Tonight, a gang of us are off to see the hotly anticipated (not only by me I'm sure) Awaydays, the film of the brilliant Kevin Sampson book about late 70s/early 80s era Tranmere fans.
I really should have made more effort on the clobber front. I'm convinced that gangs of nostalgic 40-somethings will turn up at the Printworks wearing retro adidas cagoules, Lacoste polos and Pringle jumpers.
There are two problems for me on that score.
1. My waistline has spread considerably since those days so anything I owned no longer fits me.
2. At the time I couldn't afford a real adidas New Yorker so had to make do with a Walker Immo instead, la.
Anyway, I've got my trainers sorted at least. I'll be in adidas Superstars. The Marple Leaf is wearing Stockholms. Neil Tague is going for Court Star.
On the subject of Taguey, and related to this post, he has just sent me a great article on Half Man Half Biscuit, Tranmere's most famous fans. What did God give us, Neil?
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Maybe, maybe not or possibly, perhaps
How many people exactly does 5Live have to send to Rome to report on a single football match? I don't know about MPs' expenses...
Listening to Breakfast this morning, it doesn't seem that there is that much to talk about either. I may have got a couple of details wrong but here is my attempt at transcribing a point made this morning to Alan Green, by one of the Beeb's 'expert' team, Vasos Alexander, on the prospect of Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo lining up on opposite sides tonight:
"It's games like this, Alan, when we get a definitive answer to which of the two is the greatest player in the world, well not quite a definitive answer, but their performance could show who is possibly the greatest player in the world. Alan, would you agree that is possible?"
Yeah, possibly Vasos, but maybe not definitely, or definitively, but potentially, perhaps, what d'ya think?
What a load of rubbish. No wonder Sarah Licks refuses to talk to the Beeb. Who on earth agreed to pay this man for spouting such nonsense?
Get him off air. North Korea's got a nuclear bomb for heaven's sake.
Listening to Breakfast this morning, it doesn't seem that there is that much to talk about either. I may have got a couple of details wrong but here is my attempt at transcribing a point made this morning to Alan Green, by one of the Beeb's 'expert' team, Vasos Alexander, on the prospect of Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo lining up on opposite sides tonight:
"It's games like this, Alan, when we get a definitive answer to which of the two is the greatest player in the world, well not quite a definitive answer, but their performance could show who is possibly the greatest player in the world. Alan, would you agree that is possible?"
Yeah, possibly Vasos, but maybe not definitely, or definitively, but potentially, perhaps, what d'ya think?
What a load of rubbish. No wonder Sarah Licks refuses to talk to the Beeb. Who on earth agreed to pay this man for spouting such nonsense?
Get him off air. North Korea's got a nuclear bomb for heaven's sake.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Veg out
A small farm near us has sold its own eggs, honey and the likes for years. They used to grow veg as well and sell it to locals who wanted to avoid the supermarkets.
The problem with the veg though was that a lot of good stuff got thrown away, storage being an issue for the amateur smallholder, so they decided to forget the greens and concentrate on the chickens and bees instead.
But locals were quite keen on buying locally and, as there isn't a single dedicated greengrocer in the whole of Newton-le-willows, Earlestown, Winwick or Burtonwood, they recently asked the farmer if he could help.
So, in the interest of community relations, he started getting up at the crack of dawn every morning, visiting the wholesale market in Liverpool and bringing back a selection of fruit and veg that locals could buy off him.
His reward? The planners have swooped and closed him down. The local community is in uproar.
There is actually somewhere else locally that you can go for your carrots if, like some, avoiding Tesco is an issue for you, but I won't name it here. Those pesky planners have got spies everywhere it seems!
Whoever thought there would be a market for under-the-counter cabbages?
The problem with the veg though was that a lot of good stuff got thrown away, storage being an issue for the amateur smallholder, so they decided to forget the greens and concentrate on the chickens and bees instead.
But locals were quite keen on buying locally and, as there isn't a single dedicated greengrocer in the whole of Newton-le-willows, Earlestown, Winwick or Burtonwood, they recently asked the farmer if he could help.
So, in the interest of community relations, he started getting up at the crack of dawn every morning, visiting the wholesale market in Liverpool and bringing back a selection of fruit and veg that locals could buy off him.
His reward? The planners have swooped and closed him down. The local community is in uproar.
There is actually somewhere else locally that you can go for your carrots if, like some, avoiding Tesco is an issue for you, but I won't name it here. Those pesky planners have got spies everywhere it seems!
Whoever thought there would be a market for under-the-counter cabbages?
Monday, May 18, 2009
This story has got legs
My mum's up in arms about her local MP, Ben Chapman, being the latest to get embroiled in the expenses debacle. She's particularly affronted that his office in New Ferry looks so scruffy when it turns out he owns a £300k house.
I may have mentioned this before but my mum's mum was a lifelong Tory voter, probably the only one living in the same working class area as she did in South Liverpool. Her reasoning was simple: Labour MPs were skint so were only MPs to see what they could get for themselves. Tories, by contrast, were usually loaded and so didn't need an MP's salary - therefore they could be trusted to make decisions with everyone in mind, rather than just feathering their own nests.
Did she have some kind of inner wisdom? I'm not sure, mostly because she also told my mum when she was a child that she wasn't allowed to have a scooter because she would end up with one leg shorter than the other.
I may have mentioned this before but my mum's mum was a lifelong Tory voter, probably the only one living in the same working class area as she did in South Liverpool. Her reasoning was simple: Labour MPs were skint so were only MPs to see what they could get for themselves. Tories, by contrast, were usually loaded and so didn't need an MP's salary - therefore they could be trusted to make decisions with everyone in mind, rather than just feathering their own nests.
Did she have some kind of inner wisdom? I'm not sure, mostly because she also told my mum when she was a child that she wasn't allowed to have a scooter because she would end up with one leg shorter than the other.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Carrie Gracie joins the 92 club
I was thinking of sticking my oar in on the current rumpus over MP's expenses.
Specifically, I was going to mention how one of the things that really appalls me is how the Commons has opposed every effort under the FOI Act to make MP's expenses public, yet now they're all queuing up to agree that 'the system is wrong'.
I thought I might also pass comment on how wrong it is that some members of parliament seem more concerned with how the Daily Telegraph got its hands on the information in the first place, than they are over the taxpayer being fleeced.
And I definitely wanted to point out that every schoolkid who has ever been told off by their teacher will empathise with the grovelling apologies currently being issued by MPs keen to make a full confession and receive a full pardon for doing so. Hmmm. "Tell me sir, are you really, really sorry for sticking horse s*** on your expenses, or are you just sorry you got caught?"
But then I saw this video. Just when you think this whole sorry saga has nothing left to surprise you, this comes along. Lord Foulkes goes on the offensive with BBC News 24's Carrie Gracie and gets her to volunteer the fact that the Beeb pays her 92 grand a year.
Utterly, utterly, astonishing television. Enjoy!
Specifically, I was going to mention how one of the things that really appalls me is how the Commons has opposed every effort under the FOI Act to make MP's expenses public, yet now they're all queuing up to agree that 'the system is wrong'.
I thought I might also pass comment on how wrong it is that some members of parliament seem more concerned with how the Daily Telegraph got its hands on the information in the first place, than they are over the taxpayer being fleeced.
And I definitely wanted to point out that every schoolkid who has ever been told off by their teacher will empathise with the grovelling apologies currently being issued by MPs keen to make a full confession and receive a full pardon for doing so. Hmmm. "Tell me sir, are you really, really sorry for sticking horse s*** on your expenses, or are you just sorry you got caught?"
But then I saw this video. Just when you think this whole sorry saga has nothing left to surprise you, this comes along. Lord Foulkes goes on the offensive with BBC News 24's Carrie Gracie and gets her to volunteer the fact that the Beeb pays her 92 grand a year.
Utterly, utterly, astonishing television. Enjoy!
Friday, May 08, 2009
On expenses
Datablog at The Guardian has helpfully highlighted an easy way the average Joe Bloggs can get access to the details of what his or her local MP claims on expenses.
I would imagine some folk would find this very interesting, given the current uproar over second homes, cleaners and Tudor beams etc.
The MP covering the Newton-le-willows patch is a pro-Parkside chap called Dave Watts. Datafile reports that he's claimed the following in the latest year on the record:
£123,836 - Total allowances claimed
£109,214 - Total basic allowances excl. travel
£14,622 - Total travel claimed
£11,632 - Cost of staying away from main home
£0 - London supplement
£26,763 - Office running costs
£59,222 - Staffing costs
£567 - Centrally purchased stationery
£1,497 - Stationery associated purchase costs
£1,125 - Central IT provision
£0 - Staff cover and other costs
£8,408 - Comms allowance
£1,804 - MP Mileage to Westminster
£12,588 - MP Rail travel to Westminster
£0 - MP Air travel to Westminster
£0 - MP Misc travel to Westminster
£0 - Other travel
£230 - Total travel (spouse)
2 - Number of journeys (spouse)
£0 MP family travel
£0 Employee travel
I would imagine some folk would find this very interesting, given the current uproar over second homes, cleaners and Tudor beams etc.
The MP covering the Newton-le-willows patch is a pro-Parkside chap called Dave Watts. Datafile reports that he's claimed the following in the latest year on the record:
£123,836 - Total allowances claimed
£109,214 - Total basic allowances excl. travel
£14,622 - Total travel claimed
£11,632 - Cost of staying away from main home
£0 - London supplement
£26,763 - Office running costs
£59,222 - Staffing costs
£567 - Centrally purchased stationery
£1,497 - Stationery associated purchase costs
£1,125 - Central IT provision
£0 - Staff cover and other costs
£8,408 - Comms allowance
£1,804 - MP Mileage to Westminster
£12,588 - MP Rail travel to Westminster
£0 - MP Air travel to Westminster
£0 - MP Misc travel to Westminster
£0 - Other travel
£230 - Total travel (spouse)
2 - Number of journeys (spouse)
£0 MP family travel
£0 Employee travel
Monday, May 04, 2009
End of season report
For the benefit of those who follow lower league football less closely than others, Tranmere missed out on the play-offs after letting one in two mins from time against Scunthorpe.
Cruel indeed but, given my thoughts at the start of the season, to even be in the mix on the last day was a real achievement.
Ronnie Moore is not quite the tactician he thinks he is, but he has done well for us this year. Rovers are skint, attendances are down and even the chairman wants out. On the playing front, our squad was put together at the last minute and includes a seemingly random selection of players, most of whom you've never heard of before.
So to come 7th - and to gather an impressive 74 points in the process - is overachieving on a grand scale.
What's surprised me is how little we've relied on our so-called best players during the campaign.
I thought Greenacre and Curran would be our first choice partnership up front but, while injuries haven't helped their cause, Ian Moore and Bas Savage have looked far more effective as a pairing.
Similarly, Steve Jennings delayed signing a contract at the start of the year, thinking that he would be snapped up by someone at a higher level. Hmmm. He's not bad, but has been overshone all year by Anthony Kay for me. Subtle he (Kay) isn't, but without him in centre mid I reckon we would have been steamrollered more than once.
And I'd actually even forgotten Chris Shuker was on the books.
Apparently, Ian Goodison has signed up for two years. That's good news, even if he'll miss nearly half that through suspension, but it looks like further resignings will be in short supply. We've got even less cash than last year and much of the squad is out of contract so it's not looking good.
Cruel indeed but, given my thoughts at the start of the season, to even be in the mix on the last day was a real achievement.
Ronnie Moore is not quite the tactician he thinks he is, but he has done well for us this year. Rovers are skint, attendances are down and even the chairman wants out. On the playing front, our squad was put together at the last minute and includes a seemingly random selection of players, most of whom you've never heard of before.
So to come 7th - and to gather an impressive 74 points in the process - is overachieving on a grand scale.
What's surprised me is how little we've relied on our so-called best players during the campaign.
I thought Greenacre and Curran would be our first choice partnership up front but, while injuries haven't helped their cause, Ian Moore and Bas Savage have looked far more effective as a pairing.
Similarly, Steve Jennings delayed signing a contract at the start of the year, thinking that he would be snapped up by someone at a higher level. Hmmm. He's not bad, but has been overshone all year by Anthony Kay for me. Subtle he (Kay) isn't, but without him in centre mid I reckon we would have been steamrollered more than once.
And I'd actually even forgotten Chris Shuker was on the books.
Apparently, Ian Goodison has signed up for two years. That's good news, even if he'll miss nearly half that through suspension, but it looks like further resignings will be in short supply. We've got even less cash than last year and much of the squad is out of contract so it's not looking good.
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