rainbow of the moon

hello there

a rare instance, this, of me regretting not having a phone what has a more better camera welded to it. normally what i have is up to the task (or job) of what i need it to do, look you see. in this instance, though, something better would have made this post a bit more interesting. still, let me press on.

so, one evening fairly recently (within two weeks of this being published) i had every reason to be outside momentarily. the reason is rather inconsequential, but if you must, i was doing my part to prop up the much maligned tobacco industry. on gazing towards the sky i did a slight bit of a sort of gasp thing, i suppose. the moon was quite bright, and what was unmistakably an imperfect yet still there circular rainbow appeared around it. 

obviously i took out my phone, swore at it a bit when it wouldn't open due to typing errors with the password, and tried to take some images. note tried. what you shall see, if you look, isn't all that good, but i did my best. mostly trying to switch the f*****g flash off was the issue, i think. and zoom.  

to the best of my knowledge, or as far as i can test the patience of my memory, no, i have not seen this phenomenon before. some research after the fact suggests to see a rainbow do (in the words off of an internet search) a halo around the moon is not that rare, but still. new one on me. 

in trying to fumble and take a decent image of it, indeed yes i managed to somehow make a brief video of it. by accident. just a second or two, but yes, we have got a video, and indeed it is below. on it you can here someone who stopped close by and also saw what i did, which kind of sort of suggests not all of it was happening in my head. 

weirdly, or with statistical fortune, i think one (as in you) can see what i am talking about a bit more better in the video. or not. 

how likely is it that i am going to spend swathes of coins of money on a "better" phone to document such things again in the future? not at all. it sometimes feels like it is, but it really is not the case that all has to be documented; sometimes things can just happen and be experienced without proof being taken of it all. says he who tends to fill this blog in a way what contradicts that. 

going on what i saw on my internet search, this "phenomenon" is caused by reflection, refraction, ice crystals, water in the air and optical illusion. well, not illusion as such, but still. undoubtedly it shall be so that some culture somewhere shall have placed great significance on this sort of thing being seen. what it means for me awaits discovery, i suppose. 

no, i have no idea what the bright (presumably) star is above the moon in these images. could be a planet, i suppose. my understanding of the geography of our own planet is a little wanting, so please don't expect any great knowledge off of me about so far from here. still, what an incredible thing it was i got to see, just briefly. as in yes, of course, once i got the camera sorted the phenomenon had moved on, or disappeared, or simply ended. nothing lasts forever. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

discover Tramline

howdy pop pickers

quite a delve (or dive) into the realm of unknown vibes for me recently, then, with a request that i discover, and come to be well versed in the complete works of, a band called Tramline. allowing for some of you finding this off of a google, no, me neither, i had not ever heard of them, look you see. which is a surprise and a shame, for they are (sorry, were) pretty good, and of local to me provenance. 

let me put a disclaimer here, mostly because i genuinely and sincerely would not wish to upset or offend anyone. i am claiming to have no immense knowledge of the band Tramline, and this post here is most certainly not intended to be a definitive or conclusive source of information. just, really, my tale of learning of the band, and what i thought of them. with bits of information gathered along the way. 

how is it, before i get on to the band, that i discovered then? Dad. from time to time he shall send me a challenge to find a particular tape (disc), be it of music or film. not so long ago he said he doubted it would be possible, but could i have a go at trying to find the only two records recorded by the band Tramline. i said yes, i would give it a go. whereas they were not exactly the cheapest two tapes i had ever bought, they were not all that expensive. in particular not when they were so wished for. 

so, Tramline. a band formed in the latter stages of the 60s, here within the region or area of Middlesbrough. discovered by someone or other not all that long after they were formed, off they were whisked to that London place to record two albums in quick succession - Somewhere Down The Line and then the unusually named Moves Of Vegetable Centuries (more on that later). sadly neither made much of an impact, the band kind of fell apart, and the overwhelming majority of members went on to have successful, if not headlining careers. some of those careers are on the go today. 

any good? yes, actually. having discovered that they were indeed relatively rare tapes (discs) to find, not to mention of high value (if you find either for under £20 buy them), there was no way i was entrusting them to the postal services without making "back up" tapes. whilst doing that i had a listen, then. not bad at all, but also (to be honest) also easy to pick out why they are not a band as celebrated as certain others from that remarkable decade. 

what's the best way to describe the sound? rather tricky, alas. my instinct is to say rhythm and blues rock, but that in the context of how the term used to be used, 60s to say early 90s. at some point in the mid 90s someone appropriated the term, reduced it to "r and b" and made it a reference to crappy, sampled sh!t that had all the rhythm of a sampled beat and for some reason assumed each and every black artist in the world was a blues one. go figure. but still, a solid, tight, talented group of musicians is what one finds in the form of the band Tramline.

perhaps the major issue with the band - and what i suspect is what held them back - is a discernible lack of much in the way of original compositions. looking at the history of the decade, it was early to mid 60s where up and coming bands could, for the most part, get away with covers. for this, consider the early releases of undoubtedly the two biggest of the decade, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. by the time Tramline came along, the expectation was that mostly you did your own songs, with one or two covers if need be. the reverse of that formula is in place across the two records. 

oddly (weirdly, perhaps), there is one cover in their set which could well have made the band a much better known name than they are. that would be their take on Traffic's Pearly Queen, which is on the second one, Moves of Vegetable Centuries. it's brilliant, it is. this was recognised at the time, but from what i can gather (from Dad), both the band Traffic and their record label, Island, refused permission for Tramline to release it as a single. a great shame, that. 

having mentioned it earlier and also recently (just now) that curious second album name, Moves of Vegetable Centuries. what, exactly, does it mean? some frustration for you here. going on the liner notes, no one actually knows anymore. apparently it was suggested by someone in the studio, i believe the sound engineer, and they actually had a good explanation for it. sadly no one remembered it, and further no one write it down. as the engineer is no longer with us, it's a mystery likely never to be answered. 

since liner notes have come up now, two oddities in them across these tapes (discs). on the first album the notes constantly refer to Middlesbrough as "Middlesborough", which is annoying. moving over to notes on the second and they keep referring to someone who hung around with the band, a certain David Coverdale (yes, that one) as being from Redcar. perhaps he was, but every time i have seen an interview with him he states that he is "the most famous person ever from Saltburn". as locals of that place shall freely tell you, Saltburn is absolutely not Redcar. 

usually history is written in a way which suits the victors. when asked if The Beatles were the best band in the world (totes) ever, John Lennon would consistently reply that they were "the luckiest". it's normal for books, essays, lists and charts about or pertaining to the 60s to focus on "the big ones", so much so that one could be forgiven for thinking there were only 20 or 30 music acts on the go then. how refreshing, then, to discover some vibes off of a perfectly good band from that era who, for whatever cause or reason, didn't quite make all that big an impact. 

it's likely pointless to speculate, what, somewhere around or near 60 (!!) years later, but i cannot help think that, given some time in the studio, Tramline would have created (or rather composed) a few more of their own songs to include. ones that would have been of a standard as high as the covers they seemed to have, by circumstance, been forced to focus on for the sake of getting a record out. maybe that would have brought a bit more success, but there isn't any guarantee that would have been the case. all i can say for sure is that these two albums are very decent, and well worth a listen. if you can find them, but they are probably on that "online" stuff, streaming or what have you.

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

failed political gamble

greetings

well, another failed foray into the world of turf accountants for me, or moi, look you see. that's just about the whole story there, but since we are here you can read on if you like. 

as some of you will be quite aware, recently we here in the UK have had some interesting times on the political landscape. for those reading a legend of future pass, well, 2022 turned out to be quite a sh!tshow for us, what with (at time of writing) three (3) different prime ministers. 

the fall of the second of these, the much admired, respected and celebrated Liz Truss, saw some speculate or consider that our third leader of the year may well be a return to the first. yes, Boris. it was widely reported that, on hearing Boris had been removed, the main backers (ie those who donate money) of the party made it clear that they expected him to be back in office by the time of the next election, so the idea didn't seem that outlandish. obviously stupid, yes, but outlandish, sadly not. 

going on just how ludicrous our political situation has become i decided to test the potential of this one with a wager. a bet, if you like. whereas i perhaps don't have vast sums of coins to squander on trivial, or silly, bets, i figured sticking a quid (£1) in this was vaguely amusing. 

of course it failed, for Boris is not PM number 3 of this year. that's a third person, Rishi Sunak. but let me qualify that by stating he was in charge at the time of writing, and when i last looked. in the end it was a bet of a pointless nature, for within 24 hours (a day or so) of me placing it Boris announced that he was not making himself available for selection. certain speculation exists that says he declined to run purely because the newspapers he assumed would back him intended to run front pages saying that no, actually, he should not run again right now. with the emphasis on "right now". 

did i stand to earn, or rather win, an excessive amount of cash if Boris had run and won? not really, not really, no. the return, or "winnings", would have been £2.75. in excess of double what i gambled, true, but then in actual (or real) terms, that money would have been worth less than the pound bet, for surely the value of our currency would have gone from bad to worse with the return of Boris. 

just why did it turn out that Liz Truss lasted so short a time? a positive spin (and this is pushing it) is that they worked out (very) early on that she (putting it mildly) wasn't up to the job and so acted quite quickly to remove her. but then that leaves a question as to why oh why the appointed her in the first place. answers range from simple racism (the other choice was current incumbent Rishi), or that they so wanted Boris back that they elected the one most likely to f*** up (which they got right) and so enable a return for the unwavering popular one. 

it is extremely unlikely that i shall enter the dirty, murky world of gambling on politics again. sure, yes, certainly every now and then i will make (wildly) inaccurate guesses on sports results and place a humble, simple wager on them. but let me rather leave political gambles to the grown ups. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11

eleven

11, eleven, 11, ten plus 1, look you see. one louder. 11.

eleven

11

eleven

11

eleven

11!!!!!!!!!!!

southend air freshener

heya

well, i think they are air fresheners. as in that's the correct, or if you like proper, name for them. these are things what go in cars, or other vehicles, look you see. ostensibly they do create a scent for the air that or what is fresh. presumably one is not limited to using them exclusively (or purely) in vehicles, but then it is difficult to imagine circumstances where one might purchase them for other use. except that one bit in the motion picture Se7en, i suppose. 

although my travels have indeed, as the title suggests, taken me to Southend this year, not recently. whereas it is not a bad place as such, i think i am correct in saying that this is the place what Morrissey composed the song Every Day Is Like Sunday about. not too difficult to have some sympathy with him, especially if he found himself staying in the Holiday Inn there. for fellow lovers of music trivia, and indeed the wonders of Chas & Dave, they initially wrote the tune Margate about Southend, but the council or what have you offered them a most agreeable amount of coin to change it to the song we know. 

despite some fragments of the previous paragraph being mildly interesting, none of it speaks of air freshener stuff, does it? let me, or us, move on, then. 

yes, there they are above, presented of course in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. also, indeed i did say they, for there are two (2). so perhaps i should have used a plural in the title, but no matter, never mind, here we are. quite by accident, it is, that the image has turned out to be a bit like one of them "magic eye" can you see the hidden image things. or, if you like, a pollock-infused item of work off of squire. 

just what's the story with these air fresheners, then? not a great deal, i suppose. on my (verk) travels i happened to stop off somewhere or other in Southend, and then noticed these laying on the ground. for some form of story, perhaps an enemy of Greta (or similar) deliberately discarded them so, to show what they think of the fate of the planet. but then for all i know this is perfectly normal for the area, or region, of Southend, and they simply leave these items on the ground as offerings to visitors. guests too, maybe, but i am not sure all that many get invited there. 

bit of a clearer picture, above, then, for those of you who are all that interested. indeed, yes, and i have just noticed this, both of the air freshener things appear to be frog inspired. unsure if that is them marketing them for people what like frogs, or if they smell of frog. are frogs particularly fresh or pleasant smelling? i simply don't know. 

for clarity, or confirmation, indeed i do use "air freshener" things in my vehicle. as opposed to me, say, using them on trains or buses. the ones i get, however, are in the shape of a tape, as in cassette, what looks like it has some smart vibes recorded on them. it would be true to say they were purchased purely for their appearance - being of tape - than the scent, and no i wouldn't buy an air freshener if it were not of a look or style that intrigued me. but it is something of a surprise to see such an evidently large market for people what will buy anything of frog. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that god never laughs at my jokes

howdy pop pickers

and so here we are again. well, here you are, for certain, look you see. for my part i am composing this ridiculously far in advance; a considered level north of one and a half years prior to publication date. should fortune smile, yes, i shall still be around.

so, today, or at the very least the date of publication of this, marks the 31st anniversary of that time i was fortunate enough to see Tin Machine, live and in concert, at the Newcastle Mayfair. wow. quite some time ago, that. and, of course, a very great deal has all changed since. 

indeed, it is that i did not go to and from this concert alone. honestly, i have (at time of writing) no idea what became of my companion for the evening, or where they may be in the world. chances of them remembering and reconsidering me, recalling the gig and finding this are all somewhere near the absurd, but on the off chance, hi, hope all is well. 

once again, then, let me spend some time here - a few moments - writing of how i do not think, after all these years and marking the date as frequently as i could, there is much else i can say. should i still be around (and have the means to do so), certainly, yes, on this day the finest moments of this band shall be on whatever stereo i have access to. 

for what has become my usual form of audio visual reminder of this day, something a little bit different. on top of the DVD what someone (extremely kindly) gave me of the gig i was at, another also provided me with a really good audio bootleg. as a change, then, here you go. one song from the gig which i might have shared before, with the visuals being a bit of a mix up of some images from here, there and everywhere. 

just so we are (or i am) safe and clear, here is a *** WARNING *** for you. i do believe that at least one of the images contains a rude word, with that rude word being the one what starts with an "f", as in the infamous t-shirt what David wore on the night. fans, such as i (yes i did) could also purchase a variant of it, declaring their love for the band rather than stating they were in it. 

those of you who have played the video prior to reading this will not need me to clarify, but yes, that's very much the witty, quick song Bus Stop. one of my all time favourite tunes of all time by Tin Machine. from what i recall of the bootleg video  the quality of recording of that on it was not all that great, so perhaps this is the first time i have shared this one here. 

not sure if i have ever included a decent (ish) close up of my concert ticket from instances where i have celebrated this particular anniversary. perhaps i have, so if not here it is, if i have, here it is again. 

yes, out of the frame i have it in. well, the frame and that needed some attention, as in cleaning, so i carefully took it all apart. and spent several moments gazing at the ticket. 

right, well, that is this most cherished date in my life remembered once more, then. as usual let me speculate, or postulate, if i shall do the same thing again next year. perhaps, probably, maybe. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

let me flow into the ocean, let me get back to the sea

hello there

recently i had (for purposes of verk) reason to be quite close to the sea. well, a bit close. not actually in the sea, as such, but where i needed to be was right there on the other side of the road, look you see. to sort of quasi counterbalance the number of selfies (of moi) on here of late, i thought maybe it would be nice to showcase some scenery. 

my picture taking skills are not the greatest, i either yield or concede, but it might be possible for you to work out, through the actual mist (fog?) and the mists of my limited skills, some of them power generating wind turbines. quite the magnificent feat of engineering and endeavour, they are. full well is it i remember when such things were first discussed in the 80s, of how they would be an "eyesore" and we should just keep burning coal and gas and what have you. now, beyond the obvious energy benefit, i think most appreciate them. at the least, though, few voices are ever heard of a nature calling on the world to take them back down again. 

as for the mist, or fog, and rain - and wind - well, it was a day that they now tend to describe the weather as being "unsettled". this is an interesting step backwards. a decade or so ago all of the various charlatans, conjurers and general liars what present a prophecy of the weather were in a rush to describe all as dramatically as they could. more than once we got warned of a "weather bomb" about to hit, instead of them simply saying it might rain for a bit. speaking of it as all being a trifle unsettled is much more calm and, if honest, realistic. 

yes, indeed we do have a video, above. this i took mostly to send on to Dad, who is most enthusiastic about these wind turbine power things, but surely no harm can come from sharing it here, too. 

whereas getting battered off of the wind and rain whilst attempting to do some verk and also get these images (moving or still) for you is a definite highlight of the seaside, it is of course not the only one. something of a tradition, if not contractual obligation, for being so close to the sea in our land so fair is to engage in a particular form of cuisine. 

fish and chips, indeed. along with some scraps. or "bits of batter" as i heard one geordie call them, but scraps is the proper word for them. should they look lovely to your eyes, i can give you every assurance that they were even better to my taste. lovely, they were. with a cup of tea, of course. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

auf

schöne grüße

just another dalliance in my quest to purchase things of stuff, really. but, oh but, for some of you of a certain age, this might be more interesting that usual, look you see. yes, then, another delve of sorts into the realm of nostalgia, specifically 80s UK television. 

rather improbably, i think (or suspect) it is so that recently i have procured two (2) items of significance what relate to (or actually are) the magnificence of the original two series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. one of these was ludicrously underpriced (not that i argued), whereas the other might be a trifle expensive for exactly what it is (and what practical use), but also something i was unlikely to see again. 

behold, then, above, in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, what it is claimed to be the complete (presumably uncensored) series one and two of the television show itself, to recap for those with a short attention span Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, on tape (disc). also, a "best of" the soundtracks to these two series, also (as in actually) on tape. 

let me assume, or take as a given, that anyone reading this (or this thus far) is quite aware of what the television series was/is. if not, well, i would have no idea why you read on, but many thanks indeed for doing so. mostly, then, beyond saying here that i shall not, i won't go into any details on the show and that. unless i run out of things to write. 

it would be, i suspect, the tape which is actually a tape that would be of most interest to people browsing here. so yes, then, go on, more images of that for you. like, for instance, below, the inlay. 

more on the tape in a bit, but for now the 'box set' of the entire series. indeed i do appreciate that it is on several "streaming" services, some free some not so much. also, and i do worry that we are heading into the realms of the American "syndication" system (not that it hurts Seinfeld's bank account), it does appear to crop up on a few regular, ordinary "broadcast free to air" tv stations. i very much prefer to have the tapes (discs) to watch when i would wish, though. no reliance on it being available, internet connectivity, or what have you. the versions being broadcast on regular tele, i note, are rather heavily edited, with all (mostly male) nudies removed, be it accidental or overt, and of course all of the colourful language trimmed. not played the tapes (discs) yet, but with a "15" certificate on the cover i am going to presume it's all as originally broadcast. 

provenance and cost of this eight (8) tape (disc) box set? well, it seems to be new and sealed still. i got it off of the market for all of £2. not really much point me translating that into other currencies with the theatrics on the go with our economy, but that is cheap to the point of obscenity. i am absolutely baffled as to how and why we have devalued entertainment, in particular of a physical format, so much. and yet how hard, or for how long, must i complain of such a bargain? 

with respect to the tape that is an actual, real tape, a bit more. should i have the maths correct, and please don't ask me to say i do. i believe the cassette (posh word for tape) cost was 275% of the entire series set, and that's second (or third) hand, too. to present that in rather more straightforward figures, the tape of the soundtrack cost me £5.50.

certainly i hesitated about the purchase. although the cost was within my budget for such trivialities, it did seem a figure to give pause to consideration. what, after all, beyond the obvious of (possibly) playing it, was i to do with it? ultimately, the decision was made to buy because, well, when exactly would i be likely to see another copy of it? research since suggests the tape is if not rare then not all that easy to get, but a CD (disc) variation of it is, for somewhere north of £2 more north than the price i paid for the tape. 

the failsafe thinking, i suppose (or simply trying to justify it) is that the songs on the soundtrack were boss, and the cassette is a lovely, sentimental hygiene thing to have proudly in the collection. it is far from being the only instance of a procurement achieved purely as it would "look good" in my collection of such things; a collection few see entire but i suppose the odd bit features here momentarily. 

do i have any intention of sitting down and watching the series (both of them) again? yes, actually, that would be lovely. it was quite remarkable, and over the years thus far it has had a sensational, indeed phenomenal "can watch this again and again" feel to it. quite brilliant, all around. getting, or finding, the time to sit and watch once more is the trick, of course. 

right, that's about that, then. lovely finds for me, and with some good fortune a pleasant thing for fellow fans to have found out here on the internet to have a gander at. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what's the time

spooky greetings

well, no. i wasn't, as it happens, looking for a wall clock as such, look you see. but, well, now i have one, and am aware that yes, i very much did want one in my life. no, not just any wall clock, but quite specifically this one. 

some background, of sorts, then. when out and about on my travels across the land i am (quite) partial to taking a break and having a look around charity shops. mostly, true, this is in pursuance of more tapes (discs) to play as i drive about for verk. rather rare for me to look at anything but such, but in rare instances, every now and then, something catches my eye. 

i saw this clock from a vague distance, and went "hey, that looks a bit like what i think it is, but no, surely such a thing would not be sat here, donated for sale for a good cause". on getting closer, yes, as it turns out, someone had donated a wall clock which featured a face in the style (pattern) of the world famous, if you will iconic, carpet pattern off of The Shining. 

deciding pretty much instantly, then, that yes, this would be mine, i enquired as to the cost or price of this fine item. the staff said they were not at all sure if it worked or not, but if i wished to take ownership then the price was £1. knowing full well that if it didn't work then it would be going on the wall anyway, with a rather specific time on display, i happily bought it. great for whatever cause i supported, for i have forgotten, but excellent stuff for me. 

yes, indeed it does work, and would (thus far) appear to be keeping the correct time. but of course, for fun and as requested in one of them social media groups dedicated to Kubrick, here it is, more or less set at the time which would represent a quite specific number associated with the motion picture. 

as it happens, by co-incidence, i have also recently re-watched this film, for the first time in many years. perhaps for the first time this century, as it happens. no doubt my musings or considerations on it, after all these years, shall feature in one of them "mega" posts on things what i have watched. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

viz needs saving (maybe)

hello

a pure and simple plea on behalf of some company, look you see, so that i may cling on to the ideals, the petulance and the sense of years gone by. it would appear that one of my most beloved and cherished things. being as it is The Viz, are in a spot of bother. this is something in which they are far from alone in respect of, be it in the wider sense of the world or magazines in general. but still, probably (perhaps) the world is somewhat better with The Viz in it. 

the last two, possibly three (3) editions of The Viz have featured full page adverts off of The Viz, suggesting to people (presumably businesses) that they might quite like to advertise in their publication. please. as in, with their usual humour, they are saying that with no new advertisers coming in, things are looking grim. which, i believe, is quite true of most actual, really published magazines these days. such is the world we have created, better or worse. 

it costs me nothing to push their plight here, and so here i am trying to spread their appeal. 

once it was indeed so that The Viz was home to plentiful adverts. they had a "cheapskates parade" for smaller ads, normally or nominally dominated by people wishing to sell "legal highs", guides on how to beat fruit machines and some particularly niche sexual services. also, though, they used to have some pretty decent full page ads, be it for a new album, film or computer game. that's disappeared i suppose. likely through a mix of "online" advertising being seen to be the way, or The Viz not being quite so trendy and a thing to appear in. 

years ago the advertisers actually put some effort it, creating ads quite specifically for The Viz and their readership. from memory i recall Sega, in particular, doing ads in The Viz which were a trifle risque for such a big company (and certainly at the time). but then i am not even sure Sega are still a thing any more. 

what shall i do if The Viz fails to attract some advertisers, and ceases to be? be rather sad, i would imagine, or expect. it is, after all, something i have been purchasing and reading for somewhere north of 35 years now, i think. it still pains me that all of a sudden Mad stopped publishing when i was in SA, and that is well north of a decade ago. not a lot i can do expect highlight their cause here, and of course keep handing over coins of money to them, as and when they publish stuff. 

something of a hmn or hang on, though. dare i say it, but perhaps it is a case that all things must end. i am reluctant to go full tilt and say it has run out of steam, but the most recent edition (at the time of this going "live"), being edition 320, was rubbish. as in it featured an extraordinary lack of amusing or funny things, and many of their "dull", more recent characters which i suspect i am far from alone in skipping over. ultimately, had i taken the £3.95 cover cost in coins, placed them (carefully) on some railway track and, presuming no strikes, watched a train absolutely pancake them, that would have likely been better value for money. 

maybe, though, a new coming of advertisers will inspire The Viz to do partially decent, mostly funny editions once again. hopefully. it's got to be worth a go. 

nothing much more i can do, then, except throw this out here. so, if you are reading this, and have access to a reasonable, moderate advertising budget, give The Viz a shout. actually, call if somehow in these days you have a not inconsiderable sum of money and wish to take out a vanity ad, for some reason. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you had to sneak into my room just to read my diary

howdy pop pickers

well, yes. another gig, look you see, so another excuse (or reason) to place here pictures and, indeed, video (yes we've got a video) from it. but, also, no "ordinary" gig. if any gig (or concert) is ever ordinary. this instance saw me tick off (yet) another from the list of those artists i wish(ed) to see, for it was no less and really not more than Morrissey. 

an entirely unexpected chance to see him too. kind of. this was no tour postponed for plague reasons, yet also it didn't (immediately) seem to be a tour undertaken to promote a new record. it has turned out that the latter is kind of the case, but we shall get to that. well, yes if you read on. very much an added bonus was that, after years of wishing to see Moz but being unable to mostly via distance (early on, age, of course), there he was doing a gig within walking distance from my lodgings in place of exile. 

tickets for this "were" easy, at least for moi. on the day they went on sale i was fortunate enough to make a late start to verk, so purchased them with little fuss. just as well that i did, for the venue, with a capacity of around three thousand (3000) reported them all sold out within the hour. my assumption was that the venue seemed a trifle small for Morrissey, but then it is also a venue which once offered a stage for The Rolling Stones and (not at the same time) The Beatles. also, Morrissey has played smaller venues in this area. difficult to know his precise audience, but we shall get to that. 

my sixth (6th) gig of the year, then. or 7th if one includes a comedy show. certainly just the six ones which featured predominantly music. and yes, this one happened a mere 8 (eight) days after i went to bear witness to Ian Brown. quite a but like last year, i suppose, when i saw the Manics and then Nick Cave within about 3 or 4 days of each other. 

i would say, overall, there were two excellent and amazing things of being able to go to a Moz gig. the first of these is, of course, that i actually got to see him. i have been fortunate that, over the years, it is so that i have just about seen all of my "idols" that it has been possible to. certainly not all of them, but perhaps i may get a future chance. second would be in a picture, later. 

sadly this may all become a moaning sounding blog post (and who knows maybe all my posts are), but there are one or two "gripes". an airing of the grievances then. first of these would be of a nature of how short this gig was. less than 90 minutes, i think, is what it clocked in at. whereas no, didn't expect him to do three or four hours, well, a regular gig would be around 20 songs, or just north of the 100 minute mark. true, the length of a gig, like an album, is no real measure of quality, but it did feel like he took a decision to deliberately cut this one down. 

yet, though, quality over quantity, perhaps. above is a video (of poor quality) of the opening tune, which was that classic off of The Smiths, How Soon Is Now. certain artists what went on to be solo after being in a big band - Ian Brown, for instance - flat refuse to do songs from then. well, not Moz, who in fairness did write all the lyrics, so presumably is quite Noel Gallagher of them all. indeed a couple of Smiths songs featured, but this was the most well known. along the way we got Frankly Mr Shankly, and one i can't recall, and Sweet And Tender Hooligan as a surprise encore. 

the other thing what was excellent about the gig, aside from being able to (at last) say that I saw Morrissey live and in concert? my companion. i asked James if he would like to go, since it was close to his home (my former), and he immediately said yes. no, he wasn't really aware of the musician and did not do too much research into him, but had "heard of him" and was curious. so, with his consent, a recent rare picture of him, with me, before the gig. 

fair to say that he has not become a big massive Morrissey fan on the basis of the concert. but, at the least, he did say that he enjoyed the experience. and the smart tea (dinner, if posh) that we went to beforehand. with, i believe, particular emphasis on the cocktails. 

not unreasonably, then, the set was dominated by works of the solo career of Morrissey, rather than too many tracks from a band he was in north of 35 (!) years ago. and quite a solo career catalogue to choose from. indeed we got songs such as Irish Blood, English Heart, We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful, Every Day Is Like Sunday and, as illustrated below by video, one of my favourites and a kind of recent one (think nearly 20 years old now?) First Of The Gang To Die. 

unexpectedly we did not get to see or hear a performance of Suedehead, his first big solo hit. this feels like a huge, massive disappointment, as i was of the understanding that it was a staple of each set. but then also no The More You Ignore Me, no You're The One For Me Fatty and probably a few dozen others. certainly there are "only" so many songs you can do in a regular gig, and perhaps he gets bored about doing ones again and again. but, you know, still. largely my biggest disappointment was no performance of easily my top tune by him, being The Last Of The Famous International Playboys. oh well. i would say maybe some other time, but there will be no such thing. 

his (Morrissey's) lurch quite some way to the "right" of mainstream politics has been well documented. a somewhat unexpected path, but there he is on it. the assumption i had made was that whatever fans he had left were like me, either just shrugging at this and moving on so long as the music was good, or being apologist and rational, saying that speaking his mind was what made him who we was, and now disagreeing with chunks of what he says is no reason to abandon him. 

i confess to being somewhat naive with this thought process. what i did not allow for in my thinking, or for that matter anticipate, was that this more to the right Morrissey might actually attract new fans; ones inclined to be of a quite right wing frame of mind. oh. no, i didn't expect a Morrissey audience to be all animal loving vegetarian hippies, but also i didn't quite expect a significant number of rather strong political views leaning to the right of the spectrum.  

quite a few others, presumably, did not expect this. i was certainly not keeping count, but it did feel like this gig had a good many more "walk outs" than was the case with the "controversial" tape gig of Ian Brown the week before. true, i have heard "reports" of some behaviour, and saw some of it myself, but maybe i should not pass on hearsay. 

easily the most baffling part of the gig (other than it seemingly being cut short) was the amount of people who appeared not to give a flying f*** about being there. leaving aside the two f*****g idiots near us who started headbutting and punching each other (such happens when people who can't handle a drink do so anyway) there was a staggering number of people just hanging at the bar, drinking away. no real issue with people who want to do that, but not sure why they would wish to purchase a not cheap concert ticket to engage in that. surely the money for the ticket may have been better used at a pub, if that's all you wanted? 

maybe it's just me, and i am possibly getting on the a bit old side for gigs, at least in the sense of going and standing as i do. or, maybe not. by all accounts there were "incidents" in the seated areas too. it would be a cheap shot to list artists that i would expect to have a "rowdy" audience, and one that i will not take. just surprised that a Morrissey one would. 

back to the songs and there were, oddly, some "new" ones. he has a new album, but it has not been released as such as yet as he has failed to secure a deal with a record label prepared to release it. some of this, one would think, would be due to his penchant for arguing and fighting with such labels. as in that time he went on tour wearing a t-shirt saying "F*** Attack Records" whilst signed to them. but, also, the one new song, Bonfire Of Teenagers, is going to court even more trouble than would be usual or within tolerance for a Morrissey record. 

he, Morrissey, is unconditionally Manchester. it was inevitable, perhaps, that at some stage he would address the Manchester Arena bombing. this i get. i am not sure in doing so his attacking those who in a spontaneous move began singing Don't Look Back In Anger, or the artists who performed it after the event, is all that wise. that he has always spoken his mind and been prepared to accept consequences for that was always the appeal, as was touching subjects few others dare. in the past he has made some comments and statements (probably f*****g dozens) i have disagreed with. but, this one. seemingly mocking the way the people of his home city chose to stand together, to mourn, to stand defiant, to be as one voice in response, feels - for the first time ever - like he has crossed a line. it was family and friends of the victims singing it, Moz, not just pop stars you (likely) don't care for. 

let me end on a relative high note, sort of, then. one more song what he did that i was very delighted to see and hear him do is an all time favourite. from what i recall this gem got relegated to a b-side, which is odd as it is one of the most intriguing, brilliant things from him, ever. some prolonged footage from the gig of Jack The Ripper, then. 

rather than just follow the standard lines of the infamous killer, then, Morrissey goes full tilt subversive, trying to understand the psyche and character. casting Jack The Ripper as someone alienated, unable to connect with love, driven to madness by it, is very much a Morrissey interpretation. provocative, a little out of the ordinary, potentially dangerous and likely to cause debate. exactly why i have been a fan of him for so very long. 

quite a lot of the comments he made as the gig went on were of a nature suggesting that he "wouldn't be around" for very long. not sure if he meant that just to our gig, or in a wider sense. rumours have always circulated of health struggles, but here he was in fine voice and seemed fine. but, who knows. yet what i do know is, all things being equal, if a chance came up to see him again, no, i would not take it. let this be a lesson, then. glad to have seen him, but if his gigs now really are just a magnet for lager louts and those seeking affirmation in their political outlook, let me just stick to the tapes, thanks. 

any more gigs for me this year (2022)? none planned, as it happens. should i make it over to 2023, then yes, i do have some lined up. if something really smart looking turns up then yeah, but i would think all concerts likely to happen will have already been announced. probably not, then, no.

don't look back in anger, i heard him say. 

deferring retirement

greetings

it feels, or seems, like quite a while since i discussed my plight with being defrauded, or otherwise conned, out of my pension. this is a matter in which i am far from alone, look you see. like many, many wonderful people i, too, have placed most of my retirement hopes in this oddly named "lottery" fund. the payouts on investment look spectacular, but getting paid out from it appears rather elusive. 

recently it was so that i got one of them 'extra' policies off of this lottery pension fund, the so-called "lucky dip" one. this i procured from my usual policy having 2 (two) numbers "correct". due to an excess of cash, which they haven't normally seemed keen on sharing, the fund administrators allocated me a provisional payout of a whole (entire) £5 as well as another "lucky dip" policy. 

a lack of imagination struck me as i collected this pension stipend. with nothing much better coming to mind to do with the £5 i decided to "re-invest" the amount in that promising to be lucrative, offers to be instantly paying form of pension investment. yes, scracthcards, or "scratchies". 

generally, or usually, i would not pay too much attention to these things. my understanding is that they are highly addictive as a form of securing a pension, with many being lured in, only for disappointment to follow. considering that i am known, in some circles, as a smoker (sorry) it is perhaps fair to contest that i have one of them "addictive personalities", so it is likely best i do, mostly, leave these alone. but, you know, impulse and all that. 

how did this all work out? well, no, i am not retired at time of writing, so perhaps not as well as i had expected. but, been here before with this form of pension. so as to increase my chances of actually getting a pension in this instance, i did indeed diversify. it seemed sensible to split the £5 equally over one £3 and then two £1 pension schemes, or "cards". from what i recall this is called "hedge funding", although it quite possibly is not. you would have to ask Spiros, if you can somehow get him out of whichever gentlemen's public restroom facility he is currently making short term friendships in. 

one important aspect of doing these "scratchcards" is of course scratching off the silver cover on the portfolio. doing so reveals whether or not your retirement policy has matured. an unusual way to conduct such business, but here we are. for this i decided to use my most recent "lucky" coin. that's one of the old types of pound (sterling) coins that you can't use any more. recently, then, i appear to have gotten all f****d over by a charity shop in Brentwood (of all places) what slipped me this in my change. oh, well, i have enabled some laundering, i suppose, or just made an extra donation. 

what was my payout? here we delve into the world of quantum fiscal terms, by way of a quadratic equation or to. try to keep up. i invested the £5 which i was not expecting into different funds, and the return across all three (3) was £2. depending on how you look at this - perspective, etc - i ended up either £3 down in real terms or £2 up in actual terms. 

so, back to verk, presumably.

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

statues

hello there

it has, apparently, come to pass that once a year (give or take) i present, here, a statue off of a football stadium from somewhere or other in England. just England, look you see, for i have not taken a trip to any other aspect of the wider United Kingdom where i would see such. one never knows if such sights loom in my future, though. 

for now, though, not just a statue in the singular, but statues. as in multiple. more than two, certainly, but not quite so many or as much as four (4). recently i was in the fine city of Newcastle, so as to bear witness to Ian Brown (and his tape) in concert. the morning after the night before saw me of sufficient state to undertake a walk to the hallowed football ground of the city, and the weather was, at the least, agreeable to do so. at first, at the least. 

above one can see two of the three on display at St James Park. ostensibly these are the ones which greet one when heading to the ground from the general area of the city centre. but, yes, also, you could indeed head from one of the other directions and not see them as such at first. that i have spent so much time on this point gives every (reasonable) indication that yes, no i don't have all of that much to say, just let the pictures do their thing. and video. 

make no mistake, and readers of a regular nature here shall need no caution, that these images are not intended to be the finest or greatest quality possible. i have every confidence of others taking more better quality images and showing them off. rather it is so that these are my own experiences, recorded here on this blog for what else is it what i would do. 

with no particular preference of order given to them, a closer look starts above with Sir Bobby Robson. in a sport which has provided many, many fine ambassadors, full worthy of praise and respect beyond the borders of a football ground, every now and then there's one which transcends, who is admired far and wide. quite a few would rush to place Sir Bobby at the top of such a list, if it were requested. 

just what puts Sir Bobby into such a category? entire books, as well as documentaries and what have you, have been dedicated to this subject. in short, for i doubt many come here for deep insights, he was a remarkably warm, well spoken and clearly kind gentleman, undertaking all he did with dignity and respect. perhaps he is held so dear as those who saw and heard him wished that they, and all within the world we created, could present such an account of themselves to the world. 

yes, we here do indeed have a video of each statue. on one side taking some video of an immobile structure such as a statue (generally) is seems slightly silly, but also no. whereas once again i qualify this by saying the quality is perhaps not the greatest, i would assume this gives one an idea of what it looks like entire, or most of it, rather than just the one image. 

selecting a "club legend" to put up a statue of could be as complex a decision as it is a straightforward one, i suspect. ticking of the criteria for a great of a particular side is straightforward enough. but, i would speculate, one would also need to consider that they (without going into negatives) shall remain seen as a fine ambassador for both sport and club for the years to come, and shall also be full worthy of the respect of fans from rival clubs visiting the ground. 

quite a safe choice to make with Alan Shearer in those terms, even if circumstantial evidence, momentarily, indicates a pigeon or similar bird momentarily disagreed. from what i recall, and no i am not going ahead and researching this, he is the one who has scored the most goals for Newcastle United in all of recorded history of such things. and a record so high it is unlikely to be broken. 

the oddity, or curious, thing about these two (2) statues greeting visitors to St James Park is that they are club, and indeed to a wide degree national, icons (heroes, perhaps), but for Newcastle United they didn't actually "win" any trophies as such. unless i am mistaken. yes, winning things is lovely, and many may dismiss this as a cliche, or excuse, but often it's how you play and represent the club rather than what you win which makes a local hero. everything of the relationship between Newcastle and Shearer was that watching him smash goal after goal was reward in itself. 

the general myth, or idea, out there is that Newcastle fans in some way feel "entitled" to success and believe they have been "unfairly" denied trophies. whereas i don't, for theoretically at least they are local rivals, spend all that much time in conversation with geordies on this subject, i cannot say that i have ever encountered this view. certainly (for sure) their present tres nouveau riche status means that a level of trophy success is an expectation in the short future, it has always struck me that the club thrives on playing the best possible football, not resorting to means to simply "win". i could be quite mistaken in this view, but i really don't feel like i am. 

on to the third statue, then, around the other side of the ground it be. which was quite a walk, and yes the weather commenced to turn some as i went to find it. but well worth it to see perhaps the most beloved and treasured of Newcastle icons, the one they with affection call Wor Jackie. 

long before my time and era, of course, but one hears and learns of club legends such as Jackie Milburn the moment they take even a passing interest in the subject of club football across the UK. so treasured is this player that, infamously, a certain former prime minister found himself in a bit of silly bother concerning (false) claims that he claimed to have seen him play. for those that actually did, well, by all accounts it was quite a thing to have been able to do. 

video below of this Wor Jackie statue, but for now a moment to pause and consider the future of my doing football statues here. where next? i have no idea. perhaps, having done three (3) in one go, next year shall see me not see one. but then perhaps my travels will allow for more. sadly it would seem to be the case that no value can come from going to Fulham to see the statute no longer there. 

right, well, i trust (actually, rather, hope) that has given a decent glimpse of the statutes of Newcastle United for anyone interested. yes, once again, i have no doubt much more better quality images, and videos, are out there on the net, but here we are. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh is that why

heya

recently, out of boredom or just curiosity, i was reading a fairly old periodical. magazine, if you will, although in a digital format. online, look you see. not sure if you've tried this "internet" thing, dear reader, but yeah, give it a go, some fascinating stuff on it. 

anyway, i was reading away (or browsing), admiring the quality photography which accompanied some text or other, and then i noted an advert. bearing in mind that this was from 38 years ago, or 1984 to clarify we now stand, at time of publication, in 2022, it seemed to suggest why one particular problem exists today. a problem in the UK, if nowhere else. 

oh. so is that perhaps why, then. let me explain. a constant predicament, if not frustration, for me (and i suspect many others) is that very nearly (nigh on) all deodorants, or "body sprays" available for sale in the united kingdom tend to have a "musk" scent. this is either of a quite slight, very strong or flat out full tilt one hundred percent nature. is this all down to a self fulfilling prophecy thing, i now wonder. we, or rather a company operating and speaking on our behalf apparently hawked a musk smell as being very much "it" to the americans, so they have reciprocated by selling it back. 

meanwhile, yes, of course, my reading of publications from a more enlightened time led to me seeing those things that we cannot see no more. except that you would not rule out the incumbent, if not present, uk government undoing. which might be the one good thing they could or would do. anyway, of course i speak of a time when grown up people were allowed to make their own decisions, and so no it was simply not so that cigarette advertising was banned, or particularly conditional. 

i think, to cover myself including that, i have to say that smoking is very silly and probably quite bad for you, so you are encouraged to either not take up the hobby, no matter how enjoyable it or, or otherwise seek to quit, no matter how difficult that is. 

the world is far duller now that we don't have class adverts like this one. imagine the days of excess when one would take a bunch of cowboys up a mountain (or hill) via helicopter and take a picture of them, for reasons no further than art and selling some fags to we, the people. 

with adverts like this no longer allowed it does make the choice of cigarettes for people, such as moi, all the more difficult. rather than considering which ones have the smartest adverts, one is now compelled, if not obliged, to make a choice of cigarettes only on the basis of which are the cheapest, or which ones are available via independent importers what, in a deft and useful way, bypass needless taxes. 

unless i am quite mistaken that advert above, which was facing page top left to the one for the musk business, is for a karaoke machine (kind of) prior to such things being widespread. widespread in what one may call "western" culture, at the least. not sure when, exactly, they became the thing to do in a proper sense in the place of origin (japan), but i don't rightly remember them being an actual thing in early to mid 80s. perhaps they were, and i just wasn't paying attention. 

can, or could, adverts for fags (cigarettes, americans and not what you are thinking) ever be misleading? surprisingly yes, it seems. here, have a look at this one. being mindful, of course, that smoking is quite dangerous, bad for you, etc. 

yeah. that seems to imply, if not overtly state, that players fags (not what you think, americans) are some gateway to a luxury, mostly agreeable, enjoyable stylish life. no, not really, not really, no. depending on which shop you go to, players are popular purely by being the cheapest available in this era of high taxes. they are, mostly, f*****g awful things, enjoyed only by salty sea dog types, as i have mentioned in previous reviews. can't be bothered to find a link to such, sorry. 

just noticed the fellow advertising that musk aftershave looks a bit like one of the actors, for want of a better word, in Big Splash, a film that Spiros is a big, big fan of. let me forward it on to him and see if it is him, although from what i recall it wasn't his face that Spiros was interested in. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!