24th Mat 2003

I guess we should start with today and go backwards. Woke up about one
today after a night out at the local rugby club to celebrate another 40th
birthday but not mine. I good friend of my wife and I, Alex, was throwing
a bash and a good time was had by all except the continual shouting which
happens when you are trying to hold a conversation with someone whilst
competing with the DJ has left me with a croaky throat. I am sitting here
trying to sing along to some top tunes but failing miserably. I only hope
I get it back by Friday or there will be some disgruntled punters at The
Picket. The day before I was out trying to get some secondhand patio doors
for my studio to improve the soundproofing and whilst I was sitting
outside someone's house waiting for them to return I got a phone call from
Afro Mart who asked me if I would like a ticket to see Peter Gabriel at
Wembley that night. What a touch, the seats were only five rows from the
front!!! I toddled off to Wembley and saw Gabriel for the third time. This
show was not as extravagant as the last tour but still top drawer
entertainment. I saw ads for these gigs a few months ago and I was
undecided about going as the gig was at Wembley and I hate the fucking
sound in there as you will know if you read my review of the Foo Fighters.
I cannot begin to describe many of the wonderful things that happened
during the show let alone talk about the great band he had with him but I
will say that it was an excellent belated birthday gift from Mr Mart. Mr
Mart brought his new digi camera with him so I may get a nice pic of Peter
for the next edition of Wise Words.
Moving back to my birthday, I was taken on a surprise trip to Jersey by my
missus which was out of the blue and well appreciated. She had done a few
sneaky arrangements with our friends Steve and Jane over there and we flew
out for the weekend from City Airport which was a first for me. The
airport is in a part of London where they reckon they are going to build
the stadium for the Olympic bid. We landed in Jersey to be greeted by rain
which stayed about for the whole weekend which was a shame but it did not
dampen our spirit and it was a great weekend for us both and it was great
to see our good friends again. The picture above is from one of my
birthday cards which proclaimed that I am now a member of the old git club
but I still feel about twenty odd and not approaching middle age. People
say "Life Begins At 40" but I say "Life Begins At Birth" and age is just a
number. There are no fringe benefits for reaching 40 like cheap seats at
the cinema or a free bus pass so I don't know what the fuss is all about
really. Thank you to the people who sent me birthday wishes, it was very
nice of you all.
Before I went away I had The Popes in my studio doing a bit of recording.
The Popes are Shane MacGowans backing band but exist in their own right
when Shane is busy at the bar which it seems is quite a lot these days.
Nice chaps and a few nice tunes as well. I had a guy called Ed in the
studio not so long ago. My mate Grant had seen him play somewhere and got
him to come to Big Top to bash out a few ideas. Good singer / pianist /
guitarist and he had some great tunes which is quite sickening considering
he is only fucking 20!! His band is called Chopper Harris and I hope to be
able to record them in the not too distant future so that is another name
to look out for. When Grant came to see me he gave me a CD of a band
called "Parlour" from the US and it blew me away. This was not a finished
CD but some demos which were recorded at home. They have a real charm and
the guy who sings has an amazing voice. They have just signed to Capitol
records in the states for about $2 million and I reckon by the time it has
come out of the industry machine it should have been well ruined because
it will not sound like the cd that I have got which is a shame but shit
happens.
I went up to Liverpool for a few days to see the reds play Charlton, a
game which was snatched from the jaws of defeat but we have played better
and got nothing from other games so I suppose I should be happy with a
win. I would have been totally fucked off if we had lost and I had to
drive back in the appalling traffic the next day. We left Liverpool at
midday and after three hours in the car we still had not reached
Birmingham and still had 125 miles to go. I usually travel late at night
or early in the morning because I hate sitting in traffic but I had to
travel during the day and I reckon it is the last time I will do this.
FIVE AND A HALF HOURS later I eventually got home. We keep hearing the
government in this country saying they are going to do something about the
traffic congestion in this country but it is all hot air. I have the
perfect solution and I will bore you with it now. It is estimated that 25%
of the cars on the road are illegal, i.e. no tax or insurance or MOT or
all three. We have a disc on our windscreen that shows our road tax so why
not have another two for insurance and MOT, how fucking simple is that. If
you don't display all three your car is towed away and you don't get it
back until you pay up. This would reduce the traffic by 25% but the
government don't want to lose the 25% of the tax they get from petrol
because even illegal cars are using petrol. No lets just make people pay
more with congestion charges and soon tolling the motorways. Pull your
finger out Blair!! Sorry rant over.
Liverpool failed to qualify for the Champions League and went out with a
whimper at Chelsea. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic!!! I find it staggering
that the players could not raise their game in a match that is potentially
worth £15M to the club. I can only hope that there is a clear out of some
of the dead wood we have had at Anfield in recent seasons. I think Heskey,
Smicer, Berger, Carragher Cheyrou and shit-head Murphy would be a good
start. This is the final paragraph of football until August (MJ
celebrates!!!) and I have to say I am quite pleased because it means I
will not have to travel six hours to see overpaid players turn in such
mediocre performances. I was disappointed to see West Ham drop out of the
top flight and I hope their stay in the Nationwide League is a short one
and that the financial restraints are not too stifling for one of my fave
teams. I was also disappointed to see Celtic fail to lift the UEFA cup but
not as disappointed at the 50,000 Scots who travelled to southern Spain to
watch the game. Anyway I'm off, next edition should not be as long because
I will try to do it sooner.