GOFFA FROM THE BLOCK

Haven't had time to post last few days as I've been busy getting ready for End Of The Road Festival tomorrow.  All packing done, just need to fill up with petrol, last minute visit to Morrisons pick up my stuff (lots) and off we pop. I wouldn't normally be so well organised but I want to get down early to see Among Brothers at 6PM in the Tipi Tent.  Even with an early start it is likely to be a close call by the time I've put my tent up/unpacked etc.  Have given all the bands barring last minute drop outs at least a cursory play and have narrowed it     down 3 must sees.  Long time Goffa From The Block faves, Tinariwen ,   Slow down Molasses  and The Walkmen.   Lots more to see as well with further liasons with Allo Darlin' , Caitlin Rose and the (hopefully) rejuvenated Beth Jeans Houghton .  Amongst others also looking forward to the bonkers looking Cambodian Space Project and the not so bonkers looking  Secre...

Alas the eBay think didn't come off.  He might have been a genuine seller but there was just something fishy about it all.  He was just a bit too evasive for me and made excuses why I couldn't pick the ticket up from him.  It went for £206 anyway, a bit too much even for such a wealthy man as I.  However,  thanks to seemingly reliable online selling agent Viagogo   and only £30 over the odds, I'll see those who care to join me at Larmer Tree Gardens on 1 September 2011.  Now the anxious wait for the ticket to arrive but it looks like there's going to be a happy ending to this chapter!

It's not looking good to  be honest.  Not sure whether I mentioned here but I've faffed up big time this year.  I waited too long to but my ticket and they sold out (at the end of June I think) and for the last month I've been looking on The Ticket Trust site for any returns to no avail and now I'm looking on eBay.  I'm actually winning an auction at the moment that finishes late afternoon tomorrow so if you're doing nothing (Thursday) at 5.30 in the afternoon pour yourself a glass of wine and tune into eBay to most likely see me get outbid at the last minute if not before. I had plenty of irons in the fire but not many are left in there and  if I don't manage to get hold of  a ticket by Monday at the latest I'm going to have to accept defeat.  It will be a real shame because although I'll be going on my own again I know quite a few people that are going.  There's a crew of 6 going from our very own Westgarth Club, Barnard...

My life continues to pass me by and my promised posts have failed to materialise yet again.  Got a bit of free time tomorrow night so I'm going to try and sum up what I've been up to since I last posted, You'll be surprised to hear that I'm far from happy at work again.  Our Lord Jesus Chris must have put me on this earth to do something more fulfilling than work in the tax office, currently for 32 hours a week, for the last 31 years and counting.  People complain a lot about their job at work (though not I) but frankly I'm just more embarrassed and it's got me thinking.  Years ago (about 30) I didn't like to admit where I worked so when strangers used to ask me where I worked, I just lied.  I might start doing it again.  That doesn't make me a bad person does it? At least we have the Internet at work now and I generally have a browse through the newspapers at lunch-time.   Today I was happily reading about Davi...

So much for the reasonable weather forecast.  Yesterday great, review later.  In mean time if there's any justice in the world this will be summer number 1.  Of course there is no justice so we will all have to be content in the knowledge that we just know much better. 

Don't know where that post came from last night.  Was going to write about me running down my Face***k account and then I ended talking about my glorious football career (is it a career if you don't earn money from it?  I suppose you can't really because career suggests job.  Is that right?  Answers on the back of a postcard please).  I enjoyed writing it anyway and it might prove useful to remind me about my younger days when my memory starts to fade.  One more day to go and then 10 days off work.  Going to The Sessions at Dr Brown's tomorrow night, I've got my ticket for The Stockton Weekender for Friday and Saturday,  Robin Hoods Bay is booked for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and when I return Ian and his family will be home. Don't like to wish my life away but roll on 5PM tomorrow. Hope you all gave Justin Townes Earle a go last night.  Bloody marvellous and for those who either liked it, weren't keen or just didn't bot...

Virtually everybody who knows me, knows about my love for Steve Earle but his son Justin Townes is coming up on the rails.  I've seen him twice this year and apart from being the most impressive guitarist I've ever seen (my criteria) he's also currently pretty much the best white singer around. A troubled young man and a wonderful talent (how often do we hear those phrases together). Sadly, by the look of him last week unless he starts taking more care of himself  we could soon be talking about him in the past tense. Listen to this beautiful version of Mama's Eyes and weep.

Felt like a long day at work today although it wasn't particularly.  An early start and an early (for me) finish and then played football at Goals.  These are halcyon days in the twilight days of my football career.  I now cherish every game I play. From as early as I can remember,  like every other boy in Berwick Hills I wanted and genuinely expected to become a professional footballer and like every other old man I now remember being very good.  I was the best player in my age group in our area which seemed to matter at the time but looking back it was probably only out of about 6 kids. So what went wrong?  I was a regular in the Ladgate Junior School team, right wing but I never made any impact at my senior school, Springfield. I just moved further and further down the pecking order.  Our team was really crap as well.  I still played over the field with my mates but as the years went by I suspected it ju...

Switched BBC News on tonight just in time for Look North and was surprised to see the Yorkshire rather than the North East version come on.   It turns out North East comrades are on strike in protest of compulsory redundancies at the BBC unlike the scabs from Yorkshire.  There may be another reason but I'm going to show solidarity with those taking industrial action by not watching the BBC news or logging on to the wonderful BBC web-site for the evening. And that's as whimsical as I'm going to get tonight.  Received more terrible news today at work today.  Another associate/work friend was taken from us at the week-end.  Chris Hoggarth, 4o years old died of a heart attack.  What can I say, that 's 3 in under 2 years (see earlier obituaries at Goffa's Place).  Uncannily they were all really close friends of each other. Chris and I were quite good pals at one time as well, sharing a love for music and more prec...