GOFFA FROM THE BLOCK

Bad news about Prince Philip eh?  My thoughts go out to the Queen, Charles, Andrew et al at this difficult time.  Only joking!  It's times like this I am reminded of the extremes of unfairness in the UK not to mention the merits of Britain becoming a republic.  I just don't buy this what the royal family do for the UK economy thing and as for life expectancy it is my guess that the immediate royal family can expect to live around the 100 mark whilst the average for the best area in Middlesbrough (Nunthorpe) was (assume still is) 82.  I won't even go the headline grabbing statistic that if you live in Middlehaven you will do well to get past 64 or 65. Would like to think that if somebody in Middlesbrough turned up at casualty at James Cook they might get this treatment even if they were 90 but who knows (Mark?).  Then again I don't suppose there are many 90 year old's around Teesside to test it. On a serious note though the local Teess...

1979 was a great year for music, probably my best.  The first 2 Fall albums, Joy Division, Echo And The Bunnymen, Metal Box, Swell Maps first album (I loved it anyway), The Raincoats first album, Cut by The Slits, Cabaret Voltaire, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (before they became shit), A Certain Ratio, Setting Sons by The Jam, Talking Heads, 154 by Wire, Futurama et seq, et seq et seq.... I remember doing a C90 tape of my favourite songs of the year and playing it for some friends at Christmas.  How good must that tape have been?  What great stuff must I have had to leave off? Since then I've enjoyed listening to all types of music, some of it great (The Smiths, Steve Earle, various African albums spring to mind) but nothing has touched 1979.  A lot of it is maybe down to Old Father Time.  I was 17/18 in 1979, full of youthful energy, excitement and optimism.  It was before I got married and had a family.  I hadn't been ground dow...

Shopping done and if I've forgotten anything I'll have to do without because I'm not going out to the shops again ever! I'll certainly be keeping well clear tomorrow - Shamila and I are going out for our 50th and almost certainly final walk of the year. We'll have a look at the weather before we decide where.   Had a few offers for Christmas Day but I've decided to have a bah humbug Christmas on my own. Only joking, about the bah humbug bit anyway .   I’ll be dropping Shamila at her parents around   noon before heading off home.   I’ve arranged to meet up with one of my neighbours, Mark (not to be confused with Marks G and H) at 12.30 to go to The Eagle for a couple of pints.   The Eagle was of course my Dad’s second home so I’ll have a spiritual drink with him as well.      For Christmas lunch I’ve bought a nice piece of fillet steak which I’ll cook as rare as I dare.   I’m going to have it with a   potato bake (courtesy of Shamila)...

I'm absolutely knackered.  Didn't sleep great and had a long hard day at work.  Only doing a short day tomorrow, followed by a team Christmas meal/drink in Stockton and then I've got to grab a taxi to get over to The Normanby for 7pm forVin Garbutt's annual concert. Must put better/a system in place for socialising next year after several clashes/cock-ups in the last 12 months. Most Notably January - Bought ticket for I Am Kloot in York and had arranged to go to Shamila's mates 50th Birthday party. May - Got ticket for Frank Turner at Arc and then realised Curtis Eller was playing at The Westgarth the same night.  At least I got to see him when he played at The Sun in November. November - Steve Earle - The Sage/Our Lives - Westgarth. Must do better or maybe I should just commit to less? One thing I've hardly mentioned much year is my beloved team.  For all my contempt and disillusionment for professional football in general they are never far f...

Don't know about you but I feel like I hurtling towards 2012 at break neck speed.  My life has definitely sped up since I cut my working week to 4 days.  Don't know whether any of my old friends remember but back in the early eighties when unemployment was rampant, I suggested that everybody should work 4 days a week instead of 5 as an antidote to unemployment.  I argued that as well as sharing the work available it would mean we all would have more leisure time which in my simplistic mind would create more jobs etc. etc. Most people loved the idea of only working 4 days but of course we'd have to take a pay cut which they didn't like.  I didn't mind I was still living with my mam, I could afford to take the hit.  Needless to say my idea was generally poo pooed. But guess what, writing in The Times yesterday, billionaire tax dodger Richard Branson thinks "a "Four-day week could help to solve our unemployment problem".  He's going to have...

Been wasting time tonight leaving me not enough time to do a proper post.  Just to say first bands named for End Of The Road 2012  have been announced and having bought my early bird ticket (smug bastard, I hear you say) I can just sit back and watch the line-up fall into place. Grizzly Bear, Tindersticks, First Aid Kit and the mighty Justin Townes Earle already.  Happy days!  Also looking forward to first No Direction Home Festival announcement. Will keep you posted or you can check for yourself - whatever. Here's one of my favourites from EOTR 2011.  Don't be put off by 14.27, it's only 10.40. PS - Viewing stats back to normal.  Today - 26 UK, 13 US and 2 Germany = 41. Thanks for taking the time.

I feel I've posted less this year but I've just had a count up of my 2011 posts (Livejournal and Blogspot) and I'm up to 106 for the year which is worthwhile enough to keep the fun burning into my 7th year (always count LJ and BS as continuing).  If I can get up to about 120 for the year it will average out at about a post ever 3 days.  A very respectable performance I'm sure you will agree.. God knows why I started and I shudder to think how much time I've wasted over the years.  I sometimes feel like I'm just writing it for my own benefit but as Steve McLaren used to say "we move on". Going to do an end of year thing which is customary amongst us bloggers.  Not sure what yet but might start tomorrow.

Who remembers Johnny Seven One Man Army?  I only knew it as Johnny Seven but my research  today put me right.  It was the ultimate toy.  Playing war games was a familiar pastime for boys back in the late sixties and the Johnny Seven was light years of any other toy or pretend weapon.  I dreamt of having one but knew realistically I'd never own one. The only person I knew who had one was Gary Harrison, who lived over the road from us. He was the envy of all the other kids in our road. Those days are obviously long gone but my memory has been jogged a couple of times over the years.  I remember a great Vic and Bob sketch from the mid-nineties where Bob posing as Lovejoy name checks the great gun as well as talking about going "oggy raiding" - simply Teesside! And I was reminded again at Friday night's latest Rock Garden re-union show.  The Rezillos supported by a local "back in the day" band, strangely called Johnn...

In a bit of a rush tonight.  Going out to see Forest Fire at Westgarth.  Should be a top show.  In an effort to keep the fun going here's a quick joke that Mark G shared with me a couple of weeks ago. In the last 10 years we have lost Johnny Cash, Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Jimmy Saville. So now we have no cash, no jobs, no hope and no fucker to fix it. No?  Well it tickled my fancy.

Only good news today.  Really enjoyed Mary Dejevsky's uplifting (to me anyway) article in today's Independent about the UK's obsession with growth as a measure of "our" success .  Her comment about the effect of the economic boom of the Blair years on the living standards acrooss the board particularly resonates with me. I've been off work since Wednesday which has been bloody marvellous and I've been living the dream of the domestic god.  You know, going to Morrisons, housework, ironing, pottering around the house and all that.  Received a call at the door this morning from a couple Jehovah's Witnesses who shared with me their joy at the current woes of the world.  They appeared to  be genuinely at peace as they predicted the impending disasters resulting in the end of the world as we know it as they showed me drawings of how idyllic life will be for the survivors.  I almost want to believe them as long as me, my family and ...

So what's the word then?  I'm back after taking November off to grow a moustache. I admit it's not pretty but it was in aid of a good cause .  Don't worry I'm not hankering after any sponsor money or anything.  It was all done through work and as you all know I don't mix business with pleasure. Been up to loads actually.  Keswick, Bilbao.  Curtis Eller, Billy Bragg, Siskiyou, King Creosote, Chapman Family and yesterday I was on strike. Totally depressing times in the real world though eh?   Polly Toynbee calls it " class war, generation war, war against women, war between the regions ".  I haven't got much to add as the Tories divide and conquer machine moves into overdrive.   I could go on but for once but I'm not going to nor am I for the forseeable future.  Fuck it, until further notice it's going to be fun fun fun all the way! Here's a few photos I've taken over the last week.  ...