Carrots

We’re received an update on the Great North Swim, in that’s it’s been totally cancelled. There’s no new date. So L’s looking at either a refund or free entry into next year’s event, should it go ahead.

Apparently the organisers sought assurances that the water quality would be acceptable for them to stage the event and didn’t get it. In this not-so-brave new world of Health and Safety that is an assurance they were never going to get, even if they’d drained the lake and turned it into a run instead. So if they’re going to ask daft questions like that again next year, they’ll get the same result.

At least L seems pleased with her training for it. Training which has also done Son good!

Dog training again tonight, outdoor. No rain, surprisingly.

I don’t have to call for my usual Singapore noodles on the way home as L is going to replicate my post-training delicacy at home. They’re excellent, better than the take-away version. Well, apart from the carrots. L always says you can't have a Chinese without carrots. I have absolutely nothing against carrots, love them in fact, but I’m sure the Chinese’s that I buy never have carrots in them. Though I know hers will and probably celery, sweet corn and peas.

(Tuesday 7th September)

Walking Better Than Me

MD has injured his paw; in fact he’s almost ripped a claw off and just before his second show as well. We cover his bad paw with a sock, a special dog sock that was provided to us for Doggo to do the Sport Relief mile the other year. He looks a bit shocked, when we put it on him, perhaps by the colour. Yes it’s red. Then I think he realises that it will get him the sympathy vote, so he doesn't try and remove it.

He’s still walking better than me though, although I feel I’ve recovered well from yesterday. The legs are a bit stiff but they’re a lot better than last week.

It’s Crufts on Thursday, so in an endeavour to look smart for the TV cameras (highlights on More4 and live online, if you’re interested) I get a haircut. Although after much consideration I decide not to go blonde. Then I head into JJB to look for new tracksuit bottoms. They actually have some good stuff but again mostly in Large, X-Large and XX-Large, just like Sports Direct on Saturday. Racks full of them, so they’re obviously not selling. Which isn’t surprising as it’s all quite technical stuff and pricey too. There’s not much in Medium and I found Medium too baggy anyway for what I wanted. So I had to choose between two styles in Small. Just hope it goes with my team t-shirt that I still haven’t got.

We are supposed to be at one gig tonight and Daughter at another but Lady Gaga has cancelled on her, due to logistical problems. If you google ‘Lady Gaga cancels’ it comes up with loads of gigs she’s cancelled all over the world in the last year for various reasons. She seems to be a bit of a cancelling expert. Apparently she’s been persuaded to do some extra gigs in Australia on this occasion, which is her ‘logistical problem’, she can’t be in two places at once but shouldn’t she have honoured the original dates. Meanwhile L and I are at Rock City for Mr Ego and his band, Liam Fray’s Courteeners.

To be honest, I haven’t been that struck on their new album 'Falcon' and I was actually more looking forward to seeing Detroit Social Club, who I’m quite taken with. A much talked about band, who have been around for a few years, with very little output to show for it but now with an excellent new single out entitled 'Kiss The Sun' which is what they open with tonight and pretty awesome live it is too.

With a name like Detroit Social Club they are obviously from... errmm... Newcastle upon Tyne and sound like a Geordie Black Rebel Motorcycle Club to me. This means I whole heartedly approve of them. It’s an excellent short set from them, where ‘Black And White’, a current free download, is just terrific in the middle of the set. As is the closing 'Sunshine People'. I think it’s all rather powerful stuff but then I was already a convert before tonight.



In the other hand I’m still to be totally converted by Liam Fray, I still don’t particularly like the man but I do like his band, so it’s a bit of a shame that he makes the live shows so much about him.

At least I think I've figured out why the Courteeners play the entirety of ‘Rock n Roll Star’ before they come on. It's to tempt people into getting the beer throwing out of the way before the band comes on and gives the crew chance to mop the stage. However it doesn't work. Although an impressive amount is dispatched at this point there's plenty been held back in reserve to be launched when the band take the stage, after the usual protracted delay. Both 'Cavorting' and the following 'Acrylic' are accompanied by industrial quantities of what can only hope is alcohol or water.

The crowd don’t help Mr Fray’s ego by chanting his name far too often for my liking, his heads big enough already thank you very much. When they get bored with that, and with chanting the band’s name, they settle on ‘Nottingham Is Full Of Fun' football style which isn't what they chant Nottingham is full of at Derby's home games but never mind.

Then there’s the crowd surfing, which is even more excessive and extreme than usual, which seems to rile the security who are getting rougher than they probably should be and taking no prisoners. So it’s unclear what causes the few visible injuries that are sustained, the crowd surfing or the unsuccessful prevention of it.

Music wise, the new songs sound much better live than on record and I can see some of them becoming real favourites live. The faithful are already well rehearsed on most of them. Particularly 'Cross My Heart & Hope To Fly' and 'Scratch Your Name Upon My Lips' come across very well.

Liam himself seems a bit miffed at the negative press reaction to the new album and is not backwards in telling us all about it. Perhaps he set the bar too high with ‘St Jude’, where even the not so good tracks are still live favourites. Perhaps even, deep down, Liam agrees because tonight’s 21 song set includes more of the first album than the second, which is unusual for a band promoting a new record.

As usual they wind down towards the end with a trio of solo songs from Liam. During the first, 'The Rest Of The World Has Gone Home', he has to pause to watch as an attractive female crowd surfer is pulled out at the front, then as his pulse returns to normal he continues from where he left off. Following that with ‘No You Didn't, No You Don't’ and ‘Yesterday, Today & Probably Tomorrow’ with full crowd accompaniment.



The full band return for the recent single 'You Overdid It Doll' and the traditional set closers of ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ and ‘What Took You So Long?’. It’s all a tad predictable but still very entertaining stuff.

Better Late Than Never

The snow finally reaches Derby. Better late than never I suppose but there’s still not very much of it. There is just enough though to enable the first snowman of the year to appear outside work.



Due to the carnage being caused by the weather up here, not, I get a text at 9.30 to say that training tonight has been cancelled. As I’ve said, we’ve still not had very much of the white stuff compared with what the rest of the country has had and I had even got to work quicker than normal this morning because there was less traffic on the roads. Obviously a lot of people had either believed the hype and stayed at home or just simply took the opportunity for a skive and a day’s sledging. So the cancellation of training is just a little premature, particularly as the snow is due to stop around mid-morning.

Then an hour later I get another text to say that it’s all back on, although with a reduced session. I think perhaps they’ve had a lot of responses along the lines of ‘Snow? What snow?’. Even Nottingham City Transport appears to be running almost a full service and the kid’s old secondary school is open, when it’s usually one of the first to throw in the towel. Unless of course all those complaints I wrote last year have had an effect.

L keeps sending me events that clash with the Cheshire Cat cycle ride. She claims this is accidental and the Cheshire Cat, which she’s already entered in, had simply slipped her mind. Which it keeps doing.... I’m sure it is accidental but if I didn't know her better I'd think she was trying to get out of that particular event. Won’t happen though. I’ll keep reminding her and she knows she can rely on me to get her to the start line.

MD is simply excellent at training. For once he seemed to understand what he was supposed to be doing and does it well. It’s a tad cold though, if L was here she’d make him wear a coat. By the time I get the old man out of the car for his training I’m starting to lose the feeling in my feet. They feel a bit like they did when I dipped them in the stream at the Huncote Hash.

Thankfully L has a welcoming and warming curry ready for me when I finally get home.