A word on Jamie Oliver's trainers

I know a lot of people don't like Jamie Oliver, what with his mockney Essex wideboy patter and his use of the word "Pucker" in particular. Personally, I think he's great.

I've no idea if he's better or worse at cooking than any of the other celebrity chefs, but he won me over when he did that series based on his own garden. Anyone who grows their own (even if he's got a gardener doing all the hard work) is OK by me.

And his protest against crap school meals was one of the best PR campaigns I've ever seen, even if he couldn't persuade those fat, horrible parents who were later caught passing chippy dinners over the school gates to their kids.

The only cookbook I've ever owned until this year was Grub on a Grant, which helped me occasionally eat something other than take away curry and lager when I was a student at Leeds Poly - and I'm certainly no chef.

But somehow we ended up with a copy of his Ministry of Food book at some point last year and since then I've proper enjoyed serving up something decent to eat every now and then.

Mrs H is usually the cook round these parts but even she likes some of the stuff I've copied out of the book.

So much so that this Christmas I found a copy of Jamie's 30 Minute Meals in my stocking. I've not made anything yet but I'm whizzing through the recipes and figuring out which ones someone with my limited skillsets might be able to pull off.

I keep getting distracted by the front cover though. Much as I defend him against his critics, there's one thing I just can't ignore. Jamie - you're a multi millionaire. You can buy anything you want and I always thought you had at least some style about you, so what on earth are those trainers you're wearing?

Newton-le-willows father reveals true feelings when boy opens present

The ten most popular blog posts on Ear I Am 2010

Why do people actually read this blog? Because people do you know...

I like to convince myself that there is nowhere else that combines razor sharp wit with Tranmere Rovers, the Hughes family, Newton-le-willows, music and growing your own vegetables - and I'm pretty sure that's a safe bet too.

But with the power of Google Analytics at my disposal, I can of course find out what people actually read when they pitch up at Ear I Am.

So here goes then, this blog's ten most read posts for 2010:

1. How much is your football club worth? If Blackburn was £25m, do they really want £10m for Tranmere?
2. Gazza turns up to save Raoul Moat with some chicken, a can of lager, a fishing rod and a dressing gown. You couldn't make it up.
3. Eddie Bishop, creative midfielder? The ex-Rovers midfield hardman turns his hand to sculpture. No, honestly.
4. Introducing Solly Blog. My mate launches the best new blog I've seen in years. Follow it.
5. My footballing career highlights. Believe it or not, I actually thought of ten!
6. 5Live breakfast leaves bad taste. That show's gone down the pan.
7. Nigel Hughes PR. Just in case you were wondering why I don't write about PR stuff on the Ear I Am blog anymore.
8. Ear I Am gets into some kind of twitter joust with Nicky Campbell. My friend Gary Quinn says this should actually be a 'twitter spat' He worked for the Daily Mirror.
9. Mad Men of Manchester. Fond memories of the time me, Tony Murray and a gang of other ne'er do wells got drunk and came up with a great idea for a TV show.
10. Mitch Poole and The Wild Swans. I came across this lot rather late in the day but they're good. Although the headline suggests it, Mitch isn't actually the lead singer - or in the band at all come to think of it.

Student debt back in the day

I have some experience of student debt, not to the levels they're talking about now of course, although that wasn't for the want of trying.

I was 'studying' law at Leeds Poly when the very first student loans were introduced, back in 1990 I think. Taking the loan was optional but I was among the first ones in the queue for the £420 handout and blew nearly £200 of it within an hour on a Naf Naf sweatshirt (they were all the rage, honestly!) and a pair of Sergio Tacchini trainers (so were they, honestly!).

The rest I 'wasted' in The Skyrack and The Original Oak.

One of the lads I lived with spent £300 of his loan on a video camera. He wasn't studying film or anything. he just fancied one. Another lad headed straight to Stanley Casino with his cheque.

Within days we were all on our knees to the student adviser (known also as The Ice Maiden) at Barclays Bank (Merrion Centre branch), begging for an extension to our overdrafts.

That routine carried on for three years. Grabbing whatever was on offer, spending it on anything other than books and then begging for more. In truth I don't think any of us ever expected to earn any money at all in the future, so we weren't bothered how much debt we piled up. That's why my conscience was absolutely clear when I bought my first ever CD player with a £300 grant from the student hardship fund.

And yes, I'm probably still paying it all back - even at the ripe old age of forty something, which I am now. I don't have any debts titled 'student loan' but I'm pretty sure it's still there, hidden away at the back of a mortgage or in an overdraft somewhere. That's just life.

All of which makes it quite hard for me to sympathise with the students protesting against whatever it is they think they're protesting about.

Politics aside (although nearly every student Herbert I've heard interviewed so far sounds as if they don't understand the system at all), I thought this is what students did - get p***** up at the Poly Bop twice a week, fall in love with The Smiths, claim to never revise, grow their hair/shave it all off, pierce various body parts, muddle through with a 2.2, amass piles of debt, not give a monkey's chuff about it, get a job in a call centre.

Is that not how it works any more? That's a real shame. Part of the student experience is being carefree and not giving a toss how much debt you're in. They'll be worrying about their pensions next.

Take the loans kids and go buy a top of the range ipod and a new laptop. Life's too short.

The 1st Port Sunlight Christmas Food Fayre

It didn't have quite as big a range as the North West Fine Food Shows at Tatton Park, but then again you didn't have to pay four quid just to park your car and it was only £2.50 to get in. If you like good food I'd get this one in your calendar for next year.

Here's the booty that came home with us from the first Port Sunlight Christmas Food Fayre on Saturday:

• Five tubs of Morecambe Bay shrimps
• A brace of pheasant
• Smoked kippers
• Pancetta from The Smokehouse
• A box of different beers from the Peerless Brewing Company in Birkenhead
• Some mint fudge
• Sloe and vanilla gin
• A load of onions

I had my first turkey sandwich of the year too. I doubt I'll have one that tastes better all Christmas.

The Saw Doctors, Liverpool Philharmonic, 3rd December 2010

Bit of a last minute decision, but I popped along to see The Saw Doctors at Liverpool Philharmonic on Friday. Some thoughts....

1. My mate, the media whizz kid at Tangerine PR @garymquinn, an Irish man himself, has them down as the most underrated band over there. I'm amazed at that. They're totally unfashionable but they've sold shedloads of records and I defy anyone to listen to them and actually dislike them.
2. Anthony Thistlethwaite, multi-instrumentalist of Waterboys fame is virtually a full time member of the band these days. In itself, that's enough for them to be great.
3. To the bloke who tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to sit down, I HATE YOU! I had it in mind to tell him to stick it and be Shaun Ryder to his Gillian McKeith, but of course I didn't. Instead I sat down and tapped my foot and nodded my head to All The Way From Tuam, making me HATE MYSELF FOR BEING WEAK. AAAAGH!
4. On the same note, Liverpool Philharmonic is a wonderful venue, historic, charecterful and oozing with a charm that Manchester's Bridgewater Hall can't match - but it's not good for rock and roll shows. The sound in the upper tiers isn't loud enough and, by default, the place attracts pipe and slippers types. Saw Doctors shows are a riot, but the audience at the Phil drains their live set of its energy. Maybe they should have done a matinee for the old farts first.
5. On the same note again, The Waterboys are playing at the Philharmonic in Feb. Anyone who knows me understands how much I love that band, but I won't be going. Apart from the fact that they're asking a whopping 30 odd quid to watch them put WB Yeats poems to music, I'll say no on grounds that the venue is unsuitable for the type of show I want to see.
6. Trains need to run later. I had to leg it early when I watched Half Man Half Biscuit in Preston the other week and I had to do the same again on Friday. How can it be that the last train to Newton-le-Willows, Huyton, Rainhill and St Helens is 11.15? When will Merseyrail realise that the European Capital of Culture doesn't go to bed at midnight - or stay up all night and get the first train home in the morning?
7. I love the fast ones: Hay Wrap, That's What She Said Last Night etc but I like the slow ones too. Clare Island is my favourite....