Mr and Mrs Belch!

Well, in keeping with Rascle and Pie's blogs I will take this moment to offer my congratulations to Mr Neil at his engagement to Mrs Amy!

A romantic week trip to Scotland saw Belly pop the question on the banks of Loch Lomond, and you can bet you bottom dollar there was a sighting of Belly's "monster". In traditional Scottish fashion, there was plenty of caber tossing and they will be celebrating with a meal at the Rangers with all the guys and gals tonight.

We also celebrated Anton's 40th birthday yesterday!! Well done old man!!

To keep in the spirit of things, lets honour Belly with a picture of him enjoying some Red C cider!!



Hmmmmmm, that appley goodnes!!

Hurrah for Mr and Mrs Belch!!!

Well that was a Kinder surprise!

Well hello fans!

What treats I have for you this day. A few little tit bits to get you going. I have taken the bold step of embracing phone technology and acquired a Sony Ericsson K300i. Whats that you say? Well so did I as the salesman stuffed it in my pocket and wrestled the credit card from me!! No, I decided it was about time I got a new teleohone, and with this I can take photies (sorry Shiz!) to update my blog. Will take a little while as I get the equipment but watch this space.

In the meantime, here's a photo, courtesy of J's phone, of me conquering Kinder in the Peak District. We went on Saturday for a family outing. We have a cairn (pile of rocks) in rememberance of my Uncle Stephen, which is added to with rocks from around the world eg. Ayres Rock, Death Valley, Latvia and Hong Kong and various others.

The weather was delightfully crap, rain, wind and cloud made it "interesting". It was certainly bracing but now I'm suffering with a cold!!

And reminisce of times gone by...

That is a lyric from "new" band Longview. I saw an advert on the TV and although I don't usually buy on impulse this one seemed like it would be a cracker. The review that said "Reminiscent of Joshua Tree-era U" by Q clinched it for me, as that album is a favourite of mine.

And the album I have to say doesn't disappoint. The best tune, from which that is a line, is "Further" and if you get a chance have a listen. My suggestions would be "Further", "Can't Explain" and "I Would" for a taster. They are playing at the Academy 2 in Manchester which was a great venue for live music as you are so close to the artists. Hopefully going to snare a few tickets and go late in the year. In the meantime visit the website and have a listen. Good music!

Keeping on the theme of good music. Tonight me, Charlotte and J are heading off to see James Blunt, at Academy 1 this time, and I am really looking forward to that one, as there isn't a bad song on the album, "Back to Bedlam". He is quite mainstream now but hopefully won't go to poppy!

It has been a very good year for mucic and I have managed to get to alot of gigs. Two of the biggest bands in the world, U2 and REM (at the City of Manchester Stadium and Old Trafford Cricket Ground respectivley) were awesome. Those guys were supported by smaller bands like Idlewild and Snowpatrol who are good acts in their own right.

Maroon 5 also played at the Manchester Apollo earlier in the year and like James Blunt there isn't really a bad song on the album. The lead singer Adam Levine is also a very good entertainer which helps! I am a very big fan of live music! We also managed to catch Gavin DeGraw at the Academy 2 and that was a good gig as he has a very powerful voice.

And it won't stop there! Charlotte and I are going to see Rooster at the Manchester Apollo next Friday. They have 2 or 3 very catchy tunes so will be a good feel good gig I think!

I have added a list to the right, with a few of my all time favourite bands and also, the sort of stuff I am listening to at the moment, old and new! Enjoy!

Bonjourno!!

Just back from a long weekend in Venice and it was a very welcome break.

It is a remarkable city, the fact that it can even exist is probably the most amazing thing. We had the best and worst of the weather. Nice sun on the Saturday, but torrential rain and flooding on Monday which was an amazing experience. It's amazing how the residents and businesses can cope, but one can only assume that they are used to it.

Indulged in plenty of beer, wine, coffee, pasta and some of the best pizza's you could hope for. It is a very cultural place too, as you would expect. Church's galore and plenty of bridges and amazing architecture. It was very easy to get lost with all the twisting alleys and canals, but we coped!

Here are a few of photos.


Venetian canal, very picturesque


St. Mark's Catherdral (the main Sq. in Venice)


Venice (from St Mark's Basilica)

And, as is customary on BRFC trips abroad, a picture of me sporting the official mercahdise (not available in any sports stores, good or otherwise. Preferably this would have been a football game, but our trip to see Padova v Vernazza was hampered by the fact we couldn't find the game!!:)


Taken from the Rialto Bridge

Not to miss on a Hobo-spotting opportunity, I was also accosted by the gentlemen sitting behind Brother Pie (from a secret cult of monks!, in the pic below. Whilst quietly enjoying a coffee this Hobo sat by me and mumbled on for some time about what I can only assume was the 2nd World War.

I say "assume" because I don't think even he knew what he was talking about. Wild hand gestures, not a small amount of flying spit, wrist slashing motions (!) and the crazy Italian (which you'll be surprised to hear I'm not fluent in) were met by strategicsmiles from me and a little laughter when I thought appropriate. I could have been laughing at the fact that this guys dad had died at the hands of the British in the war, or that his cat had been killed in an RTA. Who knows!!

Suffice to say he was moved along by the cafe's owners, much to my delight. However, he did not escape the gaze of my camera!!


Hobo...and some guy in the background! :)

On another note, had an interview today for a position at Ofsted's new offices in Manchester, so fingers crossed. Should find out in 2 weeks.

Also, if you ever want a good meal out in Manchester you could do alot worse than The Mongolian BBQ on Chorlton Street. Great food, very reasonable and amazing experience watching the chefs cook in front of you. Had a lovely evening there with Charlotte on Friday to celebrate 4 yrs going out, and me missing our anniversary by being in Venice. I'm doing well, missed both her birthday and our anniversary so far this year. Now, lets see what I can book over Xmas...

Well enough from me. Maybe some more photos for in the future but that is enough for now.

Ciao!