Random Festival Piccies

Kath and Tim - still getting acquainted.
















Ronan and Nigel













Yours truly with a serviette on head (placed by Silver Fox a split second before the photo was taken)












Siver Fox, Mountain Goat and Ageing Punk share thoughts on the best beer.















The main sponsors

















A Window















"No, it was definitely one of the Southport Brews ... I had it seventh ... or was it eighth?"

Liverpool Beer Festival (Post-Event) Part 4

As the festival ended amidst much last-minute disposal of beer vouchers we headed back to the station.








Last Orders Man prepares to ring his bell










Mountain Goat bids us a fond 'adieu' at the station















As we had 40 minutes to wait for the Preston train we decided the best way to fill the time was ... no wait for it ... some more beer. Fortunately the Head of Steam is on the station and met our needs admirably.










Steve G-C contemplates whether to explain the appeal of beer festivals to the young girl sitting next to him.








Tim and Ronan in The Fox and Grapes on our return to Preston. The faces tell you that by this time enough beer has been consumed. so obviously that means me, Tim and the two Steves (or was it just one?) must go to the New Brit and ...







... kid ourselves we can play pool before heading off for a dodgy kebab. Such is the usual end to these events and long may it continue.

Liverpool Beer Festival (Post-Event) Part 3

Mountain Goat's palate cleanser makes its regular appearance.
















Tim the Author and Kath Rugby Mum (see last year) get acquainted






The bar with its excellent selection.
















Granny-Chaser gives the day a big thumbs up (only kidding Steve)













Bizzy and (by now, not so) Wet Nigel decide on their next selection













The aftermath of our feast

Liverpool Beer Festival (Post-Event) Part 2

Tim (left) and Ronan

Our laden table



This year we had decided, inspired by another group who usually attend, to bring our own food. Ronan Bizzy made a terrine that included chicken, black pudding, asparagus and cashew nuts, Steve Silver Fox did a pigeon and venison casserole, I made a chicken liver and marsala pate and Mountain Goat mad a multi-seed loaf. Tim the author brought some french bread and cheese and Wet Nigel and Steve Granny-Chaser just tucked in.














As you got your glass you were given vouchers for two complimentary halves of beer (one a Cains brew and one something else local that escapes me at the moment). We soon got stuck in and the food stopped us overindulging too heavily.

Liverpool Beer Festival (Post-Event) Part 1

Well, another good time had by all. The train journey was only notable for having to sit between a Daily Mail reader on one side and a Daily Express reader on the other. After that start things could only pick up. John the Mountain Goat showed us the beer list he had printed off for the festival and it looked like we should have booked tickets for the week judging by the number of brews on offer. The Mountain Goat had, in time-honoured tradition, indicated not only the beers he wanted but the order they were to be sampled in. Did someone say 'anorak'? Not me your honour.















When we reached Liverpool we met Wet Nigel (not as in Softie Walter, but wet as in walking half an hour to the station in Manchester in the pouring rain). Unfortunately Nigel had brought the weather with him and it was raining steadily by the time we left the station for the Walker Art Gallery. Yes, we needed our fix of culture before the festivities.
















We saw the model Lutyens started of his design for the Catholic Cathedral in Liverpool. Unfortunately the costs escalated and the project was abandoned and 'Paddy's Wigwam' was built instead. Even to a confirmed lapsed Catholic as myself it seems a shame the original was not erected. It would have dominated Brownlow Hill and been on a huge scale.














Enough of arty stuff though - it was now time to walk up to the crypt of the current cathedral for the festival. Typically the rain had got worse so when we got there at about 11:30am (for 12 noon doors) there was a small crowd sheltering under some concrete steps ready to dash for the doors when they opened. Now I'm not saying the seven of us were particularly aesthetically pleasing (as you will see later) but compared to the mob already gathered we were the equivalent of, er, well ... Take Fat? As Steve said when asked if the crowd might start to get angry if left outside much longer, "Can an ugly crowd get ugly?"

Fortunately the stewards took pity on us and opened up 10 mins early.

Buzzcocks

Liverpool Beer Festival

I'm off to the Liverpool Beer Festival tomorrow so expect plenty of photos of middle-aged men drinking large amounts of real ale and mugging at the camera.

By way of a cultural experience beforehand we are going to see the model of Sir Edwin Lutyens' unbuilt design for Liverpool's catholic cathedral. Apparently his original vision for the cathedral was so ambitious that even the finely detailed model was never fully completed. The model has now been fully conserved and completed to Lutyens' final design.

Recent Gigs

I went to two gigs last week. The Blockheads, Ian Dury's former backing band, were on at Burnley Mechanics. As you will see from earlier posts I saw Billy Bragg there last year and the atmospherer was brilliant. It was all standing. This time the audience was much more restrained and this was mainly due, I feel, to the fact that it was seated. There was theatre-type seating at the rear and some tables and chairs (cabaret club style) at the front leaving a small 'dancefloor' area. The band were really tight and the sound was good but it never really got going. By the end there were about nine people dancing but unfortunately they looked like refugees from a Young Farmers event trying to 'get down' to some reggae. I almost felt embarrassed for them.

On Sunday I went to see The Buzzcocks at 53 Degrees in Preston and the audience was much livelier. A spirited mosh pit got in swing, complete with the obligatory bloke who couldn't stay upright due to excess booze or drugs. It even threatened to get a bit tasty at one stage. The band themselves were in great form. Steve Diggle looks like the comedy version of Keith Richards and was playing to the audience most of the time - Pete Shelley hasn't aged as well but has tremendous energy. The hits came one after another and the pace was relentless throughout. I can well recommend seeing them if they play anywhere near where you are. Photos will follow.

8 Point Try

The rugby league team I coach at Under 16 level had an interesting game yesterday. According to the referee we lost 20-18 but we dispute that! In the second half, whilst we were leading 6-4, the opposition full back (very good player) broke from his own half. Our centre tracked him all the way but just couldn't get close enough to tackle him. In frustration he slid in with his feet as the player wasscoring. He didn't make contact but it was obviously a foul. The referee decide it was what he called "an 8 point try". No arguments there but what followed next was unbelievable - he actually gave our opponents 8 points for the try (in effect making it two tries) and allowed the conversion so it was a 10 pointer and suddenly we are 14-6 down

I tried to explain that what he should have done was award the try, allow the conversion attempt then award a penalty in front of the sticks (a potential total of 8 points) but he wouldn't listen and said it was in the rule book. I made a complaint to him after the match and oficially to the North West Counties. It will be interesting to see what happens because strictly speaking, as our opponents scored three tries and two conversions to our three tries and three conversions we 'won' 18-16. As the penalty should have been in front of the sticks and would probably have been scored (especially as the posts were those that double for football so were twice as wide as normal) it would have been a draw so there could be any one of three possible results!

I await the judgement with interest. Any referees reading -what would your decision be?

Badly Drawn Boy

A great song and video and his acoustic version is fantastic too:

Shameless

I used to love 'Shameless', the Channel 4 comedy-drama set on a Manchester estate, so I was eagerly anticipating the new series which began lastTuesday. What a disappointment though. Two of the strongest characters, Kev and Veronica, are no longer in it, being incarcerated in a Romanian jail for attempted baby smuggling. The Maguire family have moved in next door in their place but their characterisation has been overcooked to the point of parody. It's like watching a pantomime at times with too many villains. The tenderness and affection that used to shine through the murkiness seems to have disappeared now and the characters are increasingly difficult to empathise with. I understand that creator Paul Abbot is no longer involved and that might explain some of the problems. I suppose it may pick up with a bit of luck but I'm not sure how long my patience will last. I'll watch tonight's episode and see how it goes.

Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller

Is she the new Michael Fish?

“A lady phoned to say she had heard a rumour an attack on the London Transport system was imminent. Well, I can assure that lady that there is no attack on the way in the foreseeable future.”

Shaving

What is it about shaving that I hate so much? Is it the overpriced blades, the extra blade added every year to the cutting edge (ho, ho, ho) razors - Mach 56 turbo, get your friend to hold it with you - or the fact that you stand in a cold bathroom shirtless for five minutes trying to ensure you don't nick yourself? Every holiday I avoid shaving with enthusiasm.

Saddam

I was just about to post my thoughts on the execution of Saddam when I read John D's blog. He says everything I was going to say so I see little point in saying the same things using slightly different words - just read John's thoughts which I agree wholeheartedly with.

A Belated Happy Christmas ...

... to both my readers.

And a fond farewell to the Godfather of Soul, Mr James Brown. Let's see you Get On Up now.

BBC Team of the Year

Congratulations to St Helens who were voted as team of the year tonight. I must admit I thought the Ryder Cup team would win it but justice was done in the end! Let's hope it encourages the BBC to beef up its coverage of rugby league in general. Oh hang on ...

















To top it off, Daniel Anderson got Coach of the Year as well.

Yet More ...

Thanks to 'TwoPints' for these two photos.

Bragg Pics

Bill rocks out!

Burnley part Two ...

Paul (on the right) got talking to two of the ‘crew’ Bren (on the left) and Dave (middle)whom he had met before (of course!). They are Bill’s personal security but really they are just two incredibly fanatical Bragg fans – Bill’s Ultras. They go on tour with Bill, paying for their own accommodation and doing bits of this and that.

Two really nice blokes and not what you would expect your typical Bragg fan to look like at all.

Dave and Paul.

Bren must be the world’s authority on Bragg stuff and has a huge collection of discs and other memorabilia at home. He even had a picture of Bill tattooed on his thigh!

BB had asked to lean on the back of Bren's jacket so he could sign a t-shirt for someone and when Bren checked, Bill had written Take Down The Union Jack (a Bragg song, for those not familiar) across his flag.

We stayed to have a chat with Bill and ended up going for a drink to Wetherspoons with Bren, Dave and Mark. A late night but well worth it.

One surprise for me was the complete lack of a BNP presence outside or in. I had expected a token protest in Burnley of all places, but nothing was forthcoming. Of course BB’s audience is predominantly of his thinking and he’s not really the type to attract too many ‘neutrals’ who could be converted but that doesn’t diminish his message. If only one or two people decide to confront fascist behaviour as a result of being convinced a bit more then it must be worth it.

If It's Sunday it must be Burnley

Well, what a fantastic evening we had last night in Burnley (how often can you say that?). We got there at 7:30pm to find that Burnley Mechanics Club has two bars serving real ale - Archers Porter and another one I can't remember, even though I was drinking it. We got a couple of beers and wandered round looking at the stalls of anti-fascist material and Bragg merchandise.




Paul being the ligger he is, soon made contact with Billy’s manager whom he had met a few times before and got a promise to go backstage afterwards. At this stage I was racking my brains to remember who the support act was when Paul told me there had been an announcement whilst I was at the bar reminding us that Mr B was doing two hour-long sets tonight. I had forgotten this, despite having posted the self-same information on this blog only a few days earlier. Those of a certain age will no doubt sympathise.

As you were allowed to take your drinks with you we went straight upstairs and managed to walk straight to the front and rest our drinks on the stage. The backdrop was the anti-fascist Stop the BNP one with the Spanish Civil War Republican slogan No Pasaran (They shall not pass) (pic). The bloke next to us was following the early part of the tour, having done York and Holmfirth – Mark (or Twopints as BB called him) was a top fella too.














About 15 minutes later Bill strolled on and kicked off with To Have and To Have Not.



First Set List


To Have and to Have Not
All you Fascists are Bound to Lose
Farm Boy (new song)
Like Soldiers Do (slow version)
She's got a New Spell
England Half English
Must I Paint You a Picture
Sing their Souls Back Home (new song)
The Saturday Boy
Greetings to the New Brunette


All interspersed with rants, raps and humorous observations on talking cats on YouTube.

By the time I got back from the bar at the break (2 pints in preparation for the climax!) BB had just started the second set with Sexuality.

Second Set List

Sexuality
>The Price I Pay
>Harama Valley (for 86 year old Ethel, who sent Billy an old Labour party songbook)
King James Version
The Carpenters' "Superstar" and Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" (his busking choices for the evening)
Milkman of Human Kindness
Johnny Clash - "the Old Clash Fan Fight Song"
I Keep Faith
Levi Stubbs' Tears
Power in a Union

Encore:
Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards
A New England


Bill announced that he would be in the foyer shortly to sign whatever people wanted. Paul had brought along 6 or 7 CDs for signing and gave me three of them so he wouldn’t be too embarrassed! I bought a Brewing Up With Billy Bragg mug which I got signed.







and also got my ticket stub signed


















and I bought an International Brigade t-shirt, being an old idealist myself.


















More in part two ...