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.