Car crash season
Posted by 1troy3 on November 7, 2009
It’s well under way and so far going with form. Clocks go back, end of half term and a spell of wet weather – fixture list in chaos.
However, it’s early days and and the real carnage starts in the stressful two-week run-up to Christmas. Watch out for spectacular fatals where Audis, BMWs and Mercs prefer to merge with the fast lane at motorway junctions, foreign lorries pull out blind into the middle lane and wild spins are caused by madmen tapping each other in the 120mph chase.
Even money on the big players – M25 clockwise through the roadworks on the western section, M4 flyover, Hanger Lane gyratory, M3 both ways, M6 northbound between Birmingham and Manchester, A34 where it meets the M40 at J9 and the M1 both ways south of Watford. If you’re thinking of a punt though, there’s favourable odds at the cutting at J6 M40 in the mornings when the sun shines directly into the eyes of eastbound traffic or the Woolwich ferry which sounds like it’s grinding to a halt. Or you could have a flutter on the length of the queues. More than 25 miles on the M25 clockwise southern section last night.
… at least I got home in time for the Armstrong and Miller show. Best comedy I’ve seen since Bill Bailey.
Managed to squeeze in a very enjoyable walk with Mort. Rather predictably, we got lost-ish. We misjudged how quickly it gets dark and ended up blundering round a farmyard in the pitch black, detected only by silently bemused cattle. All good fun, and if Mort hadn’t found his head torch I would still be going round in circles in a ploughed field somewhere in west Oxfordshire.
Ian said
Dave – you are in the wrong hemisphere mate! Get yourself some time down under and recharge those batteries. Just finished watching the Rugby – though the Welsh had literally snatched a draw in the final minutes there! Good game to watch (thank goodness for mysky).
DaveG said
Been uppermost in my mind Ian – you made exactly the right move at the right time. If I can’t aspire to the lifestyle I want inside the UK (and my desire to return home and live a simple country life in Hereford looks increasingly difficult and unlikely) then what other choice is there?
Even though I don’t agree with some of the issues or detail in Clarkson’s latest rant about the government in the Sunday Times, it does perfectly sum up the mood of many people I know including myself.
I was going to link to it here… but it appears to have been removed. Too close to the knuckle obviously. I’ll post it up if it returns.
MikeS said
yup, getting out is an attractive option,
so many people just want a decent house with decent space outside
& no one can afford it!
yet this is the basic right in america, Canada, Oz, NZ…
something has gone wrong here with people agreeing to be boxed in with postage stamp gardens.
it would drive me crazy to live in town now, i need the space on my doorstep, i’d quite like the sea too!
i daren’t look forward to more Labour or even worse the Etonians,
look at the shadow chancellor, i think i have more of an idea than him & i’m crap with money!
the mood is that the NHS is gonna get slaughtered, there goes my hiding place & probably pension too…
John has just told me that the Daily Mirror final salary scheme has been closed. The reasons why we put up with this sh*t are being eroded, these are indeed grim times – thanks a lot Mr Banker, stick your bonus where the sun don’t shine!
DaveG said
Glad I’m not the only one Mikey. It’s about time we started putting people on trial instead of paying them to go away – and that includes the politicians.
And isn’t it depressing. The Third Way turned out to be blinding, breath-taking incompetence; a total abrogation of responsibility; naive, delusional political misjudgement; and rampant corruption. So our next move is to return to the 1920s and hand the nation back to the aristocrats.
Makes you want to seize some banker’s land and start digging.
Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for the “co-ordinated transport strategy” that was promised by that nice Mr Blair in 1997.
BTW Here’s what Clarkson had to say:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/jeremy_clarkson/article6907747.ece
Matt said
Reasons To Be Cheerful…
Harpo, Groucho, Chico
Cheddar cheese and pickle,
the Vincent motorsickle
Slap and tickle!
(If anyone out there wants further cheer, just load up some Ian Dury & The Blockheads)
Alan W said
Or, as Phil Oakey put it:
New York, ice cream, TV, travel – good times
Norman Wisdom, Johnny ,Joey, Deedee – good times.
(You can keep Norman Wisdom though.)
DaveG said
Mediterranean sailboats, the ski trail from the Aosta valley into Switzerland which goes over the Hornli ridge of the Matterhorn, California, a bullet train trip across Japan, Mont Saint Victoire, Gozo, the hydrofoil to Sicily, the Gollum bar in Amsterdam, the blue mosque in Istanbul, Kourion beach on Cyprus, Lake Bled, the Mara, Arhus old town, the view from the Empire State at dusk, jaffa cakes, sleep.
MikeS said
i like the verse about Tina in ‘Billericay Dickie’ best
ending with the immortal:
‘I got right up between her
Rum & her Ribena’
what a poet & a sad loss to mankind,
mind you i like Baxter’s stuff too,
it goes on….
MikeS said
i’ll never forget the strains of Ian,
when round at my girlfriends
she was playing the copy of New Boots & Panties i’d just bought her
& her mother walked in:
‘ar$eholes, ba$tards, fu**ing c**nts & pricks’
‘ah, you must be Louise’s ex boyfriend!’
Matt said
Ah the power of song! Turned the Blog right ’round it has!
Surely Alan can change his mind about our Norman though – his tripping up when collecting his Knighthood would cheer even the coldest heart! Big in Albania too! (Norman, not The Queen).
I remember when Ian Dury’s ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’ went to number one, there was a sudden re-entry of ‘New Boots & Panties’ up the album charts – only to fall right out again when the public realized what they’d bought! Most excellent though…
Ian said
For what it’s worth, The Damned always bring a smile to my face when I play their stuff (even after all these years) and the nostalgia factor increases thanks to clips off youtube. What is a cassette original of New Boots and Panties worth? Any ideas?? Still plays.
Alan W said
Remember a time way before Eastenders began when BBC1 used to show old black & white films around 8 o’clock? The Norman (Pitkin) Wisdom films stick in the memory from that time – and, sorry Matt, they didn’t do much for me.
Ian – you won’t make a mint out of that tape – but I think you guessed that. Is there still a place in your heart for Sparks these days? Ron & Russ have just written a musical about Ingmar Bergman!
Ian said
I still have the first 5 sparks albums – 3 on vinyl but 2 on cassette – Kimono My House of course and Propaganda (? I think – somewhere in the house). I ordered the first 2 albums from Chadds record department – took ages to turn up!
Alan W said
Remember it well chum, – I still have your hand-written lyrics to ‘Woofer in Tweeter’s Clothing’ somewhere!
(Sobering pop trivia – Sparks had a very flamboyant drummer – Norman ‘Dinky’ Diamond – who committed suicide some years ago because his neighbour continually played his stereo at full blast.)
Alan W said
Congrats to the NZ all whites on World Cup qualification – they’ll be partying on the streets of Wellington tonight no doubt.
Ian said
I was there!! Great atmosphere in the city and at the stadium. My voice has yet to recover from all the advice we all gave the referee!
DaveG said
Pity poor Ireland eh – they was definitely robbed.
Hoping to be home this weekend. Anyone about?
Alan W said
I’m free! (Saturday anyway.)
I watched the Algeria v Egypt playoff last night – pitch surrounded by soldiers and medics – luckily nothing much ignited!
DaveG said
Good ol’ Fifa, showing their customary backbone and stepping in to ensure fair play.
Fifa rules say the referee’s decision is final and to unpick it would cause chaos, they say. Fair comment, but their total lack or responsibility or interest in intervening now also means that a player who cheats and can get it past the referee knows that the result will stand without repurcussions. Is that preserving the integrity of the game?
If they disqualified France (like they do in most other sports if you cheat) and banned Thierry Henry from playing internationals maybe footballers would sit up and take notice. But Frnace is a big footballing nation they want at the World Cup and Henry is a footballing megastar. Better not to do anything.
Fifa has been dragging its feet on video technology wher rugby seems to manage very well. Time for a change in the rules… or even better, let’s leave Fifa. In the words of Kevin Keegan “I’d just love it” if our Irish friends jumped ship.
We can argue this one n the pub later. See soon.
Ian said
I agree that the Irish should be feeling very unhappy about what happened and and what is not happening about the blatant cheating by Henry. There is no reason why video technology or the third ref cant confirm that any goal scored is legitimate or not. It wont interfere with the flow of the game because play stops anyway to pick a ball out of the net. All the video ref has to do is check camera views to confirm everything in the immediate build up was lawful. It works very well for Rugby and other sports. FIFA should be ashamed. ( That’s my rant as I cant get to the pub this weekend). All the best.
Alan W said
However FIFA feel, they’ll keep it in house – bleating on about fair play at every opportunity, and when something this big happens – nothing. Death to Blatter!