Bring It On

Blogging from Madrid today.

Got here last night after a fairly tortuous journey, place is jumping with Dons fans.

Been around the Bernebau this morning and bumped into the Aberdeen squad who all seem in good spirits.

Only downer so far is one of our party getting his wallet robbed by some minker when boarding a crowded Metro train. Some other guy had his wallet lifted out of his sporran too. Bastards.

All the Aberdeen fans are to gather in one area tonight before the game, should be a fantastic atmosphere.

Let´s just hope we get a decent result...

Jock Rock #12 : Delight From Dundee

Danny Wilson with Mary's Prayer from the album Meet Danny Wilson.

Possibly the nicest sound to ever come out of Dundee this track is pure aural gold.

Following the break up of the band vocalist Gary Clark went on to have a successful songwriting and production career working with artists such as Natalie Imbruglia and Liz Phair amongst others.



Danny Wilson on Wikipedia

The Sun Has Got His Hat On

I can hardly believe it, the rain has stopped!

Since I moved up to the North East I have been mightily impressed with the brevity of the rain showers and have managed to ween myself off my old habit of taking an umbrella with me everywhere. When I lived on the West Coast my brolly was my constant companion.

But this week! Michty me!! I wasn't sure whether to hold the kids football training last night or have a communal ark building session.

Now we just have to raise the temperature a couple of degrees!

Absolutely Motty

Not sure what I enjoyed most about tonight's game.

Was it Motty and Lawro clutching at straws by hoping against hope that Andorra would beat Russia?

Or was it Gary Lineker's saaaaaaaaaad face?

Jury's out...

Alarm Cat

Anyone who has ever shared their living space with a feline will recognise this behaviour.



wake-up.wmv

Sanity Clause

That's it. The world has finally gone completely bonkers...

Santas warned 'ho ho ho' offensive to women

Wed Nov 14, 11:04 PM ET

SYDNEY (AFP) - Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.

Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.

One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could frighten children and was too close to "ho", a US slang term for prostitute.

"Gimme a break," said Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free 2B Kids.

"We are talking about little kids who do not understand that "ho, ho, ho" has any other connotation and nor should they," she told the Telegraph.

"Leave Santa alone."

A local spokesman for the US-based Westaff recruitment firm said it was "misleading" to say the company had banned Santa's traditional greeting and it was being left up to the discretion of the individual Santa himself.

Jock Rock #11 : Jaunty Sideburns From Jordanhill

Del Amitri with Nothing Ever Happens from their album Waking Hours.

Always tuneful the band were most successful at the end of the 80's, early 90's. They also produced a, rather dirge like, anthem for Scotland's World Cup challenge in 1998.

Lead singer Justin Currie has never even been remotely connected with the wonderful Uncle Devil Show album A Terrible Beauty, no sir, no siree bob...



Del Amitri on Wikipedia

Was It A Chopper?

Aye, Scotland can be a funny place at times...

Taken from the BCC News site here. (The pay off line is a cracker)

Bike sex man placed on probation

A man caught trying to have sex with his bicycle has been sentenced to three years on probation.

Robert Stewart, 51, admitted a sexually aggravated breach of the peace by conducting himself in a disorderly manner and simulating sex.

Sheriff Colin Miller also placed Stewart on the Sex Offenders Register for three years.

Mr Stewart was caught in the act with his bicycle by cleaners in his bedroom at the Aberley House Hostel in Ayr.

Gail Davidson, prosecuting, told Ayr Sheriff Court: "They knocked on the door several times and there was no reply.

"They used a master key to unlock the door and they then observed the accused wearing only a white t-shirt, naked from the waist down.

"The accused was holding the bike and moving his hips back and forth as if to simulate sex."

Both cleaners, who were "extremely shocked", told the hostel manager who called police.

Sheriff Colin Miller told Stewart: "In almost four decades in the law I thought I had come across every perversion known to mankind, but this is a new one on me. I have never heard of a 'cycle-sexualist'."

Stewart had denied the offence, claiming it was caused by a misunderstanding after he had too much to drink.

The bachelor had been living in the hostel since October 2006 after moving from his council
house in Girvan.

He now lives in Ayr.

Top Telly

Channel hopping tonight I came across the funniest thing I have seen on the telly in ages...

Channel 376 on Sky - Bedroom TV.

No, its not a dodgy amateur romping channel full of over made up wenches getting down some tatooed skinheads.

No. Instead it is a bunch of saddos who have videoed themselves miming to various popular music combos...

Absolute quality. It's the saddest bits of YouTube all on your telly!

Watch and cringe!

Alphabetically Speaking

In that quasi autistic way that men like listing and ordering things I set myself a bizarre little project recently.

I decided to go through my iPod and listen to the first album title under each letter from A to Z.

The way this musical journey panned out was as follows:

A Return To Kings : Rush
Excellent prog metal from the Canadian power trio. Geddy Lee's screechy vocals are a bit of an acquired taste.

Back In Black : AC/DC
The triumphant return by the Oz rockers following Bon Scott's untimely death. Prompted a fantastic quote from Brian Johnstone, his flat capped Geordie replacement, along the lines of "One week I'm on the dole, the next I'm doing this gorgeous bird up the arse!"

Cantaloupe Island : Herbie Hancock
Joyous jazz from the keyboard master.

Damage : David Sylvian and Robert Fripp
A live recording that mixes Sylvian's rich vocals with interludes of frantic guitar Frippertronics.

Early Gold : Simple Minds
All the good, bass heavy, early stuff from before the stadium gigs suckered them into trying to be U2.

Fab Four Suture : Stereolab
Last track is very good, a bit like Phillip Glass with a backbeat.

GP / Grievous Angel : Gram Parsons
Gorgeous tunes from the man who invented country rock.

Hall Of The Mountain Grill : Hawkwind
More of the usual from the space rockers who only have two gears : the mid to fast paced chugger and the slow keyboard driven stuff.

I'm Wide Awake It's Morning : Bright Eyes
A great collection of tunes from the singer songwriter.

Jackinabox : Turin Brakes
Disappointingly lacklustre compared to the previous album.

Kasabian : Kasabian
Triumphant dance beat laced Indie.

L.A. Woman : The Doors
Riders On The Storm et al. Class.

Macalla : Clannad
Yes, its the one with Bono on it. Not quite as New Agey as their sister Enya but it ain't Slipknotl either.

Never Turn Your Back On A Friend : Budgie
Another power trio featuring lead vocals from a long haired bass player, this time they are from Wales, and haven't sold as many records...

O : Damien Rice
Bright and breezy singalong pop from the eternal optimist, or not. Keith Richards helped him get his pilot's licence you know...

Pablo Honey : Radiohead
Featuring the brilliant Creep this is tuneful angsty stuff with only the angular guitar solos hinting at what was to come.

Quadrophenia : The Who
Modtastic masterpiece. Nuff said.

Rage Against The Machine : Rage Against The Machine
Crunching riffs coupled with raw anger tinged vocals make this a visceral listening experience - great for the gym! Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!!!

SAHB Stories : The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
Probably SAHB's most polished album features the brilliant Amos Moses and The Boston Tea Party - "The king has said he's gonna put a tax on tea, and that's the reason y'all Americans drink coffee..."

Taking The Long Way : Dixie Chicks
A triumphant return from the female trio of country rockers who were castigated in their US homeland for their anti Iraq war statements.

Ugly Custard : Ugly Custard
Instrumental stuff from a bunch of 60's session musicians.

Van Halen : Van Halen
A debut album to kill for.

Waterloo To Anywhere : Dirty Pretty Things
Clattery indie stuff from the one who used to be in The Libertines but has managed to avoid the fortnightly court appearances favoured by his pasty faced ex bandmate.

X&Y : Coldplay
Low key, miserablist moaning. Strangely uplifting though.

Z : My Morning Jacket
Tuneful, atmospheric, alt countryish stuff.

1 : The Beatles
Quality from start to finish...

An interesting journey I'm sure you'll agree!

Now to do it all again in reverse...

Best Carry Out Ever?

Scene : Pittodrie Stadium, concourse under Richard Donald stand, jammed with about 700 odd Dons fans camping out overnight to get tickets in the morning.

Folk were being allowed out to have a fag, go for chips, get refreshments etc.

Cue loads of folk coming back loaded down with alcoholic beverages.

Best one of the night was a young lad who returned with the best carry out I have ever seen - two cases of lager and a pillow!

Have you seen better than this? Why don't you thrill us with your takeaway alcohol themed tails...

Stadium Nights

A quick note from Pittodrie where TK and his mates are queuing for tickets for the game in Madrid.

We arrived just after 7pm prepared for an overnight stint on the street. Luckily the club he seen sense and were handing out queue numbers and letting people in to spend the night in the concourse area inside the stand.

We should be ok for a ticket once they start selling them at 9am tomorrow.

Its not that warm in here despite the place being packed but at least its dry. A hell of a lot of people are coming in with a hell of a lot of drink so it might get a bit rowdy later on.

Hopefully should be able to report a successful ticket purchase in the morning!

On The Buses

Today I are mostly be travellin' by bus...

Yes, the KidMobile broke down again yesterday. Two months after it had been in the garage to get its gearbox fixed the gear linkage snapped and left me unable to go anywhere. Luckily this happened when I was trying to reverse into a parking space on a quiet street. The thought that it could just have easily have happened in the middle of a traffic jam in Aberdeen's rush hour makes my bowels feel a bit watery...

So today I am travelling into town on a double decker which is absolutely jammed to capacity. There is no getting away from the fact the travelling amongst a whole heap of people, crammed in like the beasts that come past in the animal transporters, is a far from pleasant experience : the lack of room, the damp sweaty heat that hangs like a low lying fog, and worst of all the collective body odours of the herd...not pleasant, not pleasant at all!

Safe to say I cannot wait to get the car back. There are a lot of compelling arguments for using public transport more, and my workplace is set to do its bit to encourage us to do this by introducing parking charges etc, but the basic fact is that most people (those with a keen sense of smell especially) do not like travelling like cattle and if they can avoid doing so they will. This is probably not good news for our children's children's children but there it is.

In related news I also have to work out how to get from work to home to Pittodrie tonight for the footie...

Happy Days!

Quality Spot, Jock

I would like to draw people's attention to this post by my good friend Groanin' Jock.

He has really turned up a diamond this time.

Jock Rock #10 : Bluster From Bathgate

Goodbye Mr MacKenzie with The Rattler from their album Good Deeds & Dirty Rags.

Probably most famous for having Shirley Manson on keyboards and vocals, the band also featured Big John ex Exploited. I remember the big fella working at Listen record shop in Renfield Street at one point, and a jolly nice chap he was too.

Whilst Shirley went on to front Garbage, the rest of the band probably spent time collecting it...



Goodbye Mr MacKenzie on Wikipedia