The Philanderer
Monday, March 15, 2010
One Foot in the Grave
I have just been browsing a few past blogs. I think the record could be quite useful later in life when one of the memory lapse diseases kicks in....did I really do that I can think to myself!!!
Anyway, one article I noted was about the passing of Clement Freud, chef, wine buff, politician and fanatical Plymouth Argyle supporter. Now the Green Army do not have too many celebrities in its ranks, so it was remiss of me to fail to recognise the passing of another political green Army stalwart, Michael Foot.
Michael was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992. He was also the Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983. Associated with the Labour left for most of his career, he was a passionate supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and British withdrawal from the European Economic Community. A passionate orator, he was Labour leader at the 1983 general election when the party received its lowest share of the vote since 1918.
His parallel career as a journalist included his appointment as editor for the Tribune for several periods, and the London Evening Standard newspapers. His books include a biography of Jonathan Swift (The Pen and the Sword, 1957) and Aneurin Bevan.
Foot was educated initially in Plymouth, and was subsequently MP for Plymouth, Devonport so it was no surprise that he was a passionate supporter of the Argyle from his childhood and once remarked that he wasn't going to die until he had seen them play in the Premiership. I share the sentiment. Unlike Clement Freud though, he served for several years as a director of the club, seeing two promotions under his tenure.
For his 90th birthday, Foot was registered with the Football League as an honorary player and given the shirt number 90. This made him officially the oldest registered professional player in the history of football.
The boys could have done with a spiky left winger over the years and blow me there was one in the stands all along.....
Anyway, one article I noted was about the passing of Clement Freud, chef, wine buff, politician and fanatical Plymouth Argyle supporter. Now the Green Army do not have too many celebrities in its ranks, so it was remiss of me to fail to recognise the passing of another political green Army stalwart, Michael Foot.
Michael was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992. He was also the Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983. Associated with the Labour left for most of his career, he was a passionate supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and British withdrawal from the European Economic Community. A passionate orator, he was Labour leader at the 1983 general election when the party received its lowest share of the vote since 1918.
His parallel career as a journalist included his appointment as editor for the Tribune for several periods, and the London Evening Standard newspapers. His books include a biography of Jonathan Swift (The Pen and the Sword, 1957) and Aneurin Bevan.
Foot was educated initially in Plymouth, and was subsequently MP for Plymouth, Devonport so it was no surprise that he was a passionate supporter of the Argyle from his childhood and once remarked that he wasn't going to die until he had seen them play in the Premiership. I share the sentiment. Unlike Clement Freud though, he served for several years as a director of the club, seeing two promotions under his tenure.
For his 90th birthday, Foot was registered with the Football League as an honorary player and given the shirt number 90. This made him officially the oldest registered professional player in the history of football.
The boys could have done with a spiky left winger over the years and blow me there was one in the stands all along.....
Labels: devonport, Green Army, labour, london evening standard, michael foot, plymouth
¶ 6:02 PM 0 Comments
Monday, June 2, 2008
You've all done very well......
My cousin Mike retired on Friday, and not with early retirement or any other concessions. He is 65 and has done a life of work stretching back to early sixties. There are not too many people left like that, so all credit to him.
I remember he worked early on for Hoover, and whether with them or another firm, he used to visit us in Plymouth when he was called upon to work in HM Dockyard at Devonport. He then took a late degree at MARJON when it was in Chelsea, and then worked for Davy Engineering and other such companies as one got taken over or absorbed by another.
They gave him a good send-off although I think he would quite like to carry on with them, as the future must be a bit of a challenge when you have had the work ethic drilled into you for all those years.
People today are more fortunate to have 'work/life balance' programmes which mean you can work from home, do four day weeks, or even three if it suits, and take sabbaticals to explore some long lost hobby or interest you wish to resurrect.
He is mad about cars, and knowledgeable about most things so I am sure a niche will present itself to him, I did notice the Boy Scout organisation are looking for a volunteer successor for Peter Duncan the Chief Scout, when he steps down next year, otherwise he will just have to become a professional sports watcher and follow various teams around the World. I could get used to that.
I remember he worked early on for Hoover, and whether with them or another firm, he used to visit us in Plymouth when he was called upon to work in HM Dockyard at Devonport. He then took a late degree at MARJON when it was in Chelsea, and then worked for Davy Engineering and other such companies as one got taken over or absorbed by another.
They gave him a good send-off although I think he would quite like to carry on with them, as the future must be a bit of a challenge when you have had the work ethic drilled into you for all those years.
People today are more fortunate to have 'work/life balance' programmes which mean you can work from home, do four day weeks, or even three if it suits, and take sabbaticals to explore some long lost hobby or interest you wish to resurrect.
He is mad about cars, and knowledgeable about most things so I am sure a niche will present itself to him, I did notice the Boy Scout organisation are looking for a volunteer successor for Peter Duncan the Chief Scout, when he steps down next year, otherwise he will just have to become a professional sports watcher and follow various teams around the World. I could get used to that.
Labels: boy scouts, Chief Scout, devonport, hoover, plymouth
¶ 12:30 PM 0 Comments
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The Fat Lady Sings
So farewell then Beryl Cook
Painter of ladies of grand proportions
She made her name in Plymouth
With images of The Dolphin Hotel
And left us with the feeling
We were all regulars at the bar
Dawn French was a fan
And Fur Coat hangs on my wall
Her exhibitions spanned 30 years
But her ladies never changed
Larger than life
With a smile to match
I wonder if the angels will pose?
After E J Thribb (171/2)
Painter of ladies of grand proportions
She made her name in Plymouth
With images of The Dolphin Hotel
And left us with the feeling
We were all regulars at the bar
Dawn French was a fan
And Fur Coat hangs on my wall
Her exhibitions spanned 30 years
But her ladies never changed
Larger than life
With a smile to match
I wonder if the angels will pose?
After E J Thribb (171/2)
Labels: Beryl Cook, Fur Coat, plymouth, The Dolphin Hotel
¶ 10:19 AM 0 Comments
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Ashton-Under-Slime
Do you ever have one of those days? well, I think I did yesterday......
It started at midday when I went to the RFU office to pick up 3 duplicate tickets for the England v Wales rugby international, remember that word, duplicate. These were tickets which we were assured had been left in Cleakheaton, and they , therefore, gave three of my regular rugby colleagues the chance to bring three of their children.
This detour meant that I had to hot foot it to Richmond to join the drinking session a little later than planned. That went OK although the pub insists on showing football when it is full of rugby supporters. Given the match kicked off at 16:30 yesterday, I had arranged food at Zizzi's in the town centre. I booked for 13:45 thinking we could arrive about 14:00 and all would be sweetness and light. First crisis of the day, they had given our table (for 14) away aledging they had rung me to see where we were. They hadn't so we returned to the pub for more pints of foaming Pride and burger and chips 14 times!
Still we had the bus trip to the ground to look forward to, and after a fine rendition of Jeruselum, Sloop John B, Bloody Great Fishes are Wales, and others, we arrived in good time to take our seats.
Crisis number two. The three tickets left in Cleakheaton had in fact been posted by the owner to his son-in-law in High Wycombe, and he and his chums were sitting just where we had hoped to be. His father-in-law has a touch of Alzheimers, and had forgotten he had posted them on, so his problems are obviously greater than ours.
I watched the game from eight different seats as I got shuffled around the stand, and frankly after the second half, it was eight vantage points too many. Don't let any one eyed welshman cons you into believing Wales won, the stark reality is England lost. Do I really want to pay £68 to watch a product which is not up to scratch?
I should be used to it though, for years, the match has always been the low point of the day.
More disappointment followed though as Manchester United salvaged a draw with the last kick of the game against Spurs, and the Argyle crisis continued with a 1-0 defeatat home to Hull. As a point of interest these two cities, Plymouth and Hull, are the two biggest in the Country never to have experienced top flight football.
So as days go it was pretty harrowing, but all clouds have a silver lining, and following a very good sesh in the Prince Blucher, with all the right sort of company, and a few pleasant distrations, a bus came along just as we were leaving. That meant a quick call to the local takeaway meant it stayed open a few minutes late to allow the day to finish with the first food for over twelve hours.
Bread of Heaven, bah! give me Chinese of Chiswick any time!!!
It started at midday when I went to the RFU office to pick up 3 duplicate tickets for the England v Wales rugby international, remember that word, duplicate. These were tickets which we were assured had been left in Cleakheaton, and they , therefore, gave three of my regular rugby colleagues the chance to bring three of their children.
This detour meant that I had to hot foot it to Richmond to join the drinking session a little later than planned. That went OK although the pub insists on showing football when it is full of rugby supporters. Given the match kicked off at 16:30 yesterday, I had arranged food at Zizzi's in the town centre. I booked for 13:45 thinking we could arrive about 14:00 and all would be sweetness and light. First crisis of the day, they had given our table (for 14) away aledging they had rung me to see where we were. They hadn't so we returned to the pub for more pints of foaming Pride and burger and chips 14 times!
Still we had the bus trip to the ground to look forward to, and after a fine rendition of Jeruselum, Sloop John B, Bloody Great Fishes are Wales, and others, we arrived in good time to take our seats.
Crisis number two. The three tickets left in Cleakheaton had in fact been posted by the owner to his son-in-law in High Wycombe, and he and his chums were sitting just where we had hoped to be. His father-in-law has a touch of Alzheimers, and had forgotten he had posted them on, so his problems are obviously greater than ours.
I watched the game from eight different seats as I got shuffled around the stand, and frankly after the second half, it was eight vantage points too many. Don't let any one eyed welshman cons you into believing Wales won, the stark reality is England lost. Do I really want to pay £68 to watch a product which is not up to scratch?
I should be used to it though, for years, the match has always been the low point of the day.
More disappointment followed though as Manchester United salvaged a draw with the last kick of the game against Spurs, and the Argyle crisis continued with a 1-0 defeatat home to Hull. As a point of interest these two cities, Plymouth and Hull, are the two biggest in the Country never to have experienced top flight football.
So as days go it was pretty harrowing, but all clouds have a silver lining, and following a very good sesh in the Prince Blucher, with all the right sort of company, and a few pleasant distrations, a bus came along just as we were leaving. That meant a quick call to the local takeaway meant it stayed open a few minutes late to allow the day to finish with the first food for over twelve hours.
Bread of Heaven, bah! give me Chinese of Chiswick any time!!!
Labels: alzheimers, argyle, bread of heaven, chinese, Jeruselum, London Pride, plymouth, Prince blucher, RFU
¶ 9:15 PM 0 Comments
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Vote of Confidence
Footie fans across the Country have been gnashing their teeth with some degree of anguish, as a pre-Christmas merry-go-round of managerial changes have been taking place.Its quite strange though how the managers seem to come off best.
Take Ian Hollowords for example. He resigns from the Argyle, and joins Leicester allegedly for £400k per annum, almost doubling his salary. His wife and kids have just moved into a new house in Plymouth, and now have to leave for Leicester. Not ideal. He gets replaced by Paul Sturrock, who leaves Swindon where he has no money, and no prospects as they stumble from one failed takeover to another. There are no indications of his salary package yet but I suspect he will do better from it than previously.
The rumour mill indicates Steve Cotterill will take over at Swindon. He parted company with Burnley a few weeks ago, with an agreed compensation package, so has not been out of work long. Burnley replaced him with Owen Coyle from St Johnstone, North of the border and Derek Mcinnes has replaced Coyle, a promotion from within the ranks.......
So, all the fans have been frustrated, but the managers seem to have sorted themselves pretty well.
A similar situation is occurring in the Premiership. Wigan part company with Hutchings, who took over when Paul Jewell left the club. Steve Bruce has now left Birmingham to take up the reins. Birmingham have acquired the ex-Scotland boss, Alex McLeish, and Billy Davies, sacked from Derby, indicates he would quite like the Scotland managers job. Meanwhile the aforementioned Paul Jewell steps smoothly into the Derby hot seat, and everybody is rockin' and rollin'.
All we have to do now is fill the England job, but wait a moment Rafael Benitez will get the sack tonight if Liverpool lose in the European Champions League, and the roundabout can start all over again.
Take Ian Hollowords for example. He resigns from the Argyle, and joins Leicester allegedly for £400k per annum, almost doubling his salary. His wife and kids have just moved into a new house in Plymouth, and now have to leave for Leicester. Not ideal. He gets replaced by Paul Sturrock, who leaves Swindon where he has no money, and no prospects as they stumble from one failed takeover to another. There are no indications of his salary package yet but I suspect he will do better from it than previously.
The rumour mill indicates Steve Cotterill will take over at Swindon. He parted company with Burnley a few weeks ago, with an agreed compensation package, so has not been out of work long. Burnley replaced him with Owen Coyle from St Johnstone, North of the border and Derek Mcinnes has replaced Coyle, a promotion from within the ranks.......
So, all the fans have been frustrated, but the managers seem to have sorted themselves pretty well.
A similar situation is occurring in the Premiership. Wigan part company with Hutchings, who took over when Paul Jewell left the club. Steve Bruce has now left Birmingham to take up the reins. Birmingham have acquired the ex-Scotland boss, Alex McLeish, and Billy Davies, sacked from Derby, indicates he would quite like the Scotland managers job. Meanwhile the aforementioned Paul Jewell steps smoothly into the Derby hot seat, and everybody is rockin' and rollin'.
All we have to do now is fill the England job, but wait a moment Rafael Benitez will get the sack tonight if Liverpool lose in the European Champions League, and the roundabout can start all over again.
Labels: derby, england, plymouth, scotland, st johnstone, sturrock, swindon, wigan
¶ 2:30 PM 0 Comments
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Come on you Greens
I am a huge Plymouth Argyle supporter, having supported them since 1962, when my dad took me to the Argyle v Spurs FA Cup 4th round tie at Home Park. How my dad got tickets I don't know, but he seemed to have the ability to magic them from somewhere, be they for England at Twickenham, Wembley or Lords. Its an ability I am pleased to have inherited, and look forward to going with my eldest son to Wembley in a few weeks time for the England v Brazil game.
I remember being devastated for a Royal Marine who offered my Dad ten bob for the two tickets, in the pub one night. i was really saddened that the poor man did not have a ticket of his own. Oh the innocence of youth.
Anyway back to Argyle. Today they broke their all time transfer record by paying £400K for a Hungarian international left winger, Peter Halmosi. Their squad now consists of three Hungarians, 3 French players, a Dutchman and an Australian, as well as several Devonians, and assorted Brits. It is certainly a sign of the times.
Given that Steven Gerrard has just been awarded £120K per week in wages though, paying £400K seems a bargain.
In the 45 years I have followed the Argyle, I have seen them win at Wembley and lose in three Cup semi-finals. In league terms they have fallen from the Second division, to the Fourth division and climbed back up to the Championship as it is now called. In all that time they have never played in a league called the First division. Next season is already being anticipated with great expectation, however, the recent slump of Nottingham Forest and 'dirty' Leeds only goes to show that expectations and achievements can be a million miles apart.
I remember being devastated for a Royal Marine who offered my Dad ten bob for the two tickets, in the pub one night. i was really saddened that the poor man did not have a ticket of his own. Oh the innocence of youth.
Anyway back to Argyle. Today they broke their all time transfer record by paying £400K for a Hungarian international left winger, Peter Halmosi. Their squad now consists of three Hungarians, 3 French players, a Dutchman and an Australian, as well as several Devonians, and assorted Brits. It is certainly a sign of the times.
Given that Steven Gerrard has just been awarded £120K per week in wages though, paying £400K seems a bargain.
In the 45 years I have followed the Argyle, I have seen them win at Wembley and lose in three Cup semi-finals. In league terms they have fallen from the Second division, to the Fourth division and climbed back up to the Championship as it is now called. In all that time they have never played in a league called the First division. Next season is already being anticipated with great expectation, however, the recent slump of Nottingham Forest and 'dirty' Leeds only goes to show that expectations and achievements can be a million miles apart.
Labels: argyle, brazil, french, gerrard, halmosi, hungarian, lords, plymouth, spurs, tottenham, twickenham, wembley
¶ 5:51 PM 0 Comments
