toilet paper

Now that's what l call marketing.

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robin friday and reading festival 1974

When l was a young lad and my parents moved to RAF Benson (in between Reading and Oxford), one of the first things l did was choose a local football team to watch, which turned out to be Oxford United.
I went to just about all of their home games while we were there, but also some away fixtures (not many, as l  was still at school).
One of these was in 1974 against Reading, in a pre season friendly, where the programme was a single sheet of paper. Myself and a mate also hung around the ground for a bit and met some of the players, some of whom signed the back of the sheet.
One that did not sign (as l don't recall meeting him) was Reading's Robin Friday, who went on to become a cult hero at both Reading and Cardiff City, despite only playing a couple of seasons for both.  He was a wayward lad, drinking, shagging, drugging, being banned from pubs, and certainly a man who did his own thing, despite the consequences.  He was also a great lower league player who was skillful and gave everything in a match, which is why the fans of both clubs loved him (and still do).
There's a great book about him by Paulo Hewitt and Paul 'Guigsy' McGuigan (from Oasis), which is well worth reading called The Robin Friday Story (The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw).  Luckily, my piece of paper from this game proves l did see him play. Sadly, he died when he was 38 from a suspected heroin overdose (according to Hewitt).
On a related note, because l was into music as well, l often wondered why myself and mates didn't bother with the Reading Festival, which was pretty much on our doorstep.  Then l saw a poster of the line up and realised why.  I have grown to love The Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Kevin Coyne, and the older me would watch George Melly and Ronnie Lane, but at the time it was all Marc Bolan and T.Rex, Sweet, Status Quo and Deep Purple.  This Reading line up would have meant nothing to us at the time, and my first Reading Festival had to wait until 1977.

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more scans from the 2000 america trip - new york

I'd like to be back there now.

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the death of emmett till

 Emmet Till and his mother

The Jury - who thought Bryant and Milam were guilty, but didn't deserve a life sentence or the death penalty for killing  a black man, so acquitted them

The murderers

I first heard about the death of Emmet Till through the song by Bob Dylan, but after re-reading about it recently, it is amazing to think that it only happened in 1955, ten years after the end of the Second Word War.
Till (aged 14) had supposedly wolf whistled at Carolyn Bryant, a shop girl in Money, Mississippi, and was subsequently beaten, an eye gouged out, fatally shot, and then thrown into the Tallahatchie river.
While there was outage after the body was found, and the open casket funeral to show Till's beaten and disfigured face, there was even more when the all white jury found the killers, Roy Bryant and J.W Milam (Carolyn's husband and his half brother) to be not guilty.  The killers later gave a paid interview to Look magazine in 1956, where they admitted what they had done, but because of Double Jeopardy, they could not be retried, and they went on with their lives, with Bryant not dying until 1994, aged 63.
Despite the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr preaching non violence, and the rapid escalation of the Civil Rights movement due in no small part to this case, l'd still have wanted to extract revenge on the murderers.
Just over 50 years ago - that is no time at all as far as history is concerned, and sadly, there are still plenty of people about now who still harbour the white supremacy attitude, and probably think what happened to Till was justified.
Twats.

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cock flavoured food

Mmmmmmm    I've got a hankering for some food, but the thought of it being cock flavoured puts me off somewhat.

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the old catterick camp cinema

The old Catterick Camp cinema that used to be in Shute road was closed when l arrived here, and the nearest one was in Richmond (which later closed and became a church).
I have however, just seen this. A 1966 programme for the Catterick cinema, which l never knew it was an Essoldo one (they used to be a huge franchise).  Not exactly riveting viewing on offer, although l enjoyed 'Voyage to the bottom of the sea' when l was a kid (on TV).
Nowadays, Richmond has a new cinema at The Station, and very pleasant it is as well (featuring 3D films!!), but l think the old cinemas had more character.
Mind you, nowadays, the smoke, sticky carpets and noise from children would get on my nerves too much.

toodle pip.

captain america wank sound affect

I don't know if this clipping has been doctored, but l certainly hope not.
Captain America wanks an enemy with his shield.

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david cameron is blocking porn

So, our great and good leader David Cameron is going to bring in measures to block porn unless it is asked for. Apparently, the internet providers are going to have to block it, unless it is specifically asked for, or risk fines and sanctions.
I don't know about anybody else, but I'm certainly going to ask for it.
I also can't see how this is going to be implemented without it affecting innocent searches.  Is it going to be the case that you can't look up 'Scunthorpe' because it contains a 'cunt' in it? (OK, probably more than one..)  How are the oversees sites going to be blocked, that will use different language (or just change their language) to make the sites accessible again?
I know there is a lot of horrible crap out there, but there are already ways and means of filtering your children's online experiences, but let's face it,  if the kids (or adults) nowadays want to search for disgusting stuff on t'net, they will always find a way to do so.
By all means punish people who download the less savory stuff (as they already do) and spend more money on children's and women's charities and refuges (rather than making cuts).
It used to be a flash of ankle, then books, comics, films, videos and computer games, now it's internet porn that is causing the moral decay of our nation and desensitizing the population, causing a few idiots to run amok, committing rape and murder.
I'm against banning stuff, as you never know where it will all end, although nothing would surprise me with the current government.
Catch the criminals making and downloading child porn or real rape videos, and help the victims, but (and l'm talking to you Cameron)  keep your smug petri dish of a face out of my internet.

toodle pip 

russell brand on msnbc tv

This is about a month old now, but Russell Brand makes mincemeat of the presenters on USA's MSNBC.
It makes you proud to be English.

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more scans from the america 2000 trip - new orleans and san antonio

There's plenty more where these came from.

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