Music and Mayhem

A couple of weeks back I went to see Blondie at the O2 Academy in Liverpool. It was the second time I’ve seen Blondie live and they were great. They belted out all the classics interspersed with tracks from the new album. It was the last gig of their UK tour and you could tell from the start they were going to make it a night to remember.

Blondie have been together for 37 years now and still know how to throw a party. Debbie Harry still has an amazing stage presence and she was clearly enjoying herself in Liverpool. The songs from the new Album, “Panic of Girls” were very well received but the old favourites including Union City Blue, Atomic, One Way or Another and Rapture drove the crowd wild. The set also included an excellent cover of The Beastie Boys’ You’ve Gotta Fight for your Right to Party. I think it’s obligatory when playing in Liverpool to do a cover of a Beatles classic and they belted out a cracking version of Please Please Me. My only complaint about the gig was the ridiculous temperature in the venue. It was hotter than Hell in there and the sweat was literally dripping from the ceiling. Debbie even commented on it saying it felt like a hot summer in New York City.

We stayed the night in Liverpool at the Premier Inn at the Albert Dock and the next day we went to Tate Liverpool and The Beatles Experience. We had a cracking couple of days.

Blondie set list (I think it's right):
Union City Blue
Dreaming
Atomic
D-Day
Hanging On The Telephone
Call Me
Love Doesn’t Frighten Me
Maria
Girlie Girlie
What I Heard
Sunday Girl
China Shoes
Wipe Off My Sweat
Horizontal Twist
Mother
Rapture/Fight For Your Right To Party
One Way Or Another

Please Please Me
Rip Her To Shreds
Heart Of Glass

On an entirely different note a lot of people thought I would have been on here blogging about the riots but I just didn’t know what to say. The whole sorry affair was and is very depressing. I could rant about the evils of the corrupt capitalist system and the root causes of crime and antisocial behaviour. I could cry about the members of society who have been left behind and abandoned. The only thing I’m certain of is the clear evidence that poverty and crime go hand in hand. I know that some of the looters were employed and educated but the vast majority come from some of the most economically deprived areas of our country.

We are now in a situation where in many ways we aren’t really citizens of a nation state anymore we are just consumers in a global market. Those who don’t have enough money to play a role in the market are either ignored or ridiculed.

If any good can come from these inexcusable riots it’ll be that society opens its eyes and realises it can no longer ignore the consequences of inter-generational unemployment and benefit reliance. We need to invest huge sums of money to fix the problems but there isn’t any money to spend. Maybe if we made the huge corporations who make Billions of pounds in the UK but don’t pay full taxes cough up some cash we could at least take some steps in the right direction.

Bad News

When the pictures from Oslo first started appearing on the news nobody was sure what had happened. It was unclear if this was a terrorist attack or an accident like a gas explosion. As soon as it became clear that it wasn’t an accident but a terrorist attack the finger pointing began. Most of the fingers were pointing towards radical Islam and the Jihadist movement. I suppose in the current geopolitical climate it was inevitable that this would be the case.

Not long after the news from Oslo broke we started getting the reports of a shooting incident on an island called Utoeya several miles north of the city. Again there was confusion as it wasn’t known if the two incidents were related. As we now know the two incidents were related and the news broke that the culprit had pale skin and blonde hair. This didn’t seem to fit with our image of an Islamic extremist but many extremists are converts so the fingers were still pointing towards Jihadists. Eventually, we got the news that this attack was carried out in the name of neo-conservative far-right politics.

Anders Behring Breivik, who carried out the attacks, is now known to be a racist obsessed with far-right politics and linked to far-right organisations, websites and parties like the EDL, Nordisk and the FrP. He believes he is fighting a war against the “Islamisation” of Europe and the introduction of sharia. He wrote a 1,500 page manifesto about his preparation for the attack and his anti-Islamic beliefs. He described himself on Facebook as being a conservative Christian. Breivik believes Norway’s governing Labour party has to be punished for encouraging multiculturalism, allowing immigration and funding Islamic organisations. The young people on Utoeya Island were members of the Labour party’s youth wing and the car bomb in Oslo was aimed at government buildings. In reality this wasn’t an attack on the Norwegian Labour party it was an attack on democracy and freedom. It was an attack on moderate politics and tolerance.

Over the last 10 years our security services have concentrated almost exclusively on Islamic extremist groups and this has allowed other non-Islamic extremist groups to grow and operate undetected. Many of these groups are from the radical far-right movement that has grown steadily in Europe since the fall of Communism. The growth of internet use and social networking has given the far-right a new unregulated platform to spread its lies and deceit. They attract young people who feel disaffected and ignored by the political classes. We can’t ignore this situation any longer.

The EDL marches in England attract large numbers of young people who aren’t genuinely part of the far-right. They are people who are frightened, misinformed and confused about immigration and their national identity. The far-right scum who lead the EDL recognise this and seduce them with lies while hiding the full extent of their fascist ideology. The liberal left here in the UK has been far too quick to shout “racist” at anyone who has taken an anti-immigration line. That is the wrong way to deal with the situation and it has led to a growth in support for the likes of the EDL and the BNP. We need to embark on a new open discourse where confused moderate people can raise their concerns about immigration and multiculturalism without the fear of being shouted down as a racist. If you stifle debate people feel they have no voice and when people feel they have no voice they tend to start using their fists instead.

The other big news this week was the tragic death of Amy Winehouse. She has joined the forever 27 club. I always felt sorry for Amy and I think some questions need to be asked of her record company, promoters and management. Why would they let her go out on stage in Serbia when she was so out of it she couldn’t walk let alone sing? Some people are also saying her record company was putting too much pressure on her to produce a third album when she should have been concentrating on her health.

Amy really was an amazing talent who more than lived up to the hype. Her two albums were superb examples of smokey melancholic Jazz and soul. I know she was her own worst enemy but addiction is a cruel master. The poor girl just couldn’t break out of the cycle of drink and drugs that eventually killed her. RIP Amy Winehouse

News of the World

It’s been an exciting few days for those of us who are sad enough to devour news and current affairs. I’ve never known anything like it. The News of the World phone hacking scandal may well have changed the British media forever.

The relationship between the political parties and the newspaper editors has always been something I have been very uncomfortable with. A healthy democracy needs a strong Fourth Estate but our bloated newspaper media has got completely out of control. The media is not above the law but recent events at the News of the World give the impression that they thought otherwise. It is also becoming clear that it’s not just the News of the World as other newspapers are now believed to have acted illegally.

We all know that Rupert Murdoch’s New International and the other powerful newspaper groups have been polluting British politics for far too long. The influence they have held over our political leaders has been damaging to our democracy. The media must be able to practice freedom of speech but they must remain within the law and show real political neutrality. Can anyone honestly say that The Daily Mail, The Sun or The Daily Mirror are politically neutral?

The reaction of the Metropolitan Police (MET) in regards to phone hacking and other issues in relation to the activities of newspapers is one of the most shocking aspects of the whole affair. The MET have been reluctant to investigate the accusations of illegal activity being carried out by newspapers. James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks have admitted that payments (bribes) were paid to members of the Met. I think it is clear that this is the reason the MET have been so frightened of digging too deeply. I also believe there has been political pressure on them to turn a blind eye to much of what’s gone on. If it’s proved that senior members of the MET were in the pockets of News International it would simply prove what many of us have believed for years. The rich are indeed powerful and hold influence over the people who should be protecting us.

It is a shame that a Newspaper that has been on the market since 1843 has been ruined by the crooks at News International. The News of the World brand may well return under new owners but under Murdoch it was doomed. I’m not shedding any tears for the type of right wing hack that worked on the paper but it doesn’t seem fair that they all lose their jobs but James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks carry on regardless. The people losing their jobs will be ok because it’s easy to claim at least £250,000 a year in benefits and get a big house from the Council. Isn’t that what they used to tell us in the News of the World and The Sun? I also had to laugh at the idea of journalists at The Sun threatening industrial action! Or as they would usually describe it, “Union Neanderthals threaten to drag Britain back to the 1970’s”.

So what will the future be for our newspaper media? Will anything actually change? I think things can change this time because for the first time in years our politicians are in a position of strength. The fear of upsetting the Murdochs has always meant politicians had to keep them sweet and suck up to them. Now the public have turned against the Tabloids, especially Murdoch, the politicians can make a stand. The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has been a complete failure as it has no power and self regulation has been an unmitigated disaster. So we need a new independent PCC that has genuine powers of investigation and regulation.

This is an opportunity we can’t miss. The bent MET police, James Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks and any other newspaper owner, editor or journalist who is charged with breaking the law should face trial and if found guilty sent to prison. This will make all current and future editors and journalists think twice before lying about people, phone hacking and forcing political agendas. It will also make bent Police officers think twice before accepting bribes. This has been a dark week for our newspapers but it could also be bright new dawn and a return to the glory days of the past. It would be nice to have a media that reports the facts and uncovers injustice. A media that is constructive rather than destructive would be a like a breath of fresh air. I’ve got my fingers crossed.

Sinead O'Connor @ Manchester International Festival 2011

Ireland's Sinead O’Connor did 3 nights in the intimate pavilion theatre at the MIF (Manchester International Festival) performing material from her forthcoming new album and classic tracks crossing the span of her now lengthy and controversial career.

The first thing that struck me was her appearance. This wasn’t the pale faced young skinhead of the Nothing Compares 2 U video from 1990. Sinead is now a chubby 44 year old with hair cut into a kind of scruffy bob. She looks pleasantly like a middle aged mother of 4 who has had a hard life but is now comfortable in herself and that's what she is. She looks different but as soon as she started singing it couldn’t have been anyone else. There is a strong but vulnerable beauty and purity in her voice that's impossible to define.

The Protest songs are great but a night of nothing but anger can be a drag. Thankfully there is much in the new material that speaks of motherhood and relationships and this balances out some of the more political elements of the older songs. Sinead is still however, an inspiring independent and opinionated woman. The opening song called Take off your Shoes is an unapologetic protest against the Vatican and the child abuse scandal but at other points Sinead filled the room with a poignant Christian spirituality.

Nothing Compares 2 U is still a highlight and sounds as fresh and moving as it did all those years ago. It really is one of the greats. It was a hair standing on the back of the neck moment that will stay with me for a long time.

Sinead genuinely seemed to enjoy herself. She chatted between songs (some of which was outrageously funny) in a relaxed manner that hinted at a new confidence, and she has every reason to be confident. The new songs are excellent and her voice is as enchanting as ever.

Set List:
1. Take off your shoes
2. I had a baby
3. The Emperor's New Clothes
4. Never Get Old
5. The Wolf Is Getting Married
6. Jealous
7. No Man's Woman
8. Reason with Me
9. I Am Stretched on Your Grave
10. Something Beautiful
11. Three Babies
12. Black Boys on Mopeds
13. Untold Stories
14. V.I.P.
15. The Healing Room
16. Petit Poulet
17. 4th&vine
18. The Lamb's Book Of Life
19. Nothing compares 2 U
Encore:
20. The Last Day of Our Acquaintance
21. Thank You for Hearing Me

Fleet Foxes at the Manchester Apollo

I had a great night at the Manchester Apollo on Tuesday night watching Seattle’s Fleet Foxes. If you don’t know Fleet Foxes their music is often described as Folk Rock or Indie Folk but I don’t think either of these correctly reflects the music. They are pleasantly hard to categorise. The band is made up of some incredibly talented musicians but they are particularly praised for their beautiful vocal harmonies.

The opening track was an instrumental called ‘The Cascades’ and it felt a bit like an overture readying us for the main event. Robin Pecknold is a great frontman with a voice that can go from the gentle softness to aggressive power in a heartbeat but his voice sounded a bit lost during the second track ‘Grown Ocean’. I think the sound engineer pulled his socks up because things soon balanced out and within a couple of tracks the sound was just right.

The band seemed to get tighter with each track. By the time we got to the brilliant ‘Sim Sala Bim’ and fan favourite ‘Mykonos’ the music and vocal harmonies were perfectly seamed and tuly hypnotic. ‘Your Protector’ and ‘White Winter Hymnal’ were particular highlights. The crowd was really into the show and showed their appreciation with lots of singing and cheering. One or two attention seeking knobheads got a bit vocal between tracks but that seems to be the case at most gigs these days.

The main body of the set ended with a personal favourite of mine ‘Blue Ridge Mountains’ and the crowd loudly cheered them off at the end of it. The noise continued until Pecknold reappeared on his own to perform ‘Oliver James’ and this track showed just what an amazing vocal talent he is. The rest of the band then joined him onstage to end the night with ‘Helplessness Blues’.

A top gig by a top band in a top venue.

Set list as follows:
1. The Cascades
2. Grown Ocean
3. Drops In The River
4. Battery Kinzie
5. Bedouin Dress
6. Sim Sala Bim
7. Mykonos
8. Your Protector
9. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
10. White Winter Hymnal
11. Ragged Wood
12. Lorelai
13. Montezuma
14. He Doesn't Know Why
15. The Shrine/An Argument
16. Blue Spotted Tail
17. Blue Ridge Mountains
Encore:
18. Oliver James
19. Helplessness Blues

Glastonbury - The Sunday Night

So the Sunday night headliner on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury wasn’t someone like The Levellers, the Manics or The Strokes, it was Beyonce. I have nothing against Beyonce and she is clearly very good at what she does but it’s just not my cup of tea. I can’t review her set because I didn’t watch it. I tried but after about 10mins I gave up. That kind of music just doesn’t do anything for me. Luckily the TV was also showing music from other stages so there was plenty to keep the rest of the viewing public engaged.

I was delighted to find that the Red Button was showing a decent chunk of a set by one of my favourite bands The Eels. I’ve been a fan of Mark ‘E’ Everett and his music since ‘Novocaine for the Soul’ was a minor hit in the mid-nineties. One of the main reasons I like the Eels is that they are constantly changing and re-inventing their style. Every tour they do has a different feel, look and sound. You never know what you’re going to get but you know it will be brilliant.

After The Eels I watched some Queens of the Stone Age. Unlike the Eels with Queens of the Stone Age you know exactly what you’re going to get and that’s what they delivered. It was an accomplished rock tour-de-force. It was Powerful, exhilarating and the perfect antidote to pop on the Pyramid stage. It’s perfect festival music and I really enjoyed it.

A lot of people are very annoyed that Glastonbury has become the sort of event that a pop act headlines. I agree to an extent but I think the festival is now so big it can cater for all tastes. If you didn’t want to watch Beyonce there was plenty of other stuff to see. I don’t particularly want to see another pop act headline again in the near future but if it’s in several years time and we are talking about someone as big as Beyonce then why not? Glastonbury has always prided itself on mixing genres and being inclusive of all types of music. Long may it continue.

I’m going to the Manchester Apollo tonight to see the Fleet Foxes. I’ll Blog about it some point over the next couple of days.

Glastonbury 2011

I had intended on following up yesterday’s Blog about U2 at Glastonbury (from the point of view of a TV viewer) with one about Coldplay. I started watching the Coldplay set but I’ll be honest I got bored and switched to other more interesting and diverse Glastonbury coverage.

I’m no expert on Coldplay and didn’t recognise the opening song. I think it was one of the new ones. It seemed a strange way to start and the crowd went almost silent. They should have started with the second song they performed which was ‘Yellow’. The crowd sung every word and it came across very well on television. After this it all went a bit flat and boring so I switched over and waited for the Chemical Brothers to come on.

While waiting for the Chemical Brothers I caught some of Aloe Blacc who was cooler than an Eskimo sat on an iceberg. I also watched Jessie J who did her whole set sat down because of a broken foot. Jessie J was joined on stage by a little girl from the crowd to join her singing Price Tag. The young lady in question was a 7 year old called Shay and she lit up the whole event. It was one of those wonderful Glastonbury moments.

There was also some coverage of Omar Souleyman from The Glade Stage. Omar Souleyman is Syrian and his sound is hard to describe. It’s like the Islamic call to prayer with a trance beat. I loved it.

The Chemical Brothers headlined the Other Stage. They are an amazing live act but it doesn’t always come across very well on the television. Last night’s coverage worked really well though and with the sound cranked up a notch was very enjoyable. It’s the sort of music that makes you want to drop one and go out and party.

After the Chemical Brothers I watched the Coldplay highlights on the red button. I really enjoyed it. I do like Coldplay but if you take away the best 4 or 5 songs it’s all a bit bland. The highlights were the best way to watch it. Chris Martin is a remarkable talent and I wish him and his band continued success. They certainly gave U2 a lesson in festival headlining. I just prefer something a bit less middle of the road.

U2 at Glastonbury 2011

Before I start I want to say that I’m going to steer clear of the tax avoidance issue. This Blog post is about the band, its music and the performance from last night.

I think this year’s choice of headliners is a bit poor. Coldplay will put a good show on but are a very conservative, risk free and, dare I say, slightly boring choice. Beyonce at Glastonbury just seems like an incredibly strange choice and doesn’t fit with my idea of what a Glastonbury headliner should be (it’s cruel but I would love to see her pelted with mud). The first headliner of the weekend though was the musical money making machine that is U2.

After last years no show U2 finally headlined a rain soaked Glastonbury. I’m not at Glastonbury this year so I can only give my opinion on their performance from the point of view of watching it on the television. I’m not in the U2 hater’s brigade but I’m not a big fan of them either so I’m exactly the sort of person they needed to win over.

My initial impression was that Bono looked nervous during the first couple of songs. Once he realised the crowd weren’t booing and throwing mud at him he seemed to settle down a bit and enjoy himself. The opening salvo was actually quite strong with hits taken mainly from the Achtung Baby era played against a backdrop of Zoo TV type video screen graphics. Things then settled down but only ‘One’, ‘Streets Have No Name’ and ‘I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For’ got the crowd singing. One of the strongest U2 songs is ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ and it should have been a highlight but it just felt a bit flat and lifeless. I did enjoy ‘Elevation’ but ‘Vertigo’ felt a bit forced.

The encore was a huge disappointment as they had used up all the most well know hits that are needed for a memorable finale. ‘With or Without You’ worked but ‘Moment of Surrender’ was lost on the crowd. ‘Out of Control’ couldn’t save them by this point and the set ended on a bit of a dour note.

Bono tried his best not to be a pretentious twat but he is one and he can’t hide it for long. His Jerusalem made me cringe with embarrassment. The Edge gave his all but couldn’t hide the fact that it’s all sound effect peddles and computer programmes. Andy Clayton and Larry Mullen were as tight and professional as we have come to expect and managed to hold the sound together.

U2 were never going to stir the emotions of a Glastonbury crowd in the same way as say Blur did a couple of years earlier. The hits are popular but the fact of the matter is that U2 rely on the big stage sets and video screens to mask much that is mediocre.

There were some good points last night but not enough to make it a triumph for U2. Perhaps if the weather had been better the crowd might have been a bit more up for it but I doubt the music would have lifted them to any great degree. I give U2 at Glastonbury a score of 6/10. Not bad but not great either.

Wimbledon

For two weeks of the year I love tennis and then spend most of the rest of the year ignoring it. Basically, I’m your typical British tennis fan. Every year we get all excited at the prospect that a British player will finally win the damn thing and every year we get let down. At least with Murray we’ve finally got someone with a real chance but I’m still not holding my breath. We do seem to have a few decent women players at the moment but none of them are likely to reach the business end of the tournament.

I think we need to be realistic about the chances of us ever churning out future Wimbledon winners because not enough people in this country play tennis and, like me, most only watch tennis during Wimbledon fortnight. I’m honestly not that bothered about this situation because it sometimes feels like watching the latest plucky Brit lose in the final set is one of the great Wimbledon traditions. It would feel weird to watch a Wimbledon full of winning British players. I think the atmosphere at Wimbledon would actually change for the worse because our reactions to the other players would change. I’m not saying I want British players to lose and I wish Andy Murray the best of luck. I’m just not going to lose any sleep about the state of British tennis because tennis isn’t really a game we play or follow as a nation.

Wimbledon is amazing. It is to Tennis what Monaco is to Formula One. As a nation we love it and the lack of decent British tennis players will never change that.

London Olympic Games

I know a large number of you are disappointed that you didn’t manage to get any tickets for the 2012 Olympic Games. I don’t want to rub it in but I’m one of the lucky few. I’ve got tickets for the Athletics on 7th August. I can’t wait as it is very much a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’ve always enjoyed watching the Olympics on the television and now I’m actually going to the games and in the main stadium!

I’m not going to see any finals but I don’t care. On the day I go it’s the men’s 110m Hurdles (round 1), men’s 200m (round 1), men’s Triple Jump (qualifying), women’s 5000m (round 1) and women’s Javelin (qualifying). It’s going to be amazing.

It’s not only seeing the athletics that I’m excited about. It’s the whole thing of going to the Olympic park, seeing the Olympic flame and soaking up the whole atmosphere of the event.

I decided to Blog about this because I’ve heard people up here saying all the tickets went to rich southerners, corporations and sponsors. Well I’m from Bolton and I’m far from being rich. I applied for tickets for just two athletics sessions because that’s all I could afford. I got tickets for one of the sessions I applied for. I just got very lucky.

Not another Blog about Stress and Depression

How many Blogs are there by people suffering from stress or depression? There must be thousands of them. Some are by drug addicts, alcoholics or abuse victims but the majority are by ordinary people. I’ll be honest; I’m usually the first in line to mock these people. My response to these Blogs usually involves the unnecessary over use of both the exclamation mark and the F word - for example:

• Get a fucking grip of yourself!

• Counselling? Don’t make me fucking laugh!

• You may be depressed but why do you feel the need to tell the whole fucking
world about it?

I think you get the picture.

A couple of months ago I was going through some issues (I know I hate that phrase too but the facts are private and I’m not sharing them on here) and I started suffering with insomnia. Other than in the last few weeks leading up to my Mum dying I’ve never had problems sleeping. Suddenly the night became something to fear and dread. I tried reading, listening to the radio in the dark or I would spend the early hours staring at the television hoping that at some point I would drop off. Yes I had some serious personal shit to deal with but I would also lie there worrying about all sorts of mad stuff. Seemingly inconsequential problems would suddenly seem massively important and insurmountable. After about 5 days with virtually no sleep I exploded. There was a great deal of shouting and then I burst into tears and couldn’t stop. I’ll be honest it was all a bit frightening.

Like most men I go to the doctors about as regularly as politicians tell the truth but I made an appointment and dragged myself to see my GP. I didn’t want to see the Doctor because I was genuinely worried at this point that I might be going completely fucking insane. I had visions of straitjackets, padded walls, an evil nurse and a mute Red Indian. In the end the Doctor was brilliant with me. We did some stress / depression tests, we talked about the things causing the stress and insomnia and came up with a plan to get me through it. The plan included medication and going to see a counsellor. I’ll be honest I wasn’t too keen on either but if it was going to help me feel better I was willing to try anything.

The medication has helped me calm down and I now manage to get some sleep. The medication isn’t so strong that it has turned me into something from a George Romero film but I do feel grogy in the mornings. The counselling isn’t what I expected and has helped enormously. The counsellor has talked me through some meditation type exercises to help me at times of high stress. I was cynical about this and was amazed to find it did actually help. The best thing about the counselling is just having someone to talk things through with. I get a lot of stuff of my chest and the advice given is excellent. It isn’t the head in the clouds psycho-babble I had feared. It’s about opening up about how you feel and not being scared of admitting your ill because only then do you start getting better. It’s about learning to recognise the triggers that set you off. I’m now taking each day as it comes because sometimes I still feel like shit. I know I’m not 100% yet. I’m still on medication and I’m still seeing the counsellor but I feel much better than I did.

Lots of people have a hard time skating across the thin ice of modern life but for most people the ice doesn’t actually break. Not everyone is so lucky; sometimes the ice breaks and people slip through the cracks. They feel like they are trapped under the water desperately trying to smash the ice and escape. The ones who manage to skate round the cracks often mock the ones who fall through. I used to be stood with the mockers but now I’m one of the mocked.

I won’t suddenly read lots of Blogs about depression and this Blog certainly won’t be turning into one but I will no longer take the piss and be judgemental of other people blogging about the subject. Getting things of your chest by writing about how you feel can be part of the healing process. A Blog can allow you to do this with the protection of some anonymity. If writing a Blog or an online diary about their illness helps people in the recovery process then good luck to them. It’s not for me, you or anyone else to judge them.

RIP Nat Lofhouse

The former England striker and Bolton Wanderers legend Nat Lofthouse OBE died in his sleep this weekend at a care home in Bolton. It is difficult to put into words just what Nat meant to Bolton.

Nat was born in Bolton in 1925 and he made his debut for Bolton Wanderers on March 22nd, 1941. Nat went on to play 660 games for Bolton in which he scored 441 goals. His most famous goal for Bolton was his controversial second in the 1958 cup final victory against Manchester United. After his retirement in 1960 Nat maintained his involvement with the club and over the years had spells as chief coach and manager before he was eventually given the title of lifetime club President.

Nat won 33 caps for England scoring 30 goals. His most famous goal for England was in 1952 when they were playing Austria in Vienna. Nat scored 2 goals in England’s dramatic 3–2 victory. In the process of scoring the second goal Nat was elbowed in the face, tackled from behind, and finally brought down by the goalkeeper. His bravery earned him the nickname of ‘The Lion of Vienna’.

In the early 1980’s Bolton Wanderers were languishing in the lower divisions and on the verge of Bankruptcy. At one stage they were literally days away from locking the gates for good at Burnden Park. The management at Bolton decided to launch the ‘Burnden Lifeline’ as a way of raising funds. Nat Lofthouse, described by Bolton’s former commercial director Alf Davies as the clubs only credible personality, was appointed president of the Lifeline. His picture was on all the advertising and the leaflets etc and he worked tirelessly to save his beloved club. Without him the Burnden Lifeline would never have got going and it is unlikely the club would have survived.

I can still picture Nat at the last ever game at Burnden Park when he was standing on the pitch for the last time with tears streaming down his face. I also remember the reports about how proud he was when the news broke that one of the stands at the Reebok stadium was to be named after him.

I met Nat a few times over the years and he was always the friendliest and humblest of characters. He was a real old school working class bloke who wore his heart on his sleeve.

God bless you Nat Lofthouse, we will never forget you.

Freeviw

I don’t mind getting anything for free but I do have one or two issues with Freeview at the moment.

I can’t understand why a service that is so limited in terms of the channels it can offer needs so many +1 channels (+1 channels are the ones which show a TV channel 1 hour later than the original broadcast). There are now six +1 channels which equates to approximately 12% of the TV channels available on Freeview. They are ITV1+1, ITV2+1, Ch4+1, E4+1, Sky3+1 and Dave+1 (Dave ja vu).

I have nothing against +1 channels. They are fine for the Sky and Virgin platforms as they aren’t limited in the amount of channels they have the capacity to broadcast. On Freeview they just waste room that could be used for different channels. ITV1+1 launched yesterday so yet another channel space which could have been used for something new is now being wasted. Many people on low incomes can’t afford a Sky or Virgin package and rely on Freeview. This is especially true now that the old analogue service is being switched off as Freeview will become the only way low income households can watch TV.

Freeview is essentially owned jointly by BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky and transmitter operator Arqiva. I think the government and/or Ofcom should inform Freeview’s owners that they are changing the terms of the platform’s licence so that +1 channels are limited to no more than 5% – 6% of the total output. There should be certain terms and conditions associated with the licence change so the +1 channels are not just replaced with shopping channels (don’t even get me started on those). Freeview’s aim should be to provide a good diverse mix of entertainment, music, documentary and news. Freeview should not be allowed to waste capacity by broadcasting lots of +1 channels, shopping channels and gambling channels.

Bolton to Malaga

I’m currently planning a train trip from Bolton to Malaga in May. I want to get the train from Bolton to Manchester and then the train to London. From London I want to catch the Eurostar to Paris, then the night train from Paris to Madrid and then end with the train from Madrid to Malaga. It sounds complicated but on paper but should be a relatively simple journey.

The problem is the dozens of websites all advertising different offers and deals. I don’t know where to start. Some are cheaper for the Paris to Madrid leg of the journey but are expensive for the Eurostar. Some offer great deals on Eurostar and Madrid to Malaga but the Paris to Madrid train is more expensive. I’ve looked at prices for train passes but even these are confusing.

Can anyone recommend a website or company where I can book the whole journey at a reasonable price? I want one that will sort out the bookings for all the different trains in all three countries.

Happy New Year

I know it’s a bit late but Happy New Year everyone. I’ve not updated my blog or even tweeted over Christmas as I had bad flu resulting in a chest infection. It wasn’t pretty but I’m feeling much better now. I’m not 100% yet as I still get tired quickly and the cough is still hanging around.

So 2010 is over with and it wasn’t a bad year until Oct/Nov when we were told the team I was on at work was being disbanded and redundancy offered. It was a real kick in the bollocks as it was just before Christmas. I’ve managed to get another job on a different team and will look at 2011 as a fresh challenge.

I went to quite a few gigs in 2010. Blondie, Manic Street Preachers, Madness and Paul Weller were all great but Gorillaz were truly outstanding. I’ve already booked tickets for a few gigs this year including Primal Scream, Roger Waters and The Specials.

2010 was also a general election year and it was a historic one resulting in Britain being governed by a coalition. What a shame that the coalition have introduced such regressive polices rather than progressive ones.

It was a disappointing year in football. The World Cup was crap and a disaster for England. The England 2018 World Cup bid failed miserably after those corrupt bastards at Fifa handed the tournament to Russia. On a more positive note Bolton Wanderers have been transformed from being boring long ball losers under Gary Megson to a team playing attractive winning football under Owen Coyle.

So what will 2011 bring?

I’m planning on a nice holiday in May. I’m hoping to go on the Euro Star to Paris, then the night train to Madrid and then the fast train to Malaga. From Malaga I get the bus to Nerja and spend a few days with my Dad.

There is going to be a referendum on electoral reform in May and I would love to see us introduce AV as a first step towards proportional representation.

The year is also going to bring financial strife for a great many people. The government cuts to our public services will result in many jobs being lost. The rise in VAT, fuel costs and food prices will mean increasing inflationary pressures which could result in higher interest rates. It’s going to be a tough year.

Also in 2011 I would like to meet a beautiful, intelligent and rich young woman who wants to marry a balding overweight 35 year old from Bolton. (I can’t say I’m holding my breath on that one)

Have a great 2011 everyone. I hope it brings you love, prosperity, health and happiness.