Christmas Cards

For the last few years I have been created or rather, altered images to make Christmas Cards.

Here is the 2012 collection

Latest Update

Another visit to the doctors and some good news, my HB (haemoglobin) levels are rising quite nicely, results show they are at a healthier 10.8, still a little to go to the minimum of 13, but it's all looking good. On the drug front, have finished one set of drugs and now on super strength Zantac twice a day for the next 2 months with another lot of iron tablets twice a day. Not sure if I should be singing along to Black Sabbath or telling Mr Downey Jr to move over, for I am Iron Man.

mr downey jr

those black sabbath fellows

Food with still have to be curry and spice free for the time being, and alcohol is kinda off the menu, but the odd one is permissible, looks like it will be Guinness could be making a comeback over Christmas, plus it's full of iron as well. All looks good at the moment, with a return to work looking possible in the new year. Shame, was getting used to doing my own thing every day, despite how skint I am.

off the menu

That concludes this update, thanks again to anyone who has expressed concern over my recent illness, normality will soon return, whatever that maybe as far as I am concerned anyway.

yummy, twice a day

The Damned - Manchester Ritz - December 8th 2012

The Damned

Tis the season too be jelly, or so Mr Zappa said, but tonight there will be a cause for sanity, for The Damned are playing, time to dust off the old pogo and get gone. Unfortunately due to my recent illness I am still prone to a little dizzyness and not sure about driving, but Mr Kieran being such a nice chap, was willing ready and able to provide the necessary transport, plus I had his ticket.

Captain Sensible

Supporting The Damned on this tour are The Dickies, so Punkdom was alive and well for the evening, rhythmically moving up and down whilst throwing itself about. My familiarity with The Dickies ends with Banana Splits, Paranoid and Nights In White Satin, one of which I heard, not sure about the others as we missed the beginning of their set, but all was not at a loss. After they had set the sprung dance floor a bouncing, entertaining many ageing punks a quick encore followed and they were off, and so were the punks, to the bar that is. That gave me and Kieran the opportunity to get a good spot to witness The Damned, plus Kieran had his recorder with him and would be recording the gig for posterity.

Stu West

The Damned never disappoint, from start to finish they are having fun on stage as we are having fun off stage. Tonight there is no album to promote, no special anniversary to commemorate, just a fine selection of top tunes from a magnificent back catalogue. There would be no singalong to Eloise, but and I must emphasise the but, we would be treated to some absolute classics, some of which I am sure have never been played live before, but I may be wrong, but I don't care, I was there when they played White Rabbit.

Dave Vanian

The last few years they have grown as a band, considering only Sensible and Vanian remain from the original line up, they connect well on stage, being well rehearsed, tight and having fun being on stage with each other. The usual banter between band and fan keeps up the hilarity, they are a fun band, but take their music seriously. Sensible pulls off many Hendrix-esqe solos when required, Pinch and Stu are a solid rhythm section while Monty is just a crazed loon on keyboards, that just leaves Vanian to be himself, simple as that.

Monty On Keyboards

The tempo rises and falls throughout the set, teasing us with a classic singalong while swiftly moving into a punky throw about. Directly infront of the stage are the die hards, New Rose and Neat Neat Neat gets them thrown about, only to be stood back up and croon along to Grimly Fiendish. Rabid gets a good shout a long while Christmas is celebrated with Sanity Clause. All the usual suspects are here, Smash It Up concludes the evening with Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hyde making an appearance along the way.

Another great night out with The Damned, they never disappoint, lets just hope that next year brings a 30th anniversary tour with Strawberries, that would be interesting.

SET LIST:

Under The Wheels

Noise Noise Noise

Rabid

Danger To Yourself

Neat Neat Neat

Grimly Fiendish

Dr J

Love Song

Democracy

Stranger On The Town

Antipope

She

White Rabbit

New Rose

Ignite

Sanity Clause

Lovely Money

Looking At You

Wot (of sorts)

Smash It Up

Photo's (c) Doctor Majuba

Orbital - Preston 53 Degrees - 7th December

Given the choice, go to my works do, or see Orbital live............... hmmmmm

Obviously I chose the one that I wanted to go to and secondly the one I would enjoy, not that I don't get on with my workmates, but in this situation there are some, when mixed with alcohol, do not agree with me, and a barge pole just doesn't cut it.

Anyway, back to the gig in question, originally me Peter and his brother Kris were intending to go, so 3 tickets I bought. Things change and it would now be Ania instead of Kris, so no major hassles. Peter was persuaded to drive and off we went, don't know what was happening this evening, but people were actually driving into Blackburn, fortunately we were heading the opposite direction and got to our destination promptly.

A support act was on stage when we arrived and for half his set he twiddled and beat his way to a rather empty venue, that soon changed, and an appreciated audience made him feel quite welcome. His tenure on the stage soon came to an end and the stage became an Orbital playground.

What followed was loud, hard and interesting. Orbital have a reputation of improvising on stage with their songs, and tonight was no exception. Old familiar classics were reworked into banging beat frenzied adaptations, new tunes interspersed the set, but classics remain exactly that. Are We Here? started fresh and unrecognisable but soon merged into familiarity with a little Karen Carpenter thrown in for good measure, and Doctor Who soon had the room wooing and ooing. Belinda Carlisle had a mixed reception along with a bit of Bon Jovi, but Orbital have their tongue firmly in a collective cheek.

So, opinions on the night, fantastic. My ears are still ringing, and my retinas are still recovering from a spectacular light show, well 2 guys on stage twiddling with keyboard and mixers, not much to look at. But do they create some great tunes, the audience feed the band with enthusiasm, and their skill at improvisation pays dividends. If a few banging beats rock your boat, check them out, you won't be disappointed.

video is from HMV Picturehouse Edinburgh 02.12.12 but you get the idea

A Walk In The Park

As discussed with my doctor, a nice walk once in a while will get the blood pumping and aid my slow recovery, plus it beats sitting on the sofa or posting silly pictures of cat on Facebook.

Today being Sunday, not that it matter much at the moment, days just come and go, with not working there is no punctuation to the week, good eh? I digress, the sun is out, it's not raining, there is a nice frost on the ground, time to grab the camera and head up to the park. Fortunately I live quite close to Corporation park, but at this present time, just walking up the alley to Preston New Road, is quite a feat, upon reaching the main road I have to pause, is this what it feels like to get old, bloody hope not.

There are a few people enjoying this crisp winters day, duck feeders doing just that, dog walkers are likewise engaged and the playground is busy despite the temperature. Camera in hand I grab a few pics here and there and witness the vandalism first hand. How can people be so irresponsible and resort to mindless destruction, one statue, Flora has had part of her leg broken off and many of the conservatory windows have been smashed and boarded up. It's such a shame that people need to express themselves in such a despicable manner with no regard as to how other people see the park.

Parks like these need to be enjoyed, they don't get that much funding, plus the conservatory is in such a dilapidated state, restoration will require hundreds of thousands of pounds just to get started.

Back home, pictures sorted and a nice cup of tea, that's me wiped out for the rest of the day.

More Pictures......

Saturday in the town centre

Today was my mum's birthday, plus my sister Carole was coming over from Bolton with my nephew Connor, so originally she was going to my mum's for a bite to eat then meet me in town later. Train travel being the way that it is, her first train was cancelled then the next one was 20 minutes late, so with evidence like that a change of plan was in order. Simple, meet in town and have a bit of lunch there, that was the plan and surprising it worked.

Here we are all together, Connor has his Bieber flick going on and is bored instantly, out comes his phone, he is now entertained, this gives us adults a chance to chat and catch up. As this is Blackburn there is not usually that much going on, unless you are looking for the magic mirror. A magic mirror you may ask, what is that?

Elegantly put, a magic mirror is an ordinary mirror but with special properties, one of which tells you that you need more blusher, secondly it will advise you  that your scouse brow of choice needs a little more filling in, and lastly your foundation doesn't need blending in and perhaps even needing another layer. I know when I was younger a similar magic mirror was available, but when you wanted to look like Siouxsie Sioux, more was definately more, and bright orange Oompa Loompa face masks where not the in thing.

Anyhow a few hours were passed wandering aimlessly around town, popping into the odd shop to get possible ideas for Christmas presents until it was time for my sister and Connor to get a return train home. Returning to Morrisons for little shopping we all went our separate ways, me to continue my lazing about, as a simple wandering is quite tiring for me at the mo, but fresh air is needed sometimes.

Happy Birthday Mum 

xx

Rant

Woke this morning to find my wage slip had been delivered, this being the first one since qualifying for SSP ( Statutory Sick Pay), on opening I am to be rewarded with £100, that's with a little tax back. What am I meant to do with all this money, it doesn't even cover my weekly outgoings. Am I able to claim any other benefits whist off work, the simple answer is yes, but not for very much.

A couple of phone calls later and application forms sent for, my grand total of benefits I can claim for are council tax and maybe some interest on my mortgage. Those nice people at the working tax credit said no, the citizens advice people said no, it's no wonder people get angry at those who don't want to work, for those of us who do and need a helping hand when it is needed are politely told to FUCK OFF.

What can I do, I need to be off work to recover, but on the pittance given to me each week how can I afford to do it. I still have my bills to pay, have to buy food, it's a joke that isn't funny. With Christmas coming up, a few bargains are going to be sought out this year, try to do it on the cheap.

Anyway despite all that, I will not resort to watching Jeremy Kyle in the morning, no matter how desperate I get. Be grateful for what you have never earned, for if it is taken away, you may have to get off your arse and do something about it

Squirrels

Some of you may have noticed I have been posting a lot of pictures of squirrels on my Facebook page, well yes I have, and as I am off work it's nice to sit in my extension with my breakfast and watch them come down and feed.

Obviously I have been encouraging them by placing monkey nuts at strategic places around my garden. The latest being a metal container, suspended on a chain running across the width of my garden, hoping for a Mission Impossible type retrieval by the squirrels.

Before I was to get comfy with my daily bowl of porridge I checked the contents said container, only to find it was empty, refilled I sat down to see how they got on.

Mission Impossible, squirrel style