Wednesday 29 October 2008

Halloween....

It's that time of year again , and parties and events are happening all over . There was a queue for costumes outside the Magic shop on Percy street , so your as well going online somewhere like this:



Local radio will be playing all the cheesey scarey records , and there'll no doubt be lots of film nights featuring slasher classics such as Halloween and Scream.




The Goths will be abroad in Eldon Square.....

Is There Life On Mars?

Been revisiting Life on Mars and Ashes To Ashes via the thoroughly modern medium of DVD , and find both series entertaining to say the least . Youtube is full of clips such as this one of Sam Tyler and Gene Hunt as Camberwick Green figures:



The BBC has a page with various cartoons and soundclips to download here for Life on Mars and here for Ashes To Ashes.

Currently looking forward to the Abominable Showmen gig at the Centre for Life in Newcastle tomorrow and the Alabama 3 gig at the Carling Academy in December.

Oh and the youtube thing reminds me of the a couple of brilliant Mitchell and Webb sketches which are hanging around. The Doenitz thing is apparently almost exactly what happened in reality:

Are We The Baddies?:

Fuhrer Doenitz:

Wednesday 8 October 2008

Gourmet Scran Half Price!!

Well not quite , but I've just signed up with the Gourmet Society which gives you loads of two for one deals , and you can save your initial outlay within two sittings. Think it's based around the North East, Midlands and The Smoke at the moment but is spreading and well worth the investment if you eat out.

As well as the posh places such as Secco and The Living Room, you also have the more basic locales such as Curry Capital and the Ho Buffet , so all tastes , and price ranges are catered for.

Money Saving Expert usually publish discount codes here , so you can get even more of a bargain!

Saturday 27 September 2008

Shakespeare in Stratford or "There Is Nothing Like A Dane" or "You Can't Make A Hamlet Without Cracking Some Heads"

Just back from another week in Upton Snodsbury, wherein we managed to take in two of the Bard's plays , "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Hamlet", at the Courtyard Theatre, temporary home of the RSC during the redevelopment of the main theatre, the frontage of which is displayed below.

Both plays were excellent , though I enjoyed the former more , as it's not so depressing. The cast was virtually the same for both productions, with the additions of Patrick Stewart and David Tennant for "Hamlet" (which ensured a full house and more besides). A number of nubile young ladies I'm sure were only there because of the presence of the latter actor.

"Hamlet" is the one with the body count , while "Midsummer Night's Dream" is a little more light hearted but not without it's darker side.

Would recommend the RSC productions to anyone with a penchant for that sort of thing.

Wednesday 20 August 2008

Music For Nothing

A short post this , just about downloading. There's some folk still think that they shouldn't pay for music they download , then complain if it ain't pristine or contains a virus when they get the
stuff off limewire or wherever. WE7 pays for downloads by advertising , so you can get free downloads , with no DRM , no virusses and the artist gets paid. This is a widget thing that should allow you to listen to People Get Ready by Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart:


However this has to rate as one of the worst albums of all time: It even has Chris Waddle and Glenn Hoddle's "Diamond Lights", I think you'd be better getting a Retro England Shirt from TOFFS!!



But they have a lot of good stuff should be supported in their efforts.

Friday 15 August 2008

The "Last Supper" At The Free Trade

The Free Trade Pub has one of the greatest views in Newcastle , about to be destroyed by Taylor Wimpey by raising a block of flats in front of it, details here. The Government deemed that the view had no merit , especially where cash was involved. This is the same lot that put 75% on fuel , tell us to tighten our belts when energy bills increase by up to 60% , expect a 2% pay rise to be observed by the country while awarding themselves 9.4% . Gits. It's also one of the few pubs in the area that get's a thumbs up from The Burglar's Dog !!

Anyway this is the sort of thing we're going to lose to the builders:

And heres a short video with pictures , soundtracked by Lindisfarne's "All Fall Down":



On August 14th an impromptu pub trail was instigated , which was rather well attended . Not naming names as some folk value their privacy , but the pictures are here , and thought this was reminiscent of a certain famous painting:




And here's the rest soundtract by Terraplane's Beer and Cigarettes only available as far as I know on the vinyl 1978 compilation The Akron Complication on Stiff Records!!


Tuesday 5 August 2008

A Short Rant - Mainly against the old and the young

There's a couple of sure signs that you're getting old:
  • You tell people age doesn't matter (it shouldn't)
  • You go into HMV or wherever and you already have evreything you want
  • And lot's of others...

But one thing I never understood is that you can never get past the tiniest old man or lady on a footpath no matter how big the footpath. I finally worked this out. Normal people squeeze to make room to let let you past, while certain members of the older geneation just refuse to give an inch... The other day an old guy gets on the bus and gripped the handrails at the front of the bus and refused to let anyone pass as "he was only going one stop" !!!

Worse than the students who congregate ant the front of busses despte the rest of the bus being empty , for fear they may miss their stop.

And then the people on trains who insist on blocking doorways and aisles while they adjust , pack and unpack their luggage and laptops, totally mental.

..and the people who block doorways while they have a conversion or tab regardless of who wants to get in or out.

I suppose you can include the drivers who hog the middle lane of the motorway driving at forty miles an hour when the road is virtually empty. There's a reason for the inside lane.

Oh and then there's the charvers with puchchairs who seem to think that it's OK to block the suprmarket aisles while they decide on whether to go for the Lambrini or the Concorde , or block the footbath while trying to juggle their Gregg's pastie and light a tab at the same time spilling ash all over the unfortunate kid being pushed around!!!

Grrr.