it's bank holiday monday!

It's Bank Holiday Monday, which means a drunken day out in Richmond with the lads, and Robbo staying over at my place afterwards. Haven't missed it for years and we always have a laugh, but l'm sure it will be messy. The rule is - do it to them before they do it to you.

Here's me at the start of the day

And this will be me and Robbo at the end of the day

toodle pip

last weeks breakfast

Mmmmmm  A blurry picture of last weeks breakfast.
I had no interest in The Royal Wedding, but had been invited to a party that morning. I said l would go and have my breakfast there before heading off for the FA Cup Final if  potato salad and quiche were being served, so they put them on for me.
Hurrah!! Although l should have given the final a miss.

toodle pip

funny underpants

A great pear of undies which look like they are from Hom, although l can't seem to find them anywhere.
What an excellent idea though!

And here's a pair l wear to scare Mr Parrot

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some recent books

Some books l have recently read. I seem to have gone through quite a few autobiographies lately. All from charity shops.

toodle pip

I finally got rid of the settee in the spare room, as l am trying to declutter the place (well, tidy it up at least).
I had to drive down to Harrogate to pick up the shelving unit which l bought online, but it was well worth it, as it fits the gap perfectly.
Now l've got more room to fill with other stuff!!!

toodle pip

sneaky mr parrot

Mr Parrot trying to sneak up behind me to get a banana that was by my side (he loves them). What a cutie.

And here he is later on looking happy after having some banana

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the neighbours have trimmed their bush

I wondered what the neighbours over the road were doing to their massive bush the other day, and now l know. They have trimmed it back and made it look a lot better.
I'm impressed, but if it was mine l would never have started the job in the first place.

toodle pip

the travaux football club and team

My memory is rubbish with some stuff.
I 'm not totally doolally, so l do remember playing for The Travaux football club years ago, but until l saw these items in amongst other crap in one of my many storage boxes, l had no memory that we actually started the team, and played in it's embryonic first season. I even had to become a member (number 60!) of the Travaux to play for them. As the newspaper cutting confirms, we were pretty good, hit the ground running, and won the league straight off (or at least finished second - as l stated, my memory is crap).
That was before the drink and drugs took their toll!!

toodle pip

iggy's pants and his footwear choices

You have to have confidence to wear a pair of pants that Iggy Pop is sporting in this photograph.
It makes me admire him even more.
Despite the fact that l'm not too keen on the shoes and no socks look he is also sporting, he was ahead of his time not just with his music, but his footwear as well, as that's what the fashionista are wearing these days (Idiots).

Here's the trailer for the Jim Jarmusch documentary on Iggy and The Stooges - 'Gimme Danger'.  I'm biased as l'm besotted by them, but it's highly recommended!!



toodle pip

vegetarian ham that tastes of chicken

Vegetarian ham that tastes of chicken??  They're trying to confuse me.

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marc bolan defends bob dylan

Back before he became famous, Marc Bolan defended Bob Dylan's 'Self Portrait' album in the pages of Melody Maker.

Here's the lyrics to the song Belle Isle that Bolan was on about (Bob based it on a traditional song)

As there's no video for that, here's one of my favourite Dylan songs, the live version of 'Hurricane'

To demonstrate how unknown Bolan when the letter was printed (Self Portrait was released June 8th 1970), they even printed his home address. How times were to suddenly change.
Bolan had been about for a few years on the underground scene, but in October 1970 T.Rex released this little beauty and his life was never the same.

Ride a White Swan - from 'Beat Club' German TV



And here's some more Bolan  - at the time, the biggest star since The Beatles.









And lastly, one that made me cry playing it after he died - one of his last songs - 'Soul of my Suit'
I loved him



toodle pip

al perman found in a book plus david essex and the stray cats

It's funny what you can find stashed away in old books bought from charity shops. 

Here's a recent example - a photograph of a singer who looks a bit like David Essex in 'Stardust', but the back of the photo has 'Al Perman 1966' written on it. That could be the photographer or the singer, as l have no idea. I tried a quick Google search but with no success, so it is likely to remain a puzzle.

Here's David Essex playing Jim MacLain with The Stray Cats in 'Stardust'



Here's David Essex's 'Rock On' (a favourite of mine)



And here's the later day Stray Cats doing the 'Stray Cat Strut'



toodle pip

the liverpool european cup / champions league final defeat

Here's a picture of me earlier watching the Champions League (European Cup in old money) final tonight between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

I wanted to watch Liverpool versus Real Madrid as l thought it might be a good attacking game, but l was dreading it in case Liverpool were to win. However, l didn't want Mohamed Salah to go off injured, so despite still wanting to see Real Madrid triumph, when he did, l thought the enjoyment of (hopefully) Real's win would be taken away from me, as it would have been kind of a default victory.
That was before a brilliant overhead kick by Gareth Bale, and two howlers from Loris Karius (Liverpool's goalkeeper). To state that l was happy at the end is an understatement. I do actually feel sorry for Salah (who is a superb player) and Karius, but it was well worth watching from a Manchester United viewpoint.
Liverpool have still won it more than us though, and l can't see that changing anytime in the near future.

toodle pip

alex james - bit of a blur - signed

Now this is how l end up with stuff that l had forgotten about.
As well as a load of other books and bits of crap, I bought Alex James' autobiography  'A Bit Of A Blur' in a charity shop recently, and it was only when l went to read it that l noticed it had been signed at Waterstone's by Alex himself.
In the past, this would then have been stashed away by me, unboxed years later, and then l would be left desperately trying to remember going to Waterstone's and meeting Alex.
No wonder l confuse myself

toodle pip

the spaced house is up for sale

If you are a fan of the comedy series 'Spaced' and have a lot of spare cash lying around, then it might be your lucky day, as the house from the series (At Carlton Road, London N7) is up for sale. At a mind boggling asking price of 4 million of your English pounds.
Slightly out of my price range I'm afraid.

toodle pip

priscilla queen of the desert

Had a gay old time last week at Darlington Hippodrome watching the 'Priscilla - Queen of the desert' musical. It was actually quite fast paced, loud, and pretty bright, and a lot better than l was anticipating. Often, I've often seen enough when it comes to the interval, but not in this case. Recommended, even if like me, you are not even bisexual (worst luck!).

toodle pip

iron man and iron gran

This is a blurry picture of Joe, a mate of mine who we know as Iron Man, because he does Iron Man challenges.
Watching the TV recently, l think  l've found him a partner - Iron Gran!
Then again, l've never seen them in the same room together, so maybe Iron Gran is his alter ego.

toodle pip

everyone was young once - part 34 - my parents

When l was around at my sisters yesterday, she showed me a wedding album from our parents marriage day in sunny Bootle that she had dug out. Someone is doing our family tree, so l wanted some pictures of our grandparents mainly, but while l was scanning them, l thought l might as well do copies of the ones from the wedding as well.
It's hard to believe our parents were ever that young, and l don't recall seeing my father that skinny ever.
Both are dead now, so l am officially an orphan, and therefore demand sympathy!!

toodle pip

the datsuns and the polyphonic spree

Christ on a bike - time flies. I was looking at some old N.M.E's the other day and saw these adverts for a 2003 tour featuring The Datsuns, The Thrills, Interpol, and The Polyphonic Spree. I went to the Newcastle gig, but can't believe it was just over 15 years ago. I loved the rowdiness of The Datsuns, but prefered The Polyphonic Spree on the night. A mate said they sounded like Beatles psychedelic out-takes. He wasn't impressed.

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