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What a pullarva.

So yesterday I wake up and I have a little pain in my foot, I walk it off but it is still nagging away. This carries on through the day, progressively getting worse but still able to walk it off. I head off home and on the train between Stafford and Birmingham I am in uncomfortable pain. The train pulls into Stafford and I cant walk on it, its excruciating agony and I cant walk at all, I struggle to get off the train and so its then that Lisa drives me to the hospital, I really think at this point I can walk it off. 4 hours later it appears somehow I have damaged some soft tissue and I am on crutches, I can put any weight on my foot and I am fucking cursing because I havent got the first clue what I have done. It is still agonising and I still cant put any weight on it.

George Lamb, (he’s a cunt you know) managed to win the rising star award last night at the Sony Radio awards, hopefully this will attract the attention of Radio 1 or someone and take this man off 6 music. When it happens I know I can tune in again.

(apologies for the use of the C word if my dad is reading this)

Its only rock n roll but I like it. Just finished reading Ronnie Wood’s Autobiography, Ronnie. A very enjoyable read it was too, written well, from the perspective of a man that is just trying to get stuff out whilst he remembers it so in parts it may jump chronologically, but it doesn’t have a detrimental effect on the story.

I have concerns with autobiography’s that the writer, particularly if they still have a career may want to hold details back. I mean really, Tom Cruise isn’t going to tell EVERYTHING just yet is he. But Ronnie appears to give us everything, the highs, literally and the lows, from drug and alcohol consumption of his friends and colleagues to the deaths of close friends. He tells about his time in the faces and of course his time in the stones. His relationship with Keith and Rod are particularly interesting, although Rods mentions are few and far between.

So this is really how to do it, an immensely enjoyable book that lifts the lid ever so slightly on the Rolling Stones carnival and it makes me eager to read Keith Richards book. Superb.

Next is Holly Johnson’s Bone in my flute.

Well the lure of Los Campasinos, Ballboy, Darren Hayman and Town Bike was too much to resist and me and the hobbit are off to Indie Tracks festival in Derbyshire. Town Bike were the clincher, at last some pop punk on this bill, very much in the Helen Love school, which is a great thing in my opinion, couple that with Ballboy, possibly my favourite UK band and that’s the recipe for a fantastic weekend. Darren Hayman is former member of Hefner who releases fantastic records now as a solo artist and as a member of Bluegrass quartet, Hayman Watkins Trout and Lee. If you want to check him out his website is Hefnet.com, sample the new stuff, its very very good and although he does do hefner songs, you got to progress and his new stuff does that.

As for Los Campasinos, Lisa likes them, they have that shouty exuberance she likes and she likes a bit of Town Bike as well.

You don’t have to search to far for my disparaging comments regarding Indie Tracks, the organiser of this is a fantastic man though that had a dream of putting a festival on of music he likes, that is how it should be done and the line up is solid. Should be a good one.

Well Telly this weekend was a cornucopia of loveliness, the usual suspects are bound, the last 2 episodes this week of Survivor so nothing to say about that, I predict a Parvati, Amanda Cirie final with Parvati winning, Amanda getting 1 vote possibly from Ozzie. But I will know probably tomorrow.

Ugly Betty, Top Chef, The Office, ANTM and Reaper episodes over this weekend.

Reaper, what can I say about this show, I dread it doesn’t do well and gets cancelled in the states, I love it, very very funny, great storyline and fantastic cast, from Sock and Ben through to the Devil and Ted, absolutely fantastic and I think there are only a couple of episodes left, please please please make some more.

ANTM, Surely Anya should win this? Whitney, final three, What was Tyra thinking of, Whitney is a nice girl and ok a plus size model for the final three, but has she earned it? Has she buggery, if Fatima or Whitney wins this I give up on this show, I will know at the weekend.

Ugly Betty, very funny, very sad, but very very good, a little spoiler regarding Project Runway and the winner of that, but he played the part very very well, and made me like him a whole lot more as a result. I still don’t approve of Gio, even though I love the actor, not in a gay way, from his time in six feet under, I think his meddling with Betty isn’t helping her.

The Office, why doesn’t Jim just grass up Ryan about the drugs? Lolve the thing where he pretends to propose to Pam and its about  a drink or something, I say it every time but this is a million times better than the UK version, easily the best cast of any American comedy outside of Seinfeld.

Top Chef, surely this is Richards game to lose, he is head and shoulders above EVERYONE else, the only person that comes close is Dale and even he showed weakness this week. Richard will walk this even though I want Andrew to win, Richard deserves to win.

And that is the telly round up, unapologetically reality TV, I know, I have no shame, I haven’t even mentioned that we missed Gladiators and I had to download it today. I don’t want your pity.

That’s the weekend done, Friday went ok, Mark celebrated his 40^th in a Mark fashion, as we went to bed at 3.30am he produced from his bag a bottle of Jack Daniels, I didn’t partake, I had had enough by then and a shot of whiskey before the 4 hours sleep we had may have been the bit that tipped me over the edge.

So met up with Jon and Mark in Stafford and then caught the train back into Birmingham, we stopped in the Britannia hotel and if you are expecting 5 star luxury for your money then you are the fool, you get more than what you pay for and as a place to sleep after a night out in Birmingham then it is ideal, it was clean and it suited us.

So after checking into the hotel we hit a few bars and it has to be said that I at 37 felt old on broad street, that’s me though and as Mark proves you are only as old as you feel. At ten o’clock we were not feeling drunk at all so the shots started making an appearance and we persisted with the drinking until we hit the first Spearmint Rhinos of the night and the birthday boy had a dance in there, its no club Tropicana and all of us felt, uncomfortable? Yes that’s the word, so we got a taxi to Birminghams other SR, not before hitting a rock bar for tequila.

Once inside the larger of the two Spearmint Rhinos, I found a seat and the birthday boy had a dance or two and I was from then on in constantly badgered as to if I wanted a dance, I daresay they weren’t referring to a polka or a little 2 step, I never found out, a fool and his money are easily parted and this fool hadn’t drunk enough to part with his money.

So after that the three of us went in search of a club, all of which were closed, and so we found an Indian restaurant.

All in all a good Friday tiring but good.

So yesterday was driving lesson day, once again the population of Stafford and Stone took themselves in doors for fear of a Ford Fiesta mounting pavements.

This week we practised the emergency stop and parallel parking, both of which I mastered, and by mastered I mean do to a level that might be confused with a myopic nan.

I also hit 60 mph, I was cruising like a bad boy. I now need hydraulics fitted to complete the image. The bad boy that is, not the myopic nan.

“Dad?

Dad!

DAD!!!!!

I caught a mouse and pippa has locked me away from it.”

If my cat could talk, which he cant, if he could that’s what he would have said to me last night.

Pippa found the mouse and returned it to its traditional habitat, unharmed, as my cat believes that his ninja skill of a hard stare is enough to kill any creature, and we don’t have the heart to tell him otherwise.

This weekend I also completed Horace Panters biography chronicaling his time in The Specials, Ska’d for life.

My brother and sister liked The Specials, it was always the big kids that liked them, I was certainly aware of them and as I have got older I have an appreciation for them if not a knowledge, I know the hits and a few key members, nothing more really.

The book was really insightful regarding the beginnings of the band and their progression from Coventry clubs, to supporting The Clash, to number ones and finally their demise.

Horace wrote it in such a way that it was not only entertaining but you knew it was from the pen of someone that lived it and not a ghost writer.

He presents facts from his own perspective obviously, but also dealt in a matter of fact way, he hints at the rock n roll lifestyle but its more about the story than anything else.

Really good background to the recording process as well and as has been the case of late, as a result of reading the book I ordered, received and played the debut, The Specials, the follow up, More Specials and the sound of a band fizzling out, In the studio. Difficult to believe that a band so utterly celebrated and influential only released 2 official albums. Crazy.

I ordered Bone in my flute by Holly Johnson, Alex James’ book and Ronnie Woods Autobiography this weekend and they are next.

We just got back from York, I like York, York is marvellous. We stopped in a lovely hotel, Elmbank Hotel someway between the city centre and York Racecourse, Nice location, nice hotel, if not quite warm, and really the only thing “wrong” with the accommodation was the glut of Japanese people playing with their mobile phones this morning, my that fucked me off.

So the drive up to York was fine, cepting the satnav which thought it would take us for a trip through Manchester, I thought, hello, this is the wrong way, I have an O’level in Geography.

So eventually on Friday we got there and was happy with the hotel. Spacious, clean, all of that and old, I like old.

We decided then a trip into the city as I was a little hungry and so to Fiesta Mehicana, a Mexican restaurant a mile or so from the hotel, if you have never had Mexican food this is a good place, as we have, regularly, this isn’t so good, small portions, lisa’s chicken burrito was beef, bad service, you know, just not very good. Mexican food is always good, so go here if you want Mexican  but trust me, its not very good.

So Saturday was a day of shopping and getting to know the city, The Shambles area is lovely and the city centre is a massively huge shopping area, everything is there that you need, even and trust me this blew me away, Ed Alleyne Johnson was bloody busking, Ed Alleyne Johnson!!!!

Somewhat foolishly we decided that a visit to York Minster was in order and the foolish element was me and Lisa dragging our tubby asses up the 275 steps to the top of York Minster, trust me when I say this, I nearly died, it bloody killed me, I am built for comfort, not speed and it was much in evidence with the hacking, the sweat pissing out of me, breathing like an asthmatic pit pony. I needed a drink so it was off to the Lendal Cellars and to calm down.

The night time we ate at a fantastic Italian restaurant near our hotel, service was excellent (the waitresses were lovely, ahem) the food was excellent and if you get the chance, it may be a walk out of the city but it is worth it. Lo Spuntino, really, go, its lovely.

So after a little wine, we were back to the hotel and with Sunday it was the Railway museum and the York Wheel, both enjoyable, I realise when I go anywhere connected with railways, how much I bloody love trains, basically we looked at old locomotives.

The wheel was great, fantastic views across the city.

After that we were going to the Yorvik centre, we didn’t, we were going to go in the York dungeon, but partly due to the rudest person on the door I have ever come across, I mean out of her way to be rude, and partly because of the dark which meant Lisa couldn’t see her feet, and was had a go at by the girl on the door, meant that we changed our mind. One day someone will punch that girl.

So after a bit of shopping and a little nap, it was out for a bit of food, this time it was to an Indian restaurant called Saffron Desi, it was lovely, great service and recommended.

That’s about it really, nothing else to report, loved York, we ate well, acted like tourists and would recommend the place for a weekend. Superb city.

This made me laugh a lot.