Free Stevie G campaign

Michael Shields has apparently started this campaign

I’m all Scrooged out

 

I wonder what Chas Dickens would think he could see the mileage people are getting from a “Christmas Carol”. I managed to watch three in a row on Christmas Eve.

There was the inevitable Alistair Sims one which has been brutally “colorised” by some git, then there is the great new(ish) one with Jean-Luc Picard in it, he must be on the holo deck, it is a great version, very bleak not much humour though. There was an awful one called Carol Christmas with Tory Spelling which I couldnt bring meslef to watch, there was Frasier doing a singing version which was unintentionally funny (managed the first ten minutes), then there was Eddie Scrooge, one of the bald gits from east enders pretending to be a bald modern day scrooge, who looks and sounds exactly as every other character he has played, East Enders, soldier of fortune, lawyer……Scrooged with the hilarious Bill Murray ad libing all the way. No sign of Albert Finney this year or George C Scott, Mr Magoo, the richard williams animation (although there was one animated film). I managed to find a Mercury Theatre version on line which was brilliant, Orson Welles was a (fat and sometimes drunken)

god and then on radio 4 was David Jason doin’ scrooge quite well. I imagined Charles Dickens being awoken by the ghost of mediums to come and being shown where his creation would have ended, he may then have said “Bah humbug where’s me Royalties”

Oil today gone tomorrow

The new car runs on old chip, and I thought I had a good supply via Barry at the Communiversity. So I went up to pick up me “free” fuel, 20 litres. I turned up by Barry wasnt there, and I was told it was in mayonaise tubs, so I goes into the kitchen, picks ups the tubs and goes home. The next day I opens the tubs as you need to filter and decant the oil to get the old chip bits out of it. I opened the first tub…..full of mayonaise, second tub also may. Hold the mayo.
So I took them back and picked up the 20 litres of oil in an oil tin. Got it home and decanted it into 5 litres containers and thought it looked a bit clear for “used oil”, I then added the white spirit and put it away fora week’s steeping and maturing. The next day I gets a call form Barry informing me that I had picked up 20 litres of new oil, he’d been running around all morning trying to find replacement oil and the also I now owe him £18!!! about the same price as Diesel!!!!! So back to the drawing board.

Seasons Greetings

Is it a Bird? No! Is it a plane? No, It’s VoipMan

Things I do for Money!
Might get one of thise VOIP phones as this guy seems to know what he’s talking about……Have a happy Christmas everyone!

Croxteth Community School closure video

Me mates at Alt Valley Community Media have produced a vide about the closure, watch it, pass it on….

I woke up this morning…da da daa dum..

Now this isnt the start to a blues song, well maybe it is, the GEARS residents blues. In the GEARS area we are currently in the middle of a refurbishment which is costing in total £1.1 million plus the extra £200,000 they ahve had to find because of a bit of mix up which has meant VAT has had to be paid when they thought it didnt (dont go there).

Anyhow the story so far includes the cak handed repair of a water pipe, concrete lintel being laid at quite an uneven and alarming angle, the aesthetic argument about whether the said concrete lintels should end abruptly sticking out into the pavement, or sloping gentley backwards (this is going to be piloted on my wall!). Finally there was the tiles laid on the step which looked more than a bit amateurish, a whole row of cut tiles being slightly wavey, when I asked the workie (who now doesnt seem to be talking to me) if “he was going to sort these tiles out”, the response was “They’ll be straight when I fill in the grout”. I never got a full explanation about which page in the “Master Tilers handbook” that this technique was described, as within ten minues there was the sound of tiles being removed and replaced followed by a knock on the door and apologetic workman asking “are these OK”. Well they were straighter but I am now becoming a bit of tile snob, looking at everyone elses and thinking why is there so much grout there. As i said previously if I wanted a shit job doing I could ahve done it myself. It seems that Acorn workies are Jobbers, ie they’ll do what they are asked even if they aren’t actually skilled at the job.

The latest incident  began yesterday when I came out to find one of the ACORN workies painting the lintels including the uneven one which is beign replaced. Its a nice shade of magnolia paint but it looked a bit thin and watery but what do know I’m only a resident and should be grateful. Well it was a bit stormy last night….but still no snow….and I woke  up this morning!! (Cue Blues music) only to find that the paint had msysteriously “washed off”.

I sort of thinking that maybe my non professinal view that it looked like interior emulsion because …. was because it was interior emulsion……So by trying to cut corners and save money (which they say they arent) the whole thing has got to be done again (just like the relaying of the lintels, tiles etc.) which I’m assuming is then costing more money…… 

I have this uneasy feeling that there may be a few more blogs on this matter, so watch this space.

The Horror the Horror

bit more uneven lintel laying