Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Well That Was 2008

Well that’s it, 2008 nearly over, it wasn’t as good as 2007 but it certainly wasn’t the worst year in my life either. I’ve lost my momentum a bit over the course of 2008, my own doing entirely and I need to rectify it in 2009.

It’s been a year of trials and tribulations, very much a mixed affair really. I still feel like I’m very much an evolving person in many ways. I’ve let myself down a couple of times this year yet there’s been moments where I’ve found self discipline and inner strength. Life is certainly a challenge and 2008 has certainly been a mixed bag of events, happenings, feelings and revelations.

Here’s to 2009, hopefully a better year for me, and I hope all my friends and family prosper in it too.

Right time for a beer and to beckon the new year in and give 2008 a large hobbit footed kick goodbye !!!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Never Forgotten

The young girl with the rabbit in the photo is my mum ‘Ann’. Today would have been her birthday; I think she would have been 62. On the rear of the photo it says ‘Ann and Butch, Ann aged 13 and a half, Butch aged 4’ - 1961. Happier times for my mum in the flower of her youth, with her trusty pet rabbit Butch who she always spoke of with great affection.

Today I visited the family grave with my uncle where her ashes are scattered, we laid some flowers and my uncle did most of the talking, I just looked on in quiet reflection, keeping my thoughts to myself. It was a cloudy cold day as rain poured down relentlessly but I’m glad I went, if only for a short while.



MRSA

My dad is in hospital at the moment with an 'MRSA' infection resulting from a seemingly routine hernia operation a couple of weeks back. On Wednesday he looked very drawn and not his usual self and was losing a fair amount of blood from the hernia op wound. He was taken to Newark Hospital and then transferred to Kings Mill hospital in Mansfield about 20 miles away which is larger and has better facilities.

I saw him in hospital today and he looks a little lighter in weight but is in good spirits, he's coping really well and hopefully will respond to the treatment and be home in the near future. The best Christmas present I could have would be to have him home safe and sound and back to his normal self.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Jerry Sadowitz


Last night I went with friends to see the veteran comedian and magician Jerry Sadowitz play a secret warm up gig at the Approach pub in Nottingham situated on Friar Lane. The Sunday night comedy slot is called ‘Just the Tonic’ and hosts a variety of upcoming and established comedians, though I suspect they’d never had anyone of Sadowitz’s outlandish character there before.

I’ve been a fan of Jerry Sadowitz since the 80s but this was the first time I’d seen him live, and I wasn’t disappointed, in fact I left the venue on a right buzz. Sadowitz style isn’t for the faint hearted or moral upstanding, his style is a tour de force of noire hatred vented with a 100% proof vitriol. His topics encompass almost everything as his relentless pace charges forward with sardonic abandonment, no subject is taboo, no person is safe – that for me is the beauty of it as political correctness bollocks goes straight out of the window. Sadowitz says the things we all think and want to say but never do.

I’ve a feeling some of the younger audience didn’t know what they’d let themselves in for as the juggernaut of hatred humour rumbled on at break neck speed, so fast at times it was hard to keep up, but then again I was laughing hysterically. I have some of his previous stuff stashed away so I can watch it, I knew what to expect and I knew I was going to get my moneys worth, and I did, in spades.

I passed Jerry on the way to the gents, he seemed a quiet man, those huge orbs of eyes looked out thoughtfully from under his worn top hat, I wanted to go over and shake his hand but he was already talking to others in the venue, hopefully another time maybe. I expected him to be taller really but he was a short arse like me, it’s funny how television can often give other illusions of people. Where I wear platform goth boots to make me taller Jerry goes for the top hat effect!

It was a great comedy gig, marred only by the dire warm up comic called Joe Ball, a cockney of no repute who barely raised a laugh, but then again his style was very Lenny Henry, who I’ve never found funny anyway.
It was a great comedy gig, marred only by the dire warm up comic called Joe Ball, a cockney of no repute who barely raised a laugh, but then again his style was very Lenny Henry, who I’ve never found funny anyway.

Lastly, I have to mention the amazing magic performed, Jerry had a camera mounted above the table with the tricks being relayed on a large screen to the audience, the man moves with such devilishly fast adroitness that you never see things coming, but then again my vision was blurred by tears of laughter anyway!

Jerry's sparse website can be found here

A Video of some of Jerry's older material can be found here (warning, not for the easily offended)

Sunday, November 30, 2008

A Song For Sunday

Here's a song by a fantastic band I've been listening to at the moment from 'Dead Can Dance'. They've been around a good few years but I've only recently discovered them. This song is called 'Saltarello' and the very apt surreal yet unofficial video for it has been done by a guy on YouTube, I think he's done an amazing job.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Vampires Rock

On Saturday I went to see Vampires Rock with a group of friends and had a cracking night. The show was really good and I got to meet Toyah! I've got quite a few Toyah cd's and I've been a fan for years, so I wasn't going to leave without getting a photo of me and her! The show was based around rock anthems with a loose story and by the end everyone was on their feet clapping along as the band belted out classics from Queen, Alice Cooper and Kiss. Anyway, here's some photos from the night.








Thursday, November 20, 2008

Broken Land

It's funny when you are feeling down or meloncholy how songs from the past and in my case songs from the 80's can give you a lift. Here's one of my favourites from that golden era of music, a truly amazing yet little known band called 'The Adventures', their album 'Sea of Love' to me was seminal at the time, and still is.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Strictly Nonsense


He’s not pretty, he’s getting on a bit and according to the judges of this program he can’t dance. Former political journalist John Sergeant has decided to pull out of BBC1’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. Now, I don’t ever watch this program but the odd brief bits I’ve caught of it is a simple format, the best dancers progress, the weakest get pin pointed by the judges and then face a public vote, a popular reality tv formula.

Sergeant’s dancing abilities have been in question most weeks evidently, and the judges of the program have been none to flattering about his ballroom dancing techniques and grace. On the other hand, the public love him and have kept him in the show every week, despite his scores ranking near the bottom.

Now he feels it’s time to leave the show as if he won it would be ‘a joke too far’ and not really fair on the good dancers if he won. How sad is that, a man with obvious character and with a comedy value that appeals to the masses has withdrawn? Did he jump or was he pushed? Reading the BBC news forums it seems the public will miss him greatly, and the fact he was getting stick every week prompted more to vote to keep him in. The British public don’t like being told who is best or who they should vote for, that psychology doesn’t work, we love an underdog, we love character and we like to laugh and be entertained, isn’t that the whole purpose of light entertainment reality programs? There’s the argument of course that the best contestants should ultimately win and also that Sergeant has turned the show into a soap opera, but the bottom line is the public vote for who they like, and after all this is a celebrity prime time program and not a serious competitive event. If it was a serious program the celebrities wouldn’t be there in the first place! It’s all nonsense, and more proof, as with other recent events that the BBC just isn’t in touch with its audience needs or wants. As for the press, why listen to their bitter and twisted rants on Sergeant, now he’s left they just pour scorn on someone else.

I miss the old days, programs like ‘It’s a Knockout’ to name but one, where it was all light hearted fun, wasn’t so serious and ego’s didn’t come into play, it was just good old fashioned entertainment.

Being Human

Last night I popped across to see my dad play guitar in a local pub, I didn't stay long really, just a solitary pint as I'm cutting back on the beer and then I walked home. Usually I like to walk through the market place, the square has a certain sheen to it as the old lamp lights flicker in the night. Walking through the usually empty market place often makes my mind drift to Victorian-esque moments, of vampires lurking in the shadows. As I pace through my imagination can run riot briefly.

Anyway last night as I neared Bridge Street several undesirables emerged from nowhere, quite close to me, evidently taking some interest. There about four of them, most likely with nothing better to do than lurk around and cause bother. As I was listening to music I couldn't hear their words, I quickly paced by them but could sense I was getting verbal abuse, though I didn't turn the music off to hear it, why bother?

I can take personal abuse, at my age its not something that bothers me greatly now, but I do wonder why people have to be insulting and aggressive. I felt doubtful of being attacked as it was fairly town centre and there's cctv around a usually a few people, if they had however I could have done nothing but took a beating, I was more matter of fact about the situation than nervous. Removing my earplugs and responding could have invited trouble, the sensible course of action was to stride on, nonchalant to what they were doing and paying no heed at all.

Today I had to admit on pondering things, my faith in human behaviour wasn't at full strength initially. This afternoon I went for a haircut and as I sat waiting an elderly Australian gentleman in a wheelchair was beside me having his cut, he was in his wheelchair as he obviously couldn't ascend the stairs to the main salon area. As I sat and read a magazine he chatted to the stylist about how he was over here in the UK for a few months with his wife (also having her hair cut). Soon my hair was cut and the stylist paid, I descended the stairs and there sat the old guy, I paused momentarily, then turned and smiled before saying 'Cheerio'. He responded warmly, slightly taken aback. I'm sure for a moment he felt good, I know I did, so why do some people get off on being unfriendly?

November Rain

It's been one of those months when nothing has seemingly gone right (and the weather has been dire). I could rant and moan about several items really, and in truth I wish I was more motivated to do so but I'm not right now. We all have bad days, I realise that but I just keep stringing bad days together. Things just keep happening and generally going wrong on a daily basis.

On the positive side of things, I have a couple of social events coming up that I'm looking forward to and my friend Gary who works out in Hong Kong is back over in the UK again in January 09 for a while.

In true hobbit style I'll soldier on and hope the coming weeks are better than the last few.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Snippets

Just a few thoughts on recent things going on...

Obama

I hope he does well, he could do a lot of good, especially if his foreign policies address current problems and mend fences. One thing that does worry me is that he has a lot of expectation to live up to, can he deliver? Let's hope so. It's good to see the geriatric old guard of American Presidents come to an end, out with the old, in with the younger and more dynamic.

Manuelgate

The British media had a real frenzy with Manuelgate. In a nutshell it all started with a seemingly low key prank call made to veteran comedian Andrew Sachs by Russell Brand and Johnathan Ross. The call did contain some distasteful lewd elements but in reality in wasn't any worse than some of the prank calls done in the past. The press however picked up on it and the whole thing became sensationalised, Brand in his radio station apology had subtle swipes at the paper that exposed the story thus inflamed the wrath of the press even more. Brand resigned, Ross was suspended, the celebrity community was divided.

So who were the winners and losers? In actual fact there were hardly any losers. Brand went over to the States and raised his profile further with appearances on chat shows etc, Ross got suspension but used to time to relax and rethink his career and count his money, the general consensus being 'he should have known better' but he received less vitriolic comments than Brand. Andrew Sachs was once again in the celebrity public eye and his almost extinct comedy career received a temporary boost, I think he did the Prince Charles comedy birthday tribute. Georgina Ballie, Sach's grandaughter and subject of the prank calls went to Max Clifford (publicist) and duly got her 5 minutes of fame.

As for the losers, well the BBC took a lot of flack and serious questions were raised over the amount they pay figurehead celebs such as Ross, and I guess as a license payer we shouldn't be paying our fee for celebs and big wigs at the BBC to get paid so bloody much. I think the BBC does some great Tv, but it could do even more quality programs if it paid celebrities and directors less.

My own personal angle on it? Well Brand could have done himself a favour by not taking on the press, though the reality is, it keeps him in the public eye. I don't think he's funny, dressing like a dandy, elongating words and gesticulating wildly just doesn't work for me, my guess is that he's a flash in the pan. Ross however, I quite like. I saw him once, on a trip to London, I was with my friend Pat and we were just about to go into a comic shop, as I recall Ross towered over us, such a tall man (well everyone is tall to me!) and said hello to us. I like Ross, not really sure why, I just do, and I like his Mrs even more!

The Economy

Well the papers say 1,500 a day are joining the ranks of the unemployed, that money is scarce and the outlook for the near future is bleak. Yet looking at certain goings on last night for children in need day it's amazing how much money is out there, especially when people were donating vast amounts for songs to be played on the radio.

Friday, October 31, 2008

A Fitting Song

Played this song in the car today, and listening to the spooky lyrics it reminded me of Halloween, got home and the song was still in my head so I looked it up and there's a video for it. Great lyrics and a fab song, it's called 'Goodnight Moon' by Shivaree.

Halloween

Hope you all have a good Halloween today and do something a little spooky or devilish! As for me I've got a longish day at work and then hopefully I'll be able to get down my locals tonight for a few beers, I'm sure one of my locals will have Hobgoblin on tap. Some local pubs have lit pumpkins in the windows and I can't help thinking the market square lit by the lamps at night with the cobbles wet looks like a scene from a horror film of yesteryear.
For more about Hobgoblin beer and the legends of Hobgoblins during Halloween read here.


Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Sacred

I just can't wait to get my hands on Sacred 2 out later this year, fantastic music by Blind Guardian for it too. I think I'm going to treat myself to an XBox 360 nearer christmas, one of the new black elite ones (but the game is out for the pc too).

Anyway enjoy the games title track by German band Blind Guardian, the video is well cool !


Monday, September 29, 2008

I Didn't Realise !

'A Hobbit's Journal' was actually 4 years old earlier this month. How the years have flown by since I tentatively began blogging. I guess in the early days blogging did consume me a little, and it passed time on the night shifts during my last job.
I do tend to blog less these days, but do try when I get the chance, I also make a point of visiting other peoples blogs. I think we all used to blog more and comment more but life gets in the way and often the intention to blog is sidetracked by something else that suddenly jumps out, life eh?
So, to those who have ever read or enjoyed the Journal, then thanks.... it's still business as usual, just not as busy as it was!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Jimmy The Legend

Jimmy Sirrel, the age old Notts County ex Manager and legend that took them to glory has passed on today aged 86. I met Jimmy in a supermarket once, I was only a youngster and I think there was a stall selling merchandise and raising the profile of the club, it's all a bit vague and I can't recall much or who I was with.
I've been a Notts County fan since a child, I say fan as I'm not an avid supporter, sure I've been to a good few games but never been a regular, so can't really label myself a supporter. It was as a youngster, probably aged 7 or 8 that I had a bet with a lad across the street who supported a local team County were once playing, County won and I remember him chasing me in frustration, it was at that point my passion for the club began.
Jimmy took the club to great heights in Football and worked long hours, he was a dedicated no nonsense Glasgow man who cared about his players. Football greats such as Howard Wilkinson and Alex Ferguson have being paying tribute today, among many others.

Visitor From Afar

I got to meet a long time friend last week, the lovely Amanda from the States who had come over here on a rampant sight seeing tour of the British Isles with her friend Mike. I was priviliged to show her the around the place, chat and end up in my local for a drink! I'm pretty sure after all the amazing places she'd visited over here my home town paled in comparison but she seemed to like it! It was a really nice afternoon.

Here's a photo of Amanda outside my local. Not the best quality photo, these camera phones aren't all they are made up to be!


Rufford

I recently took some clients to Rufford Park, this time last week actually and had a lovely time. It's only about 10 miles away from me and such a great place, the breakfast was cheap too, about £3. It's a lovely walk around the place and everything is well sign posted as is how long it will take you to walk to places/do various walks.

Anyway, here's some photos, not my best but they were only taken on my phone camera.


Monday, September 15, 2008

By Any Means

Yep Mr Charley Boorman is back in his latest sojourn called 'By Any Means' in which he travels from his family home in Wicklow, Ireland to Sydney in Australia using any transport available in the country he happens to be in, excluding air travel.

I've watched the first two episodes riveted to the screen, he sort of reminds me of a modern day Francis Drake, Boorman is charismatic and witty, and compulsive viewing. It's nice to see Charley doing a series of his own, not that I thought he was ever over shadowed by Ewan McGregor in the Long way around/down.



Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Adlington


Olympic swimming double gold medalist Rebecca Adlington returned Mansfield yesterday to a welcome of heroic proportions. Mansfield is my former home town of 37 or so years and I watched the national and local news with pride at her homecoming.

I left Mansfield for several reasons, I can't really say I miss the place, though I do miss the people, most of my life memories are from there, it's where I grew up.

Watching the news last night I realised how good Rebecca winning the gold was good for the town, good for the morale of the people who have had it bad over the years with industry closures and something positive for them to hold on to. It will certainly lift the spirit of the townsfolk and give them renewed pride, for though I fell out of love with the town and moved away I still love the people there.

In it's euphoria Mansfield has already renamed a town centre bar after Rebecca and there are plans to rename the local swimming pool too. Watching the news though I couldn't help cringe at the loathesome town mayor Mr Eggington jockeying for a place on camera, he has always been a great self publicist, and in my opinion ideally needs to address more serious matters within the town, as you can tell I'm not a fan of the man or indeed how the local council has ran the town over successive years.

Anyway I'm digressing here, congratulations to Rebecca and lets hope there is more medals at London in 2012.

Click here for overhead footage of the town turning out for Rebecca in the market square.

Click here for Rebecca being presented with some Jimmy Choo shoes by the Mayor.

86

My dear old gran was 86 this weekend just gone and my aunt Kath had a party for a her, a simple affair yet a lovely afternoon. Family and grans friends kept dropping in throughout the afternoon and having a chat and some of the lovely food prepared by my aunt.

It's not been an easy year for my gran as she's had lots of health problems but has pulled through them all, if nothing she's a fighter. In truth I don't often do the family thing but hand on heart I really enjoyed the gathering on Saturday, it was great to see my gran up and about and good to catch up with family.
Below : Aunt Les & Gran.
Bottom : Aunt Kath presents Gran with her 86th Birthday cake.



Friday, August 08, 2008

Olympics

I have to say I was awestruck by the Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing. The firework footprints to the birds nest stadium were absolutely amazing. It was not only a celebration of the Olympics but a celebration of the Chinese culture, one of the worlds oldest.
China have really set the benchmark with the panoply and pageantry of this years ceremony. My dad joked as we watched it that 'Chas and Dave' will probably open the London Olympics in 2012!
For me this was the most amazing ceremony I've ever seen, and to be there and witness it on the 08/08/08 would have surely been something.
When mankind can come together like this and share its achievements together beyond differences and religion it really is encouraging and heart warming.
* Chas and Dave are English folk singers from London who have little talent.

Saturday, August 02, 2008

A Week On

Well a week has passed since I reached forty and in all honesty I don't feel any different, but then again I knew I wouldn't. Last Saturday was just an amazing night up in my local, the Fox and Crown. Almost everyone I invited came to my 40th party and it was a cracking evening. The only downside was it must have been the hottest night of the year so far!
Booba Dust (the band that played) performed brilliantly in what was excessive heat, the staff at the Fox did an amazing job keeping everybody served and fed and my old man even played 'Forever Young' on his guitar during the bands interval.
It was such a special night being surrounded by friends and family, and no, I didn't get drunk either!
Thanks to everyone that came and thanks for all the gifts!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

West of Thirty, Hello Forty!

Well here I am, Forty years old today. It's been a week of happy reflections and I've enjoyed writing my blogs. I've never really got excited about birthday's in the past, I never even had a twenty first birthday party, apart from a few friends where I worked bringing in some cake etc.
When I saw my gran this week she looked frail and is still bed bound, though she is still as sharp as ever. She commented to me that when I was a young child and had health problems doctors said I'd never reach forty, and there I was, stood before her, almost forty. I'm not sure if what she told me was ever said in the past but I've no reason to doubt her. I'm forty, I feel great and if nothing else I feel really happy my gran was able to see me reach this age, I've never felt better!
Tonight I'm having a bit of a bash in the Fox and Crown, there's a band on and also some food. For me it's just a chance to catch up with all my friends and have a good time, its really that simple!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Almost There

So, another decade has gone by in my life, and as the years have passed I can honestly say life has got better. I think the older wiser Jay has emerged and feels better for leaving the naïve Jay of his 20’s era firmly behind.

The last ten years began with me working at the brewery until it closed in 1999. I was happy there, and still consider those years the best working years I had. After the brewery closure came a stint at college for about a year before I went to work for Atkins, quite a large global civil engineering firm, among other things they do. The six years I had there started the decade of decadence really, travel, girls (a good few!) and the money to get myself the finer things in life. I was still pretty crap at relationships in my early 30s and spells of two or so years were the best I could (and still can) manage. After my first 2 years at Atkins a relationship ended and with the help of the internet I went on to meet lots more girls (some nice, some not), it was a kind of renaissance period for me, all of a sudden I had a new found confidence, though I must confess to not being able to suss women out even at this age!

The last decade was one of travel, Hong Kong, China, Macau Thailand being favourite destinations throughout the decade, Thailand being a place I visited 3 times.

Years at Atkins fell off the calendar and I was happy there though I was becoming increasingly disenchanted at living in Mansfield, especially as the whole dynamics, atmosphere and fabric of the town seemed to have changed, and not to my liking.

It’s been a decade of technology, personal computers, the internet and probably a good few other things I can’t think of have changed and influenced my life, and for the better too, and just look at all the blogs I’ve wrote! It's also been a decade of learning, two and a half years nearly were spent on my psychotherapy diploma.

I probably grew more as a person over the last ten years, that’s not to say I haven’t made mistakes or done stupid things either, I’m guilty of both. The last decade saw me reconciled with my father after we’d both drifted for a few years; it also saw the sad loss of my mother. On reflection though the last ten years has seen more highs than lows. I’ve made more friends in my thirties and realised the true value of friends, sadly a couple of friends have passed away too.

The last two years have seen me move home to Newark, have two major operations on my legs which have made me feel 18 again and I’ve learnt to drive, yep the last couple of years have been the happiest of my life with only the odd glitch here and there but I’ve found you’re always and ever learning.
I'm sat here smiling and reflecting back, I've done a condensed resume of the last ten years, lots have been missed out but there's lots of me on this very blog too.

So here I am, in the twilight of being thirty something, a scant few hours before my life milometer turns to the big four zero. The thirties has been my best decade so far, for shaping me, defining me and making me a better and happier person.

All I can say is bring on the forties, I’m ready for you!

One Day East of Forty (4. Travel)

Travel during the last ten years has been a real passion of mine. I think my zest came for it more so after my brief stint in Hong Kong, China and Macau. Since then I've been quite a few places but reflecting back I've always liked travel and done a fair few places in my 40 years.

My most recent trip was to Scotland, to see a close friend of mine ;-) I had a lovely time and in a few days managed to take in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee. I've been to Scotland before but never really managed to take much in, there certainly is a lot to see and do.

Here's some photos of the trip earlier this month.
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The Witchery Restaurant on the Royal mile near the castle


Coburn Street in Edinburgh, has some fantastic clothing shops


View of Edinburgh


Edinburgh Castle (it's no Newark castle though!)


Arthurs Seat in Edinburgh, a lovely place.


Some building in Glasgow, note the road traffic cone on the statues head!


Speedy Dental Repair on Dumbarton Road in Glasgow where I had my vampire teeth made, such an amazing place inside too with really friendly staff.


Below is Loch Leven and the surrounding, the clouds looked amazing on the day.





Tuesday, July 22, 2008

McKellen in the Hobbit Movie

It seems that Ian McKellen is to reprise his role as Gandalf in the upcoming film adaptation of The Hobbit. It's great news as McKellen was the epitomy of what I imagined Gandalf to be from the books. Sadly I thought there were serious flaws in the film trilogy, great important chunks from the book missed out, especially when the hobbits get back to the Shire.
The Hobbit should have ideally been the first film but I guess Peter Jackson seeing the big bucks went for the Lord of the Rings trilogy first even though chronologically they come after the events in The Hobbit. I'd prefer Ian Holm who is an excellent actor to play Bilbo Baggins again but it appears they are going after James McAvoy for the role, no bad thing really as in some respects it's going to be a stand alone film.

Four Days East of Forty (3. Family)

Yep I missed 5 days east of forty yesterday on account I went out and got drunk, quite unplanned too, ended up back at a friends chatting and drinking wine till 4am!
Well the next thing that came to mind over the last decade was family. The last ten years has seen reconciliation, loss and in general stronger family ties. In some areas I've made a concerted effort to become closer to my family in general, though in truth my extended family on either side are distant in some respects.
I'm very close to my dad these days, not only is he my dad but also my best buddy too. He's a great guy and we have bonded over the last few years more than ever. I lost my mum a few years back, a sad loss and I wish she could be here to see me reach forty, alas she isn't but she'll be in my thoughts on Saturday.
My last remaining gran is in the twilight of her life and I hope to see her before the weekend, I find it quite touching she's still around to see my reach forty, she'll always remain an inspiration for me.
And other family members too, I've lost touch with some, especially on my dads side of the family but of late I've forged stronger relationships with those on my mothers side.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Six Days East of Forty (2. Relationships)

Relationships? Well during my 30’s there’s been a good few, some brief, some not so. It would be fair to say I’ve had the old heart broken a couple of times too. In my twenties relationships were few and far between, sadly it was a wasteland regarding love, fortunately my thirties changed all that, though I’ve no idea why, probably me being more mature helped! Yep, I’ve been a tart in my thirties and in some respects the internet again has helped as it put me in touch with people all over the country. When things go wrong with relationships it still hurts whatever age you are but as you get older you become wiser, dare I say it a bit mercenary and colder too.

Ironically when things have been good in relationships I’ve walked away, and when I’ve truly been in love they’ve walked away from me, but hey, women even at this age still remain unfathomable at times. Will I ever settle? I just don’t know, I do want to fall in love etc but these days it just seems even more elusive for some reason! Hopefully the future will rectify all that.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Seven Days East of Forty (1. Music)

Well here I am seemingly seven days east of being forty years old, heading westwards till the sun sets on the fateful day (Oh I’m so dramatic at times!)

This week I’m going to try and blog everyday in a series of reflections back over the last decade, my thirties.

So today I’m going to kick off with an ongoing passion of mine which is music. Over the last decade I’ve seen my cd collection grow and grow, and in the last few years the amount of music I’ve downloaded has become phenomenal. I guess with the advent of accessible music online and mp3 players I’ve never listened to as much music as I have over the last few years. I’d say music is a big part of my life and as I’ve got older my musical tastes have broadened a hell of a lot though I’ve still remained nostalgic for some of the stuff I liked as a youngster.

I love it when you are out and about and hear a song and it grips you straight away, two recent artists come to mind, a while back I was in Nottinghams ‘Fopp store’ and I heard an amazing track, on asking who it was I discovered it was a track from the latest Rush album, I bought it there and then. Earlier this year I was in Camden, London whilst perusing the wares of Cyberdog (a goth clothing shop) an absolutely hypnotic track came on, I was hooked immediately, it turned out to be a band called Infected Mushroom, again I had to get some of their stuff as soon as possible.

I’m always going to have my favourites but there’s nothing better than discovering new bands or sounds and over the last decade I’ve discovered a huge amount, and hopefully there’ll be plenty more to discover ahead! I can’t imagine life without music and the lift it always gives me.
And in closing, isn't it amazing how music always reminds you of people, places or events of the past?

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Another Gig

Another great gig by Booba Dust at the Fox last Thursday, they are also on this coming Saturday the 12th at the Castle pub. They are also playing on the 26th of this month, yep my 40th, incidentally it's the Pete's (the guitarist and singer of Booba Dust) the day after I think!
It was another great set of songs and they played my favourite by Junior Wells 'Good Morning Schoolgirl'. The band must be feeling at home now as they had lamps and a rug as their set!



Not my best photo but was using my camera phone!

They must have been good because even Hayley the barmaid was smiling, and thats rare!

Monday, June 30, 2008

Au Revoir

Well it's been over a week since the students have gone home from the guitar college in town. Most of the students are from abroad, a large majority of them coming from France, and what a nice bunch they were too. They've been here for 2 years learning to build classical style guitars and being students they've added a lot of character to the town. My friend Duncan worked as a barman in my local The Fox and Crown and came from France to study, I'll miss the guy as we had many a laugh together. I'll also miss some of the other student characters that used to come in the pub too such as Jack and Chaz. I'm sure some of them will return in time, one things for sure they'll always have a warm welcome at the Fox as they are already missed!




Duncan and Jack having fun at the beer festival

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

My Gran

Today I visited my gran, I don’t visit as much as I should really, It’s usually when I’m over in that neck of the woods. Every time I see her now I notice the steady decline in her health more and more. This afternoon when I saw her she looked more than old, as if all vigour and life is departing at a rapid rate. As life goes she’s sadly hanging by the last threads.
She was always pleased to see me but this time she didn’t talk as much, she seemed distant, almost resigned, bluntly she seemed tired of life. I’ve never seen her like this before or look so old, in fact she looked almost ancient today. She lives with my aunt and uncle nowadays and she’s well looked after, she sleeps much of the time and seems to want peace and quiet more than anything.
In a strange way her passing will affect me more than the passing of my mother, I can’t really explain why, I just know it will. I had to be strong when my mother died, organise things and keep a level head, when I gran goes I will have the freedom to mourn her. Of course I mourned the passing of my mother but not till long after, when I could do, when I could come to terms with my own emotions and feelings.
My Gran, or ‘Doris’ as I affectionately call her has been a remarkable woman through the years. She never seemed to stop, always a worker, a feisty red head, a character, a woman of manners and principles. I spent a lot of time as a youngster at my grandparents, especially weekends, it was a working class household that spent most of the time in the kitchen watching horse racing, eating none fancy traditional fare and drinking copious amounts of the local brew. There was nothing remotely flamboyant about my grandparents on my mother’s side, they were very common people but they were decent people. Most of all they were generous people.

Doris was an air raid warden during the war, a mother, a factory worker and on occasion a no nonsense hard drinking, hard smoking woman capable of fire and brimstone befitting of her red hair. Today I still see that in her but I also see she’s ready to cross that threshold into another realm.

I’m fast approaching my 40th Birthday and I hope she is still here when that day comes. She was by my side when my mother passed away (her own daughter), she was by my side when I was a little boy, such happy memories I have as a child in that lively household with her and my grand father who was a character in his own right.

I drove away from seeing Doris at my aunts today feeling very sad, I had to bite my bottom lip a few times and turn the music up. Seeing Doris how she was today certainly jolted my mortal coil, made me realise what she really means to me. When she passes away, she will be the last of my grand parents, both sets of grandparents have indeed shaped my life to an extent. Doris was probably my favourite, she never judged me though she’d tell me off if my manners were lacking as a child. I was always treated seemingly as an adult and spent many a happy hour with them down at the local pub, life seemed a lot simpler then as I remember.

For now though Doris is still here, in her late 80’s and despite her frailties she’s still alert and knows her own mind. She may well pass away soon but to me she’ll always be immortal.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Doomsday

Doomsday, what a film! Probably almost done at most cinema's now but go catch it if it's is still on.

A tour de force of a film which really shouldn't work but does. It's sorta Mad Max meets 28 Days Later meets Escape from New York meets Excalibur with other film references thrown in for good measure, if anything it's a perfect homage to those movies. can't say I've enjoyed a film so much in ages! And Rhona Mitra, what a leading lady... schwing!!!

May

Well May has been a different kind of month, an eventful one to say the least. It started off at break neck pace with Gary's visit back and day trips out and mucho beer! It's always a massive drop when Gary goes home though as I rarely see him these days, I kind of wish I had the money to go over to China more.
Then came the ending of an unconventional relationship I've had for a good for months, it was something I really enjoyed and to be honest I'm sad at its passing, perhaps more sadder than many past relationships have made me. It still hurts too, because it meant a lot to me.
The rest of the month has been filled with appointments, outings and interviews and has generally been really busy.
Oh and I've also embarked on adventures with somebody else. its early days yet but she's funny, genuine and very caring, and a stark raving mad Scots girl !!!
The month of May certainly hasn't been dull, a roller coaster of emotions, tears and smiles.
Sheesh I've just realised I don't often do personal blogs these days on here!

Friday, May 30, 2008

Beer Fest !

Though I've been in Newark a while now I've never been to one of the beer festivals here, the truth being I've always heard mixed reports. I'm not really a real ale sycophant either, though I do like it, I don't sample it with train spotter enthusiasm and diagnostics. Sure I worked in a brewery for many years and I do know a good pint but I've never been fanatical about real ales.
I have to confess to liking the tradition side, the fact its still alive and well and part of our heritage and culture.
This year was the 13th Newark beer festival and I really didn't fancy going but at the 11th hour and such a shitty week beforehand I went down and met up with some friends, I'm really glad I did too because I enjoyed it immensely, so much so I went Saturday night too.
There were hundreds of beers to choose from and you got to keep your commemorative glass tankard too after paying the entrance fee, which wasn't much. The whole event had some great music on and was very well organised and set up with lots of hard work from the camra (campaign for real ale) volunteers.
Saturday one of my fave local blues bands 'Booba dust' were on and I watched them whilst sampling some very weird and wonderful ciders!

And here is Booba Dust below in full boogie!


Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Mr Sunshine ~ 2 (Skegness)

Here are a few more photos of Gary's visit over. We went over to Skegness mid week as our craving for fish and chips (we had red snapper fish) took over. We also took my friend James with us. It was a really warm day, that was when we managed to get there, I fell asleep in the back of the car and Gary who incidentally knows the way decided to use my sat nav and we ended up going via Boston, adding about 30 mins to the journey!

It was a good day, pretty much a boys day really, video games, junk food et al. Oh and lots of competitive Mario Kart in the amusement arcade on the pier. Skegness isn't the best of places but it will always hold that nostalgia for me.




James IS Bowser!




Gary IS Mario






Gary and James prepare to race!



Ice cream and blue skies !!!

Mr Sunshine ~ 1 (London)

My friend Gary came over from Hong Kong from May 2nd - 10th to visit his family ... and me of course. Yep I know that was ages back but it's been a busy kind of month with lots of twists and turns! I've nick named Gary Mr Sunshine because last year he came back at roughly the same time and it was glorius sunshine then for a week.

Anyway, we had a great week, as ever with Gary it was very regimented with early starts and his thirst for shopping is positively feminine! We had several days out including London, Lincoln and good old Skegness for fish and chips and an ice cream on the beach.So here are some of the photos from that lovely sunny London. I must add we did do Camden in London too but I've posted plenty of Camden photos before, so this time you get more cheesy tourist ones! Our route took us down to Oxford Street from Kings Cross, then into the seedy environs of Soho with its fab cd and comic shops before going through into China town and Leicester Square. After that it was just around the corner to Trafalgar Square and through the horseguards HQ and parade ground, down past Big Ben, along the Thames and back on the tube at the Embankment up to Camden for several hours heavy duty procurement of goods! An exhausting day to be sure.






I really liked this silhouette style one of Nelson watching a distant plane trail with the sun in front of him.




The London Eye


Big Ben



National Gallery

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Immigration: The Inconvenient Truth

The recent documentary by Rageh Omaar entitled ‘Immigration: The Inconvenient Truth’ shown on channel 4 was really quite insightful, only soured by its ending. During the 3 part series Rageh had identified and illustrated the problems with immigration, charting the subject from the early influx of commonwealth countries in the 1950 to the mass intake of Eastern Europeans happening today.

The series also used many passages quoted by an actor of Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of blood’ speech, a speech that Rageh had to admit was partly right at the end, though not really representative of immigration today, though personally I can still see that much of what Enoch said may still come to pass. In my eyes Powell was a visionary, much of what he said back in 1968 has come true in some form or another, that much is evident and clearly seen. Many polls seem to have been taken for the purpose of the 3 part documentary that showed we aren’t really happy with immigrants and they aren’t really happy with us, in fact less than 30% of those interviewed in one poll wanted to become British.

The whole series was interesting viewing, though sadly let down at the end in my opinion as Mr Omaar sought to illustrate the new influx of Eastern Europeans et al was just a phenomenon which as the world marketplace ebbs and flows will change, meaning people will go elsewhere, that the world is now a huge market place for global gypsies or workers to ply their skills. It was also added that Britain as a nation is reluctant to travel abroad to find work, which I find absolute bollocks. Our tradesmen have been working abroad for years, look at the building trade in the 80’s when that slumped, many travelled to Germany to gain work. Not just that, I could spend all day giving examples of the thousands of Brits that work abroad, so I pretty much find the whole not working abroad thing baseless.
The documentary seemed to u-turn at the end for me a bit, it also seemed selective in who was interviewed, from a normal if slightly inarticulate Englishman in a pub to important people that were of foreign descent and pro immigration. I found certain elements confusing as Rageh Omaah had objectively identified many problems within Britain concerning racial tension or people born here of immigrant parents who still didn’t want to be British etc despite having no real knowledge of their foreign roots. Confusing in the fact after highlighting many things some aspects seemed to be skirted around or the subject matter moved on with a series conclusion basically saying ‘immigration’ if we can even call it that these days is perhaps nothing to worry about, despite the fact he’d interviewed people struggling in the work place because of Polish tradesmen or school teachers telling of extra strain. Mr Omaah talked to Lord Tebbit who once said ‘get on your bike’ to find work but going back to the point about us working abroad – should we really have to when we like it here? Should we also have to give up our British views and stance on immigration when immigrants here have no wish to integrate or adopt our culture to their own? I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to want to retain your culture but if you’re planning on staying then surely it makes sense to become British to a degree, after all – you’re in Britain, and Mr Omaah is a good example of an African Muslim that has integrated fully and understands what it is to be a British citizen. Getting back to the documentary title, immigrants or foreign workers are becoming inconvenient and it is the truth, it’s not inconvenient in stiff upper lip typically stoic British sense, it’s inconvenient in the fact real problems are emerging and aren’t being resolved. On the whole I thought it was a good documentary series but fatally flawed in the cross section of people Mr Omaah chose to involve and the views they portrayed.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg!!! A class track by the Deathstars

Sleeping Giant

You see China on the television a lot these days, if it’s not in the news daily then there are plenty of documentaries about it, from cities bigger than London being built in five years to a thriving market in peoples organs. One thing is clear though, China has awoken, Napoleon III compared China to a sleeping giant and warned ‘when China awakes she will shake the world’.

Back in 2002 I spent some time in Hong Kong and China, mainly the new territories area and also did a few days in Macau as well as some other Chinese cities. A little bit was work related, well a PR thing briefly and the rest was a holiday. I spent the time there stopping with my friend Gary who has been working out there some years. What Gary did was show me the real place and not just the touristy things, what struck me, especially in China itself was how vast the country is, how rapidly it was growing. Some parts of it reminded me of America, vast roads and tower blocks festooning the horizon. Yet where there is new wealth and economy in China there is also people with very little. There is though a sense of urgency and efficiency about the place, the people are industrious and are embracing the changes there readily.

I was quite awestruck by China, the sheer sense of size it conveys, the alien nature of it as regards culture and language, the quirks of its people. Hong Kong was over powering, exhausting even, it was odd wandering back from bars at 4am and seeing markets in full swing, the place and people never seem to stop. In contrast China is a little more laid back but catching up rapidly, like the west everything seems available even if it is a copy! I recall going into a shop in Zhu Hei which resembled HMV but each and every item, be it music cd or dvd was a copy.

But let’s get to the main point of the blog here as I don’t want to reminisce too much (or I’ll want to go back!).

Once upon a time a quarter of the world lived under the British flag, it was the largest empire the world had ever known. Explorers and missionaries opened up dark continents and if countries challenged us they were invariably invaded and assimilated into the empire. Britain rose to be the workshop of the world, it dominated science, manufacturing and trade. To the Victorians back then it was merely a matter of racial supremacy, to them we were destined to be the rulers of the world.

Now of course the Imperial days have long gone and new industrial behemoths stride forward, China and India’s economy and industry are awakening over night. It’s predicted by 2050 China and India will be the first and second biggest economies over taking America. The Indian car company TATA is buying out western car companies such as Jaguar and Rover whilst China continues to invest in countries and resources in Africa, Congo especially where the Chinese are buying copper mines. Angola recently shunned western business in favour of the Chinese because of the amount of money they are pouring into the country. But its not just in Africa that was once regarded as our back yard for resources, the Chinese are investing world wide, from Russia to South America Chinese businessmen are gobbling up vast quantities of resources.

But the scary thing is how much resources these up and coming rising stars are using to build their new shining cities and transport networks. Economists have even invented a new word for it, instead of things being an economic cycle the shifts are so great they’ve termed it a ‘supercycle’. China is spending 35 times as much on crude oil as it did 8 years ago and 23 times as much on copper. China is also consuming roughly half of the worlds cement and third of its steel. This is though after all a country that is rapidly awaking and her 1.3 billion population are twice the number of America and the EU combined. The Chinese car market too is growing at an unprecedented rate as they become more westernised, so when you groan about fuel prices, look eastwards to find who is using it all and raising prices.

Of course as China becomes a dominant power in the industrial world it’s the west that is feeling the strain as workers feel threatened as businesses shift production to China where goods can be made cheaply by a massively growing workforce.

My friend Gary works as a fabric buyer over there, he was once needed for his skills and knowledge but he bow fears that because he has trained the Chinese and shared his knowledge he will soon be surplus to requirement as foreigners are needed less and less. He told me how the Chinese work long hours in factories that seemingly has accommodation that resembles WW2 prisoner camps. The Chinese flock from the poorer northern regions to sign up for year long contracts that involve working a 6 day week and often involve being separated from your partner into gender orientated huts. China is now a knowledge hungry nation, it can afford to hire the best scientists and engineers to learn from and in Britain alone 60,000 Chinese students study here, more than from any other country.

China has that kind of no nonsense purpose now, it courts military dictators in countries like Darfur, Burma and Zimbabwe. On the home front there are thousands of internet police, executions of criminals whilst medic teams stand by to pilfer their organs, whole towns displaced to make way for new super cities and people even enslaved in mines. And then of course there is the brutal suppression of Tibet.

China is now a confident nation, even its officials coordinated our police whilst the Olympic torch went through London, they even grappled with protesters. A Global shift is in progress, will people in future see America with its democracy (even if it isn’t always good) as not being so bad as a dictatorial China supersedes it? As the western economies slump the eastern ones grow my worry is what will happen when resources start to get thin, by then of course China will truly be unstoppable. A grim warning came from the national monetary fund last week stating the west now faces the largest financial shock since the great depression, whilst China and eastern economies power ahead.

China fascinates me, I loved my time there, I liked the people there, its cities and culture are amazing but I must confess to shuddering at what China in time will truly be capable of.
Thanks to Anthony Browne of the Daily Mail for some of the facts and figures.

Some photos I took whilst in China in 2002, in the city of Zhuhai (I think)







Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Patriotic, I think not!

I only knew it was St Georges day when I logged into Google this morning and noticed the George and dragon logo on there. How bad is that? That I don't even remember our national day!
But what's to be patriotic about lately eh? Headlines like the newspaper article here
For the record (and I got this online!) In Christian hagiographyy Saint George (ca. 275-281 – April 23, 303[2]) was a soldier of Greek-speaking Anatolia in the Roman Empire, venerated as a Christian martyr. Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental, Orthodox Churches, and the Eastern Catholic Churches.
So there you have it! He's also the saint of loads of other countries too, so its all faith related really and we know how accurate that is.
Why can't we just have a plain honest day that celebrates English culture, our art, our famous people, our buildings and our music instead of this meaningless St George rubbish?

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Gone!

Saw my old place of work being demolished on the local news today. I felt really sad viewing it being toppled by bulldozers. Mansfield Brewery once employed around 4000 people, now its just an empty shell of a place, littered with drug user needles and scorched from vandals starting fires, a far cry from its former splendour. It's buildings used to dominate the Mansfield area. Soon it will be all but a memory as the rubble is cleared.

They showed some of the areas I used to work in, including the bottling plant, such good times I had working in there. I only hope the massive area that is left over is put to good use development wise for the benefit of the town, which needs all the help it can get.
There is a BBC news article here

This song....

... Is rocking my world at the moment, it's the amazing Lacuna Coil and 'Swamped' from the album Comalies.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Hobbit-Ville

Whilst browsing the web yesterday I found a kind of Sim City programme within a web browser. Basically the more hits / clicks you get on the site the bigger the town grows, you also get figures for transport, employment etc if you've created the town. It's quiet engrossing to see it grow once you've created it. You start with a single farm house and it develops from there.
So please, click here once a day if you remember (of course you won't but any clicks will be good)
And if you want a go at creating your own town click here

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Told you so...

As I've said in previous blogs....

I don't want to say I told you so but....

It's all here

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Birds !!!

Saw these beauties on Newark market place the other day, I especially liked the owls. A guy was displaying the rescued birds and raising money for them, the amount being given was amazing.



Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Disgaea 3 !!!

Disgaea, yes it's back, time for number 3! My fave game being released in the not too distant future, though sadly on the Playstation 3 (I really will buy one for this game). Here's the Japanese trailer of it - I can't wait!!!

Monday, March 03, 2008

A Near Miss

Just had a near brush with death on the M1 northbound, about 3 miles off the junction for the A46. There I was in the middle lane doing about 85mph over taking some lorries when suddenly there was an enormous bang. Instinctively I looked in the mirror and saw an object in the road behind me for a split second before the steering column went all wobbly. Then I was veering towards the central reservation and losing control. It was one of those movie moments, the car was shuddering violently, lorries were flashing their lights at me and everything seemed surreal and in slow motion. I managed to steer over to the hard shoulder and put the hazard lights on. It was then I noticed the rear passenger tyre smoking.

I rang the RAC recovery and gave them my details, fortunately I was near a numbered road marker so that helped a lot. The repair guy got to me with about 30 mins and removed the tyre, fortunately I had the spare one waiting ready for him, when he removed the wheel he said ‘You’re a lucky bloke' as he pointed to the huge hole. Had the roads been wet and busier it could have been a lot nastier. I’m a bit shaken but us hobbit's are resilient creatures. Take a look at the damage below.