tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200642452012-01-28T17:13:02.288ZJerryChickenGaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.comBlogger7701100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-21125793691147691762008-01-19T18:15:00.000Z2008-01-19T18:30:35.280Z

Time to pack up and go, time to move on, time to head for pastures new, time to plot a course for distant shores, in short I'm fekking off to Wordpress...I hope I've backed everything up properly here because its got to be archived into the biography yet, but we now sit out on the doorstep surrounded by boxes of memories awaiting the removal men to take us away from all of this to a new, neater,

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-83353728076196032092008-01-19T08:45:00.000Z2008-01-19T09:01:38.883Z

You see, if I could sing then I'd want to sing as effortlessly and with such a trademark voice as Tony Bennett.Whilst the songs of Frank Sinatra resonated around our house when I was young (for regular readers will know that Frank Sinatra was my father), the songs of Tony Bennett were never far away from the record player either, nor for that matter were the songs of Matt Munro who my father

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-35809060450473409952008-01-18T18:48:00.000Z2008-01-18T18:51:16.733Z

"...you see there's this bloody great big German Shepherd comes on a walk past my house at 10 o clock every morning and stops and has a great big crap right in the middle of my front lawn......and sometimes he brings his dog too"Overheard in The Fox tonight.

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-48358394280363594842008-01-18T06:03:00.000Z2008-01-18T06:30:50.671Z

I hope Patrick Stewart still reads this, I hope he's still on the planet to read this, its been a year Patrick, send me an email because I don't know what your address is, what with you changing it so often to keep the rozzers on their toes.Patrick Stewart was a friend of mine at High School, or Grammar School as it was known then, blazers and ties, masters not teachers, silence and stand to

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-55591204077390422092008-01-17T06:35:00.000Z2008-01-17T07:10:49.591Z

Possession of an unlicensed firearm in the UK has been illegal for generations.Obtaining a license for a firearm in the UK is nigh on impossible unless you are a farmer (shooting vermin, which may or may not include human vermin who are fleeing your home after a burglary), or a member of a gun shooting club (for shooting paper discs or flying dinner plates) - every other excuse for owning a

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-83548073610540854002008-01-16T07:57:00.000Z2008-01-16T06:31:41.269Z

At around the same time as I was pretending that I could actually play the game of golf a new club opened up exactly opposite my house, exactly over the road it was, how fortuitous I thought, I must join immediately, and so I did, me and Ned.The nice thing about this new golf club was that it was not an old fashioned members club where stuffy old bastards in tweed suits interview you before they

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-41771691908427163082008-01-15T20:52:00.001Z2008-01-15T20:54:06.244Z

There is a rumour going around of a trial Jerrychicken Wordpress site you know.It might be here, then again, it might not....

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-78471995273374683442008-01-14T18:56:00.000Z2008-01-15T06:39:23.949Z

Have I ever mentioned the fact that I once came within one solitary inch of owning a world record that could never have been beaten ?A round of golf, in one.No, not a hole in one.A round in one.Ned had a friend who was a pisshead, he was a member at a pisshead drinking club in Leeds, a club with no pretense at being a political or social club, it was simply for drinking beer in, cheaply, and once

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-58536586580670854002008-01-14T06:55:00.000Z2008-01-14T06:58:34.120Z

Our dad and Ned had played golf since the early 1970’s, I started to learn at the same time as Ned when we were in our teens but I wisely stopped after he hit me under the jaw with a #1 wood on his backswing when I stood too close to him. So for all of my teenage years I was regaled with their stories of birdies and eagles and even a hole in one on the various golf courses that

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-21880492391276084162008-01-12T21:23:00.000Z2008-01-13T09:38:43.649Z

One of the funniest men of our generation, of that there is no doubt.You see, this is my sort of comedy, observation comedy, storyville comedy, you could go and see his act every night for a week and while the script would be roughly the same every night it wouldn't be told in the same way twice, you can tell that his script is only very loose and that stories are incorporated as ideas spring to

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-8273956223566307042008-01-12T08:31:00.000Z2008-01-12T10:05:45.276Z

Sweet Loretta Modern thought she was a womanBut she was another manAll the girls around her said she's got it comin'But she gets it while she canYou see, in my memory this is how I remember the late 1960's, mention that period to me and this is how I remember the fashions, the hairstyles, the music, it was a wonderful era to be 14 years old and into your music.In my humble opinion, this is the

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-43615384017099918912008-01-11T09:21:00.000Z2008-01-11T07:05:15.720Z

When the world and I were younger than they are now there came a time in my life when my father decided that I should work for coins, I don't know what prompted him to this momentous decision because its not like he ever gave me any pocket money or anything, but he decided one day that it was about time I was out there in the wide world and working for my weekly coins.I was five years old at the

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-42591559657472976432008-01-10T09:08:00.000Z2008-01-10T09:13:37.226Z

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-48524685041619219742008-01-08T21:26:00.001Z2008-01-09T08:29:25.111Z

Aren't libraries great ?Was at my newly rebuilt local one on Saturday on my regular three weekly top up of reading material when, on the way out I spotted a greet big book on the life and work of one of America's finest and most under-appreciated (at least during his lifetime) artists Norman Rockwell - his official website is here.Most well know for his front covers of The Saturday Evening Post

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-54116834895734061792008-01-08T13:36:00.000Z2008-01-08T09:02:29.287Z

Gay George was my dads uncle, one of several siblings of Percy, my dads father, I knew none of them and only became aware of Gay George when I had reached adulthood and had taken out a mortgage, the local agents for whom turned out to be a well known estate agent and chartered surveyors - Gay George was a well respected director of said estate agent and chartered surveyor.I met him once when he

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-6376918977999745842008-01-07T06:22:00.000Z2008-01-07T06:34:43.360Z

Once upon a time our family had a pub in it, quite a big pub actually, its still there, The White Stag at Sheepscar in Leeds.One of my fathers Uncles was the landlord, his Uncle Lenny, who had inherited the pub from his father George, I have the Census returns for the late 1800's which show their family as "publicans", a family of eight kids ranged over 25 years all living in the pub together at

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-38444813701732632262008-01-06T09:02:00.000Z2008-01-06T09:39:01.315Z

OK, this might not go very well.I did this last year but I actually snuck all the band names from Napster's 2007 "Tips for the Hot Bands of 2007" and by the end of that year all of the bands on the Napster list were still drifting out there in obscurity somewhere.So this time I will steal my list of hot tips from somewhere else...1. Duffy - the PR blurb for this bint tells me that she is the next

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-42253556775313843882008-01-05T09:08:00.000Z2008-01-05T09:43:21.052Z

Barry Ryan and his twin brother Paul were a singing duo of 1960's vintage until Paul decided that teenage adulation was not his bag (fool) and turned to writing music for his brother to sing - Eloise was their biggest hit together in 1968.The Ryans (or Saphersons to use their real names) were from Meanwood and my dad never tired of telling anyone and everyone that when they were young lads

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-46346510296341363282008-01-04T09:18:00.000Z2008-01-04T10:14:54.663Z

My father was not a man to throw his money around willy-nilly and so the day that he announced that he had replaced his old "music centre" (which he had naturally bought second hand) with a brand new state-of-the-art Aiwa Hi-Fi caused eyebrows to be raised within the JerryChicken household.He had bought the smaller model of the one that I already had from, of all places, a furniture store - if

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-89041892450814005072008-01-03T09:13:00.000Z2008-01-03T09:03:16.611Z

Apart from the nutty Mr Hall who spent all of his waking hours staring into our glass fronted living room and apart from the bone idle deaf couple next door, we had another strange neighbour at Wrenbury Avenue.And here is where I will have to be careful, for he is still alive and easily identified, I've already identified the street where he lives, if I tell you his name is Mr Anthony Cook then

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-35523874738190939302008-01-02T07:05:00.000Z2008-01-02T07:35:52.982Z

We moved to Cookridge in 1964.In those days our street was one of the very last ones in Leeds, walk to the end of our street, turn left and walk for a few minutes more and you were in fields, real countryside with farms and cows and things, its still pretty much the same.The bungalow that our dad scrimped and saved for cost him £2300 in 1964, an extraordinary amount of money, most of which was

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-54316856671377372982008-01-01T10:13:00.000Z2008-01-01T10:45:41.372Z

There is a Tom Wait song called "What is he building in there ?" who's lyrics involve someone wondering what the hell a neighbour does every night when all he can hear is nails banging, the occasional soft moan and the fact that he is seen some nights on the rooftop signalling to someone with a flashlight.Well, I have a similar question of something that is omnipresent in shopping malls now...War

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-36870223564820241442007-12-30T09:33:00.000Z2007-12-31T10:15:06.521Z

A year of upheaval, a year of change, a year of weddings and (so far) no deaths and (so far) no births, a year in which the strops got longer so that they are almost joined up in the middle now, a year in which I discovered a new solo holiday venue and a year in which I had presents thrown back in my face - and (eventually) a year in which I was bought my first ever dressing gown, I am now

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-80607820961581831072007-12-30T08:07:00.000Z2007-12-30T08:56:29.027Z

Its a well known though rarely commented upon factum that women have a pact with a demon when they switch on a vacuum cleaner.When they "vac" or "hoover" (dependant on the noun of choice) they are involuntarily possessed by a devil who lives inside the dust bag of each vacuum cleaner until such a time as they switch the bloody thing off and put it back in its cupboard - I've even known Ewbanks to

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-67600302687258923382007-12-29T09:00:00.000Z2007-12-29T09:06:55.380Z

Jake Shimabukuro is the blokes name and no I haven't a clue who he is, whether he is a professional musician, plays in a band, plays for coins in a hat on a street or what.But he can play a ukelele.And he more than does justice to one of George Harrison's finest moments, many have tried but few have equalled the master, this comes very close.Theres a better quality version of that video at http:/

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-59070975535700556802007-12-28T08:11:00.000Z2007-12-28T09:46:45.858Z

Thats my interpretation of Becky, Bob Beck, plumber extraordinaire, dead these past twelve years and one of our dads lifelong best mates.It was Bob Beck who was the inspiration for my as yet unfinished story The Tomato Dip, the story of a debonair plumber and cafe owner in the late 1960's, the subject matter is true for Becky did own a cafe for a short while as well as doing his plumbing work,

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-86515819971963330822007-12-27T08:36:00.000Z2007-12-27T10:33:04.772Z

I may have mentioned this before, in fact I have mentioned this before, but we share our abode with the scard-iest dog in the world.Jake is a Golden Retriever, ok he's more white than golden but Golden Retriever is his breed and he has an impressive pedigree to prove it.Golden Retrievers are gun dogs, that is their purpose, the reason for their breeding and we bought Jake from a proper, real-life

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-68810982811227683902007-12-26T08:26:00.000Z2007-12-26T08:58:06.301Z

If you lived on top of an active volcano then you'd expect disruption from time to time.If you live in a household of three females, each of which have only the merest trace of the hormone that controls the temper function then you expect disruption all of the time that they are in contact with each other.Christmas Day is no different.The seeds were sown on Christmas Eve, Jodie, the youngest, was

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-28409586681149812852007-12-24T12:45:00.000Z2007-12-24T07:45:25.026Z

Joe the butcher man was a friend of a friends dad and we all played dominoes in a pub of a Sunday lunchtime when ah wor nobbut a youth.Joe the butcher was your archetypal butcher, big and round like a barrel, jolly smile on his face, made a lot of sausages and pies, which turned out to be fortuitous one Christmas...It was their busiest Christmas ever, they had taken over a hundred orders for free

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-61314215725195836832007-12-22T21:21:00.002Z2007-12-23T18:10:41.980Z

"Ah bloody hates Christmas me, bloody hates it ah do...oooh my bloody back..."Click to enlarge Santa imageAnd a very Merry Christmas to you all.

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-25601245384799809432007-12-22T19:30:00.000Z2007-12-22T19:40:18.423Z

Abba may have sung of a Dancing Queen.But last night in Birmingham, I was THE Dancing Queen.I don't dance, simple rule, I don't dance.Ever.When we go places where dancing occurs I stand at the bar and occupy myself with stuff, talk to random strangers, pretend that I have far more important things to do other than dance.I don't dance you see.I have never danced, not even in the bathroom where

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-56685427431581630232007-12-21T06:24:00.000Z2007-12-23T18:09:52.123Z

Busy day today, finally got the new car yesterday after a man drove it all the way from Birmingham to deliver it.Today I get to drive it all the way back to Birmingham for our head office Christmas party tonight.Yes, it would have been easier to pick it up in Birmingham today, but I didn't know it was coming from Birmingham and the man who delivered it didn't know we were going there, so what

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-34342655342143615292007-12-19T18:54:00.001Z2007-12-20T09:02:12.859Z

We'll be tip-toeing around the subject today being well aware that Dan of All That Comes With It works in Mental Health, but there was a time, not so long ago, that the phrase "You're from Menston you are" was flung around the school playgrounds and pub taprooms as an insult, being that it referred to the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum at Menston, or to give it its more modern name, High Royds

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-72956111909119617032007-12-19T08:25:00.000Z2007-12-19T08:12:36.507Z

Actually this story isn't about my first bike, but me on the bike in the photo is my first bike and reeee-al cool I look too in my cowboy hat ready to ride the range on my first tricycle.This story isn't even about my second bike, my second bike was a bigger version of the one in the photo and it had a box on the back to put things in.No, this story is about my third bike actually.When I was

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-35812562027453227352007-12-18T09:10:00.000Z2007-12-18T08:10:12.859Z

There is a retail phenomenon that has enveloped these shores in recent years, at first it was just the cheaper cities, the ones who didn't care too much about image, the ones where the planners had no grand ambition to be held in city planning esteem as the sort of planned city centre that every city should aspire to, the ones with a more than three to one ratio of social housing schemes on their

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-89358087820836276312007-12-17T17:03:00.001Z2007-12-17T17:09:36.268Z

Questions have been asked."What the hell is that quotation from on your profile ?"So there you are - "The Broadcast" from Paul McCartney's "Back to the Egg" albumAnd no, I don't know what its all about either...

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-26842284202137845632007-12-17T09:14:00.000Z2007-12-17T08:06:13.192Z

I visited a Woolworths store in Leeds last week.I didn't even know that we had a Woolworths store in Leeds anymore, but we have.It was pleasing to note that it still sells crap and that it hasn't lost any of its reputation for cramming as much crap with as much variation of crap into its floorspace as possible, aisles are only twelve inches wide and the crap falls off the shelves on top of you as

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-493308555769750262007-12-16T08:43:00.001Z2007-12-16T08:53:25.898Z

December 1971, in the two months before Bennie Hill foisted this pile of dogpoo upon the British record buying public we had seen Rod Stewarts "Maggie May" at #1 for five weeks and Slade's "Coz I Luv You" for four weeks, then along came Christmas and once again the record buying public lost their marbles and bought the first novelty record ont he shelf, its not like we had learned our lesson

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-7121671804634970672007-12-15T09:14:00.000Z2007-12-16T08:38:46.976Z

I don't like the "normal" version of this song, the one that got to number one in t'hit parade at Christmas 1977 and stayed there for thirty weeks (or so) and sold 140 million copies (or so), and I don't normally like anything that Paul McCartney has done since 1975...But.This recording is (apparently) a recording "in the raw" made at his farmhouse on the Mull of Kintyre during '77, done as a

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-71407775280145283412007-12-14T08:25:00.000Z2007-12-16T08:38:10.742Z

Yes thats right, its time to reveal the worlds best ever Christmas song, ever.Its had some strong contenders of course, in no particular order...The Beatles, I wanna hold your hand (1963)The Beatles, I feel fine (1964)The Beatles, Day Tripper (1965)The Beatles, Hello Goodbye (1967)Scaffold, Lily the Pink (1968)Rolf Harris, Two Little Boys (1969)Benny Hill, Earnie, the fastest milkman in the west

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-7082673302008849952007-12-12T20:58:00.000Z2007-12-13T06:59:52.605Z

After three days of early morning forays 100 miles up the A1, queues around Newcastle's Western Bypass both morning and evening, days spent studying accounting and payroll programmes, free coffee and food on demand, and a hell of a traffic jam on the Tyne Bridge one night, I can finally put my feet up tonight happy in the knowledge that tomorrow is a day off especially assigned to Christmas

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-31620857954342031642007-12-10T19:06:00.000Z2007-12-10T20:44:31.955Z

And so when we moved back to Leeds our new house on the new estate, built by the same builders who built TV's "Brookside" estate, and co-incidently looking exactly like TV's "Brookside" estate, was severely lacking in the gas cooker department.Fortunately we knew someone who had just purchased a new gas cooker and wanted to dispose of their old one - with one proviso.Their old gas cooker had

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-71325639972476953382007-12-09T06:45:00.000Z2007-12-09T08:13:06.836Z

No rhyme, no reason, no excuse ever needed for a Beatles video, 1963 in Manchester, how did they ever sing harmony when they couldn't hear each other ?Anyway,Tomorrow I venture north, Newcastle for three days training on Sage Accounting products, I never wanted to be an accountant, I don't understand accounting, I have yet to meet an accountant who breaks the stereotype of being the sort of

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-75956047343233564052007-12-08T08:26:00.000Z2007-12-08T08:57:12.610Z

Twenty seven years ago today in an action that has never been explained in terms other than those of a crazy young kid (see other assorted high school and shopping mall shootings), the world was robbed of a unique talent.At 5pm on that day John Lennon and Yoko Ono left their apartment in the Dakota Building in New York to work on Yoko's musical album, outside the building they signed autographs

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-28166760059565893022007-12-07T06:41:00.000Z2007-12-07T06:32:12.316Z

Now I'm not making a regular habit of this on a Friday, but...I done another."Songs what I have liked" is the name of this one, it does what it says on the tin, songs by (coincidently) soley British artists (if it wasn't for Marmalade then I could have said "English") what I have liked along the way, hope you like at least some of them too.Playlist ...Marmalade - Cousin NormanJoe Cocker - All I

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-75772344108198767742007-12-06T06:21:00.000Z2007-12-06T06:39:01.075Z

The 1940's and most of the 1950's spawned a well worn phrase in the English language, "make do and mend" which was ingrained into our parents minds as indelibly as their DNA, basically meaning that nothing ever wore out, nothing was ever thrown away, nothing ever reached the end of its life, everything could be re-used.Its a lifestyle that we are slowly rediscovering as the need to recycle comes

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-63996937735543095452007-12-05T07:00:00.000Z2007-12-05T07:01:52.068Z

Anyone who wants to get inside my head and see what the memories are really like of life in Burley in the 1960's should click right here.

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-20949591252449697402007-12-05T06:36:00.000Z2007-12-05T16:46:27.951Z

Inspired by Grannymar's tales of washdays in Ireland my own family's washday story came to mind.For almost thirty years, probably for more than thirty years actually, our dad took the laundry to the Washeteria every Thursday.The Washeteria ? The Laundramat, the self service coin-op laundry where single people who can't be arsed with the hassle of owning a washing machine gather in an evening to

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-84744325663561411102007-12-04T08:46:00.000Z2007-12-04T09:24:46.559Z

There have been times when I have been a member of various gyms around here and there have been times when as a member of these gyms I have received an exercise plan from a well meaning young kid straight out of school who believes everything that he's ever read in a "Gym Instructor for Dummies" book.I have consistently ignored all of these exercise plans and the young kids don't bother you

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-86687881085766151312007-12-03T06:41:00.000Z2007-12-03T06:33:57.592Z

This is one of our Neds story's, I claim no credit for it.Before he came to work at our business he was a time served carpenter, a joiner, a woodworker and eventually he left the building sites and found work in a joinery factory in Bramley, an old factory built in the days when the workers entered their place of work seperate from management, a place where the workers toilets were just inside

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-87722029460399052202007-12-02T20:31:00.000Z2007-12-02T12:04:46.840Z

I wonder what size chest those pants are ?Yes I know I've mentioned in the past that our dad was Frank Sinatra, well, there was a time, for a short while when he was Sergeant Ernie Bilko of the motor pool, quite fitting really considering the scams he got up to all the way through his life, some of the stuff that the fictional Bilko got up to were quite mild by comparison.Our dad joined up for

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-27380285743304780002007-12-01T08:51:00.000Z2007-12-01T09:09:47.282Z

December 1stChristmas starts here.But Christmas never starts here in my head until I've heard this song on the radio.So I play it today, Christmas starts here.Its the song that caused so much arse-ache to John Lennon, the song and the protest movement that came within a whisker of having Lennon deported from the USA by the Nixon administration, this Christmas 1971 song and the 1969 anthem "Give

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-54496938489537375212007-11-29T20:16:00.000Z2007-11-30T09:12:27.767Z

Podcast number two and this time its away with the melancholy and in with the dead singers - singers who died in tragic circumstances, air crash, car crash or shooting.Playlist...Eddie Cochrane - Blue Suede ShoesHarry Chapin - WOLDJohn Lennon - #9 DreamLynard Skynard - FreebirdMarc Bolan - Hot LoveJohn Denver - I Guess he'd Rather be in ColoradoJim Croce - You don't Mess Around with JimMarvin

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-81522726383987551822007-11-29T06:51:00.000Z2007-11-29T07:06:39.065Z

Remember how department stores used to be ?Long before Debenhams and House of Frazer tarted them up.The days when you didn't know what to expect on the next counter ?When Menswear and Womens wear were on different floors and ne'er the twain shall meet ?I went to such a Department store yesterday.Sunwin House in Bradford.I suspect that it only survives because Bradford Council think it was

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-7322373477246224312007-11-28T06:08:00.000Z2007-11-28T06:30:46.642Z

See that photo of those two kids ?Ignore the monkeys, they are nothing to do with this discussion.Although why we were posing with monkeys in Scarborough is probably a topic worthy of its own post.Thats me and Ned that is.Me on the right.The monkeys are the smaller mammals in the photoTime has erased their names from memory so I cannot give them an acknowledgement.The year ?I'm guessing around

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-19698874104959597002007-11-27T06:06:00.000Z2007-11-27T06:47:58.549Z

Its 1967, the summer of love, Scott McKenzie was urging us all to go to San Francisco, The Beatles were imploring that all we needed was love, Procul Harem assured us that there really was a whiter shade of pale and as a ten year old you just wanted a square neck instead of a short back and sides.It was important.A short back and sides was so square, unlike a square neck, which was cool.Hair that

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-25354719176951402882007-11-26T12:08:00.000Z2007-11-26T06:31:53.522Z

One damn fine read of a morning is The Law West of Ealing Broadway which is written by an erstwhile anonymous magistrate and which, every now and again slips in a moan about Government cost cutting and interference in the court system and the criminal justice system as a whole - and long live his right to moan about Government fook-ups.I have a couple of friends who are life-long civil servants

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-49514761263770077922007-11-25T09:01:00.000Z2007-11-25T09:45:35.486Z

During my residence in Whitley Bay in the late 1970's I had perchance to venture up the street from the previously mentioned Per Mar Guest House to another salubrious residence that went by the name of "The Maroo".The Maroo was of exactly the same design as the Per Mar being that they were in the same street of terraced houses - think "Blackpool Guest House" and you'll get the picture, and I only

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-88756711194908470712007-11-24T07:45:00.000Z2007-11-24T08:07:40.991Z

Remember the post about Kewley the drummer in our class at school ?Well Kewley thought this bloke was fairly good - thats Buddy Rich, not Animal.Animal was actually modelled on Kewley, the resemblence is remarkable.Kewley thought Buddy Rich was fairly good although not as good as Kewley himself was, but like Kewley, Buddy Rich demonstrates at the start of the video the demonic possesion that

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-19302236446162475342007-11-23T06:26:00.000Z2007-11-23T08:43:12.482Z

Ha!If you read this post earlier then ignore all the guff that went before, the genius that is yer man at Allthatcomeswithit has provided me with a lovely pink MP3 player to embed (see, I even know the techy words now) so now to play my blather you should only have to click the play button - and wait for a short while for it to load of course.I've left the link to the actual file in the title so

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-16381457853570945302007-11-22T21:58:00.000Z2007-11-22T22:02:49.929Z

Alistair Darling, forelorne chancellor of these isles has finally confessed to exactly what it is that he has done to those 25 million missing bank account details - full story here

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-82404220783584399262007-11-22T08:37:00.000Z2007-11-22T09:00:04.769Z

So I've sat on my hands and watched the country panic as news broke and was then expanded as we discovered that some fekkwit at the Dept of Information or whatever they call the old Social Services Dept now, decided to send 25 million child benefit recipients details in the post, and lost them.Its a great news story, its a good time to stir up a non-story from an event that hasn't happened yet,

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-11803101177054842212007-11-21T06:35:00.000Z2007-11-21T06:37:22.781Z

So we were stood in two lines on the football pitch one morning singing "God Save The Queen" awaiting the arrival of Her Scouse Majesty again before kicking off the 1965 FA Cup Final for the tenth succesive day when three young men turned up and stood on the other side of the chain link fence to watch with bemusement.Having shaken The Queens hand again and having been introduced as "the crap Gary

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-45923489120437051522007-11-20T06:34:00.000Z2007-11-21T08:27:53.978Z

When your dad is the sort of dad who puts his hand up to volunteer for everything at your annual holiday camp holiday, when your dad is the sort of dad who is first on stage when they ask for volunteers to enter the talent contest on your annual holiday camp holiday, and when your dad is the sort of dad who speaks to anyone and everyone without being spoken to first, then you get used to being

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-37091388950317202662007-11-19T06:28:00.000Z2007-11-19T06:29:04.771Z

Ten years ago I did something that I'd never done before and have never done since.I employed a sales rep.Not just any old sales rep though, oh no, this was Maurice the super sales rep from our biggest rivals, a much bigger company who employed twenty sales reps nationwide - and Maurice was consistently their best sales rep, year after year - the other sales reps all had Fords and Vauxhalls,

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-39451940545704804702007-11-18T18:16:00.000Z2007-11-18T18:45:21.255Z

Its 6pm and I'm nearly all thawed out after watching my eldest nephew play in an under 9's rugby tournement in Wakefield today, nearly four hours from 9am this morning I stood out in the cold and occasional cold rain with bits of ice mixed in, nearly four hours and when we finally went back to the car the temperature readout said "one".His team played three twenty minute games with lots of

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-86302110203472606702007-11-18T08:32:00.000Z2007-11-24T08:04:05.273Z

The video is just an excuse today simply because its inspired a couple of thoughts and memories, its a Bradford band called "Smokie" by the way, we used to come across them a lot drinking in pubs in that awful dirty city circa 1974 and whenever one of them walked into a pub then someone would put one of their records on the jukebox, maybe someone who was paid by the band to do just that, anyhoo..

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-3121331481861236682007-11-17T08:08:00.000Z2007-11-17T08:27:08.773Z

Video Saturday again, how quick they come around, and this week its the turn of The Searchers.Why ?Simply because Smooth Radio (simply the ace-ist station on DAB) had an interview this week with Bill Kenwright, one-time actor, producer and now theatre impressario, and in his opinion The Searchers were exponents of the true "Mersey Sound" of the 1960's, even more so than The Beatles, and Bill

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-52536331035811860502007-11-16T19:54:00.000Z2007-11-16T06:27:10.464Z

So, our wedding then.Seghill Church Northumberland (left)17th September 1983My birthday.Main points already covered here.But what I didn't mention is the bit part that I had, the groom bit part.You see, nobody knew who I was.I was still the stranger in town, well more the stranger in the pit village actually, a small community where everyone knew everyone else's business, where everyone had lived

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-33482771554975918892007-11-14T19:39:00.001Z2007-11-15T06:29:27.304Z

So there is the Woman magazine photo then, starring in the main, yours truly.What do you mean you can't see me ?See the bloke on the far left with the grey suit on ?Thats one of my cousins that is, brother of the groom.Now move slightly right and slightly up and there's someone in a white shirt and a Newcastle Utd stylee tie.Yours truly.Fame,I'm going to live forever, etc.Now come down to the

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-56892865741928232092007-11-13T19:00:00.000Z2007-11-14T06:29:15.766Z

We use that line a lot in the office, me and Ned, whenever one of us has an idea, a really good idea, we let the other one go through a whole long explanation, then sit back, pause and in Olliver Hardy stylee say "Tell me that again..." and then the other one has to tell the scheme again, but all mixed up this time ending with "...and the profits go to the fish"We laugh, every time.

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-48730940429235847932007-11-13T18:47:00.001Z2007-11-14T06:27:25.196Z

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-57978805230852595562007-11-13T18:12:00.001Z2007-11-13T18:20:46.175Z

You simply must dash out tomorrow and buy this (left) latest edition of the magazine that is loved by old women the nation over - Woman magazine.Why ? I hear you ask...Why ? I respond incredulously. Why ?Why - because I'm in it this week of course.Fame at last.If you have a magnifying glass to the power of, lets say, ten or more times magnification, then you'll spot me on the "here are the guests

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-29555804837697316892007-11-13T08:01:00.000Z2007-11-13T08:34:37.884Z

And so it starts...Another year, another series of "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here".But this year, announced a breathless Ant and Dec, this year its going to be different, this year we will be splitting the camp into two teams, so, erm, thats different then...."So they took the two teams and they flew them out into the middle of the wildest jungle in Australia, that'll be the wildest jungle

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-32090391477270787382007-11-11T09:40:00.000Z2007-11-12T06:55:22.785Z

When I was 11 years old something remarkable happened shortly after I'd started at high school.One of the boys in my class came to me one day and asked me where I lived, when I told him he mentioned that he was moving to my neighbourhood the following week and did I know of Cooper's sweet shop.Of course I knew of Coopers sweet shop, it was the centre of our universe."Oh" he said, "well thats

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-8677194443032727562007-11-11T06:34:00.000Z2007-11-11T08:29:38.530Z

Apart from the obvious Rememberance Day today, today is or would have been, the birthday of my dad, had he not died in 1998 of course.So a few words for him.Because I never got to say a few words to him when he was alive.We just never did, it wasn't done for men to talk openly and express soppy things like love and respect to each other, so we didn't.In his later years after he had retired to

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-55772273112003080902007-11-10T07:58:00.000Z2007-11-10T08:23:01.581Z

Video Saturday for no other reason that I love this song.I revised my O levels at home to this song in 1973, sat in the house all day trying to force feed maths and french and physics and geography and all that jazz into a brain that didn't want to play at doing exams and all the while George Harrison, the massively under-rated Beatle sang this song on the radio, "give me hope, help me cope with

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-71493035160181861192007-11-08T20:13:00.000Z2007-11-09T06:49:04.377Z

Today I have a confession to make, I worked on the team that brought the Hofbrauhaus chain to the UK.There, I've said it.Even in a minor way I have a responsibility for those countless hours spent in holiday resorts and town centres all over the UK, numerous coach party trips to visit the psuedo German Bierkellars, sit on sticky benches, drink foul beer that was served in glasses to big to pick

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-73660156485789662862007-11-08T08:27:00.000Z2007-11-08T08:45:40.839Z

The early 1960's saw the Jerrychicken family living in Burley, a inner city area of Leeds that had developed from 100 years previous to house the working families of our city and in order to cram as many of them as possible into the area the city adopted the "back-to-back" house approach.Until well into the 1930's, long after the civic design concept of hundreds of rows of terraced back-to-back

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-67059775018624281982007-11-07T06:56:00.000Z2007-11-07T06:31:09.442Z

Its 1981, the young Jerrychicken is now the proud owner of his own apartment, a one bedroomed first floor shoebox that cost the almighty sum of £9500, £500 of which was mine, £9000 of which belonged to the Northern Rock Building Society but they hardly called and I had the place to myself most of the time, apart from the time when I forgot to pay the mortgage of course, it was actually the first

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-76256525068142923952007-11-06T06:46:00.000Z2007-11-06T06:45:51.922Z

You know how in films or in books every good wedding has a family fight ?And you know how you often think, well that sounds fun but thats just fiction because in real life I've never been to a wedding that ended in a family fight ?Well I have.Its 1983, I and the current Mrs Jerrychicken are betrothed to be married in the September of that year, but before our nuptials there is the small matter of

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-22418696828265171542007-11-05T08:31:00.000Z2007-11-05T08:32:43.284Z

Nearly forgot, Bonfire Night tonight, the night that Jake hides under the settee.For those of a non-UK persuasion, this is what the whole schmozzle is all about.

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-61959306251895916522007-11-05T06:43:00.000Z2007-11-05T06:26:08.240Z

One small point from the weekends nuptual festivities before we move on to my other wedding memoires (including the one with the fight) - women and shoes.Whats all that about then ?Somewhere in the last three weeks I've mentioned how the current Mrs Jerrychicken bought a couple of of pairs of shoes for the weekends wedding only to have me return them the following day because she'd changed her

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-73300483950030361532007-11-04T08:29:00.000Z2007-11-04T09:19:19.995Z

...so if I never hear that song again it won't be a moment too soon.And lets be honest, the years have not been kind to any of us really have they ?There's something about staying sober at a wedding, an air of superiority some might say, and air of normality I would say, sober is the normal state for most people most of the time, happily drunk is a state that most people aspire to when they

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-18212389719641783482007-11-03T07:29:00.000Z2007-11-03T08:06:22.224Z

Its a "bleedin obvious" Video Saturday today as this house tries to organise three females in to getting ready for my cousin's wedding at a secret venue to a secret bride at a secret time and to which we cannot take cameras or mobile phones.For they are celebrities.His bride is a presenter of daytime tv, a star of a tv ad that involves frozen food of some sorts, he is my cousin, a legend in his

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-1941193677379483672007-10-31T20:51:00.000Z2007-11-02T08:52:28.068Z

Remember Dennis ? The Tourettes service engineer that used to work for us ?Well he's still not dead yet, or at least no-one has told me that he's dead yet but here is the classic "Dennis Story" as told to me by my dad for whom he worked in the business and the business that they had previous to that...Dennis was the service engineer who covered the East Coast of Yorkshire, my dad ran the main

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-76585778624993107612007-10-29T20:25:00.000Z2007-11-01T08:23:14.836Z

Whit, at Honea Express has tagged me for this...******************************************************************************************************The Rules: 1. After your intro, copy/paste this line and the rules below it: The originator wants to see how far it goes so please keep his link intact: http://rileycentral.net/2. Encourage people to post with the incentive of a link by including

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-63224069967207869842007-10-29T18:22:00.000Z2007-10-31T08:35:39.764Z

This is a true story, nothing has been changed to protect the innocent.Something like ten years ago an old schoolfriend of mine (who sometimes reads this blog, we'll call him Richard - hello Richard if you're reading today, for that is his real name) rang and asked if I'd like to go sailing on Lake Windermere with him.Bear in mind that I'd known him since he was 11 years old, I had to declare my

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-45411321041272430652007-10-29T16:19:00.000Z2007-10-30T06:31:45.631Z

Dan at All That Comes With It has foisted this excellent subject onto you today with his reminiscing yesterday of what transpired on his school bus route.Like his school, our school didn't have a dedicated school bus service which is strange when you think of it as 1000 strapping youths left our all-male grammar school all at the same time and at least half of them wanting to go int he same

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-88940082822918642212007-10-29T15:29:00.000Z2007-10-29T15:32:56.943Z

This is not an obsessive weight loss blog ok ?Anyway, total weight loss so far....Haven't a clue, couldn't find the scales in the garage this weekend.Notch on belt, still the last one, but ever so, ever so, slightly less under strain.Todays food consumption - cornflakes, lots of coffeeeeeeeee, nothing else, I'm inventing my own diet now, its called starvation, I cottoned onto the fact that the

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-33458290593932760782007-10-29T08:57:00.000Z2007-10-29T15:04:28.713Z

Yesterday the UK switched to Greenwich Mean Time from British Summer Time, in other words we moved our clocks back by one hour, nothing remarkable here then.Except that this morning, Monday, the first day at work after the clocks have gone back used to be a nice little earner for us, being that we are loosely connected to clocks in our business.My dad was always very keen to work for cash, as he

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-6852803442529969282007-10-28T07:56:00.000Z2007-10-27T08:29:01.546+01:00

There is a news story that is little known outside of Yorkshire that keeps popping up on our local news reports every year or so to get another airing, just like it did on Friday, and like all the other times that it has popped up on our local news reports nothing was added to the story and nothing concluded, all that happens is that the man they interview gets older each year, he is now in his

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-6470815262190513182007-10-27T07:20:00.000+01:002007-10-27T07:45:06.949+01:00

Two huge British acts from the 1960's on Video Saturday today, Peter Sellers interprets The Beatles song "A Hard Days Night" whilst parodying Laurence Oliviers interpretation of Shakespeare's "Richard III", a recording of which topped the hit parade at the end of 1965, followed by The Beatles singing "We Can Work It Out", a quite sublime song that gave an early indication that The Beatles were

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-39882919795486998812007-10-26T08:39:00.000+01:002007-10-26T08:57:50.965+01:00

This will not become a diet obsessed blog - ok ?Day One.Breakfast - huge bowl of Kellogs Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, glass of fresh orange (not so-fresh really, it came in a box), (ok its probably not so much orange as some sort of chemical orange, it tastes sort of orange-y anyway), one cup of black coffee - Total calories, who knows, probably lots.9am - Cup of black coffee at work, resisted packet

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-85988479259510643592007-10-25T08:11:00.000+01:002007-10-25T08:29:57.464+01:00

There will be less of me shortly...For today I diet.Yes, the current lardarse shape that I regard with wonder in the mirror every morning, "wonder" because I wonder how the hell I got to this size will be a thing of history, so speaketh the Tesco Diet plan that I have signed up for at the meagre remittance of £2.99 a week.And what do you get for your £2.99 a week I hear you all cry."I don't know

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-7527960250340822442007-10-24T07:41:00.000+01:002007-10-23T22:50:04.074+01:00

Before we start I need to point out that the photograph is neither me nor is it my wife, for starters the scruffy bas'tad in the photo hasn't even shaved .And it looks like the bloke in the photo hasn't shaved either.Anyway.Weddings.Clothing for the use of.Shopping for clothing for the use of.Why is it so hard for women to shop for wedding outfits, or indeed clothing in general.One week on

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-67603035769201045222007-10-23T06:23:00.000+01:002007-10-23T07:18:51.196+01:00

Had the car MOT'd yesterday (for those not of this country thats the Ministry of Transport annual examination for cars over three years old - ie a licence for a garage to steal your wallet and its contents), I never intended for this car to need an MOT for its only leased for three years so in theory they should have collected it from me yesterday.But because I now have to keep it until they have

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-29330234368505374122007-10-22T06:00:00.000+01:002007-10-21T19:59:30.431+01:00

One of the comments on another post provides a link to an "interesting" pub in Nottingham with an "interesting" line in clientele entertainment - we had one of those in Otley for a while once.The Westbourne was a large roadhouse stylee pub of the sort known better as "an estate pub" in that its main purpose was to serve its local housing estate - but the Westbourne landlord had bigger

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-56578617127610213622007-10-21T08:10:00.000+01:002007-10-21T08:36:50.173+01:00

So England lost the Rugby Union World Cup Final on penalty kicks, lets move on, its a busy sporting weekend.Or perhaps linger here for a just a few seconds to ponder on the style of the defeat last night, five penalty kicks to two, no try's scored in 80 minutes, only one team getting even close to the other teams try line on one just occasion only to have the try disallowed for clearly putting a

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20064245.post-49592111524665607792007-10-19T20:36:00.001+01:002007-10-20T07:55:55.607+01:00

Video Saturday.Rugby Saturday.OK, so it was rugby Saturday for me last week as well with the Rugby League Grand Final which my team Leeds won - so yippee there then.Today is something a tad different, for today is the Rugby Union World Cup Final featuring (beyond all expectation) England vs South Africa.I enjoy both codes of rugby, the professional league season having just finished (most amatuer

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14757521923096821668noreply@blogger.com1