to keep the hoodies out. In fact, the whole park's cordoned off to local youth thankfully.

I loved Croxteth Park. I went here with Bethany the other Friday so she could play on swings and stuff, and I promised myself then I'd have to come back for a proper gander. I always thought that it was just the south end of my city that had all the greenery and water features. Now there's somewhere in the east. Just a shame the supposed "posh" north end is so much like a failed housing estate experiment - Crosby.