my pumpkin is sorted (fnaaar)

I'm actually going out tonight to see my mates band, but just in case any trick or treaters decide to pop round, this should give them a loud and clear message.

toodle pip

the doors alive

Urgh, good night last night with the boys.  These were great. The Doors Alive at Darlington Forum.
Will definitely be going to see them again (possibly on acid next time).

toodle pip

tape transfer to cd - reliving some of the past

I've recently been transferring some old cassette compilations that l made back in the day to CD for itunes
etc. It was good hearing some of the songs again after such a long time (I'm guessing about 10 years), but most importantly, it also confirmed what excellent eclectic taste in music l had, and still have (Track listings are above).
Anyone disagreeing must have cloth ears and a tiny brain (and crappy taste in music).

toodle pip

richmond firestarter locked up

Although l have sympathy with people who have mental health problems, and who are obviously seeking attention and help when they try to kill themselves on numerous occasions, the person above, Robert Kenyon (who is actually nicknamed 'Firestarter' and 'Rubber legs' around Catterick / Richmond), used to live below me in Hipswell, and was one of the main reasons for me wanting to move, as, apart from lots of noise at all hours, he tried to kill himself and set fire to his place when myself and my wife were living above him, and at one time we were tempted to go round and smash up his stereo with a baseball bat (I'm from Liverpool). Instead, the council were informed about the noise, (the fire brigade dealt with the fire) but they were pretty hopeless, despite warning him about disturbing neighbours (so to speak). Luckily, a house nearby that we wanted became available to buy at that time, so we moved out, otherwise it would have ended badly, one way or another.
He more than likely requires psychological help rather than imprisonment, but he certainly needed to be removed from his housing, as he posed such a risk to us, and laterly, to others.
I'm just surprised it has taken so long, as the earlier episodes living below me were over 10 years ago.
The story was taken from here.

toodle pip

ayers / uluru rock and mount augustus / burringurrah

Sometimes when l read about stuff, l am amazed to discover facts that have been unknown to me, despite the fact that l feel l should have been aware of them.
One case in point is Ayers (Uluru) Rock in Australia. That's it in the bottom picture, looking magnificent, and yes, l have been aware of it for many, many years.
However, what l was not aware of until last week, was that it is not even the biggest rock hill in Australia, as there is also Mount Augustus / Burringurrah (The top two photographs), which is more than twice the size of it.
Admittedly Ayers looks aesthetically better, but even so, l never knew there was another one.
Annoyingly, the more you try to learn, the more you realise how much you don't know (including the fact that rock hills are known as Inselbergs).
I think l need a lie down.

toodle pip

the original gypsy petulengro and spiritualists

To call me sceptical about Spiritualists and Palm Readers / Forecasters would be massively understating my contempt and disbelief for the money grabbing charlatans. This advert in Blackpool made me chuckle though, 'Tony Christie to make a comeback', as forecast by Gypsy Petulengro 34 years ago. I bet she would have lost count of the amount of stars she would have forecast would make a comeback in those intervening 34 years, and if you have enough non specific guesses, you are bound to strike lucky. Sadly, lots of people part with their hard earned money in the hope of some comforting news from dead loved ones, and to rip them off is contemptible. Either they are deliberately fleecing the public (lock them up), or truly believe they have a gift (in which case they are delusional).
Gits.

toodle pip

friday night mayhem

A random photograph from Giz's birthday do on Friday night. It must have been good as we ended up in Club Louis until about 3 or 4am. Watched some TV while eating kebab on our return home, then off to bed, where l had to put up with Robbo's snoring, before dragging myself out of the pit early doors so l could collect my car, visit Joseph, and head to work (admittedly l wasn't at work till 3pm, so it wasn't that bad).
Us old bastards still know how to party!

toodle pip

some funny tweets

These all made me chuckle, with the bottom one amusing me the most.
More available here

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robert crumb sums up record collecting

Robert Crumb nails what it's like to be a collector, in this case, of records.
I can relate to it sooo much.

toodle pip

billy the kid playing croquet

The wedding scene above from 1878 doesn't look that interesting, and was bought in 2010 for $2 at an antique shop by Randy Guijarro. It has since been established that it features 'The Regulators'. and one of the guests is no other than Billy the Kid (see close up at the top).  Because of this, it may be worth millions, being only the second photograph of him known to exist.
My first thought was 'Jammy bugger'.  The second one was 'Billy the Kid' played croquet????.
Here's the other, well documented photograph, (owned by William Koch, who bought it for $2.3 million).

Here's the original fullshot, untouched.

.toodle pip

good job l got some new tyres

I've recently had two new front tyres put onto the car in preparation for it's MOT. I was going to wait for the MOT time, but when l parked up one evening, l noticed that one of them was actually down to the wire.
Oops!
Shows how much love and attention l pay to cars.

toodle pip

bastard spiders appearing from nowhere

My hatred of spiders knows no bounds, so when one appeared in the living room the other day, l managed to kill it, and left it on the wooden flooring in the living room as a warning to others (as you do).
Lo and behold, the next day one nearly gave me a heart attack by dropping from the light attached to the ceiling in the living room, so l chased it down and managed to kill that (and a smaller one that tried to ambush me).
So, imagine my surprise when another one came running from cover in the living room the next day (to also meet it's premature death). AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
Since then, l may be tempting fate, but the coast has been clear, and the dead spiders cleared away. l am however, a lot more on edge and unable to relax at the moment.
Bastard things (and they were bigger than they look in the photographs).

toodle pip

robert mitchum at the beach

I honestly don't spend every hour of my day looking at photographs of men on the beach, but on the odd occasion l do, it often pays off (and not in a happy ending kind of way).
Here's an old one of Robert Mitchum, a fine figure of a man, with a marvelous chest and shoulders, plus gazelle like, well toned legs (It's hard to believe l'm not gay sometimes).
However, the thing that l noticed the most, was his waist (or lack of it). How tiny is that?
It must have been a nightmare for him to buy clothes that fitted well.
Colour me impressed.

toodle pip

the hoover dam and saint thomas - with added sugar

I've been to (and stood on the edge of) The Hoover Dam, and it looked mightily impressive. However, l'd liked to have been there recently (alright, a few years ago!), because there had been a severe drought. Because of this, the waters had been receding, and exposed the old Mormon pioneer town of Saint Thomas, which was covered over by the Colorado river when the damn was built.
Now that would be an interesting thing to see, and maybe the last opportunity to do so.
The last two photo collages are from here.



toodle pip

a russian takeaway

After the earlier post about Ronaldo's lunch, one of the many sites l frequent is run by a slightly crazy Russian guy. This is a picture of his takaway, a mixture of yummy heart attack inducing foodstuffs with some slightly dodgier looking items (if that's possible). I bet his physique is slightly different from Ronaldo's.
As it was about 3am when l saw it, l was too late to order myself a takeaway, but it sure made me peckish.

toodle pip

the dylan quiz

Think you know your Bob Dylan from your Dylan Thomas?
Try the Dylan quiz
Here's my result, which l must admit l was disappointed with.
                                         
toolde pip

poetry in bootle

When l was reading about the early career of Peter Hooton, (from The Farm and the magazine 'The End') l came across this statement.
As l child of 1970's Bootle, l can certainly believe it.



toodle pip

the blood moon - crappy photographs ahoy!

My rather crappy photographs of the recent 'Blood Moon'.  The sky was really clear and free from light (up on the moors), but as you can tell, my camera is shite at taking night time photographs.
You can't tell from the above pics, but the moon looked really impressive, and to me, seemed a lot closer to Earth, and more of a rounded shape, highlighting the fact that we have such a rock orbiting the planet at such close quarters, and reinforcing how magical space is (bloody hippy that l am).
I've nearly finished reading 'Moondust' (by Andrew Smith), about the various missions to the moon, and looking at it that night, it reminded me of the bravery of the astronauts and how often the missions were so close to failure (and some obviously did fail, with drastic consequences).
An amazing feat (and yes - l do believe men landed there!).

The picture below was not taken by me, but this is how the moon looked up on t'moors.

toodle pip

god song - gavin clark and toydrum

Featured in 'This is England 1990', one of the best songs l have ever had the good fortune to hear - God song, by Gavin Clark, on the soon to be released Toydrum album 'Evangelist'.
It's more than a pity that Gavin Clark is no longer around to reap the plaudits, but he's left a fine body of work to delve into.

Here's his splendid version of The Smiths 'Please please let me get what l want', from the end of an earlier 'This is England' (when he was in Clayhill).
He sure knew how to emote.



toodle pip

ronaldo's lunch

Ever wondered what Ronaldo has for lunch?  Wonder no more, as he has handily put up an instagram photograph of it.
It makes my cheese on toast look rather pathetic (even with added Horseradish).

toodle pip

the rather fabulous squatty potty advert

Trust me - l don't require any assistance to poop, but this advert is so good, my money is in the post.

toodle pip