The Lost Days

It's that strange time between Christmas and New Year when days are short and you don't know whether to join the Sales crowds or sit in front of the television eating all those "litle treats" you bought for the festive season.

And so here I am sat in front of the TV eating chocolate biscuits  feeling the excess weight go on around my gut.

The sister and brother -in-law have gone, back down South for the New Year, taking the In Laws with them as usual. The son departed from Central station at 9:30pm last night, back down to London, where his heart lies.

So we are left with the daughter and dog.The house a bit quieter and tidier wondering what to do with ourselves.

 Chocolate biscuit anyone?

Christmas Lists

Another year draws to a close. Some years go by slowly,  meandering their way through the seasons. This year has flashed by in a blur of rain.

And now it’s Christmas and what has happened?

The children are growing into nice, well-adjusted adults. It’s a pleasure to be with them.

The wife has got stuck in at her new job, and it has been confirmed as a permanent contract, so we can plan longer term again after two years of short term plans.

The dog is a bit calmer than he was now he is 10 but is still mad.

Music wise it hasn’t been a vintage year but there have been some very good albums released this year. These have been my favourites of the year.

Alt-J Awesome Wave is an intriguing album. Not sure if it was worthy of the Mercury prize but it is  good intelligent pop,the slightly contrived vocal styling puts me off a bit. Matilda is my favourite track on the album.

Allo Darlin- Europe. I was a bit disappointed by this one but there are some gems on it Tallulah being the best.

The Distractions – The End Of The Pier Again like Allo Darlin’s offering I was a bit disappointed but probably only because the weight of expectation that was on this one. It is a well-produced and well played album. The Summer I Met You has become, for me at least, the stand out track.

The Wedding Present- Valentina.  A good solid album. Some future classics ( End Credits, The Girl From The DDR,524 Fidelio ) but other good songs too. Not as good as Take Fountain but better than El Rey.

Field Music- Plumb. This band are sort of Steely Dan/Talking Heads like and I have the same sort of love hate relationship with them as I do with those two bands.But there is no denying that  this is good intelligent stuff.

Keane- Strangeland . My guilty secret? I like Keane, they aren’t great and entirely unoriginal but they are dependable and very nice to listen to.

Sharon Van Etten -Tramp . I discovered her thanks to Jools Holland’s show. This is  a good album, reminiscent of Patti Smith yes but good stuff.

Roberto Fonseca- Yo . I was brought up on jazz and I love Cuban Son and Salsa but Fonseca goes beyond both and including African rhythms takes this album to a new level. I saw him at The Sage earlier this year. Mesmerising and hugely enjoyable.

Paul Weller- Sonik Kicks Not my favourite Weller album but It’s pretty decent.

The XX – Coexist Good follow up to their debut. Angels is haunting.

Christmas Day

Another good one. Food, drink, laughter- no tears and no arguments.

Posh Do It Again

Posh win 5-4 against Bolton. Two wins in a row. That means ,based on our earlier season performance, we'll lose the next 10.

Now is not the time for that sort of thought though. It's the Sunday before Christmas and we are off the bottom of the League. It is the season of goodwill and it's a nice early Christmas present for my son and me. Talking of the boy, he seems to be recovering from his flu and getting back to something like normal.

My daughter is at work at a national clothing and furniture store on out of town retail park. Commerce goes on.She is at work at 6.30 am on Boxing Day for those sad or desperate souls who can't bear the thought of not being able to shop for one whole day of the year.

I'm listening to Embrace and their Abbey Road Sessions album as I type this. Not very seasonal but I haven't played any of their songs for a long time and it is nice to hear them in full flow again.

Maybe a new album this year, lads?

A short day day at work tomorrow and then its a week off.The dog is pacing round and anxious for his walk so I'd better get off into the gusty, windy and sunny ( for a change) day.

Merry Christmas to to you all, thanks for reading this.

Christmas Songs 3

Christmas is less than a week away.

We've done the late night dashes into town, the food for the Big Day  is planned, the cheese is bought.The cheeseboard located and lovingly cleaned in preparation.

 The children have returned home and suddenly the house is alive with noise and clothes and shoes are all over the place. My son is , as usual, not well and consequently grumpy. The daughter is , as usual, well just herself.

Meanwhile the visits about welfare reform go on in houses where it is colder inside than out because people can't afford to put the heating on. The tears when you tell them their , already low, income is going to get reduced further.

Then there's the families where you go into their houses and it's beer cans on the floor and in hand . Or those cans of energy drinks that are so popular. Shouting at each other and the place stinks of dog, sweat, fried food and cigarettes. Half naked kids running around desperate for attention.

Then there's the ones working in the low paid retail or care services who are trying their best and for whom these changes will make it just that bit harder to get by. They have just come in from a long day/night and are just too knackered to take it in.

And then there are the ones with 48 inch flat screen HD TVs Sky + box, 4x4 in the driveway and pictures of this year's two weeks in Benidorm on the digital photo album scrolling away. The ones who don't bother turning the TV down as you go through the changes. Who aren't bothered as they know they will continue to get the cash in hand work in the black economy and still claim.

The one thing they've all got in common is that they all smoke. We are supposed to ask them not to smoke when we are in their houses ( advice from our H&S guys) but to be honest I gave up doing that years ago. People get cross when you ask them not to light up.

I haven't really come down as being either for or against these changes, my heart says I'm against but my head tells me something needs to change. Whether it is this way or another way is the bit  I don't know.

Out on the estate doing these visits in my company fleece and coat and uniform I got stopped by a bloke calling out from a White Van asking did I want to buy a memory foam mattress for Christmas. Top quality and cheap apparently. I declined the offer.

Another Christmas Song. The Wedding Present again. I like this song although most fans don't.

Holly Jolly Hollywood- The Wedding Present

Posh May Not Be Down

Last week I posted that Posh were down and out . And then on Saturday they only go and beat Cardiff , the League leaders, 2-1. Away from home as well. Football as Jimmy Greaves always said, is a funny old game.

So now I am, with the usual football fan’s groundless optimism, thinking we will survive in this league and push on for the play offs ( as they say).

 

That is until Saturday when no doubt we will get beaten.

Christmas Songs 2

I got soaked to the skin today as I trailed round the Council Estate ( Housing project for readers in the USA) knocking on doors to give people the good news that as they were under occupying their home by one or more bedrooms and were claiming rent rebate their benefit will be cut come next April.

Maybe because we are so close to Christmas most people took it well.

20 visits down just another 800+ to go.

To get me ( and I hope you) back in the festive mood. here is another Christmas Song.

This one is from the only Christmas Album you really ever need to have in the house. (Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift For You in case you were wondering)

Here Comes Santa Claus

Christmas Songs

Come on everybody it's time to get merry for the Festive season.

 It's the work Xmas meal out tomorrow night on the Quayside so I'm getting in the mood.

Here is a song to get you all in the mood. From their mop up box set of a few years ago How The West Was Won here are The Wedding Present 

  White Christmas

Posh Are Down

 

Even this early in the season I think I can safely say that Posh will be relegated come May. I hope I’m wrong but based on this first half of the season I don’t think I will be.

 

I have little desire to travel 400 miles regularly to see us get beaten every time. Fair weather fan I hear you say and yes part of me agrees with you but I have to be realistic. Each trip to London Road costs me around £90 including the ticket. Its no fun travelling that far when you know you are going to get beaten.And the fans as the 12th man?Honestly come on, I know that what the Clubs say but they are trying to sell tickets and make money. So I'll go a few more times but not as much as I planned back in August. 

My worry is what will happen to our handful of best players, will they stay around for a season to get us back up or will they decide that it’s time to move on.

 

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Dave Brubeck RIP

Another hero gone.

Time Out is a classic album. Released in 1959 it was a record I grew up to as my Dad played it regularly. It still sounds fresh today and that is the mark of great music. 

Here is a piece in The Guardian which you should read if you've never heard of Dave Brubeck before.

Wintertime

Yesterday morning was one of those glorious North East winter mornings,all cold and icy, clear blue skies and the smell of half frozen earth filling your nostrils. It felt good.

Today is the 1st December and the start of the Christmas fun in this house. Although we are a bit behind, two houses in the street already have their trees up, decorated and lit up.

Crisis?What crisis?

I was at St James Park twice last week. once for business and once for pleasure, although I didn't find it particularly pleasurable.

Business was this bloke Paul McGee , My employers are worried we are not dealing with change well and have no emotional resilience so booked us all on a half day session with this guy. Actually he was rather good. He packaged up NLP and CBT theories in very easily accessible ways, was quite funny and relevant.

It was definitely much more fun than watching NUFC struggle to a draw with Portuguese team CS Maritimo. The Toon were poor.It felt like watching Posh this season, a team lacking ideas and confidence and ball control.

We got to the ground early and watched the teams warm up. Maritimo spent most of their warm up time passing the ball to each other. NUFC took shots and ran round the pitch lifting knees high in a routine familiar to all of us who watch British teams warm up.Needless to say the Portuguese team's passing and ball control was exceptional, NUFC's was pitiful.

And the Posh continue to lose. 13 points and at the bottom of the Championship. My son went to see them away at Charlton last night. He said, as did BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, that they were the better team. But we still lost 2-0. League 1 here we come.

The dog and european culture

The father in law has been away so I have been up at 6am each day walking the dog. It’s not much fun this time of year, its dark and cold and often wet. The dog doesn’t seem to mind though and in fact is quite pleased as he has actually been having three walks a day ( as opposed to the usual two) because I feel guilty that he is left on his own all day.

Last week I was back with the wife at The Sage to see Paco Pena and his Flamenco performance Quimera. Absolutely stunning show, a tale of two cultures and the influence of Africa on the development and stylisations of flamenco. See and read about it on his website http://www.pacopena.com/

I don’t understand why Flamenco- a bona fide living, evolving European art form- is so held in almost contempt by us Brits.

Tuesday Post

No theme to this post just a random collection of thoughts and experiences.

A couple of Saturdays ago I watched Posh lose (again!) to Sheffield Wednesday. I have never been to Hillsborough before. The stadium is old and a bit tired. I was impressed by the men’s toilet in the away end though, I have never seen such a long urinal. It stretched in all its discoloured whiteness for what seemed like the entire length of the stand. I would have taken a picture but taking pictures in toilets? At football matches? Not something you do, is it really.

Posh looked so much better than Shef Wed that it is hard to believe we lost, but lose we did. This season is a long hard slog to stay up. Darren Ferguson said this week we need 13 wins out the remaining 30 matches. Not too bad you think, until you realise that we have only won 8 of the last 38 Championship matches. There is trouble in the camp it seems and yesterday 4 more players were transfer listed , this time after breaches of club discipline- or going out and getting pissed and into fights in the town as it is also known. The four include the Club Captain and our second best player (after George Boyd) Gab Zakuani and our million pound( if you have ever seen him play you will, like me come to the conclusion that our scouts have a well-developed sense of humour) striker Tyrone Barnett. The other two are Emile Sinclair and Nat Mendez Laing. Darragh tweeted his usual direct retort to the team ( always along the lines of its mine and the gaffer’s rules you either fit in or if you don’t like it f%%% off).

I got to ride in a tram in Sheffield although it was bit more like Trolley Bus I thought.

We have lost more matches since then but thankfully so have the other teams around us so there is a lot of hope for our survival. We are on Sky this weekend so I hope we win.

I went to see The Wedding Present last weekend.. The sound as always at the Academy was rubbish towards the front. I needed a wee before they got intoSeamonsters so when I came back in I remembered that when I saw Interpol here a few years back I was at the back and the sound was much better. So I stayed by the bar at the back and the sound was good. Mr Gedge was fine . I’m not as sure about this incarnation of the band though.

A strange gig this one as the main part of the set were songs that I have played thousands of times over the last 20+ year and know inside out. Some of the songs soar when played live( Corduroy, Octopussy, Dare being three good examples) others seem better on record (Rotterdam). Maybe it was just the lack of a surprise element that detracted just a little something from the experience. But roll on the Hit Parade tour, I say.

I did enjoy the songs either side of the album ( particularlyDon’t Touch That Dial and The Girl From The DDR and they playedYou Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends and My Favourite Dress!!If I’m really honest I would have been happy to pay to see them play those two classics alone.

They finished with What Have I said Now which was a bit of a disappointment as I would have preferred the mightyTake Me which up until Newcastle they had been alternating with as the last song.But I’m just nit picking now.

David Gedge remains one this country’s most under rated songwriters and performers. They are playing around England for the next week or so, go and see them if they are near you.

I am at The Sage this week to see some Flamenco and dance. I’m just a renaissance man really.

6 for 1

No it's not the latest cricket score from India. It is a fantastic offer to download all six Billy Franks solo albums  for £9.99, the price of one CD in HMV or wherever it is you buy your CDs nowadays.

If you like good music from the heart, go on follow this link and buy them.

http://billyfranks.com/AFARCRYFROMSUNSET/archives/1212

The Coast Is Always Changing

I have been away on the annual family get together in Norfolk. It's always good to get together and allthough the grandkids are now (bar 1) adults they always try and make an effort to be there which pleases my Mum and Dad. But things change and this year could be the last time we get together.

This year the get together was dampened by persistent rain so we didn't get as much walking on the beach time as usual.Whilst not as impressive as the Northumberland coast the beaches in Norfolk are big and around the cliffs in Hunstanton, quite picturesque.

Billy Franks- A Far Cry From Sunset

I have been reading Billy Franks' book A Far Cry From Sunset. It tells the story both of his life and struggles in the music business and beyond and the summer of 2005 when he and some mates travelled round Europe and the States trying to get prominent artists to make a tribute album to an unknown songwriter ( Billy himself).


It's a great read. The writing, like his songs, is direct, honest and very personal. It is a story of humour, appreciating what life has given you, but at the same time , despite all obstacles, pursuing your dream.

Billy should be respected if only for three songs he wrote many years ago. Easter Parade (written from the point of view of a soldier injured in Falklands War), Fulham Court ( about the estate he grew up on in West London) and The Tradesman Entrance (about the 80's depression). He has written many other good songs over the years and regularly gigs around West London.

He's not a friend ,I have never met him but like other, better known, musicians ( Weller, Gedge, Strummer, Young, Reed, Nelson, Cave to name a few) his songs have permeated my whole adult life and influenced my outlook on it..

His book is available from Amazon. Buy it and support a great unknown British artist and check out his music also available from Amazon as MP3s.

The End Of The Pier - The Distractions

Long-time readers of this blog will know I have a very soft spot for the 1970s/80’s Manchester band The Distractions . They brightened up my 4 years in Manchester, in that time between the end of the 70's and before the Hacienda Mad- for- it era when Manchester was still a  post-industrial shithole.

The Distractions their music and their gigs were always something me and my girlfriend (now my wife) looked forward to. We  were at nearly every gig they played in the city in our time there.

I remember buying their EP “You’re not Going Out Dressed Like That”  before I left to go to Uni in the city on recommendation of the hip young staff at the local indie record store in my home town.I went home and put it on the turntable and instantly fell in love with the sound, the lyrics, the vocal delivery. On the pictures on the sleeve they looked normal people – like me. This was what punk was really about ;people like me making good pop music, singing about stuff I knew and understood. I still listen to their music today and they mean as much to me as any band can ever mean to someone.

After their split, nothing was heard until I came across news a couple of years ago that they were going to release some new songs. So it was with some concern that I listened to the comeback  EPs “Black Velvet” and “Come Home” . I was not disappointed, the tunes, the lyrics the delivery and musicianship were all still there. Shame it wasn’t all the original members but when, like me, you are a big fan of The Wedding Present you get used to band members coming and going , it’s the spirit that remains and changes and develops whoever the members are in that particular band  around David Gedge.

It’s the same for The Distractions, if Mike Finney wasn’t  singing it wouldn’t be The Distractions and no offence to Arthur Kadmon or any other of the band members  the band was never quite the same after Steve Perrin left. (although I did love the  And Then There’s.. EP- despite the awful muddy production).

And so the follow up to Nobody’s Perfect was released in August of this year. It’s called The End of The Pier.  

I have hesitated for a number of weeks before writing this recommendation to go and buy it. I wasn’t sure that I could be impartial enough and that my love for the band wasn’t colouring my perception of this album. There are some negatives. I was disappointed there weren’t more detailed sleeve notes ( at least there weren’t on the CD) I’m not that keen on the album opener song “ I Don’t Have Time” and the album lacks a bit of  momentum , by this I mean it doesn’t really get going until Track 4 “Boots”.

After the 4th track though , it really is full on and despite only Perrin and Finney remaining from the original band and despite no joint song writing credits for them both , it is really in the tradition of the band and you can feel the legacy of their first album as well as a  sense of progression. The song’s themes are not simple “moon in June” stuff as befits a band who are now in their fifties and beyond and despite some bizarre and clumsy lyrics I like that.

I prefer the more up-tempo numbers but that’s just me. The final  track on on the CD ( The Last Song)    is  magnificent and showcases Mike Finney’s vocals as well as the excellent musicianship that flows through all the songs.  I’m not  a teacher or a lecturer but if I was giving marks out of 5 I would give this album 4. It’s not perfect, but then nothing and nobody is.

You can buy all their stuff from Occultations Records website here. You can view some  footage from their August gigs in Salford on the website here. They looked like they enjoyed themselves.

I am now looking forward to the next Distractions’ album, just don’t leave it another 32 years guys, please.

Roddy Woomble

The wife and me went to The Sage on Gateshead Quayside to see Roddy Woomble on the first night of his English ( as he described it) tour.

It was a good gig. I love Roddy’s voice and, he could sing the telephone directory for all I care, I’d still listen to him singing. The accompanying  acoustic band ( no drums or percussion but you  could hear Woomble's feet stamping out time on the stage) included Gavin Fox who has played bass with Idlewild. As always the acoustics at The Sage were outstanding. The banter was good and he seems a nice guy.

The songs from his latest album The Impossible Song and Other Songs were nice folky stuff and suited Roddy's voice.

But it was the songs from his first solo album My Secret Is My Silence that made the gig for me. In
particular Waverley Steps- a real favourite of mine. I was only slightly disappointed there were no Idlewild songs included in the set. I would loved to have heard Actually, Its Darkness played.

EDIT . A lesson here for all writers. check your facts before publishing. In fact they did play an Idlewild song Take Me Back To The Islands from the last Idlewild album Post Electric Blues. In my defence its not a typical Idlewild song and I thought it was from the Drever, McCusker, Woomble collaboration album.Before The Ruin

The set lasted an hour- I could have done with 20 minutes or so more- the crowd was a mixture of the middle aged beardy types, Idlewild fans and  people  drawn to the folk(ish) revival led by the likes of Mumford and Sons.

All in all a nice night for a first night on tour. If you get a chance to see him , take it.  Here is his website. You can listen to some of his songs and if you like them follow the links to buy his CD for only £6.99 from Amazon. Less than two cappuccinos and  a cake at Starbucks.

Costa Del Sol

Me and the wife have been away for a well deserved holiday to Spain.

We hadn't been to the Andalucia for 30 years when we toured campsites round the region the Summer we graduated. This time we stayed in a 5 star timeshare just outside Marbella. The resort was OK but not 5 star , and at about 150 metres off the main A7 a tad noisy from the traffic that roared along day and night.

But the sun shone the whole time and after a 30 year delay we got to go to La Mezquita in Cordoba. That was worth the trip alone.

I had done some pre holiday practice of my Spanish and that stood me in good stead and I had no problems communicating. After my Cuba experiences I had been worried that I was losing my Spanish but this proved to be unfounded. I was relieved by this as despite my seeming indifference when asked, I love Spain, the country, the culture and language and its people.

Now, back at work and freezing cold I can only look back and wonder that this time last week I was lying round the pool in 30degree heat.

Please, Posh,no more

Posh v Bristol City was another defeat. My wife texted me asking how the match was. My reply "Alternates between poor and pitiful" came before Mark Little's incomprehensible decision to pass the ball to one of their strikers who promptly put the ball in the net.

The quality of football was dire and with the low attendance gave the impression of an end of season League Two match between two sides who had nothing to play for, rather than an early season match in the one of the most watched Leagues in the world.

We lost again against Wolves last Saturday and judging by reports of the game we were even worse  well than in the match I watched.

Football though we must remember, particularly in the aftermath of the recent Hillsborough report, is only a game. Its not really worth getting upset about and is definitely not worth dying for.

I hope that those who lied, dissembled and covered up the deaths at Hillsborough are brought to justice. Sadly, though I don't think they will be.

Running For Home

My Great North Run experience was a good one this year. Not a great one but I am pleased .

I finished 2:12:48 so almost the same time as last year. Not my predicted  2:10 but I am still happy.

The last three miles (or more accurately the 2 miles between 10 and 12) were a struggle. Up until mile 10 I had been on schedule for my predicted time, but John Reid Road sucked the energy out of my legs which was only restored by the sight of the North Sea and the 12 mile marker.

 I ran the last mile in 10 minutes but the damage was done. Probably reflects the lack of consistent  training I have been able to achieve this year to build on last year's dramatic improvement.

As predicted the sister-in-law did a fast 1:54:12. Not bad for a 49 year old running novice.  At least I beat the brother-in-law by a couple of minutes. He wasn't best pleased.

We hung around at the end for a bit as the brother-in-law wanted to get a massage.There was a 40 minute wait so we decided to head off. Hanging around was a mistake,  the crowd was at its high point as the majority of runners had finished the course. In fact checking the web stats,  in the 18 or so minutes between the sister-in-law and me finishing around 10 thousand runners crossed the line.
The crush to get on the bus home was like being at a football match or gig.

However, the bus came straight back to the Haymarket via the Tyne Tunnel so I got to experience the tunnel for a second time.

Talking of football, oh Posh, oh dear. I am at London road tomorrow night. Fingers crossed we will win. I don't fancy another 350 mile round trip for no result.

This Sporting Life

I've been trying to write about the whole Olympic/Paralympic phenomena that swept across the media over the Summer but I couldn't get my own take on it down right . So anyway...

I enjoyed the Olympics as always and there was an extra  special feeling about it being held in London. I do wish, as I have written previously, that I had made more of an effort to attend the Games.

I will watch the Olympics next time round in Rio. But will I go to an Athletics meeting? Will I watch a Diamond League event.Possibly but no more so than I would have done anyway.I enjoyed the Paralympics but I doubt I will watch the Rio games anymore than I watched the Beijing games.

I don’t know if there will be a big boost in participation in athletics, swimming etc. There has been much talk of inspiring a generation but the athletics season has now ended and we are headed into the cold of winter. The much talked about big boost for cycling was in fact already well under way and had been for years at least here in the North East.

And so we are left with the football. With all it promise of glory but in reality a big con trick on us all. We sort of know it but because football seems to be in our DNA we always forgive it for letting us down. Like that good friend who is never really around when you need them. And so I am off to see Posh again next Tuesday against Bristol City. I know we will probably lose but I'll give them just one more chance. Just one more, honest.

Contrary it seems to most of the press and public I thought England played well against Ukraine this week and were unlucky to only get a draw. My son, who was  there in the Stadium  thought the same. But the latent anti Roy Hodgsdon media tendency , led on 5Live by Alan Green, wasted no time in getting the knife stuck in Roy’s back.

Maybe we should be more honest and accept that some of our English  players are made to look good by the foreign players they play alongside in the Premier League.

I remember the days of League 1 and Two football with Posh  ( soon to be revisited , I fear) where there are few foreign players. I used to call it proper  football and it consisted ( and still does) of big kicks up the middle and running around like headless chickens after the ball and crunching tackles.  That is a generalisation I accept but the rare players of quality stood out a mile and weren’t there very long anyway as the bigger clubs came in for them and paid well over the odds fees that keep the little clubs afloat for another season.

This weekend is Great North Run weekend. I am approaching this year with more than a little trepidation. I have been plagued by injury and little niggles( heels, calf, groin) all year which has affected my training. This year I have the added pressure of my brother and sister in law coming up to run it, in my sister-in-laws case for the first time and for my brother- in- law the first time in 10 years.

My sister- in- law has the zeal of the convert and I suspect will finish before me quite easily. Not so sure about my brother- in- law. He is dogged and determined but not that fit these days.But he always used to beat me and I have become complacent these days about the half marathon and need the thrill of a marathon ( like last years) to inspire me. I predict my time will be around 2:10. The  7k  run home from work tonight felt good and I hope will set me up for Sunday. It's on the BBC. You might spot me. I'll be the middle aged bald bloke with a grey T shirt on. There's not many of us so I should be easy to see!

I have for the first time entered the Ballot for the London Marathon. I hope I get a place. I have always had a secret desire to run this one since watching the first one all those years ago, before I even started running.

Twenty One Thousand +

No its not the size of the last home crowd for Posh( as if), it is the  number of pageviews this Blogs has achieved. No idea who (most of) you are but keep on reading this. Follow me as well, I think my 1 lone follower is getting lonely.

Inspiration has flagged over the lazy, crazy, hazy days of Summer ( Ha ha) but I am intending to get going again in the Autumn.So stick with me.

On  totally non related topics, I missed 'Allo Darlin playing in  Newcastle again!! Couldn't get tickets for Ray Davies but  I am going to see Roddy Woomble ( lead singer of Idlewild) at The Sage in October. I am looking forward to that one.I even persuaded the wife to come with me.

Piss Poor Posh

A couple of weeks into the season, 5 games( including 2 in the League Cup) and we have only won 1 of them. Too soon to panic? No we should panic.

I had the misfortune to witness first hand one of the defeats on my first Tuesday night trip of the season to London Road  10 days ago.

We were playing Millwall who comprehensively thrashed us 3-1 last time they were at the ground back in March which I wrote about at the time.

For some reason and despite the defeat by Leicester on the preceding Saturday, I was confident we would win.  10 minutes into the game and my confidence seemed well founded as we were 1 nil up thanks to a very good goal by George Boyd. But, and there is always a but with Posh, after that we sat back let them into the game and by half time they were level.

The second half was up there with one of the most abject performances I have ever seen from Posh. And believe me I have seen some shite especially in our dark days in League Two. Millwall took control and frankly showed us mercy by only beating us 2-1, although it could have been a lot more. I said to my son who had come up from London for the game that we were in for another season  relegation battle like the 2009/10 season.

Since then a further defeat and we are out of the League Cup too. League 1 here we come again.

Up Above The Streets And Houses

I was walking the dog the other day after a torrential downpour. The sun was out and when I looked up I saw the most perfect rainbow I'd ever seen stretching out across the sky. 

Being me I didn't take a picture of it but instead I started to sing this song in my head

She's Like A Raimbow- World Of Twist

This is, in case you didn't know, a cover of a Rolling Stones song

I never really got into the Madchester, Baggy scene as
1. I wasn't 18
2. I was living in London with a wife and new baby.

Some of the music was good though. I got into World of Twist via St Etienne.(the band, not the football team)

Olympic Fever

The Olympics have been on the radio and TV channels for almost two weeks now. I have watched more than my fairshare of minority sports and spent nearly all last weekend sat glued to the track and field events. I do sort of feel the “buzz” and slightly regret not making more of an effort last year to get tickets to attend the games.

All this success, and humility and graciousness of our winners and losers has led me to the conclusion that the nation ‘s favourite spectator and participation sport – football- has reached a crossroads with this Olympics. Sturridges bad tempered exit after missing a penalty in thequarter finals simply highlighted it.

The country that gave the world football and has the most successful league in the world couldn’t even get a team together that could beat South Korea( even with its emerging football presence on the worlds stage and handful of Premiership players it is still a footballing minnow compared to us). This can’t be right. Why can't we perform on the big stage when it comes to football? Why do our players behave so badly compared to other sportsmen?

I can’t say that I love handball, synchronised swimming, archery, beach volleyball or  even track and field events anymore than I did before the Olympics. But I think I love football a bit less.

Having said that I have already booked my first Tuesday night trip to Peterborough so probably I will forgive football yet again. But the thought of another season of bad tempered matches with high levels of disrespect towards  the officials doesn’t give me a "buzz" .Especially after watching so little dissent and acceptance on the part of the athletes that sometimes other competitors are simply just better than you.

Running On Empty

I did the BUPA Gateshead 10k  run last weekend. I had a severe cold all the week leading up to it and if it wasn’t for the fact that I had missed the Sunderland 10k due to injury I wouldn’t have run. The lack of fitness and my cold told in my embarrassingly slow time of 62:54- over 4 minutes slower than last year.

Still I did it got my T shirt and medal. Felt a bit rough for the rest of the day and still don’t feel all too good now three days later.

The course is described as picturesque. Well if your definition of picturesque is running through an industrial estate  then it fits the bill. It is a bit like describing Kielder Marathon as an undulating course.

It was the usual very slick and professional performance from the Great Run team. Plenty of toilets and PowerAde available. A manic Scottish warm up woman ( Donna something or other) and the usual radio DJ banter.

Weirdly as I took up my position in the white wave of runners a sudden surge of south east Asian men in red t shirts and blue shorts appeared. Two hundred of them  in fact. Apparently they are Ghurkhas based at Catterick at the moment . They were pretty excitable and obviously thought that Donna was a bit mad as they joined in the warm up.

I look forward to this year’s GNR knowing I need to do a lot more training to get fit for the challenge. Especially as my sister in law is running it.

Billy Franks

I've just been listening to Billy's live album From The Court To The Empire. I've written about this album before here and I ve written about Mr Franks many times previously.

His book A Far Cry From Sunset should be out this year and I hope it will be as good as his early version on his website was.

Anyway here is a track from the live album to hopefully get you interested enough to shell out a fiver for a download

Just- Billy Franks

Ich Bin Berliner

Me and the wife went to Berlin a couple of weeks ago to see our son. We made it out of Newcastle an hour before the The Thunder Thursday floods brought the whole of the city’s roads to a grinding, gridlocked halt.

We flew from Manchester Airport which I would recommend to anyone in the North. Easily accessible, good parking and easy to navigate around.

I haven’t been to Germany before and Berlin for me and the wife was a bit of surprise.I’m not going to judge the whole country (or even Berlin) from a few days tourism. Like London my guess is Berlin is too big and too untypical of the rest of the country.

First impressions were that Berlin is a very “young” city. At times I felt my age as nobody else (apart from the loonies and drunks on the U Bahn) seemed to be over 30. And this was my impression from doing just the touristy stuff. We didn’t go clubbing. Secondly although admittedly the city was very clean- no litter-we were both taken back by the amount of graffitti all over the trains, bridges and buildings in the suburbs. Including that all over my son’s apartment block building in Kreuzberg. We weren’t expecting that. Though yes the trains were on time and clean.

Thirdly I was struck ( and this is amazing bearing in mind we live in Newcastle) how white the city’s population is. The small BME population seems to be Turkish or the occasional North African.

I was also struck by the history of the city. A history that goes back beyond the two Wars. The architecture and styling of the city’s monuments felt very Victorian and the neo classical styling was very familiar to us. In fact we felt very comfortable in Berlin. It all felt very familiar and although German was being spoken that was almost a surprise to us.

Then of course there is the modern history of the The Wall. Our hotel was on Fredrichstrasse a couple of hundred metres away from Checkpoint Charlie. There is a museum dedicated to this famous checkpoint and a replica hut and sign ( You are now entering The American Sector…) in the middle of the street.

The Wall ( or fragments of it) are all over the place. This is real history and so far I don’t think the City or the Country have yet come to terms with it or the impact of reunification of the city and country when the Wall came down almost 22 years ago. It’s still too real, too close too many memories. I expect that in another 22 years Berlin will have dealt with this episode in its life and come to terms with it. To think that in a Europe less than 25 years ago people were being shot and killed for trying to cross a street I was walking on seems incredible. It felt weird and I can’t imagine how that feels in places like Sarajevo where war is even closer to us in time.

We did all the touristy stuff, stood at Brandenburg Gate, went up to the Norman Foster Dome on the Reichstag ( book this in advance on their website), went out to the Olympic Stadium stood in Alexander Platz, looked in Operplatz where the Nazi book burning happened. Our son was a good tour guide and took us to places off the beaten track using the knowledge he has gained from living and studying there since the end of March.

We watched the Euro 2012 final in the Fan Park by the Brandenburg Gate. We had been hoping that the Germans would have got to the final but they let us down. The atmosphere was therefore a bit subdued but there were enough Italian and Spanish fans about to make a good atmosphere despite the thunderstorm at half time which sent us scurrying back to our hotel.

All in all we really enjoyed Berlin and may even go back to Germany again.

We stayed at Hotel Angleterre on an Easy Jet holiday package . Return flights and three nights B&B for £460.

Not bad I think. We could have done it cheaper but the hotel was easily accessible to the centre of Berlin and only three stops from where our son is living so it worked out well for us all.

Indie Boys

This song by the band The Whatevers came up on my MP3 player the other day. I can't remember where I came across them but it was more than certainly on a music blog somewhere. This song made me laugh and made me think of someone I know.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Drama- The Whatevers

This song is from their City Lights Fade EP. This is their website. Music is available on a pay what you think it is worth basis.

Their music is lo fi, twee and sounds like stuff that you could make yourself. Punk only not as noisy. That'll do for me.

Academic Inspiration

My Powerpoint training session (see below) got me thinking about music and how I listen to it and who I listen to .

I realised whilst preparing my presentation that one of the main music influences ( and influence in general) on my life has been Paul Weller.

If you are old enough to remember Punk you will probably remember that this was primarily a London thing. For me a teenager from a London sattelite town when Paul Weller sang “ I know I come from Woking and you say I’m a fraud./But my heart is in the city where it belongs” I knew exactly what he meant, I came from a town like Woking and I knew my heart was in London where it belonged.

Listening to him and The Jam led me into reading Colin Macinness's  classic book about being young and living in in London  Absolute Beginners and George Orwell's work starting with 1984. For those two things alone I  will always be in debt to him.

Its easy for people to laugh these days at The Modfather, his hair and his personal life and drinking habits but to me and many others he has been an inspiration throughout his career ( OK maybe a few years in the late 90’s weren’t that good and I do struggle to forgive him for inspiring OASIS)

I’m not going to post any of his stuff (last time I did the post  got removed by the DMCA lot ) but I will say if you don’t know anything about Paul Weller, start with his website and play catch up. If you like good music, attention to detail and a healthy respect for what has gone before in music but still looking around you for inspiration, you won’t regret it.

Burning Sky

Yes, yes I am still here. Just been a bit busy at work these past few weeks. No meetings with heads of big corporates, just recruiting, appointing, feedback and gas canister explosions in blocks of flats.

Just booked a weekend in Berlin for the end of this month. We are off to see the son.

Will be back soon.

Blue Is The Colour

What an incredible end of season we have had. Man City getting two goals late in the game to snatch the Premiership title out of Man Utd 's hands and last night Chelsea robbing Bayern Munich of the Champions League title in a penalty shoot out.  This was football and the reason why we love it.

Spurs have missed out on a Champions League place thanks to Chelsea but I can't begrudge them their win. They are an English team after all.

The Art Of Presenting

I had to attend a stupid and, at least on my part, unnecessary training course last week about Microsoft Powerpoint. This came about because my boss was impressed by a couple of young staff who did a powerpoint presentation at a recent staff briefing session complete with graphs, charts and one slide where the text came in from the side.He was very impressed.

He wanted to know why we weren't all doing the same when we did our presentations to staff

The fact that the young things also stumbled and mumbled their way through the whole thing obviously passed him by. The real art of presenting is building a rapport with your audience not dazzling them with fancy tricks and mind numbing stats.

Anyway there we all were sat in front of PC being given lessons on how to create a Powerpoint presentation by a girl almost young enough to be my grandaughter let alone my daughter..

Anyone who has applied for a job in the last ten years and has had to do presentation as part of the process can use Powerpoint. If you turned up at an interview brandishing your slides and asking for the Overhead Projector it is very likely the normally young admin assistant/pa who greets you would not have a clue what you were talking about.So I already know how to create a presentation and can even set up the projector etc. I'm not an expert but I can get by.

However,judging by the rest of my area management team's reaction to attending this session I am the only one of them who has applied for a job in the last ten years. Despite sitting through many hours of tedious powerpoint presentations in their working lives, none of them had ever created a presentation themselves.

My presentation was a quirky non work related topic, music. Doing it got me thinking about music and me and how I listen to music and what music I listen to. More of that later

Time Passes

It is sometimes surprising when you stop what you are doing, take stock and realise that time is flying by.

It’s now May and we are over a quarter of the year through.It seems only yesterday I was starting my new role over in another part of the city.But, in fact, it's three months ago. The feeling is a bit like life in general. Here I am 51 years old and two grown up kids. I have been living in Newcastle 21 years now. That’s a lifetime.

My wife starts her new job with a national Charity next week. I am pleased for her. She has got the job she deserves and could use this as a springboard to get an even better job.

I am pleased as well for the whole family as the last two years have been unsettling with my wife working on successive temporary contracts. Although we have done OK it doesn’t feel like it. The basic human need for security wasn’t there and we didn’t really feel able to plan ahead. Now we can at least start to plan and do the things we have been putting off. Like decorating, a new shower cubicle and possibly a decent roofer to overhaul my roof.

I have been scrambling around the loft two or three times over the last week following the torrential downpours we have had. I have spent several hours using emergency roofing repairs materials ( paint, spray and gaffa tape) to try and stop the leak. Last night was my final attempt. Previous attempts have been partially successful but I think I have sorted it now. We will see the next time it tips down.

My son seems to being enjoying Berlin as we haven’t heard from him for a week or so.My daughter is furiously applying for jobs as she has realised she only has £500 to see her through to September.

My bit of excitement has been to buy my ticket for The Wedding Present tour in the autumn.They are playing a Saturday night at the O2 in Newcastle. So it will be an early start and a 10pm finish. The fact that I am quite pleased about that means I am really getting old.

The Nips

My MP3 player is always set to Shuffle. If you read this nonsense on a regular basis you’ll know that I have posted about this a number of times before. It continues to fascinate me that at least once a week the player throws up a song I haven’t heard in years and can’t remember uploading to the machine. This time it was a song by Shane McGowan’s pre Pogues band The Nips. If you are looking for traces of any Irish accent or influences on this track you won’t find them.

I seem to remember at the time reading that Shane McGowan was a massive Jam devotee and followed them around. I saw them once supporting The Jam at The Music Machine in Camden. They were good but not outstanding.

This song and its B side “Vengeance” are outstanding though and have stood the passing of 30+ years very well.

Thanks to this song I always think fondly of the 73 bus “into the city” despite never having got on it.

Gabrielle- The Nips

Posh We Are Yet Again

Another Tuesday night and another trip to see The Posh. Firstly on a positive note we are staying up. That is good. It is something to be proud of for the team and Darren Ferguson and us the fans.


Unfortunately the game was poor we went two down very early on and although we had some good moments of possession and plays we were always second best to Southampton. We lost 3-1. I haven't seen Posh win at all this season.


I decided to pay a bit extra and sit on the second tier of the South/Family Stand. It was a good seat right on the half way line. Funnily though I didn't enjoy the game anymore than if I had stood on the London Road Terrace as normal. In fact, I think I enjoyed it less. Why? In a word, atmosphere. Simply put there was none.


I missed the random made up on the moment songs and chants against the opposing team's keeper. I missed the camaraderie of the terrace. I even missed the drummer. I won't be changing to seats until I have to, which as it happens according to Football League rules after three seasons in the Championship which for Posh will be the season after next. If we don't get relegated next season, that is.


There were a couple of thousand Southampton fans there. They were very excited and sang all the match, drowning out London Road for most of the game. One of their songs which they seem to sing after each time they scored was amusing. To the chorus of Road To Amarillo it went "LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA (repeat x3)Who the fuck is laughing now?". Well it made me laugh.


On the way home,the long 3 and a half hour train trip, this song came up on my MP3 player. This band would have been called twee back in the day. The breathy slightly out of tune female vocal and occasionally bizarre lyrics appeal to me.Anyway this song made me feel good. It created images of sunshine, happiness, love and freedom.It made me feel young again. It took some of the pain away of another 400 mile round trip to watch your team get beaten.Good music can do that.


The band are touring the States in a couple of days and are playing some dates in UK prior to flying out. I missed them on their recent UK tour.

Use Google to find their web site. I can't do everything for you.




Allo Darlin'- Lets Go Swimmimg

Middle of The Month

This month is dragging. Not you understand that I am wishing my life away. At my age (51 in case you’re interested)I can’t afford to be too careless with time. I have lived (probably) longer than I have left to go, and whilst we are not quite at the every day is precious and a gift stage death is not as far over the horizon as it used to be.

I put the sense of time dragging this month firmly down to two things.

Firstly my wife is between jobs. She is waiting to start her new one with a national charity but , it seems as we were told, the Third Sector is very poorly organised and there is a delay in her starting. The Easter holidays haven’t helped as no one of any importance in the organisation has been around. Thus she has had a lot of time on her hands and my mornings/evenings and weekends have been spent saying things for reassurance to her. It makes the days drag by you know.

Reading that back I realise makes me seem heartless and uncaring, but I’m not and I do care.

It’s just that I know my wife and I know that my life is a lot easier (and I can waste hours running, listening to music, idling on the PC, pondering Peterborough’s chances of relegation etc.) when she is busy and occupied and therefore happy and not so bothered about new showers and decorating rooms and things like that. If she’s not occupied and busy I have to pay attention to her ALL the time and make plans to decorate this, replace that etc. Like most men I am essentially lazy. I know that's generalisation and I shouldn't use them but I believe it to be true.

Secondly and, of course for me most importantly, it’s my job. Again. Unfortunately the honeymoon effect of the office move and new area of the city and my exciting public transport commute has worn off already. Barely two months in. I was expecting a good half year of new challenges but so far I haven’t found any to speak of and my enthusiasm has dipped to a very low level. At least in my old office I was pretty busy even if it was with the mundane daily stuff. Whereas in this Office I am either missing the point very badly or in fact nothing much happens. I fear it’s the latter.

On the plus side I have had plenty of time to read about Neuro Linguistic Programming and all the self-help stuff I am interested in and I have had time to brush up on my Spanish and more regularly write for this blog. So things aren’t all bad.

If it wasn’t for our overzealous IT Police team I could while away hours on the Internet at work but I can’t risk it.

I’m going to have to volunteer for bits of additional work in the wider organisation. This is s something I don’t like to do because I don’t like to be taken away from my prime role. But if my prime role doesn’t really seem to exist, I’d better start positioning myself for the time when the powers that be realise there is no need for me here.

Easter Weekend

A classic, cold and wet Easter, too much chocolate and too much family time.

I was back at work today but only until lunchtime. I had the afternoon off because a tree in our back garden- a Pussy Willow- needed to be felled. It had grown too big and was threatening to bring down the fence. When it was windy in the winter it moved and swayed dangerously.

It took the two guys (Chris Gill Tree Surgeons- in case you need someone)about an hour to cut it down, drag it through the garage to the machine that shredded and chipped it which was parked at the front of the house. Just an hour to destroy a tree that was well established when we moved in here 20 years ago.

War- what is it good for?

The thirtieth anniversary of the start of the Falklands War brings back memories of that time and thoughts of modern day conflicts we are still engaged in.

I heard a guy on the radio ( a Falklands veteran) saying that he thought it was the last war which made sense to people in that the premise was simple -our territory had been invaded and we wanted it back. I suppose now with the wars in the Serbia and Bosnia , Iraq and Afghanistan it’s hard to remember the shock of actually going to war. The Falklands war was the first real war for the UK since the Korean one in the Fifties.

The BBC has tried to be even handed in its coverage and has had Argentinian veterans on.They even sent Sheelagh Fogarty to Buenos Aires ( nice for some) for what I don’t really know why.

In reality , it was a short brutal war( hand to hand combat) our soldiers were professional, their’s were mostly conscripts. We did bad things and so did they. That’s war. It’s better not to go to war unless you absolutely have to.

Which brings us up to date to Afghanistan. What the hell are we still doing there?

One positive thing the Coalition has done is set an end date to our fighting role there. I'm not convinced Labour would have done if they had retained power. Iran/Syria/Libya are the next battle grounds I think as no one is bothered about Sudan/Somalia or other non-strategic African countries.

There are now hundreds and thousands of the armed forces servicemen and women who have seen active combat and who are carrying the mental and physical reminders of this. What will be the long term personal effect of this on then and on us,our society?

We do seem to have got better at supporting them ( Help For Heroes has done a marvellous job in that respect)

At least we have moved on from post Falkland’s war celebratory parades where the wounded were hidden from sight or not allowed to participate for fear of upsetting people.

I have already posted the Faith Brothers Falklands War lament Easter Parade last Remembrance Day so I'm not going to post it again. Do go back to that post and download and listen to the song or look at Billy Frank's Facebook page where you can watch him perform it at the Brixton Academy in 1985.

Who today is going to write a song as chilling as that about the conflict in Afghanistan and why hasn't that depressing and wasteful war captured the public's attention like the Falklands one and Vietnam before it?

Posh We Are!!

Well of course because I didn't go or listen on Posh Player we won. Paul Taylor with the only goal of the match. I am now certain we will still be in The Championship next season. In reality that is all we wanted for this season- just stay up and next season consolidate our position as a Championship club and push on in season three and four.

I don't think our current forward line is strong enough though and in midfield George Boyd has found some form at last but McCann is only going to be there for two more seasons at most.If we can get some defenders in as good as Gabbi Zakuani we will be OK at the back with Jones or Lewis as keeper.

My next match was going to be at Elland Road watching us against Leeds. Well it was until I saw the price the greedy Yorkshire men wanted. No less than £36!!!No student concessions either ( which I know is immaterial as my son is in Berlin but even so).

So my next match ( also my last of the season) will be against likely Champions Southampton at home in mid April. It would be nice to see them win but football being a funny old game we will probably lose 6-0.

UTP (Up the Posh)

Posh We Are

As predicted Posh let me down again. After a very good and open and attacking first half where both Posh and West Ham let the game flow, a lapse of concentration in defence early in the second half meant we went 1 down. Our heads and confidence dropped down and West Ham could and probably should have scored about 5 or 6.

I still think we wont go down, not because we are too good just that there are three teams below us who are worse. Horrible to say it but thank you God for the 10 point deduction for Portsmouth for going into administration.

Roberto Fonseca

The wife and I went to The Sage last week to see Roberto Fonseca, he is the Cuban Jazz pianist who we saw a couple of years ago touring with Gilles Peterson and his Havana Cultura Combo. Neither of us were much in the mood, my wife was exhausted through the stress of an interview for a job earlier that day( which she got by the way) and I was plain tired.

But we went anyway and at the end of the evening we were both glad we did . Fonseca had a lively group with him of Cuban, and African musicians and the set was based mostly on his latest album YO which explores his African influences. A bit bizarre to be seated listening to upbeat dance music but it worked. As is always at The Sage the acoustics were superb. Fonseca’s hands were at times a blur on his piano and keyboards and the percussion was absolutely stunning. We were planning on staying for the after party on the Concourse but we were knackered and so went straight home our minds and hearts lifted by the quality of the music and performance and stimulated by the sheer joy of the experience. We need to get out more to this sort of thing.

Roberto Fonseca’s album is available from Amazon and Emusic or even a record store if you are lucky to still have one where you are. Download it or buy it.You won’t be disappointed. He is still touring and you may catch him in York,Brighton or Bristol over the next week see here .

Valentina

I have been a bit remiss posting this last few weeks.

Anyway, as is the way with The Beautiful Game and the reason why I love it so, Posh have beaten both Blackpool and Reading and we are now all but safe. I'm down there on Tuesday watching us beat West Ham. Of course this being football we will probably get thrashed.

My favourite band of all time (TM)The Wedding Present have just released a new album four years after their last one. It's called Valentina and thankfully (after the last distinctly average offering) it is rather good. It is also only £8 and so is well worth a try. You can buy it from their own site here

Here is a link to some live versions of two of the songs The Girl From The DDR and Back a Bit...Stop

Posh We Are Again

On my way today with my son to see Peterborough United v Millwall at London Road. It’s the first time I ‘ve been there this season With my son being away on his Year Abroad my football spectating has dropped to really low levels. Two away matches this season is all I’ve managed.

I’m hoping for a good result , Millwall are a place below us in the Championship and a win tonight would put real distance between us and the ”drop zone”- I have come to love that phrase despite its American origins.

Honestly I think we are safe now and only absolute and complete capitulation in our remaining matches will mean we get relegated this year. But still whilst it’s a mathematical possibility I’ll worry just a tiny bit.

I watched QPR- The Four Year Plan on iPlayer last night. It was a brilliant piece of documentary filming and really captured what it is to be a fan of a club outside of the Premier League with maverick owners who want success but don’t really know how to go about it in the football world. I recommend you catch it on BBc iPlayer in the next few days. The Italians Briatore and Paladini didn’t come out of it too well, in my opinion.

Well here I go. UTP

EDIT

I meant to post that yesterday but forgot. Anyway Posh were truly awful and a distinctly mediocre but better disciplined and passionate team put 3 past us. I don't think we had a shot on target.

My worry levels have now increased as we have a difficult end of season run in with 4 out of the five top teams to face. Darren Ferguson says we need another 12 points to guarantee safety. On last night's performance I can't see us getting them.

It’s mid-morning on the last Monday in February. The weather is grey and dull which quite accurately reflects how I feel at the moment. Five weeks into my new post and the novelty has now worn off. I need to re energise myself about this job. Also I am missing my last office. Not so much the staff but the whole location and feel of the place which was much more like where I live than here.

Perhaps I’m just a bit grumpy as I had to wait 15 minutes for a bus this morning having missed two which came together at my usual stop. I decided not to run over the road to get on them, confident that the next one would be along in six minutes as per the timetable. Another lesson learned there then.
And the driver was one of the mad ones who hurtle down the road at breakneck speed.

Despite today’s criticism I have been quite impressed about how reliable and clean the buses are compared to the last time I used public transport regularly. I suppose that was a different time and a different city and I am only using the buses at commuter time during the week. But, so far, things on the buses are looking OK.
No gangs of lairy lads with their trackies tucked into their socks have got on any bus I've been on,swearing and shouting at each other in their almost indecipherable council estate Geordie patois. Also no gangs of teenage girls screaming at each other and smelling of cheap perfume have disturbed my commute.

Just screaming primary school kids with their Mams shouting at them to “Sit doon”, "Stop your crying" and “I’ll tell yer teacher on yee”

Suede & Brett Anderson

One of my musical regrets is never having seen Suede Live. At the beginning I loved Animal Nitrate and Brett Anderson's voice but didn't care too much for the whole saviour of British rock n roll image that the music press surrounded the band with in the lead up to the Brit pop era. So in my usual way of attempting to be cool and ignore what the mainstream press like I tried hard to ignore them although I was always intrigued by Brett Anderson's pose and David Bowie influenced vocals

A few years later I heard the single New Generation and thought that it was superb. But timing is everything in life. I had two small kids to look after and gig going wasn't a priority and living in the North East means bands don't always come here. By the time the kids were a bit older and I had more time, the band had split up.

I was tidying up in the front room yesterday and picking CDs up off the floor and I came across the Brett Anderson's and Bernard Butler's reunion band The Tears 2005 CD Here Come The Tears . Curious, as I haven't played it in years, I popped it into the Bose and was absolutely blown away by the album.To be honest it's like a lost Suede CD and it is very good.

In particular I loved this track. It's loud, it gets under your skin and makes you want to be young, in love and in London. It reminded me of being young and in love and in London. It's one of those songs that makes you glad to be alive and fills you with energy and desire.

Lovers- The Tears

Things have settled down now and I’m into a routine of bus travel and walking. I’ve been all the way round my new area, attended all the usual meetings. I have found that things may look different at first glance but essentially it’s the same issues wherever you go- it’s just the ratios of one to another that differs.

I was at my old office earlier in the week and I must admit had a little tear in my eye as I walked home over the Moor.

My son is currently back in London seeing friends. My daughter is on her way to Portsmouth as I write this. She is picking her stuff up from her ex-boyfriend’s flat. I don’t know how she will cope with this. She is staying at the sister-in-laws so we will get regular updates on her.

My wife didn’t get the Wakefield job which surprised me as I felt sure she would. She said that she made a real mess of the interview though. So my gut feeling seems to have let me down on this occasion but I am sure Wakefield will figure in some way in our future.

Music wise I have settled down enough to listen to music on the way to work.Although it doesn't feel the same. At least not yet.

Songs You Should Hear

I haven't posted any music for a while so here we go. I came across this file while tidying up my hard drive. I had forgotten I had it. Its a zip file.


The Housemartins at the BBC

3 years on

In all the excitement of my relocation to the East End I completely forgot that I have been blogging ( uurghh!)for over three years now. Still don't really know what I am trying to achieve here- is it an online diary or a music blog?

In years to come will some advanced civillization read these entries and conclude that no intelligent lifeform could lead such a boring life?

Yesterday I went with my wife to Wakefield. She had an interview for a job at a hospital there. All I was thinking was I wonder if I'll see the The Cribs walking around. Or even Johnny Marr who has just popped over to produce their new album?? Needless to say I didn't see anyone famous sitting in the In House Costa Cafe in the foyer of the hospital.

On the way home we diverted to Ottley. The only reason being that I read somewhere that David Gedge lived there for sometime before he split up with his partner. I wanted to see what it was like. Quite nice really. Liked the square and all the houses built of local stone. We had lunch in The Black Bull pub. I had a pint of Timothy Taylors bitter from a handpump. Talk about life in the fast lane, eh?

Commute

Other things I have noticed on my commute from west to east across this small city. This morning for example my side of town had freezing rain falling on a sheet of ice across the roads and pavements both of which made walking to the bus stop very tricky. Half an hour later I disembark the bus for my short walk to the office. Yes it’s still raining but no sign of any ice at all. My father-in-law used to work along the road from my new location and I remember he was always amazed that he could battle through snow and ice from the west to get to work only to find that there was no snow or ice in the east. I don’t know why this is the case- nearer the sea maybe? I have also noticed how quickly you get used to the rhythm and pace of public transport. I know that before my bus comes (somewhere between 6 minutes and 10 minutes past 8) there will be the Scholars Bus packed with kids off to schools ( “All Passengers Welcome” it says on the scrolling display but I’m thinking you’d have to be mad to get on a bus full of school kids). Then the single decker 32 comes along just before the double decker bus I get on. The crowd (it isn’t a queue) starts to shuffle forward , the person at the front of the crowd may or may not want my bus, you can feel everyone getting nervous. Are they going to put out their arm to flag it down or not? Will I have to do it? If I don’t do it will my bus stop or go past? A little bit of tension every morning. I have started to notice how many fellow passengers have headphones in. There are the , usually, young ones with the giveaway white headphones that come with IPods. At least I am assuming that is the case because otherwise why would you wear white headphones? Then there are the normally older passengers like me who have in ear black headphones in. Not too conspicuous we could be listening to Radio 4 or the latest Dubstep tunes. Today there were a couple of young lads with the over ear DJ type headphones on over their beanie hats. They got off in Town so judging by the way they were dressed they worked there. Why would you wear headphones like that in public? Maybe they are those noise cancelling ones and they wear them so they can listen to their choice of music in splendid isolation. Passengers who don’t wear headphones tend to talk. Very loudly. Then there are the kids who get on in the east every day being taken to school by their Mam. She shouts at them and every day at least one of them is crying. Luckily they get on only a few stops before I get off so I turn up the volume and John Humphries's sonorous Welsh tones or James Naughtie’s harsher Scottish sounds drown them out. I am listening to Radio 4 or 5 or Radio Newcastle on my commute rather than my MP3 on shuffle, I don’t know why this it just seems more right. I tried 6music but it didn’t feel the same and Keaveney irritated me. On my walk home in the evening I do listen to 6Music and Steve Lamacq. It seems that I can concentrate more on the music when I am walking. I haven’t relaxed enough on the morning bus journey to do so yet.

From the West To The East

Here I am almost two weeks into my new role in one of the poorer parts of the city. This move has coincided with the coldest part of the winter so far with temperatures struggling to get above freezing. At least I am not walking over the Moor with the wind whipping through me like previous years. So there are some positives.

I ‘m getting used to the travelling. I ‘m getting the bus to work (about ½ hour) and walking home (about 1hr 15 mins). I was thinking about cycling when the roads aren’t icy and the weather is a bit warmer but I’m going off this idea. It’s not the most scenic of routes to and from work – especially the other side of the city centre. The best route is along the river and then up but that adds a mile and a half to the journey. So I am thinking bus/walk/run combination.

I am still pissed off that it’s costing me almost £50 pcm to get to work after 20 years of not paying anything to get to my various offices. You remember that pay rise I was talking about here?. Well that’s gone in bus fares. But I do still have a job in a region where jobs are evaporating even in the public sector.

I have also learned some things about this city. Firstly, on my side of town not many white people seem to get the bus. Or rather not many white adults get buses. Not infrequently I am not just the only white adult on the bus into town I am the only white person (driver excepted) on the bus. The bus I get to work goes about half a mile from where I live but this is still a shock even for me living as I do in a very culturally diverse part of town. This supports my theory, that only poor people and students and schoolchildren use buses.

It's different though on the other side of town, still a number of black and Asian passengers but predominantly it’s white people using the service.

Secondly I have learned that Bus drivers are grumpy, even the women ones (of which there are a surprising number). The other day a poor student tried to pay his fare with a £20m note. The Bus driver exclaimed “£20 poond, at this time of the morning? Are ye mental?” This was admittedly funny but the tone and the language was probably not what Stagecoach expects from it drivers. They may need to invest in some enhanced customer service training for their staff.

To avoid similar scenes I make sure that I have the correct fare on me every day.

I have bought a 4 week pass after much consideration which gives me unlimited travel on all buses in the city and is transferable so my daughter can use it when I don’t need to. I may even investigate the opportunity of buying an annual pass through the Council.

Explosions In The Sky 2

Last week I saw Explosions In The Sky at The Sage in Gateshead. I particularly like this venue as acoustics are superb and this really enhanced the sonic, roller coaster ride that is this great band. They came on stage said "Hello"  and then they were off, not another word for an hour + of music that ebbed and flowed , that took you up and down with delicate melodies and riffs that hit you hard. Can’t recommend them enough.

Support was by locals Lanterns On The Lake. Very good, reminiscent of This Mortal coil and Cocteau Twins and Cloud Cult and lots of other alternative roots, folksy bands.

I came home and logged onto Emusic and downloaded both bands' latest  albums. That’s a recommendation for you  all to do the same.

Lovelorn

The Jonathan Richman song has got me exploring the soundtrack to my lovelorn youth.

This song was a particular favourite of mine, and was part of a series of classic singles they released throughout 1977 /1978 which apart from this one included Orgasm Addict , Love You More, I Don’t Mind, Ever Fallen In Love With ( Someone You Shouldn’t Have), and Promises.

What Do I Get- Buzzcocks

UPDATE My daughter has been dumped by her sailor boyfriend again adding poignancy to this post.

Here Comes The Summer?

Are the days getting longer yet? It didn't feel like it this morning as I walked over the Moor to work in that strange time between daylight and sunrise when it's not quite dark but not quite light either- one of the last times I will be doing this as I am moving soon to my workplace on the other side of town.

On my MP3 player, set to shuffle today, this song came up. I‘ve probably not heard this for over 25 years and I’m not even sure why it’s on my player but it took me back to being 17/18 and wondering if I would ever meet a girl I cared about so much I would break my natural reticence and shyness and awkwardness to get her. Before I realised that most girls were feeling just the same as me and it didn't really matter.

Luckily for me I met my future wife not long after that but until then I struggled and got nowhere.

This is a great song and from a great band who produced this great album. I’ve got Roger Scott (RIP) to thank for introducing me to them on his Drivetime Capital Radio (In tune with London ) show back in the late 70’s. Are DJs as influential now?

Someone I Care About

I think this song shows that you can be rock n roll and still care and be positive. In this world women aren't bitches or Ho's and men aren't gangsta after only one thing. I found this song uplifting and comforting in 1978 and I still do in 2012.

Billy Franks

The regular readers of these pages will know that I have  a lot of time for Billy Franks the main man behind The Faith Brothers from the 80's. Just before Christmas, he released for download a live CD, From The Court To The Empire, a recording of a  gig he did a couple of years ago at the Shepherds Bush Empire.

His website, The B-Spot is here and you can buy the CD together with artwork for just £6. It includes some Faith Brother's classics and a good selection of his solo material.

 If you're not sure you want to buy the live album, you can preview clips from 3 of the tracks on his site.

If you like what you hear he is offering some copies of his last studio album The Turtledove Boutique  for sale for a fiver. If you're still not sure you can sign up and receive a link to a free 12 track compilation of his songs.

Sunny Day

Frost on the Moor, a nip in the air, clear blue skies and sunshine. this is why I love  Winter in the North East.

New Year, Old Concerns

Well and truly back into the swing of things and the indolence and relaxation of the Christmas week off is a warm, fuzzy, fading memory. Old concerns rise to the surface after being buried for 10 days beneath the weight of mince pies, christmas pudding , old films on the TV and the Christmas and New Year football festivities.


Will 2012 be the annus horriblis I thought 2011 would be? Why am I still sat at the same desk doing the same things I have been for the last 9 years? What about the children? Are they happy, will they make something of themselves and use the education we gave them and the talents they have to be happy and make a difference?

Will the wife’s parents (and mine) sink further into old age and confusing, bizarre behaviour and how will we deal with them?

On the job front I am applying for another job!!! First for over a year. And in my current job I am being moved to an office in a much less salubrious part of the area. A challenge, Oh Joy!

2011 Review

Happy New Year to you all. A bit late but better late than never, I say.So 2011, a good year? Or a bad year? For the world economy it was a poor year. For my economy it was a good year. The remortgaging saga was worth it in the end.

For the kids it was a mixed year.Son on his year abroad doing fine, daughter starting at college- didn’t quite get what she wanted- but enjoying it all the same and back with her boyfriend. For the wife, a frustrating year she delivered what she was employed to do but hasn’t enjoyed it. For me, Well here I am still sat at the same desk so in one way a poor year for me. But I did get a pay rise (!!!) after a lot of hassle and negotiation which for the public sector at this time is pretty good going.

The dog is now 9 but still lively as ever.

For music, it was an OK year- not outstanding but good. I particularly enjoyed Fleet Foxes' Helplessness Blues and Florence and The Machine’s Ceremonials. Brett Anderson delivered a solid new album in Black Rainbows. Adele’s 21 was a surprise for me. I sort of liked 19 but wasn’t struck overall. 21 is a brilliant mature (both musically and lyrically) album. Well worth owning. PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake was classic PJ Harvey.I have never been completely convinced by her but if you like her stuff its good. Haven’t bought or downloaded a lot of music this year but have really enjoyed discovering new music via Blogs and 6 Music and other places.

Looking forward, again we face uncertainty come the end of March with my wife’s contract ending. I am strangely not worried about this. I think we will be OK. The kids will continue to develop and grow into the good adults we raised them to be (here’s hoping)

In reality though , who knows what lies over the horizon. Nobody predicted the Arab Spring or Libya or the Euro crsis this time last year so I am not going to place any bets on what will happen this year to the world or me or the family.