the aliens - happy and robot man

After moaning about Channel 5 in the last post, here's something more cheerful. 'Happy' by The Aliens

And because l like The Aliens so much, here's another long time favourite - Robot Man (especially from 1.45 onwards).



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proud to be from liverpool (and the young'uns)

Fascists wanted to march in Liverpool.
So what happened?
Anti Fascist protesters, bombarding them with missiles, and chanting 'Nazi Scum off our streets', and 'Master race - you're having a laugh' causing the event to be cancelled.

Makes one proud to be a scouser - more about the march here.

On a related note, more arses that need to be taken down.
Channel 5's fare next Tuesday.

Talk about trying to taint the poor, uneducated working classes. If they want to see a bunch of twats making easy money without exactly working very hard to get it, the TV programmers at Channel 5 should just look at their no doubt middle class selves.
Bastards.

Here's The Young'uns



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jungle's well attended funeral

Now that is what you call a send off - the well attended funeral of Jungle in Darlington.  Told you (in an earlier post) that he was a nice guy.



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the housemartins, stan cullimore and the bopps

More madness from YouTube.  Here's The Bopps, a children's programme from the UK.
The reason l am highlighting it?
Only because one of The Bopps is no other than Stan Cullimore, who used to be in The Housemartins (most definitely NOT Stan Collymore). This l only found out the other day, when l was also made aware that he is now a prolific children's author.
Consider my flabber to be gasted.



And any old excuse will do to show footage of The Housemartins - so here's 'Sheep'.




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the flaming lips and miley cyrus on the conan show

I'm a big fan of The Flaming Lips, and they are at their bonkers best on this recent Conan show appearance with Miley Cyrus, performing The Beatles 'A Day In The Life' with a magical swirling cape.
I also dig Wayne Coyne's longer hair style - very Bolanesque.



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the death of jungle

Although there is no way that l was a friend of his, and l won't be going to his funeral, l used to see Jungle (who changed his name from the much less frightening 'George') on a semi regular basis back in the day when l used to drink in Darlington a lot, and he is a character that will be missed by many.
Forget the cliche of bikers all being aggressive gits, most of them are approachable, and very pleasant and funny company if you actually make the effort to talk to them, and Jungle was certainly that (as long as you weren't a git).  

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the new kfc at catterick

The new KFC franchise taking shape at Catterick Garrison. It's meant to be one of the first of the new outlets to be opened, and l (as well as many others) can't wait.

I'll have to get around to expanding  the doorways in my house before the gluttony commences, or l'll be sleeping in the streets.

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burnfest - coming soon

Coming very soon to sunny Colburn in the heart of Catterick - the now annual Burnfest!
Wine bar first, then Colburn, then flaking out at about 10pm. Fun for all the family!

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the aftermath of the richmond fire

The aftermath of the fire in Finkle street, Richmond (The North Yorkshire one), apparently started by an 18 year old setting fire to a waste bin in the early hours of last Sunday (he is currently being held in custody as his plea for bail was refused).
Photographs are by Gullwing photography, and if you want to donate any money to help the affected businesses, go here.

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some cool statues from around the world

To save me having to type too much, and encourage you to check out the site l got these pictures from, go here for information about them, plus you can see some other cool statues from around the world.
I'm a bit unsure about the top one though. It's certainly good, but also very unnerving.

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brainwashing mr c

My evil master plan seems to be taking effect. Mr C wears this Spider-man outfit l bought him on a more than regular basis, while wandering around asking for me, and chanting 'Jamie is great' when l am not there.
Well worth the time, effort and money involved, just to annoy his father.
Next up - The Jungle Book and Manchester United.

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going on the piss with georgie best

A chant that's so simple and effective, it should have been thought about years ago.
'Spirit in the Sky' adapted in honour of the late great Georgie Best.



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an excellent telekinetic coffee shop prank

This is one of the best pranks that l have seen. A woman in a coffee shop gets annoyed and gains Telekinetic powers, much to the amazement of the unsuspecting customers.
Brilliant stuff.



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cutting the bastard grass - again!

It's been pretty good weather since l finished work this afternoon, so l decided to get stuck into sorting the garden out.  I'd already cut the grass about four weeks ago, but it had regrown way too quickly for my liking, and it was a bugger to do again (Three hours l spent pratting about out there!).
I've also tidied up the paving slabs and an outside storage container, but the shed still has a teeny weeny bit of fine tuning still needing doing.
I've now got bins full of grass and crap, have killed numerous spiders (nearly crapping my pants whilst doing so), l'm knackered, probably smelly (no change there), and l need to have a soak in the bath, despite Mr Parrot screeching that he wants attention..
No work now till Wednesday afternoon, so the bloody sun had better make an appearance, then l can dust off the old hammock.and chill.

 The garden looking tidier

The bin full of crap

The outside storage container looking organised

Unlike the shed!

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john oliver taken down by 'the man'

I've just noticed that my earlier posting of John Oliver talking about FIFA corruption has been taken down by 'The Man'.
Luckily the corruption has been rampant for years, so here's another John Oliver 'Last Week Tonight' clip, this time from last year.
Let's see how long this clip stays up, and see you all in jail.
It's been emotional.



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countdown to the european cup final...

It's the Champions League Final tomorrow (still the European Cup Final to old gits like me), and l for one, am really looking forward to it.
I hope Barcelona win it because of the fantastic free flowing football that they can produce, but especially for the little master himself, Lionel Messi, who l have a big footballing man crush on (and have done for some time).

Here's a reminder of the first leg of the semi final, when he destroyed Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou..



I also wish l had a shiny new pound coin for every time the commentator says 'Messi', and let's hope Juventus don't go and spoil the party.

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pensilsword - on a plate

Social commentary?
Tick
Class injustices?
Tick
True to life?
Tick
Still going on?
Tick

By Toby Morris / Pencilsword, from here.

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sepp blatter has resigned!!......oh no hold on...

So, at long last, Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA has bowed to pressure (of whatever sort) and announced his resignation after 17 years.
Hurrah!!!!
Only it isn't yet, and he will almost certainly try to sort out a nice deal for himself by backing his no doubt handpicked stooges, whenever the reigns are handed over.
The only surprise is that it has taken so long, and when it all kicked off last week with the arrests in Switzerland, it actually came as a shock, because the bribes, corruption and fiddling had been so epidemic over the years, with nothing being done about it, and Blatter re-elected each time, it felt like it was a never ending season in Hell if you were a football fan concerned about the way the game is going.
Hopefully he will face charges himself, but will no doubt suddenly develop Alzheimer's or something similar and escape the justice he deserves, after all, he hasn't remained in power for so long by being a nincompoop.

There's an excellent book about FIFA corruption called 'Foul' by Andrew Jennings which l highly recommend, but to emphasise how long everyone has been helpless but aware of the seedy shenanigans, it was published in 2006.

John Oliver on 'Last Week Tonight' also pretty much nails the latest developments.



Here's to a bright new future (l very much doubt, as there will still be plenty of people out there willing to be bribed).
At least it's a start (as The Jam would say).



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elspeth mclean's painted stones and the small faces

Colour me impressed. These are some painted stones by the  dotillism artist Elspeth McLean. Far out and psychedelic maaaan, they look great.

And here are The Small Faces on 'Colour me Pop' - also great.



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the bastard tories have got in again (and tunisia)

I've turned my back for a short time and buggered off to Tunisia, and this is what l have come back to.
The bastard Tories in power again.
The Labour party has been harping on about the fact they never got their economic policies across to the public, but it was obvious to all in their right minds that Ed Miliband inspired no confidence in anyone, and as a party leader, should never have been considered. Much of modern politics is about leadership and charisma, both of which, Ed was sadly lacking of.
I won't harp on about the fact that David may have done better, but Ed was never in the running. It just shows how out of touch the party is with the common man (it's core voters) that it thought they seriously had a chance (especially with the tide turning in Scotland). Also, what a surprise - It hasn't taken long for the Tories to announce that they are having another budget 'With Welfare as a main issue'.
Kiss goodbye to the NHS while you are at it.

The night before my Tunisian trip, I was arguing (what a surprise again) vollisfory (a word that makes sense to me but is not on Google search) with my working class so called comrades, who were going to vote Conservative. I subtly pointed out that they were all fucking idiots who read The Sun and are classic examples of the poorly educated dickheads that get the Tories in, but to no avail (at least they vote).
I can't wait until their benefits and healthcare are cut so l can kick them when they are down, just to prove that l am right (as always, because l am not a nice guy).
No wonder l have so few friends.

Here's a timely part of Robert Tressel's magnificent (although old fashioned to the modern reader) 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist'. One of the greatest books ever written (with thanxs to JB Barrington).

Poverty is not caused by men and women getting married; it's not caused by machinery; it's not caused by "over-production"; it's not caused by drink or laziness; and it's not caused by "over-population". It's caused by Private Monopoly. That is the present system. They have monopolized everything that it is possible to monopolize; they have got the whole earth, the minerals in the earth and the streams that water the earth. The only reason they have not monopolized the daylight and the air is that it is not possible to do it. If it were possible to construct huge gasometers and to draw together and compress within them the whole of the atmosphere, it would have been done long ago, and we should have been compelled to work for them in order to get money to buy air to breathe. And if that seemingly impossible thing were accomplished tomorrow, you would see thousands of people dying for want of air - or of the money to buy it - even as now thousands are dying for want of the other necessities of life. You would see people going about gasping for breath, and telling each other that the likes of them could not expect to have air to breathe unless the had the money to pay for it. Most of you here, for instance, would think and say so. Even as you think at present that it's right for so few people to own the Earth, the Minerals and the Water, which are all just as necessary as is the air. In exactly the same spirit as you now say: "It's Their Land," "It's Their Water," "It's Their Coal," "It's Their Iron," so you would say "It's Their Air," "These are their gasometers, and what right have the likes of us to expect them to allow us to breathe for nothing?" And even while he is doing this the air monopolist will be preaching sermons on the Brotherhood of Man; he will be dispensing advice on "Christian Duty" in the Sunday magazines; he will give utterance to numerous more or less moral maxims for the guidance of the young. And meantime, all around, people will be dying for want of some of the air that he will have bottled up in his gasometers. And when you are all dragging out a miserable existence, gasping for breath or dying for want of air, if one of your number suggests smashing a hole in the side of one of th gasometers, you will all fall upon him in the name of law and order, and after doing your best to tear him limb from limb, you'll drag him, covered with blood, in triumph to the nearest Police Station and deliver him up to "justice" in the hope of being given a few half-pounds of air for your trouble.

And here's some Tunisian photos.

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the new royal baby

Bang on the button.
From here.

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things l hate graffiti

Of course l would never condone graffiti, especially around election time, but this is excellent (although longer lists are available).

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marc bolan, t.rextacy and boy george - beltane walk

Any excuse for a bit of Marc Bolan and T.Rex around these parts, and as today is Beltane, let's add in some T.Rextasy and Boy George from the 35th Bolan anniversary bash at Shepherds Bush.





And if Bolan had lived....

Can't remember the guys name, but he was at a Bolan convention in Bradford a few years ago.
A fine old time was had by all.

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equality and justice - it's nearly election time!

In case you haven't noticed, there's an election is coming up. I can't remember where l got this quote from, but it is still relevant as far as l am concerned.

A wealthy society like ours that deliberately will not, not cannot, support its most vulnerable members, in a humane and caring manner but sets out to persecute and demonise them instead, because the only agenda is increased profit for the wealthiest minority is the overriding agenda, is not fit to refer to itself as civilised.

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steven gerrard's birthday misshap

Oh my aching sides

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more goodies

More goodies picked up while l've been out and about at the charity shops, plus some swag from 'Sound it Out' records in Stockton.
The pile of books to read is geting bigger.  I managed to read 'Boy about Town' by Tony Fletcher yesterday, but the ongoing mess next to my bed is also growing.
I've said it before, and l will say it again, l need more time off work (or to win the lottery).

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the statue of liberty view of new york

An old view of New York that you don't usually see, from behind the Statue of Liberty (designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi).
A previous similar version was going to be at Port Said, at the entrance to The Suez Canal, and one design even had the torch on top of the head.
Here's some photos of it being built (and yes, it was copper coloured)

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