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Thursday 31 December 2015

Apparently I'm back.

Short version as my beloved often requests of me but I thought I'd lost access to edit Goffa From The Block.  Apparently there is some sort of security conflict between NTL/Virgin domain email addresses (whatever that means) and Blogger.  I thought I'd left it too long to do  the fix apart from in typically Goffa fashion it turns out I actually did the fix.  

Needless to say I'm excited and thrilled to be back.   I have a few ideas to post and I might even follow it through.

All it remains for me to say for now is Happy New Year and here's a photo just 'cos I can post it.


Saturday 9 May 2015

Still gutted about yesterday's election result.  It reminds me of the feeling I used to have the morning after a mid-week defeat for Boro.  I don't get that anymore, there's no use fretting and the election result is a bit like that.  The people have spoken and our undemocratic election system has produced a decisive result.  The Conservatives have won an outright majority of seats after polling 36.9% of the total votes cast.  12.6% voted UKIP leading to them winning 1 seat (thank the lord) whereas SNP won 56 seats from 4.7% of the total votes cast.  Bonkers.

That said, I went through with my promise and spoilt my ballot paper so it could be argued I'm a hypocrite.  I'm done with left wing idealism.  The markets rule and the powers that be will never allow anything other than a right wing or centre right/left party to govern Britain anytime soon.  It's taken 54 years for the penny to drop but the soft left of Blur's Britain is about as good as we are ever going to get so I'll be a good boy and toe the line in the future.

I can't find the actual scores but apparently " counting was weighed down by a huge number of spoiled ballots" at the Middlesbrough mayoral election.  Not mine though, I just couldn't take a chance on ex city hedge fund manager Andy Preston being elected in my name without having a say in the matter.  I was relieved to see Labour's Dave Budd (whoever he is) to see romp home by 256 votes.  I hope I haven't missed a trick but if he's serious about wanting to help the area he'll be back.  Maybe one for the future?

And finally BORO... BORO... BORO...  No faffing this time,  I've bought my ticket for next Friday.  It's far from in the bag but a 2-1 lead is a good score to take into the second leg.


Wednesday 6 May 2015

Election Blues

Most of my friends will be voting Labour but it pains me to say I won’t be joining them.  In no particular order here are 9 reasons why.

1.     Tony Blair and the Iraq war. If it had been under the Tories watch?

2.     Being selfish, Middlesbrough’s  continued deterioration as a town and place to live 1997-2010.  

3.     The madness of PFI’s under Labour’s watch 1997-2010.

4.     Gordon Brown shameful abolishing of the 10% tax rate band in 2007.   Trust me I’m a taxman.

5.     Labour not doing anything about Britain’s unbalanced economy and over-reliance on London and the South East of England 1997-2010.

6.     Labour’s contribution to Scottish devolution 1997-2010.  Taking Scottish Labour voters taken for granted for too long.  Good luck to the them at their next referendum. If the North East of England was part of Scotland I’d be voting with them.

7.     Labour’s part in maintaining the first past the post electoral system (fat lot of good that’s going to do them tomorrow).

8.     Labour playing party politics by not supporting a motion re House of Lords reform during current parliament.

9.     Just not enough different.  Some proposed tinkering (mansion tax/non-dom’s/windfall tax on power companies/slight reduction in student tuition fees but still Tory lite for me.

Needless to say there are a thousand reasons why I won’t be voting Conservative and although I think history may not be so unkind to Clegg and co they will always be collaborators to me.  I’m not even sure who else is running in my constituency to be honest.

I really don't want to be represented by a Conservative MP again (nightmare memories of Tim Devlin circa early eighties) but none of the above will be getting my vote around 7.30 am tomorrow morning.

Prediction?  Not sure how Miliband and co think they can win the election without Scottish Nationalist support?  Get ready for a re-run later in the year.


Wednesday 29 April 2015

Home

So here I am again.  Totally knackered in bed at 25 K mind.  Going to try and do a few posts over next few days.  Want to get my two penneth in about the election but not tonight though.

Haven't spent too much time here in the last couple of months but it's nice when I do and the  bonus is there's usually a fist full of CDs greeting me when I walk through the door.  Today waiting for me were old school reggae Natty Dread Taking Over Anthology by Culture, Japanese post rockers Mono with You Are There and a whimsical purchase, the Andy Kershaw More Great Moments of Vinyl History.  Well I say a whim but it was always going to be a sure thing.  I've just finished reading Andy Kershaw's Autobiography No Off Switch which whipped along magnificently.  Always so much better than John Peel for me.

This one's a beaut off the Andy Kershaw compilation.


Saturday 25 April 2015

I wrote a beauty blog post this morning swimming up and down in the gym.  I thought I'll dictate this as soon as I'm changed and write it up tonight. Of course I didn't and I've forgotten it all now. Thought I'd post anyway.  Sure there's only me but that's ok.

So how the hell am I (so self-indulgent nowadays)?  Been better to be honest.


Haven't been up to much.  I've given up the guitar, making music and photography at least for now.  Also apart from an occasional outing to the Eagle I've pretty much stopped going out.

Yeah, the Eagle has played a big part in my life one way or another and.  Back in 2013 somebody posted on the Fly Me To The Moon web-site that it was the roughest pub in Middlesbrough but I don't think so.   The worst thing anybody in there is going to do is fall asleep on you.

According to the Lost Pubs Project  it's gone to the Brewery Graveyard in the sky (go Yorkshire and then Middlesbrough) but it was still open last Thursday nevertheless.  I wouldn't put my mortgage on it still being there next Thursday mind.


Looking good don't you think?

I picked the photo from a nice series in the Gazette.

I still go out walking with Sham and as I said I still go to the gym.  I also I play pitch and put with our Chris every Friday afternoon (weather permitting) so there's no need to fret over me quite yet.  Works ok as well.  I feel very comfortable making sure people pay the right amount of tax circa 2015.  Oh, and I've been going to watch the greatest football team in the world bar none again.  I've caught promotion fever and been to 5 out of the last 6 home games.  Boro got beat by Fulham today so it looks like the play off's but I was thrilled about Hartlepool's great escape.  I never saw that one coming.

I've been listening to loads of music.  Current faves are post rock bands Mono, This Will Destroy You and Mogwai.  Also loving the new Sufjan Stevens album.  He's playing a certain festival in North Dorset in September you know?

Alas........... Mind I do fancy Deer Shed  (Felice Brothers, Beth Jeans, The Wedding Present and a DJ set Andy Kershaw et al).   The option to come home to a bed each night if the weather's rubbish is very appealing.


Thursday 15 January 2015

29.51 for 3 miles and Stephen Castleton

My time for 3 miles (approx 5k) running at the gym.  Only my second run of any kind (apart from the occasional Dad jogs for the bus) since 3 May 2014 and possibly my longest continuous run ever.
Well, I did the Great North Run in 1981 when Tony Landers dropped out with a week to go but I know I didn't do any training and from memory I stopped for a walk every half mile or so.

I've never been one for running.  It's just too bloody hard and I'm just too bloody lazy.  If I'd been running on the road or round the track I would have stopped but I just set the treadmill for 6 mile per hour and counted the minutes down from 30.

Of course there is a purpose.  There's a chance I might be doing the magnificent Albert Park run a week on Saturday and I wanted to try the distance to see if I could manage it.

Why do the park run?  Well it's Boro and it's brill but mainly because Mike coming home on Sunday for a week and he usually does the run when he's here and I said I would so....

I'm pretty unfit nowadays. Probably not bad for your average 50 something but average is just another word for pretty shit in my book.  I've always been ok though and was quite quick over 10 to 20 yards well into my forties mainly thanks to all the 5-a-side football I played.

I could have been a contender though.  I remember being super fit when I was 14.  It was the fittest I ever.  I was unstoppable over middle distances.  I won my school year 800m sports day trial run by about 50 yards.  I did that thing, you know where a pacemaker goes miles ahead because nobody follows him but they eventually catch him...  But they let me get too far ahead and couldn't catch me.

It didn't last though.  Sadly, not long after that Stephen Castleton put paid to my athletic career.  It was one lunch-time after dinner.  A load of lads decided to do that thing where you hold hands and turn round in a circle.  So the further you are on the outside the longer you have to run to keep up and the one on the outside has to run the furthest.  The game was that the person on the outside let go when he couldn't keep up.

And.... it was a long line and.... I was on the outside and Stephen Castleton was next to me.  Only when I tried to let go he wouldn't and I was literally flying in the air.  It must have been a Physics thing because Casso was no beefcake.  When he eventually let go I went flying through the air to a crash landing.

It's a sad story.  I broke my collar bone, was off school a week and couldn't exercise for 4 weeks.  And I never recovered my peak fitness.

So, the real point of this story is Casso.  He was a dude.  He wore John Lennon glasses and had an older brother into prog rock which helped make Casso an expert in the genre.  Circa 1974 to early 1977 prog rock was king.  We were all music mad at school and Casso introduced us all to Yes, Genesis, Can and Faust amongst others. Casso was king.

Nothing ever lasts forever though and by 1978 prog rock had become prig rock and the last time I saw Casso (early 1979?) he told me was into this "new" Dutch band, Gruppo Sportivo.  I told him me and my brother already had 2 of their LP's. King Casso's time was over.

He wasn't a bad lad though but he had a lisp that some of the lads occasionally took the piss out of.  To my discredit I often recalled the time Casso said (you have to say it with a lisp)  "did anybody see Sassafras on the Whistle Test last night" (19/3/74 no less).  I'm not sure if he really said it but he did go on about Sassafras and the Whistle Test so on a you believe what you want to believe basis I do.

I forgot all about this until just before Christmas.  Prog rock's back in favour and I remembered the cool lad who was so knowledgeable back in the day and recalled the Sassafras story.  It's still funny but in these diverse days it sounds much crueler than it did back in the day.  I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.

So I'm a bit sorry Casso if you find this blog article and I'm not a bitter man over the collar bone and the end of my promising athletic career so we'll call it quits eh?

Sunday 4 January 2015

Before I forget - Middlesbrough 1 Millwall 1

I missed my 9th birthday party on Friday.  Oh well,  will try and remember 10th birthday next year, God willing.

Me and Sham went out for a nice walk this morning.  Albert Park to Ladgate Lane via Ayrsome Street, Linthorpe and Acklam and back via Grove Hill.  As we walked past the old Ayrsome Park, it occurred to me that today is 46 years ago today since I went to my first Boro match.  4th January 1969 Boro vs Millwall.  I was 7 years old.  It's easy to remember the date because it was the 3rd round of the FA Cup which is always the first Saturday in January.



My Uncle Joe took me.  He lived at 6 Cromer Street behind the old Telephone Exchange on Marton Road with my Grandma.  I can't remember how I got to his house, maybe my Dad took me down but he didn't come to the match with us.  I remember Joe buying me a big bag of fruit pastilles and I ate the lot.  What a greedy get.

We walked to the ground via Albert Park getting to the ground at about 1pm.  Joe bought me a football special (an alternative to the programme)  It was just a match day version of the Evening Gazette but it seemed really special to me.  Whenever people reminisce about football matches they often talk about the smell of bovril in the air to the point of cliche.  There's a good reason for that though.  It's because it's true.  I swear if I shut my eyes and transport my mind back I can almost smell the stench of the salty beef drink on my clothing.

We took our seats in the lower section of the North Stand and waited for what seemed an eternity for the players to come out.  I don't remember much about the match.  I think Millwall scored first and we equalised.  We lost the replay, played 2 days afterwards, 1-0.  It was a quick turnaround but it was pre-penalty shoot-outs so I suppose they had to get on with it in case they drew again.  If like me you're wondering what the record is for replays in the FA Cup and when multiple replays were abolished (go on admit it, you are)?  Here's the answer.

I loved it and Joe took me more matches that and the following season.  Joe alternated the match day treats between sweets, pea pods and monkey nuts which I enjoyed all as much as each other and it went on until one match (pretty sure it was Leicester City) when we got separated (I suppose technically I was lost) in Albert Park.  Instead of going back to Cromer Street for some reason I decided to walk home.  It didn't seem a big deal to me and I wasn't chastised but that was the end of that, no more football with Uncle Joe.

Thursday 1 January 2015

Happy New Year

How many times to we say Happy New Year?  When is it ok to start?  30/12? 31/12, 1/1.  When is the latest you can wish somebody HNY (seems to be the latest thing to abbreviate)?  1/1? 2/1? 3/1?  The first time you see somebody in the new year?  What if you don't see or speak to somebody until March? Should you/is it still ok to wish them Happy New Year?  Think I might go with first time I see/speak up to end of January so no offence if I don't see you until April and I don't wish you HNY.

In the interests of full disclosure I confess I didn't avoid Hootenanny completely, I saw about 2 minutes (11.57 to approx 11.59).  We broke off from our Homeland  series 4 cramathon (not bad) to consciously see the New Year in.  We tried Beeb 2 where Queen appeared to be doing a Karaoke with singers from the audience (they must be really pissed off with Freddie Mercury for dying before they made any money).  It was horrific and in a moment of madness we thought 5 minutes of Hootenanny would be tolerable.  Needless to say it wasn't so we switched back to the Queen Karaoke/Fireworks until about 12.02 before returning to Homeland.  Finally went to bed about 1.30.  

The 2 minutes of Hootenanny was as horrific as TV gets and in a way I'm glad I caught it as a reminder to avoid it again next year.

So NY negotiated, resolutions announced.  Better go and prepare for my 9th birthday party tomorrow.

Cheers

Btw - 9 views yesterday.  Not sure where they came from but it looks like I might be back in business, whatever that is.  Don't worry I'm guaranteed to fuck it up again.