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 !!!

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.

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)