bastille - good grief and wet wet wet - wishing l was lucky

I love the Bastille song 'Good Grief' (see, l don't just listen to old stuff), but every time l hear it l want to sing Wet Wet Wet's 'Wishing l was Lucky' to parts of it. Is it only me that can hear some similarities?
It must be the stress of listening to recent records, and trying to keep up with the kids.
I need a lie down and a cup of Horlicks (and lots of medication).





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johnny burton - pole vault man

The song that Oasis should have covered, as it sounds just like them, only years ahead of it's time.
Johnny Burton - Pole Vault Man from 1972



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todays football bet

Today's results (hopefully) 

COME ON!!!!

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edible pizza box

The Americans are always so much ahead of us when it comes to stuffing your face with classy food.

Now they have a Pizza box that's actually made out of pizza, and therefore edible as well!

They advertise 'No Waste', but l wouldn't like to be the one cleaning their toilet bowls the next day.

Those crazy yanks etc...

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tom jones - detroit city

Although this is a shameless attempt to re-create the success of his 'Green Green Grass of Home' hit, with it's theme of returning home, it's spoken interlude and melancholy mood, but it's actually a pretty good song in isolation.
Tom Jones with 'Detroit City'.



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will young - masterbation record holder

I can't say l'm much of a fan of Will Young's music, but he's gone up in my estimation with the straight faced way he answered the question of what world record he would like to break (on daytime TV).
"The amount of times l can mastebate in a day" - six is his record apparently.
The presenter looks pretty unsure of how to proceed, while Geri Halliwell just cracks up completely.
Splendid stuff, and something to aim for (ffnnaaarr).
From here.



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the schrodinger's immigrant

While l am prepared to admit that some of the 'youngsters' admitted into the UK yesterday looked older than 18, l think the underlying fear is this. The Schrodinger's Immigrant.

If you don't know what the above is based upon, (Schrodinger wise) check out this.

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a rabbit spreads some joy

C'mon kids!!! Everybody loves rabbits!!!

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a waterlogged pitch at dundee, and cheap prices at football games

This is good old fashioned football, despite the weather!
Dundee's Den's Park in 1936.

On a related note, here's some kids queuing to get into games (without tickets in advance) for 20p and 35p, not so very long ago. The 35p turnstile is at Liverpool.
There's not a chance in hell they could do that now, as the kids and working classes are being priced out (if they already haven't been).

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george and dhani harrison's symmetrical faces, and what is life

George Harrison and his son Danni's symmetrical faces.
At first glance they look identical, but you then notice the many differences, and not just with the youthful skin of Dhani's.

And here's a song by George - 'What is Life'.

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spanking machines

I've got a friend who may be interested in buying one of these. Designs (or ideas) for Spanking Machines, from the 1930's and 1940's.

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the wipers times

The Wipers Times was a satirical newspaper that was produced by troops of The Sherwood Foresters at Ypres Salient during the First World War between 1916 and 1918, mainly to take the piss out of officers and each other, and featured spoof adverts. There's a pretty good (albeit very English TV movie about it), and there is also a hardback book, gathering copies of it together. 

Considering that it was produced using found or 'liberated' equipment and materials, and the conditions it was made under, it's a work of stubborn genius.

Here's a copy.

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art

From the British Revolution facebook page

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utah saints - funky music

After the tedium of last nights highly anticipated Manchester United versus Liverpool game, something to wake me up.
Utah Saints - 'Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On'



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chuck berry is 90

It's amazing that, apart from Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly, all of the original rock and roll legends are still alive, with Chuck Berry, the eldest of them all, celebrating his 90th birthday today.
Little Richard and Chuck are my favourites amongst them, and although l have never seen Little Richard, l have seen, spoken to, been on stage with, and got a signature from, the one and only Chuck Berry. I've also helped him open the boot of his car, and have bored people with the tale ever since.
Chuck has many bad points to his personality, and has had a massive chip on his shoulder for many a year, sometimes with good reason, and sometimes with no justification, but he sure knew how to write a song, and tell a story in under three minutes.
No one is that keen on getting older, but l would rather be an even older git now if it meant seeing all of the stars in their heyday.
Some time, in the not too distant future, there will be none of them left. What a depressing thought.
Here's my Chuck Berry autograph (with smiley face added afterwards by him)

But most importantly, the music.

And for those of you out there that love 'Albatross' by Fleetwood Mac - listen to this (from 1957).

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graffiti on cancelled trains, and cricket deaths and sledging

Two items in the news recently.

First of all, there's been trains cancelled because of offensive graffiti on their sides. These have been cancelled at the last minute, leaving commuters fuming and frustrated. An recent example is here.

ThamesLink have tweeted "We can't drive around all day with 'the F word' emblazoned on a train".

That is fair enough, but l have an idea.
It apparently costs about £5,000 to remove the graffiti, but why not just spray over the offensive slogan or image to make it unintelligible, so the train can carry on it's normal route, to then be taken off and cleaned at a later date. That would only take a couple of minutes, and you'd only be spraying where it needed to be cleaned anyway. If it costs a bit more to clean, it's worth it to keep the passengers happy, and prevents vandals deliberately trying to prevent trains running.

Also, cricket sledging has been under scrutiny, after the inquest into the death of Phillip Hughes. He was bowled by Doug Bollinger, who, it has been alleged (by Mathew Day), stated that "I am going to kill you" beforehand. Bowlers deliberately bowl short to cause 'bouncers', which are aimed at intimidating the batsman, often trying to hit and hurt them.
Before others die, here's a suggestion (from someone who knows bugger all about cricket).
Have a line marked in front of the batsman, where the ball has to bounce in beforehand, to eliminate the high bounces of the ball. If a bowler misses it a set amount of times by bowling short, he is unable to carry on bowling during that match, and may face suspension for later matches. Batsmen may still suffer some injury, but it would be pretty unlikely to be in the head area, therefore being a lot safer.

As for piss taking sledging - my favourite quote (by Eddo Brandes) when asked by the batsman (Glen McGrath) why he was so fat, replied  "Because every time l fuck your wife, she gives me a biscuit". I've changed that slightly, replacing 'fuck' with 'shag', and 'biscuit' with 'cracker', and have used it while out and about on many an occasion.  Long may that kind of sledging continue.

Any more advice needed on how to run things, you know where to find me.

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okkervil river - john allyn smith sails and plus ones demo

Another favourite song from a few years ago. Okkervil River with John Allyn Smith sails. Will Sheff, the main man in the band is hugely undervalued by the general population, but certainly not in my neck of the woods. A band who should be a lot bigger, but rather sadly, l think it's because the album tracks and demos are better than the band live, and Will Sheff does not possess anything like the charisma and stage presence that a modern day rock star should, and he can't override that flaw by being amazingly good looking. He (to me at least), just comes across like a man who is grateful to be on the stage. Why not? You may ask, and there's nothing wrong with that (or him), but it does tend to hold you back if huge success is what you are after.
Anyway, l still love him. and this is a great song by anyones standards (or two songs, as it changes into a standard at 2.30).



And here's a demo of Plus Ones.



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stars - dead hearts

An ipod favourite - Stars' 'Dead Hearts'



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latest footie bet

My fortune awaits!

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england fans drinks bill at the euros

This is kind of old news, as it is a bill for England fans drinks at The Euros. Obviously very expensive, but l am more impressed with the one hardy individual who insisted on having a Carlsberg.

Stick to what you like mate, and sod everyone else.

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england's new shirt

If this isn't England's new strip soon, something has gone terribly wrong.
Like the team.

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darlington football club (darlington 1883) returning to town

I'm rather pleased to say that work has started on resurrecting Darlington football club's iconic tin shed at their new ground at Blackwell Meadows, after many years of Darlington (rechristened Darlington 1883) playing elsewhere (the folly of George Reynolds' new stadium 'Darlington Arena', and Heritage park, by Bishop Auckland).

When l first moved to the Catterick area, l used to go and watch Darlington (the local team) on a regular basis, as l couldn't afford to go to Manchester for the United games all of the time. I've been back for the odd games over the years, and am chuffed they are now going to be relocated back into their community, as they should be.

More news about the move can be found here.

On a related note, here's an old photograph from the 1976-77 season of Darlington against Hartlepool at Feethams.
I'm circled (very poorly).

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bob dylan's nobel prize for literature, plus idiot wind, hurricane and it's alright ma (l'm only bleeding)

Although l do think that novels, poems and songs are different, l also think that Bob Dylan receiving the Nobel prize in literature today is well deserved, not just for the amount of outstanding and influential work he has produced, but for the amount of people around the world he would have turned on to lyrics, books, prose and poetry, as well as activism and political thought (including me). Some of Dylan's output, especially in the early years, was staggeringly good, and he sure knew how to construct strong images and stories with only a few words (and often many, many more). But (and there's always a but), as far as literature in book form goes, although entertaining, Tarantula was not exactly earth shattering, and his Chronicles autobiography has been shown to be pilfered or 'inspired by' old obscure sources in many places, with no credits being given. There's an excellent and informative article about the book and Dylan's apparent plagiarism here, but l'm more than forgiving as far as Dylan is concerned (hence my collection of his later works), so hearty congratulations to him.
Praise him now while he still alive - if anyone warrants it, he does, and l am just thankful that l saw him while he was still producing the goods live.







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the levitating turntable

Usually, the flasher and more expensive turntables and equipment gets, the more wallet punishing they are to repair, and, like cars, it's often the case there are more things that can go wrong, and they're not so simple to fix.
However.....This levitating turntable by Mag-Lev Audio looks fantastic, and could be really groundbreaking (or record breaking if it goes wrong). I think it would take me quite some time to relax while playing records, as l'd be expecting some kind of cock up (of the malfunctioning kind), but it does look sooooooo tempting.
We're living in the space age!



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savages - adore and husbands

Something fairly recent for a change, just to prove l'm not a complete old fart when it comes to my musical tastes.
Here's Savages, with 'Adore', from the ir 2016 album 'Adore Life', and 'Husbands', from their 'Silence Yourself' album.
One of my favourite modern bands, with plenty of attitude and songs to back it up.





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the harry smith anthology of american folk music - david johansen and son house

Two songs from The Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music, although the David Johansen one (Old Dog Blue) is from a celebratory tribute concert many years after the albums were released (in 1955). I'm a long time admirer of Mr Johansen's, from when he was with The New York Dolls and his various projects afterwards, but Son House wasn't exactly a  slouch when it came to producing atmospheric and emotional music.
And he sure knows his Bible (including John the Revelator)





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roxy music - editions of you and live at music laden 1973

Sometimes it may change, but his is probably my favourite Roxy Music song - 'Editions of You', from their 'For Your Pleasure' album. Everything in it is great, but l'm pretty taken by the 'whoo's' in the backing and the screaming sax, not to mention Eno doing whatever the hell is doing. Plus Bryan Ferry is on top of his game. What a band.



As a special treat, here they are live, at Music Laden in 1973. Enjoy!



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gomorrha - l turned to see who's voice it was

Something a bit different today, Gomorrha - 'l Turned to See Who's Voice It Was'. Two minutes of hippy religious singing, then a lot of noodling. Marvelous!
You can't beat a bit of Krautrock, and this is also on the magnificent Krautrock box set 'Music For Your Brain'. Highly recommended if you're into that sort of stuff.
Where's my acid?



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scotty is a menber of the wrong army

This photograph makes me laugh every time I see it. It's Scooty, son of Bez, both of whom are well known in the Catterick area. New army recruits at Catterick are having their photograph taken alongside Tescos at Catterick Garrison, and Scotty joins in dressed as a Roman soldier (possibly Greek).
Top man, and a Manchester United fan as well (like his father).
You may also have guessed - Scotty is crackers.

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driving fast - claude lelouch's rendevous

I know that l sometimes drive too fast, as evidenced by the fact that I've just had two speeding notices against me in the last month, so for one of them l will have to attend a speed awareness course in Northallerton in November, and for the other, accept the three points and fine.
However, l have nothing on this.
Claude Lelouch's underground film from 1976, Rendevous (C'etait un Renz-vous), in which he filmed an extremely high speed drive through the streets of early morning Paris.
It's obviously dangerous, but ultimately, pretty mesmerizing, and makes my driving look pedestrian.



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revolution - spacemen 3 and lord jamar, plus 'the night of'

Two songs called 'Revolution' today, and neither of them is the famous Beatles one. Lord Jamar's version is pretty recent, and has just been featured in 'The Night Of.' TV series, while Spacemen 3's version is donkey years old. Jason Pierce from Spacemen 3 later went on to form Spiritualised. 'Taking drugs to make music to take drugs to' indeed, but both of these versions are excellent in their own ways.
Oh, and The Night Of series has also been excellent, highlighting the horrors of the American justice system, and the boredom and coping mechanisms of serving time in prison. As an ex lag myself, I know of what l speak!






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shack - hms fable, natalie's party and pull together

I woke up at 4.35am last night and couldn't get back to sleep, so l stuck on the trusty old ipod and listened to Shack's 'HMS Fable' album to lull me back to the land of nod. Shack were a band that should have been more popular, and here are a couple of songs from that album. 'Pull Together' is my favourite from it, but l could only find live versions of it on youtube. A anthemic, feel good classic track by anyones standards. Mick (Michael) Head from Shack was originally in The Pale Fountains, went on to perform with The Strands, and is gigging and releasing stuff with The Red Plastic Band. Their website is here.





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fracking goes ahead!

Only a day after the Conservatives said they were the party to stand up to the rich and powerful, with lots of talk about equality, they have overturned a decision to not allow fracking by Lancashire county council, which had lots of public support. It will of course, now be going ahead, and any public consultations or county council views and votes will have been ignored.
What a surprise.

We will soon be kissing goodbye to this as well (image from 1948 under Labour).

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the army - stop recruiting kids

Although the website behind the 'Stop recruiting kids to the Army' campaign is American, l have been arguing this for many years in the UK, as most youngsters joining the army in the UK will be from deprived areas, probably poorly educated, and part brainwashed by all of the 'Help the Heroes' / Brave soldiers stuff in the newspapers. Don't get me wrong, if someone wants to join, fair enough, but it should be an informed choice of theirs, with other prosperous or enticing opportunities also available as alternatives.

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coincidences

I can't remember where l copied this newspaper article from, but if it's true, there are plenty of coincidences contained within.
And two unlucky brothers.

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the caring tories, plus thin lizzy and the sex pistols

Theresa May has stated earlier today (yesterday now) that The Conservative government will 'Stand up for the weak...Up to the powerful'. Apparently under the new Tory way, all, no matter what their background, can be 'given the chance to be all they want to be'.
Oh my giddy aunt - l've never heard such rib tickling nonsense in all of my advanced years. The day the Tory party give a fuck about the poor and disenfranchised is the day l turn religious, as some interfering all powerful omnipotent entity could be the only cause of such a momentous about turn in their bullshitting scaremongering policies.
Until then, they are still a bunch of scumbags looking after the powerful and rich, and can piss off.
Where's the revolution when you need one?

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a baby panda

Ever seen a really small baby panda cub with an adult one before? I hadn't, but l sure have now.
Altogether now.......AAHHhhhhhhhhhh

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the punks put on a show

You can say what you like about a lot of the old punk bands and music, but one thing you can't deny, is that some of the shows were a bargain. Here's one l would have loved to attended. And all for £1.65 in advance!

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nevermind by nirvana is 25 years old

The ground breaking masterpiece that was Nirvana's 'Nevermind' album is now 25 years old. The time has flown by, and if the passage of the last 25 years flying by doesn't make you feel old, this photograph will emphasise it even more.
It's Spencer Eldon, the baby featured on the cover, now obviously grown up, and recreating the cover (for about the fifth time).

For the few that don't know - here's the original.

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breaking regulations with a new kettle

We've just had a catastrophe at work, as the kettle that is in use more or less constantly, gave up the ghost and puffed out it's last bit of steam, much to our dry and opened mouthed dismay. Now that is what we call a crisis.
Luckily for us, Tesco is just up the road, and a new one was purchased immediately for the more than cost effective price of £10. A bargain!
It's a good job those evil bastards across the channel haven't managed to have their way yet with their mamby pamby red tape, at least if the Euro hating scare mongering Daily Express is to be believed #
Images from the rather excellent Media blog.

#They're not

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