Wishing you a Massimo Christmas

Happy Mumdays

Hope you're sending her a bit Sunshine & Love today. Happy Mumdays.

Kinky Afro

"Son, I'm thirty. I only went with your mother coz she's dirty..."

I turned thirty today. At least I got a birthday tweet off Rowetta.

Found NYC

If you don't know, you weren't there...

Ireland v England 1995

The Enemy Within

"She (Thatcher) did more damage to us than Hitler" - Durham miners leader Dave Hopper

Margaret Thatcher 1925-2013

Gardening Leave

Might be out of the loop for the next few weeks. Moving house today and new place doesn't have a phone line. So no tinterweb. And when we get it sorted will have bigger fish to fry until settled.

It's going to be a quiet February but stay tuned though because got some topics planned including -

Clarks Minster Moor

Charity shop Stone Island

Northern Monkeys book review

Cult Poolies - Brian Horne

Righto that's me signing off for a bit. Take care.

Live from Heaton Park it's Saturday Night

England v Sweden

At the end of the day it wouldn't be a true England tournament performance if we didn't do things the hard way. Or use the phrase 'at the end of the day'. The English were to prevail against the swedes and get the victory - it was a foregone conclusion according to messrs Hansen, Shearer and Dixon prior to the match. What insider knowledge they had I'm unsure given they were sat in Salford.

Same old England for the majority of it though. Blind optimism after a well taken header by Carroll followed by typical sloppy showing from the lions, losing possession too easily and failing to dictate the pace of play. After scoring the first it was similar to going a goal up against the French, defence sitting too deep and not closing down anyone on the edge of the area. Managed to limp to half time. 1-0.

For a team supposedly building from the back with a strong defence, England didn't half look shaky and the part time Swedes exposed this twice. The first goal was a comedy of errors and the second from static grounded defenders and lack of communication from the keeper. Any confidence gained by resolute defending vs. France, gone in two moments of madness against the unfancied Swedes. 1-2.

But then Hodgson showed tactical guile bringing on Theo Walcott. The lad has been waiting for his chance in a tournament to come. But on the flip side of that, England have been waiting for him to arrive at a tournament. Still living off his hatrick against Croatia in an ill fated qualification campaign, Mark Lawrenson rightly said 'it's time to shine'. And shine he did. Second touch he hit a decent effort on target which completely eluded eight yellow shirts and wrong footed the keeper. 2-2. Shortly after that he dashed through the defence to play a quick square ball for Welbeck to expertly bundle home. 3-2.

Four points out of six will surely see us through, but after this performance it's back to pessimism. If we play like this against the likes of Spain or Germany, what'll happen? Food for thought. However back to tonight, a victory is a victory even if you do things the hard way, and England showed us just why we love them and hate them in the space of 90 minutes.

Cardiff City - The Whobirds?

Cardiff City are suffering an identity crisis as the club's owners start a rebranding campaign, most notably in the difference of kit colours. The board of directors have sold the Bluebird's 104 year old soul to Malaysian investors in order to clear debt and raise a few bob. They'll now play in red which apparently will appeal to a wider market than their century old blue - presumably to offer them off as the Welsh Man United to oriental audiences (despite playing in an inferior league to country rivals Swansea). Perhaps more likely CCFC will appeal now because the dragon is a big cultural icon in the Far East - or is that a touch racial? I just can't believe that a board would sell the clubs identity and history just because the colourway doesn't fit in with what a couple of foreign millionaires want for their plaything. Actually I can believe it, it's all about the money even at Championship level. Sounds like they were dangling a big gold carrot - change the colours and get the wad.

Fans obviously protested when it was first mooted a month or so ago, and the plans seemed to be dead in the water, but today it became reality as it was pushed through quickly. The Bluebirds are no more. It's now the Red Dragons, with the national Welsh symbol taking pride of place on the new club badge. Sky Sports News editing only showed slightly disappointed fans who grudgingly admitted if it keeps the club afloat then they'll take it. But there'll be a real hardcore dead against it cursing the board as yet another club sells itself out losing its identity. And that's just the Cardiff fans - it's yet to be documented what original welsh reds Wrexham think about it?

A Traditional Reds vs Blue Subbuteo clash

However football fans are a fickle lot and as Simon Jordon pointed when asked about the subject - ''if they win the Championship next season the fans won't care will they?''. Which proved to be the point in Leeds in 1962 when Don Revie abolished the traditional 43 year old blue and yellow colours and changed it to all white, in order to emulate the great Real Madrid. It seemed to work as two years later they won the title and then set on a decade long spell dominating English footie like Liverpool and Man Utd did in the 80s and 90s respectively. I bet the Leeds fans couldn't remember what colour they originally played in after all the champagne consumed after yet another trophy triumph. The same couldn't be said for Millwall in 1999 when they went all white and ended up in League One. Come 2001 they changed back to royal blue and went back up to the Championship.

Leeds Home shirt (without Revie history)

However there's also the opposite end of the scale where you get the impression clubs should have changed their colours. About ten years ago our old sparring partners Darlington had safe cracker jack owner, the Sunderland born Georgie Reynolds, attempt to change their colours from black/white to red and white stripes after his beloved. The fans went apeshit but given their recent plight perhaps they'd have been better off as Sunderland B. And what about Notts County? The oldest football (league) club in the world have had a fairly mediocre time of it post war, especially when compared to their cross-city neighbours. And they gave their colours to help set up a newly formed Italian outfit in 1929, Juventus going on to become a massive club and making a major impact on Europe. On the other hand County are playing second fiddle to Forest on making an impact in Nottinghamshire. Change to blue anyone? Of course that would mean losing the moniker 'Magpies', but then the nickname 'Bluebirds' has just become available.

Magpies vs. Eyeties

Happy Mondays @ Newcastle

Me and our kid are on the rattler to Toon, excited at the prospect of seeing the Happy Mondays original line up play together for the first time in 19 years. The Ryder brothers reunited after over a decade of hating each others guts. Bez, Mark Day, Knobhead, Gazza Whelan and Rowetta completing Madchester's finest.

It's been a long time coming for those guys, nearly two decades since the ill fated 'Yes, Please' caused ill temper and the breakup of the Mondays. Back in previous forms and line ups as far as 2007 but never the original bunch. And they're playing their first reunion gig in Newcastle. Good times.

We're having a few jars in the pub round the corner. Usual crowd milling about wetting their whistle. Ageing chaps who remember them first time around, resplendent in their Lyle & Scott, CP Company et. al. Never understand lads wearing their best gear at gigs considering there'll be bottles of piss flying round later. I'm dressing it down in a vintage RL harrington and battered Trimm Trabs. I'm telling the tale that Rowetta has retweeted/replied to me three times in 48 hours. The little tease. We sink a few lagers, rib a guy who wants to be Liam Gallagher (who isn't going to the gig), give a cheer when 'Step On' comes on the jukey and slope off to the O2.

In the academy and overpriced Carlsberg I'm jealously eyeing up the Happy Mondays bucket hats the merch stalls are selling, kicking myself that I only brought beer vouchers. The Inspiral Carpets come on as support earlier than expected and do a cracking job of rousing the crowd with a handful of quality tunes. Clint Boon plays up to the 'Boon Army' and seems quite emotional that its the first time the Carpets have played together for awhile too. I make the mistake of seeing out their set before going for a slash and join every gent in the place in a queue for the one set of khazi's.

Then there's a long old wait of anticipation waiting for the guys to come out. Eventually Bez swaggers out to a massive cheer and introduces the guys. They come out of the wings to critical acclaim and kick us off with Loose Fit. The crowd, including myself and the lad, go mental, but more so when Bez comes back out for some Freaky Dancin for Kinky Afro. He disappears after this - well he is a grandad.

Hit after hit and tune and tune come out from the Mondays. Shaun swearing a lot and living up to his lead role, checking the setlist sellotaped to the floor and ribbing Bez about his aftershow party being very exclusive - pay the six quid or have excellent tits and you're in. Paul and Mark do an excellent job on respective guitars and Rowetta looks and sounds great. The sound is a little muffled but they're doing a smashing job. They can play and are doing it as if they have been doing it for 19 years.

Anxiously checking watch as the last train to Durham looms. Ryder breaks into 'Step On', Bez reappearing to bop around. The crowd noise goes up a couple of decibels and I'm thinking they can't possibly do an encore after Step On. Alas they do and theres no fucking way I'm leaving for the train. They reappear and go to Mr. Jellybean followed by WFL. Then it's off the stage enroute to tomorrow's gig in Glasgow with Newcastle cheering them all the way there. Great reviews to follow on this tour if tonight's show is anything to go by.

Me and our kid leave - all sweaty bodies, passive weed stink, stale beer fug clouding and piss stained shoes. We find a bus stop and get on the last double decker of the night to the land of Prince Bishops. Sat on the top deck, flying through dark silent streets we relived the songs, me slightly disappointed 'Tart Tart' wasn't on the menu. Still 'God's Cop' and 'Holiday' were. Pleased about that.

The Mondays playing together for the first time in 19 years. And we were there. Champion.

Gorillaz (2001-2012)

Felt the need to post regarding virtual Britpop band Gorillaz demise. With co-creators Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett not seeing eye to eye at the moment, a pin has firmly been stuck in the whole cartoon band thing.

It's a sad thing because they've been with me throughout an important time of my life. Although I bang on about Madness, the Mondays, the Roses etc. they were all before my time. Oasis and Blur were closer but being young teenager when they were going head to head I couldn't get involved. So when hitting my peak in my late teens it was the Gorillaz who have been the background music taking me through the past decade, from invincible leary feck of an 18 year old to a settled 29 year old married dad. And the Gorillaz, like myself, have changed a lot over that time.

I first became aware of them, as everyone did, in 2001 with the thumping debut track 'Clint Eastwood'. Fuck knows where the title came from but the tune was banging. There we were freshi out of sixth form, on release for the weekend, a friday night starting off in the gloom of the Durham City Snooker Club - Cheap pints of Grolsch and bags of Seabrooks, a few frames, then off to chase the wanny. And then this song comes on. It's good. Bloody good. So we turn to the box to check out the accompanying video. But fucking hell these little cartoon men are singing it. What is this? This was the Gorillaz. (Strangely enough the next music vid after this was another animated one - Robbie Williams 'Let Love be Your Energy. We preferred the Gs).

The self titled album contained some great, albeit weirdly named, songs - classic pop tunes mixed with an angry edge, and also a hip-hop vibe provided by 'Del the ghost', counteracting 2D's melancholic voice. Bass provided by Stoke based sadist Murdoc, drums by big Russel and Japanese child Noodle played the other guitar. The perfect manufactured band.

By the time the massive 'Demon Days' came out in 2005 a few years had past. University education was coming to and end, and with it came a deep sorrow. I loved the lazy lifestyle and boozing it up with my pals from Leeds, Redcar and Sunderland. Now the end was nigh and it was time to grow up. Demon Days was like that too. Gorillaz had grown up. The album had a darker edge. It suited my mood. It was there as a chapter of my life was closed and a new one opened. Education gone, time to work. And whilst searching for work I bought Demon Days with the pennies gave to me by the DSS. It kept me going whilst on the dole for sixth months. The pick of the litter for me was 'Dare', mainly because Shaun Ryder was in it. My main memory about this LP was with being out with some old school pals on a student night in Lancaster, monged out of my brain and ad-libbing to Feel Good Inc. whilst trying to keep my guts down on the dance floor. Magic. When my passport to pleasure on the Rock and Roll was over and I finally got a job a few of the (swearwordless) songs were on the company's radio list. Along with this I met a girl...

And step forward to the third album half a decade later, Plastic Beach is unlike the two albums before it. Melancholic relaxed content electro. It almost isn't the Gorillaz. And to an extent it isn't. The cartoon holograms seen performing 'live' in 2005/06 have gone, it's now officially Albarn from Blur and 50% of the Clash in daft sailor hats. They'd changed. And I had too. 2010 and I'm happily married to said girl and expecting a child. He comes along and now I'm Plastic Beached. Content and reflective. I'm sat on Melancholy Hill. Now at 17 months old he loves the Gorillaz too. Bopping to 1999-2000.

But I can't help feeling a touch of sadness when I listen to the final single from Plazzy Beach, 'Doncamatic'. This is a reflective song with an underlying message. That it's finished. Daley sings the song, not Albarn, and it's about closing the book, someone stealing your face etc - something that has actually happened to the cartoon characters we love from the Gorillaz. And the most crushing lyric being that "we're all played out".

It's the end of them. It certainly isn't the end of me, but the me of 2001 and 2005 has certainly long gone. But I'm pleased the cartoony nuttiness of Gorillaz was with me providing the soundtrack to some of the most important and enjoyable times of my life...

Dunston Rocket

I'm not talking about Dunston born Gazza's brain leaving the planet earth - I'm actually referring to Derwent House - dubbed the 'Dunston Rocket'. Time has been called on another one of Gateshead Council's brutalist structures. Like Trinity Square multi-storey (The 'Get Carter' car park) before it, demolition work has started on the spaceship shaped tower block - only this time, unlike Trinity, Sly Stallone didn't lend his weight try to get this one saved. Amazingly someone still tried to get this listed with English Heritage. They failed.

Designed in the 1960s the Derwent had 30 storeys and 196 dwellings, plus an underground car park which became a haven for drugs and crime, and was thus sealed off long before the building was condemned. 1300 residents once lived in this concrete slum but have been long gone for awhile amidst water supply and damp problems.

Still it's a fantastic example of brutalist design not often seen in these parts of the woods. Most have long since gone and other than major metropolises down south, there are not many existing strucutres in Co Durham.

Lock, Stock and Four Hungover Northerners

Couple of tourist snaps from an away weekend in the smoke with a few Sunderland lads in 2008. We saw out a nil-nil draw with Fulham and crashed at a youth hostel-come-nightclub in London Bridge. Early Sunday morning it was round the corner to Borough market to take a few pics at the Lock, Stock & Two smoking barrels location.

Dogging in Newcastle

Excuse the misleading title, just I'm vaguely amused at the additional page hits I'll receive by randy Geordies googling hotspots for sordid public displays of making babies in their cars. I'm actually referring to greyhound racing that takes place four days a week in the East end of Newcastle..

Went for the first time ever last night after the wife received free complimentary tickets through work, and had a blast. A few friends, a few family and myself and the wife went dogging in Byker (I'm sorry, I'll stop it now). Throughly enjoyed the free pie and pies and a few jars, whilst having a few quid on the dog I fancied in each race. Had three winners out of twelve races, the best was the aptly titled 'Mags Gamble', so just came under break even - but made it far more enjoyable even if it was just for peanuts.

Shall certainly look into it again as was a relativity cheap night - entrance, fed and watered, and twelve singles and spent just over £20 - for me and the wife. Great nights entertainment. Shame a few of the lads opted out, but they're heavier gamblers than us lot who went, so will possibly have been worried about loss of wages. Could have had a better end to the evening for the wife too - she fell ill on the way home, and was in the driving seat at the time so covered the dash, herself and me in vom. Meant I had to drive from Gateshead to Durham slightly over the limit, but four pints of watered down Carlsberg (which is pishwasser anyway) led to no driving mishaps - it probably just added to the evenings entertainment.

Suggs - My Life Story in Words and Music

One of my childhood and, indeed, all-time heroes and idols took to the stage last night in Newcastle, doing the difficult job of being front-man of a one-man show. I wasn't sure what to expect, receiving the tickets for Christmas from the wife, and now sat in the stalls pondering if the Nutty Boys singer would cut it going alone. I needn't have worried. Suggs was amazing and lived up to all the hype and buzz in the newspapers. Recounting tales from his unusual adolescence, through teenage rebellion, the highs and lows of living with Madness and tv/radio career - plus searching for his personal history through a deceased bastard father. Suggs delivered the touching anecdotes with at times humility and emotion, and the funny ones (most) with working class cussing and hilarious comic timing that most professional comedians would kill for.

Personal highlights for me included the Madness tale, when dressed in full Police uniforms filming 'Shut Up', kicked the door in of where the Clash were recording in a faux raid. Illegal substances were promptly flushed down the toilet before the punks realised. Another was filling in centre stage for Oasis in Paris - after the headlining Mancs refused Madness to use the main stage before them, forcing them to use a smaller tent the day before, only to split up (the first time) allowing Suggsys boys to play in the Gallagher's place. Cue an excellent impersonation of Liam's Chimp-with-polio swagger and nasal Manc lilt. Madness brought the house down then, as Suggs did last night.

Also there were excellent renditions of his personal classic pop songs, which assisted the story telling and raised it from memoirs to a music hall extravaganza. Dangerman cover of Lola, solo song Cecilia, Baggy Trousers, Madness, Shut Up and the finale It Must Be Love were all sung to rapturous applause. Following the Labi Siffre love song, Suggs left to a standing ovation. Brilliance. Borrow, beg or steal the money to go an see this show. To coin a couple Madness album titles sums it up perfectly - Absolutely and Wonderful.

Feel Good Revolution

Kickers boots have gone hand-in-hand (or should that be feet-in-feet?) with most major youth cults throughout it's 40 odd year history, and the feel good revolution website charts this. The timeline brought to you by the brand itself is well worth a look, particularly the early football casuals of 1977s, acid house era of late 80s and Cool Britannia's 90s Britpop.

9/11 Ten Years on

Merde tete. Ficken Schiesse. Everyone can remember what they were doing when they found out about the World Trade centre being hit. Thats what I was doing. Was in a free period in 6th form and was looking up swear words in foreign dictionaries. So I'll know the french for 'shit head' and German for 'fucking shit' as long as I'll live.

One of the swotty lasses came bursting into the common room and told us that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Centre and they weren't sure if it was a terrorist attack. Two things crossed my mind. 'What the frig is the World Trade Centre?' and 'The Irish haven't started up again have they?' - having grown up in the 1990s anytime terrorism was mentioned, I automatically thought of Gerry Adams and his cronies. So I apologise to the Pats for thinking this.

We moved through to the study room and and found news24 showing footage of the event. I knew what the World Trade Centre was now. There was on of the most iconic buildings, seen in just about every American New York based film I'd ever seen. One of the twin towers had a fucking gaping big hole in it. BBC were doing their indifferent sitting on the fence best, claiming that it was unsure if it was a terror plot or if a plane had simply crashed. They soon changed their tune two minutes later as they, like us, watched in open mouth horror as another plane came onto the screen and plowed into the other tower. Definately terrorist. Then everyone (just us thankfully, not the Beeb reporters) did that thing everyone does when they're panicked or scared - a nervous giggle.

News continued all day and rest of it is a bit sketchy, although I remember watching the rolling news all night, seeing people chuck themselves off the top floors rather than burn to death, and saw the towers collapse within 40 minutes of each other. A shocking day of events that will live on in people's memories forever. I just wished I'd started it and finished it with a bit more class. Rude words in strangers tongue, and on school bus home singing REM's 'It's the End of the World as we Know it'. Although some would agree it genuinely was.

Panic

On the streets of London.