Big thanks to Andy and the lads from Rocketsmith for the very kind mention on The Fox's Den Show on friday night...click on the link above and have a listen to the whole show...There's some great tracks from various rock bands as well as a few great tunes done in an acoustic style from Rocketsmith...
DON'T tell me you're poor and have nothing...Just take a look at these pictures of real poverty...
That is the reality of poverty above. Here in the uk, even if we're unfortunate to fall on hard times there is a safety net to keep us off the streets begging..there is a system in place to secure a roof over your head and to provide money to keep you from starving or freezing to death.
I get sick and tired of all these people moaning and twisting on about how the economy in the uk is pushing us further into poverty..ITS TOTAL AND UTTER BOLLOCKS..Yes times are hard and cloth is cut to sustain a decent standard of living BUT we're a long way away from the above..
JUST REMEMBER HOW LUCKY YOU ARE TO LIVE IN THE UK AND APPRECIATE IT ALL INSTEAD OF FUCKING MOANING AND BLAMING IMMIGRANTS OR THE GOVERNMENT..
IF YOU'RE ONE OF THESE MOANERS..TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT THE PHOTOGRAPHS...THEN TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT YOURSELF.
WELL here i am again another year older, i realy am a lucky lucky fella, i've had so many scrapes with death i even surprise myself some days and often pinch myself just to make sure its not all another one of those crazy dreams i have.
WHY a blog on my birthday ? actually i just felt like doing a bit of writing in the small hours, nothing unusual for me realy, i should be tucked up in bed with the mrs realy, but thanks to me dozing off yet again after dinner last night i'm now awake and just merrily typing away in the peace and quiet with a cuppa tea.
WHAT to put in my birthday blog ? well i suppose i'd better once again thank my wonderful parents for putting me on this earth and doing their very best to give me a good start in life..those lessons i've come to appreciate as i've grown older are the same ones i'm now passing down to my daughter.
LESSONS are what makes life fun, some lessons may not seem like fun at the time, but they do contain a message to learn from and use to either better your life or pass on to others to learn from..i wish i had a pound for every lesson i've had to learn, every apology i've had to hand out and every hand-shake i've received as a mark of respect...NO seriously i've learned some of the best lessons in the past two or three weeks, i wont go into detail, i wont slander or tear people apart verbally, i'll just quietly get on with living my life, enjoying the day to day run of the mill things while making sure the most important people in my life are ok.
HERE'S to the future, the next minute, the next hour, the next waking morning...one day there will be no future for me, i'm not daft, i know i'm living on a tight-rope and one slip is likely to be fatal..it could be that this is my last ever birthday...i realy don't know. one thing i do know is this, if it is my last birthday on earth, i've left my mark, i've done far more good than bad, and i know i'll live on in the memory of some very good people who have taught me lessons, helped me when i've needed it, and been there, as i have for them in their hour of need.
You've all heard the stories or read them in various places on the internet "CHILD COMMITS SUICIDE THANKS TO BULLIES"...Bloody shocking innit in this day and age that this can happen..Even more shocking is that people actually push individuals to the brink where they TOP THEMSELVES for want of a better word..
I remember reports coming out of a town in wales not too long back of quite a few people taking their own lives..i'm not 100 % sure why this was, but i do believe there was a link somewhere to cyber-bullying.
I thought i'd cover this topic for a change after a brief exchange of opinion with believe it or not a doctor regarding STALKERS..We both concluded that basically if you don't want to be stalked then dont use the sites that are open for all to see..Yes there are and always will be social wierdos or should i say anti-social..also twisted jilted ex's who just cant let go, and of course those so obsessed and jealous of people who follow their every move and hang onto every word they may type on the net...These types realy should be excluded from using the net and laws and detection put in place to maintain this.
I have only realy been familiar with the internet for approx 4 years..i started off on silly chat sites on my phone, then as time and technology became available i obviously use my blackberry and laptop.
While using a chat/avatar site i struck up a few friendships and realy enjoyed using the site to express myself by way of mini-blogs or short statements...These were obviously commented on and at times i'd be visited by the odd numpty who thought it fun to abuse me or mock my words..Being the type of character who dont take no shite from nobody, i'd hit back and an all out cyber-war would break out.
Sad thing is i'd let this bother me and often i'd close my phone and think OMG these people are plain crazy..yes i got death threats and threats to be stabbed or shot..being a bit naive i realy did think these bastards were serious...Anyway as time went on i just focused on the friendships and blanked the nutters (BEST WAY) i'm sure you'll agree.
One of my online friends, a lady in america who in her mid 50s was and still is one of the nicest friendliest kindest people you could ever wish to converse with on the net..Over a period of time the nutters would attack her verbally with the sole intent of inflicting misery..now i know you're maybe thinking she should be old and wise enough to just shake this crap off, but sadly she wasn't and the constant bullying got to the level where she seriously looked at killing herself...Not liking this one bit i obviously talked to her and convinced her to seek medical help and to cut herself away from the site..not an easy task for me to get into her head and convince, but one i'd readily do in real life so to speak if a friend was in dire-straights.
She did seek help and was diagnosed very seriously depressed and put on a programme of drugs and therapy, which over time thankfully got her back to being her happy go lucky self..
Now being a bit more clued up and always ready for the odd loser to take a dislike to what i say online, i feel it perfectly right to give these nutters a run for their money..See just like in the school playground or in the workplace, if you let these freaks get you down they come back for more and wont let go till you satisfy their lust for tears and leaving you a nervous wreck...I just dont take it..i've had a few scraps on twitter with idiots who for some reason dont like my tweets or feel the urge to pick a fight..Yes there's banter and a bit of wind-up, thats all good crack as they say and can be quite a good laugh...However for someone to lable someone a racist simply because of a name i use online (monkeyhanger) i find very disturbing..I did change my name on twitter last year for a while so as not to offend people...But after around 6 months thought NO fuck it..my twitter, my name my choice..so i changed it back and to hell with those who take offence (their problem and ignorance not mine)...
Concluding this blog i'd just like to say to those who may be reading this and feel they are becoming victims of the losers i've mentioned above..Get to your Doctor, tell him the whole truth and he will help you decide which course of action to take as well as help you to get better if you're being mentally tortured...The bullies must be held accountable for their actions in all cases and there is a network of support out there for all if you dig deep, get brave and talk....NO PERSON should have to go through this in silence..its 2011 and although sometimes we moan..its still the best era to be LIVING in rather than becoming yet another statistic and memory.
Well i'm off again with one of my blog-posts..i'm realy starting to enjoy this creative writing lark and the smashing feedback i'm getting too..
CIRCUS....Yes i'm going to cover my passion for circus and also magic..My first ever memory of going to the circus is way back around 1971/72. i remember going to blackpool with my nana on a short holiday and to meet up with two of her sisters (my great aunts) who had travelled over there from bradford.
My memory is a bit vague but i do remember being at the tower circus and seeing a "charlie chaplin" type fella perform there..I now know from a bit of research that this fella was the late great CHARLIE CAIROLI (king of the clown world in his day), and highly acclaimed all over the world.The other memory was strangely one of not feeling too well, and for some reason the smell of popcorn in the famous arena may have had something to do with that..
The next time i went to the circus was around 1982 when the Roberts Bros Circus came to middlesbrough on clairville common...Yes i remember the great billy smart circuses on tv around christmas time, i'm sure some of you do too, and i so wish the bbc or whoever would bring them back instead of all this bloody x-factor, britains got talent, plastic nauseous bullshit..SORRY but if thats your idea of entertainment you realy do need to take a long hard look at yourself and have your bumps read..
Anyway the circus in middlesbrough is the only real outside BIG-TOP circus i've seen and although a bit smelly from the animals, was otherwise excellent with all manner of performers and of course lions and tigers caged in the ring..
I have to add that i'm also a big fan of MAGIC from getting my first magic set when i was around 6 or 7 years old..One of the greatest things in recent years has been the inclusion of illusion into circus shows here at the HIPPODROME CIRCUS in great yarmouth..As a kid i'd sit amazed at magicians on telly, the paul daniels magic show being a big favourite of mine..Books about magic and illusion are in my collection and often browsed..
Speaking of THE HIPPODROME CIRCUS GREAT YARMOUTH..Its got to be one of the finest examples of a permanant circus arena in the world..yes the tower circus is very impressive under the blackpool tower, but this piece of fine architecture realy is one of the jewels in the circus crown..Lovingly looked after by the Jay family for over 30 years who have put in extortionate amounts of time and effort to bring the public the finest acts from around the world to the circus ring...Often described as the mini royal albert hall..it realy is a magical experience to go see the circus here in great yarmouth.
One of the outstanding performers in recent years has been the amazing Robert Foxhall with his breath-taking arial displays, Also who could forget the brilliant clown Danny Adams along with his "old fella" Clive Webb..Side splitting stuff and a bag full of slapstick comedy that has had me and my family doubled up laughing many many times...Magic & Illusion too has been brought into the shows and although a bit wierd when first witnessed in a circus ring, is now pretty much a part of every show peter jay now puts together.
If by chance you find yourself in great yarmouth visiting or on holiday and you have never experienced the magic of the circus...Please get yourself there, i promise you you'll enjoy every minute and will leave the arena in a daze of amazement at what you've just seen..
I'd like to close this blog by paying a massive tribute to Peter Jay (above) and his family..They realy do give so much and are one of the reasons Great Yarmouth is exactly that.......GREAT, It truly baffles me that peter has not been awarded an MBE or similar for his dedication to the entertainment industry......Maybe someone
somewhere should be putting his name forward. because he truly is one of the greatest impresarios the world has ever seen...
Jazzed my blog up a bit last night..bit on tinkering here and there, So whadda ya think readers..???
Good..Bad Or A Load Of Old Shit...Think it kinda sums me up nicely..Looking out to sea from the said gallows on the shore.
Yes i know its not officially #NorfolkDay but being that it is Horatio Nelsons birthday it bloody well should be. Not long back they were raving about #yorkshireday on twitter...i'm sure if certain members of the norfolk community had suggested this day as a celebration of our wonderful county, it would be talked of in higher places than twitter..
Now i know certain things do take a while to register in norfolk and i'm pretty sure there will be the odd sea-salt raising a glass to our local hero and rightly so..However i think just raising a glass isn't quite enough, what do you think..??? Maybe in city hall norwich or great yarmouth town hall they have something planned for local councillors ect (i dont know) , if so then they should realy share the fun with all the good folk of norfolk so we can all enjoy and embrace what is so fantastic about our county. I'm not going to say much more than this, but will tweet the odd tweet using the #NorfolkDay hashtag from midnight..For those reading who don't know what wonders we have inside our borders, i'll let the pictures do the talking below and maybe a video too..
Here's to #NorfolkDay 2011 in the hope that by 2012 it will be embraced and celebrated by all in our wonderful county.
Bet you're thinking to yourself..what on earth is a monkeyhanging hartlepool united / Middlesbrough fan doing writing about the mackems..???
Well i'll try to explain..see the story goes something like this, Way way back before i was born, my mam and dad were very passionate sunderland supporters, in fact i believe every man..woman..child and scabby pit pony in the mining village of Murton County Durham was and pretty much still is..nobody gives you an option realy, its something you're born into and its something there is little escape from..
Truth be known, many would set off mid-morning from the village on bikes or on foot on the 8 mile journey to Roker Park, back in the olden days when cars were few and bus services infrequent..
My earliest memory of going to roker park was a game against cardiff city which i mentioned in a previous blog-post..i'm realy not sure how many times i've actually stood on the fullwell or roker end terraces or taken a seat in the clock stand, but it must be at least 50.
Inside roker park you would find whole families on the terraces, yes even grandads and grannies with their wooly hats and red,white and black scarves..I think this is where true passion was ingrained into me, no i'm not passionate about sunderland personally, but being a part of a crowd at such a young age its fair to say you cant help but get enthusiastic and want to sing the songs others are singing with their all..
Most of my trips to roker park were from when i was staying with my grandparents in murton..i'd often go along with a friend from the village andy richardson and his dad..However due to my dads still lingering passion for the black cats, we'd sometimes jump into his mates car and head up the A19 from middlesbrough when he was home from working on the oil rigs or in holland or norway..This was only ever done if the boro obviously playing away that day..
We'd pull into the roker hotel on roker seafront and nip inside for a bite to eat and a couple of pints (coke or lemonade for me) as i was still just a young spotty teenager...Then it would be a short walk round to the stadium, avoiding piles of police horse shit, barking alsatians and the odd scuffle outside the pub that was next to the roker end ( cant remember the name of it..)...Not a word was said between us heading to roker park, my dads accent was local but mine and his mate pauls were more teesside than wearside..accents were a dead give away and it was wise to keep it zipped during the game too, but obviously jump around like a looney if sunderland scored...
I remember when i was around 16 or 17 and middlesbrough were away to sunderland..this was to be my first trip with my mates to roker park..we headed off mid-afternoon to middlesbrough railway station for the trip up to mackemland..the train was chokka and there were a lot of familiar faces onboard..there was mass tension on the train and you could see in the eyes of the older lads they were up for one hell of a scrap when we got to sunderland.
This is where the story takes a twist..we'd just got past hartlepool and were heading towards seaham harbour, as we pulled into seaham, all the lads started getting off the train..someone thought it was seaburn (close to roker park) so not wanting to end up at sunderland central with just a few mates, we decided to get off too..
Nobody realy knew where they were and the train had left around 300 of us on the platform, i grabbed one of the lads and told him the direction to sunderland as i knew seaham quite well..so off we went through the village heading to the A19..locals were coming to their doors to see why 300 football fans were walking through their village..some shouted stuff but were ignored..these lads had BIG FISH to fry....As we reached the A19 and then into ryhope village, we saw a massive welcoming party, no not sunderland fans but the local police in massive numbers..This was a bit of a relief but to others you could sense the police had messed up plans for better things..So we were all surrounded and escorted to an area near sunderland rugby club (grangetown i think) and put on yellow double deckers to roker park..
Sunderland won the game 1-0 and afterwards we were escorted to a massive train and sent back to the boro..most pissed off not only with the result, but also the lack of action with their fans.
I'm sure you're all aware of sunderlands proudest moment to date..that 1973 cup final v's leeds united..This club was once the richest in the land, and earned the nickname "the bank of england club" in the 1930's..I'm pretty sure the deep passion is still there with the fans..yes they are currently in the premier league and to be fair just treading water..i feel it wont be long before they plummet back down to the 2nd division as it was in old money..To me they just arn't the same club anymore and dont command the BIG CLUB title they once held and rightly so...You mackems will say different, but in reality its true...The video below was the greatest moment in the clubs history and i doubt it will ever be matched again.
One thing i will say in favour of sunderland is this..your fans are by far the loudest i've ever heard..when not at football in sunderland and shopping in the town as it was back then, My nana would often say "can you hear the roker roar pet" or hinney (co durham slang for honey)..??? and by christ you could on the town side of the river wear..
