timesnewroman
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So what is timesnewroman? It's not the font, rather my take on the age we live in. The USA is the new Rome and the times we live in are timesnewroman.
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timesnewroman is listening to: Tiken Jah Fakoly, Arctic Monkeys, Biffy Clyro, Kings of Leon, Bloc Party, Led Zeppelin, Jimi, Franz Ferdinand, Youssou N'Dour, The Strokes, REM, The Kings of Leon, Curtis Mayfield, Jefferson Airplane, The Trashcan Sinatras, Jeff Buckley, Phil Ochs, Stan Kenton, The Smiths, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Mogwai, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, The Zombies and Orange Juice amongst many others.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Royal Blue Jerseys and White Knickers - Final Episode What the fuck must Barrow in Furness have been thinking? I have no idea how good goalie John actually was, but an offer of employment prior to having seen someone play seems a wee bit bizarre indeed. Maybe goalies were difficult to come by in those days.
Two final wee stories to conclude the goalie John series.
First up, Chelsea were apparently interested in him at one point, but he seemingly turned them down as he wanted to follow his father down the pit!
Second, the displaced one (son of Goalie John) tells us how he never saw or even realised his father played, he doesn't know if he was any good or not, he did however hear of an apparent radio commentary where the commentator suggested that perhaps Goalie John couldn't blame the sun in hiseyes for the fourth goal that he'd let in one afternoon.
posted by timesnewroman at 2:39 PM
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Visitors
Reidski and Jane arrived, we had an aperitif, we had dinner, we opened this lot, we listened to music, we chatted, outside until the insects began to bite, then we retired indoors to drink more wine, listen to more music and then the time seemed to disappear and my bed beckoned because I couldn't get the day off work, so a 6.30am rise was on the cards. Fortunately I managed it. Way too short a time though, next time we'll head south for a weekend. With a bootload of wine.
posted by timesnewroman at 7:39 PM
Friday, July 21, 2006
Rant If Weapons OF Mass Destruction are such a bad thing, how come Israel gets to use them on the Lebannon and that FUCKING WANKER in 10 Downing Street happily lets them get away with it without even a word of criticism?posted by timesnewroman at 6:24 AM
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Spirit of the Summer of 76 and the route map to our lives Reidski, and Jane have both done it. Following on from Houses of the Holy in a Parallel Universe. I couldn't remember initially much about 1976 other than it was hot, like today. Bits of Reidski's made some kind of sense, but I guess I was bit older (18) and wasn't subject to parental fears. So I pondered a bit on what I did do in 1976 and lo and behold it kind of smacked me in the face big style tonight, that's a slightly different story, which I'll come to later.1976 then was this big spaghetti junction of a point in my life that I guess most people go through at one time or another. Maybe not a big fankled version, but certainly some intersections and links with people in the past and future. Before I get too complicated though, I should point out I had left school, been a trainee carpet salesman for two weeks (I had an ultimatum to get my hair cut or find another job, the same lunchtime I found another job) apprentice electrician into my second year before the firm went bust and then a brief period of unemployment before at the start of the summer of 76 I became a trainee in the jobcreation factory. You couldn't make that up. Some jobcreation schemes were ridiculous ploys to massage unemployment, particularly youth unemployment including one which had people counting lamp-posts. Ours was a bit more creative and practical. You got to do woodwork, metalwork, car-mechanics, electrical work, gardening and office work (if you were a chick!) It could be interesting, depending on the instructors, most of whom were decent folk, interested in passing on skills to young people. Managers though were another kettle of fish, so perhaps it was a realistic attempt to provide youngsters with an accurate grounding of life in a factory.
Anyway back to my intersection, which is really about moving on or gradually away from friends from school. I kept in touch with some, but even then it sort of faded until..................well that's an entirely different story mrs tnr and Father Bell. I had now started to hang out with colleagues from work and their wider circle, people who I am still best of friends with today. It was a fairly wide circle of Labour Party, Scouts/Guides, Folk Music and general all round party loving people.
One of the instructors was probably instrumental in getting me involved in youth work, through having met him in the pub one night after his Scout Group meeting, he invited me along to help as I had been one in my younger days and I remembered him from then. (Can you imagine inviting someone you'd met in a pub to your youth group nowadays?)
Anyway I went and linked with all of the other things I've listed above I reckon it was one of those defining moments of my life. To keep the roadway intersection thing going it's like a big signpost on the routemap that shows you what jobs you are going to do, what people you are going to meet and re-meet, who you're going to marry, who you are going to keep in touch with, whets important and what speed you should be going. One of the motorways on this particular journey was getting involved in the Woodcraft Folk. We, a collective we, kind of stumbled on them in 1976. They were different to the Scouts and guides, no queen and country, no religious nonsense, mixed we liked them from the start. With an organisation like that maybe young idealists could change the world. We had a go. I was a leader with them from then until I just didn't have time any more, recently. I worked for them, in a fabulous, fulfilling job for 12 years, before moving to the outfit I am with now. During that time we set up and ran a number of groups in our town, over the years probably working with thousands of youngsters and indeed their children over the period. We also had any number of leaders including one Reidski and I know that one of his intersections will be in there somewhere as well. Over that period, we were lucky enough to have built up a strong group, with a lot of support and eventually acquired our own hall, a former prefabricated school building, which served as weekly group meeting accommodation, store, fundraising centre, party venue etc. etc. Fairly recently it was given up, it had long outlived its life expectancy, and was unsuitable and unsafe to have children using it. So it was given back to the council. It's opposite the Youth Drop in I work at on Wednesdays or should I say it was opposite. Its been demolished and there was a big vacant space there tonight. I felt sad when I think of the many good times, good people and good things that I associated with that rickety old wooden building.
I can actually link all of this back to one night when I went for a pint in the summer of 1976. But that was only a junction, you see going back further I actually met thewife in that building. We went to school there when we were seven. The building was also only a junction though like 1976, the people who maybe have it as one of there own junctions are still connected to my big route map somewhere. Enough of this metaphor, its done finished and goodnight.
posted by timesnewroman at 9:30 PM
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Hotter than July Glasgow Fair Monday and it was a beautiful day. Too beautiful to waste so having sorted mumsy out with requisites and medication we packed our picnic cool bag and headed southwards to the coast. Black box on shuffle the machine went on a rampage of stunning choices Trashcan Sinatras - I've Seen Everything, just at that point on dual carriageway heading towards Ayr where you can catch glimpses of the coast, the cool blue sea, joyous, genius. Traffic around Ayr was unusually busy, slow moving, irritating on what must have been one of the hottest day of July. Still the machine chose some Impressions - Preacher Man and John Coltrane's excellent In A Sentimental Mood and we were chilled but good. The machine seems to know.We arrived in Dunure, a scenic little harbour town, where they actually still have fishing boats and we had our picnic amongst a throng of picnickers. Some with fancy hampers, however ours was cool and we had enough for two picnics with some left over. We sat around looking at what I think is the most beautiful coastline on earth. The sky so incredibly blue, cloudless, the sea darker but gentle. In the distance you can see Arran's mountains, darkly scratching at the sky. They lie there on a carpet of haar, beautiful. We chilled. Then wandered round the beach and the harbour.
thewife spotted a sign at the back of one house overlooking the sea. Its for sale she wants it and she wants it now. I hate to imagine how much it would cost, but I have a look anyway. She'll have to wait a while.
We decided to head home around five o'clock. That would allow us enough time to pop into Tesco's in Ayr to pick up some stuff to Barbecue and drink, preferably cold and possible even fizzy. We drove back along the coast, into Ayr which seemed busier than it had been earlier. Traffic slowed to a standstill at times. The gods of gridlock had conspired to finish our day crawling through Ayr and then when we neared our destination we saw the crowds and the traffic flowing from Ayr Racecourse. It had been a race day and we were stuck in the middle of a mass exodus, being controlled by what seemed like 2 Traffic Wardens and a couple of policemen. We decided to go into Tesco's, kill some time there and hope that the traffic had cleared by the time we got out. Half an hour later, thirty quid lighter we emerge into the same incompetent gridlock that didn't seem to have changed at all. I put this down to the sheer incompetence of the uniformed controllers. Given an attendance of around 3,500 people, significantly less than a Kilmarnock home game (much less if the old firm are involved) and these people can't deal with a volume that Kilmarnock's finest can disperse in around 30 minutes. Pah. Practically spoiled the day except that we cut through a housing scheme and eventually hit the A77 as the machine hit us with Rammstein's Ich Will as I engaged 4th gear for the first time in a while.
Then home to barbecued lamb and fizzy white.
posted by timesnewroman at 7:14 PM
Sunday, July 16, 2006
All That Jazz We had, in a rather inebriated state it must be said, agreed to spend the day in Glasgow for another Saturday afternoon of Jazz in the city. A beautiful day for it as well. Lady El hadn't been home when we popped round in a taxi on route to the station so we assumed, wrongly, that she had made her own way there. Anyways we got on the train without her and left a message on her machine. This time we thought we try a different Tapas place out for lunch and a fine choice it was too with some really excellent tapas and a lunchtime special price of £6.95 for any three.Lady El phoned midway through apologising for completely forgetting about it and arranging to catch up with us later. Then we headed off for a really good session in Bar Sola. George McGowan's Orchestra seemed as tight as anytime we heard them previously. Sola is a big place but it really gets filled with the tremendous noise of a big band with a lot of brass. There were moments that were simply sublime, it could have been Stan Kenton we we were hearing, they were that good. The singer, Kenny Paterson has a great voice that fits the sound nicely. Lady El joined us and opted for white rather than red this time due to an unmentional incident in the course of previous foray. The young bartender had the most original and interesting tatoos I have ever seen on his arm. Titles and snippets of lyrics from John Lennon songs in a variety of fonts and typefaces. Cool I thought.
As the set finished the bar emptied into the brilliant sunshine of the terrace and we sat there, people watching. I was absolutely stunned when I saw the staff leave Emporio Armani all the bright cool young poseurs actually had their bags inspected as they left the premises. Shocking. I'd be surprised if they get paid enough to buy the stuff.
When we finished our drinks we ambled through the streets towards the Buchanan Hotel. The Jazz there runs from 6.00pm til 9.00pm. We'd been before, but that was the Lady El incident visit, which we don't remember much of. This place is a rundown seedy dive which has clearly seen better days. There a bucket in the middle of the floor gathering drips of water from the ceiling and there's no end of peeling paint and fading grandeur, but despite this we walk in to the unmistakable opening bars of Art Blakey's Moanin' which is a fabulous thing and they do it real justice too. The trumpet player must be Big Bob and this is his band for the night. They look the part too, drummer, pianist and guitarist, only that's not a guitar she's playing its a six string bass. Tina Weymouth, Kim Deal, Yvette from that really good band who used to play the HAC now and again, move over there's a new chick bassist in town and she's fucking awfully good. I discover late that she's Jennifer Clark and she must spend about 10 hours playing Jazz on a Saturday.
We can't stay until 9.00 so we leave at the break. We head home via the Blue Lagoon. Black Pudding supper, perfect finish to an excellent day out.
posted by timesnewroman at 1:19 PM
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Royal Blue Jerseys and White Knickers - Part Seven
Bill is definitely keen on Goalie John. Bill also displays a wicked sense of geography. In the latter half of the 20th century when people have access to cars Motherwell may well be "not very far" from Carlisle. I suspect public transport in 1951 would have made it extremely bloody far.posted by timesnewroman at 10:03 AM
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Royal Blue Jerseys and White Knickers Part Six
Frankly Mr Shankly is still keen on Goalie John.posted by timesnewroman at 6:13 AM
Monday, July 10, 2006
Game OverSo that's it over for another 4 years. Some awards then
Team I'd like to have seen more of.
Team I'd like to have seen go home earlier.
Grinsi Klinsi obviously.
Sven obviously, but who cares he did the job.
Player of the Tournament.
Would have been Zidane. What the fuck was he thinking and what the fuck did Materazzi say to him. Regardless, he was old enough and wise enough to know better. So despite that that I have no fondness for their team, I have to go for the key player from
I'm sure there were many, however outstandingly bad for me was Pauleta. There's constant mention of how many international goals he's scored as the basis of how good he must be, given that whenever you watch him he seems to be pretty much ineffective. Let's face it his team reached the semi finals of the World Cup and he their main striker scores but 1 goal?
Kind of puts his scoring prowess into perspective then. Interestingly
posted by timesnewroman at 6:23 AM
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
That's Entertainment Robert Newman's History of Oil was on More 4 tonight. First time I have seen this and the guy is a genius. Not only is he possibly the funniest comic I have seen in a long time, his politics have an educational edge over the likes of Mark Thomas. Much less gimmicky and considerable more cerebral. Also extremely educational. I finally get the First World War. Anyway you can and MUST watch it here. Enjoy.Zizou what a guy, thanks for the tenner Zinedine! Also nice to see those cynical cheating Portugese sod of back home.
posted by timesnewroman at 10:14 PM
thewife was cheered by Italy's progress to the World Cup final, although she is likely to miss this bloke.
Me, I rather warmed to the Germans. I think Klinsman has done an amazing transformation and they actually played some interesting football rather than the normal, safe, boring German stuff that we are used to.
posted by timesnewroman at 5:50 AM
Monday, July 03, 2006
Royal Blue Jerseys and White Knickers - Part Five This is the one where Goalie John has attracted the interest of a football demi-god. Have a close look at the signature below.
posted by timesnewroman at 8:59 AM
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Royal Blue Jerseys and White Knickers - Part Four
Goalie John becomes a professional Jaggy!
posted by timesnewroman at 10:45 AM
