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.

Full of a Cold

I feel like shit today. My head is blocked, my nose is blocked and my chest feels tighter than a Sumo’s jock strap. I’ve conscientiously upped my Vitamin C intake this year, it’s not saved me from getting a cold but I was hoping it would help me get over it quicker.

I’ve been online and checked the NHS website and one or two other reputable health websites and it seems most of the evidence points to the fact Vitamin C doesn’t really help with colds at all. It certainly doesn’t help once you’ve got the cold. If you have the RDA of Vitamin C everyday over a long period and then catch a cold it might help you get better a little bit quicker but only fractionally.

So where does this widely held belief that Vitamin C helps prevent colds come from? The American Chemist Linus Pauling was one of the first to argue that Vitamin C can help reduce the risk of catching a cold and reduce its severity but it looks like he was wrong.

In defence of Vitamin C it is a great anti-oxidant and it also prevents Scurvy but as a cold cure it isn’t very good. I’ll have to rely on the age old remedies like a hot toddy, sticking my head over a bowl of steaming hot water or having a soak in a piping hot bath.

No jokes about man-flu please!! lol

Lib Dems Commit Suicide

I’m very disappointed that the bill to increase tuition fees has been successful. The Lib Dems should be ashamed of themselves. They signed a pre-election pledge to vote against any increase. In the end only 21 of them had the balls to vote against the bill with 8 of them abstaining.

Nick Clegg has spent the last few days insulting the public and the students by saying the policy isn’t bad it’s just that people don’t understand it. We do understand the policy Nick and it’s disgraceful. He keeps trying to tell us that it’s not that bad because students won’t have to pay anything back until they are reaping the benefits of their education and earning £21,000 or more. Well let me tell you Nick, £21,000 isn’t very much these days. A great deal of non-graduate jobs (including mine) pay that much.

Imagine a student who has to pay £9,000 on tuition fess and takes out a £4,000 student loan each year of a 3 year course. Total debt £21,000. If the student marries another student or graduate with a similar debt they are staring adult life with a combined debt of £42,000. If they want to buy a small house in the town where I live (one of the cheapest places in the country for property prices) they are going to need a mortgage of at least £75,000.

That means before they have even considered having any children and raising a family they have a combined debt of over £117,000.

This whole episode is going to be very damaging for the Lib Dems:

How are they going to campaign at the next election?
Nobody will believe a word they say.

How will they be able to campaign against the Tory party on the doorsteps?
They can’t as they are the Tories partners in crime.

Well done Nick! You and Vince have destroyed the Lib Dems as a political force. I would be amazed if the party gets more 10% – 12% of the vote at the next election.

John Lennon

As I’m sure you are all aware today marks the 30th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon. I was only 5 when he was murdered but I vaguely remember the day. I was playing at a friend’s house when his Mum came running into the room in tears and told his Dad the news. My little friend and I had no idea who John Lennon was and after his Mum had calmed down we carried on playing with our toy cars. Other than that I have no real recollection of the day.

Anyone reading my Blog won’t be surprised to hear that Lennon is one of my heroes. Lennon wasn’t perfect, he had problems with Heroin addiction and he can also be criticised for the way Julian Lennon was treated (it would be unfair to say it’s all Yoko’s fault) but his music both as a solo artist and with the Beatles is remarkable. Lennon wrote some of the most inspiring music ever recorded. Imagine, Give Peace a Chance and Working Class Hero are personal favourites from his solo career. I also admire him as a peace campaigner and political activist. It is easy to mock the ‘bed-in’ and ‘bag-in’ protests but they did garner massive publicity for the peace movement.

The Beatles changed music and popular culture forever. The impact their music has had on millions of people across the world has never been matched. McCartney may have been the Beatles’ musical brain but Lennon was its musical heart.

John Lennon - “I'm not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I've always been a freak. So I've been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. I'm one of those people.”

Bloody Freezing

It was bloody freezing this morning when I was driving to work. It took me ages to clear the ice from my car. We haven't had that much snow where I live but what snow we have had has now turned to ice and the pavements and roads are very slippy.

If you have to travel today please be very careful and drive slowly. Give yourself plenty of time and take some provisions with you just in case you get stuck. Make sure you have got some warm clothes or a blanket in your car. Ensure that your phone is fully charged so you can make a call in an emergency. It's all about being sensible.

Live Music

I went to see Madness at the Manchester Apollo on Tuesday night. They did all the classic hits like ‘Our House’ and ‘Baggy Trousers’. It was great fun. I’ve been to see quite a lot of live music this year. I’ve seen Blondie, The Manic Street Preachers and Gorillaz to name but a few and I’m going to see Paul Weller tomorrow night at the MEN arena.

What gets me annoyed is the ticket prices and how far in advance the tickets come out. I booked tickets yesterday to see The Specials at the Apollo. The gig is not until next October and the tickets cost £45 each! I don’t know if this ticketmaster’s fault, the promoters fault or the bands fault but the tickets are far too expensive and making people book almost a full 12 months in advance is crazy.