Saturday 21 September 2019

Week 7/8 - The Grambler in space


Welcome to The Grambler, the most ill-informed blog you are ever likely to see.

Stewart was an amazing person - A wonderful husband, a fantastic brother, a loving son and an adored uncle. He was also a brilliant friend and colleague and is missed by so many people. His family are determined that his death will never be in vain and are doing their part to beat bowel cancer for good. We are fundraising for the Bobby Moore Fund which is part of Cancer Research UK and specialises in research into bowel cancer. If you wish to donate to the fund, you can via https://www.justgiving.com/Geraldine-Smith3 .

If you haven’t already done so, please read the article which appeared in the Daily Record and learn from Stewart’s story that you must never be complacent. It makes grim reading for us, his family, even though we were beside him throughout his ordeal, or battle; call it what you will. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/heartbroken-widow-geraldine-smith-raises-3452997

Similarly, if you haven’t heard it, please listen to Geraldine’s moving radio interview which was on Radio Scotland recently.


Stewart began writing The Grambler when he was between procedures and hoping for some form of recovery. He loved all aspects of football and was a lifelong Motherwell supporter. His wish was that The Grambler should continue after his death and I have been happy to oblige. Read on and enjoy

 

Ahh... Sunday night drama. It’s always so reassuringly relaxing. From Call the Midwife to Downton Abbey, Mr Selfridge to Victoria, you can always rely on calm, gentle-paced drama. Blame this Sunday evening fare on the daddy of all costume dramas, The Forsyte Saga which first aired back in the 1960s. We’ve had all sorts since. Who can recall the Onedin Line? That’s pronounced oh-knee-din not won-din. What about Hamish Macbeth? Ballykissangel? All very couthy and ‘nice’. There were never any sweary words on Sunday night telly, that’s for sure.

I had heard a lot of good reports about the current Sunday night offering from the Beeb Beeb Ceeb... Blinking Peaky, or something... so I switched it on thinking I ought to see what the fuss was about.

It certainly wasn’t about its calm pace or gentle humour; gritty might be a better term... although I can think of other terms. I don’t suppose I should have expected any cosy Sunday night drama. The seemingly daft name of the title hides a darker truth. It refers to Birmingham gangs of the early twentieth century who would sew razors into the front of their oversized caps and then use the tooled-up headgear as a weapon. The blinder part of the title refers to the blood spewing out of a headwound which would run down over the eyes thus temporarily blinding the recipient of said bunnet weapon. I wonder if that’s where Ian Fleming got the idea for Oddjob and his ballistic bowler.

Anyway, on Sunday night I sat down hoping that the programme that had received such plaudits lived up to the hype. Unfortunately, I started to watch half way through an episode. Perhaps I might have appreciated it more had I seen it from the start... I doubt it, though.

My first criticism concerns the language. [English? - Ed.]. Bad. I know people swear and f*ck is probably the commonest word in some people’s speech. However, it was totally wrong to use it as frequently as the writer saw fit to include it. Yes, I know I sound prudish, but my reasons for criticising its use are more to do with laziness from the writer as well as historical accuracy. Laziness? Indeed. The word f*ck has a real potency when it is used sparingly. By using it constantly, the writer ‘neutralised’ the word such that it became just any old word; it lost any sort of meaning; it was just ‘there’. He also needed a good few minutes of dialogue less, thanks to the amount of time the actors spent uttering words beginning f*ck. Ah, you might say, isn’t that exactly how modern young people talk. Yes it is and this brings me to my second gripe: historical accuracy. Such casual use of the word f*ck is, I would argue, a fairly modern phenomenon; after the Second World War, I would have thought. As Plinky Plonkers is set between the wars, its use would have been more rare... and consequently more dramatic.

Perhaps the writer was hoping to pick up the award for ‘Most Gratuitous Use of the Word F*ck’*.

Then there was the music. All dramas these days seem to have a bit of atmospheric music. This was no different in the respect that music was indeed in evidence. However, it was certainly not there to add anything to the plot. The music chosen was totally incongruous (That’s a good word. Must look it up.). It seemed as if whoever had been put in charge of the music had selected random play and hadn’t bothered to correct the error. I did say the action was set in the early twentieth century, didn’t I? So why was a heavy rock song circa 1970 played?

My next gripe concerns the lighting. There wasn’t any. Yes, the programme is meant to be dramatic, but does that mean every scene should be filmed with a black background. Most of the time, the only thing visible was the actors’ faces. Where were the actors meant to be? It didn’t matter, because it was pitch-black. They might as well have been in a cupboard.

Did I mention actors? Oh dear. How did the actors convey menace? In the best British soap opera style of... whispering. Ooh... I’m scared.

Hang on, we’ve got a Scotsman. How does a Scot show menace? By talking out of the side of his mouth, of course. That’s how all Scots talk when they want to appear threatening, isn’t it? It is in TV land.

Finally, and it marked the point at which I switched off, a Cockney made an appearance. He didn’t whisper. No, he talked very loudly, indeed. His style of speech was... erm... interesting. He might as well have been singing Chim chim cheree, his accent was so obviously based on Dick Van Dyke’s finest cinematic moment.

From being an evil and menacing swearathon, the programme had drifted into music hall territory. I’m sorry, I could take no more of this, in its own words perhaps, f*ck*ng sh*t*.

I read a review where the author called the programme ‘unmissable’; well, I am perhaps in a minority, but I call it ‘unwatchable’.

Bring back Heartbeat and The Darling Buds of May... proper Sunday night telly. It may have been tosh, but at least it was likeable tosh.
 
Flat cap - The best a man can get

 
 
* Did you spot the Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy reference, there?

 

.....oooOooo.....

 

Let’s move on to the birthday honours, shall we? Were any famous or notorious individuals born on the 14th of September? Of course there were. Here are some I’ve even heard of. Alexander von Humboldt 1769 (Naturalist.), Robert Cecil 1864 (Diplomat. He was involved in the implementation of the League of Nations after WWI... and we all know what a success that was.), Hal B. Wallis 1898 (Film producer. Casablanca, that was one of his.), Peter Scott 1909 (Son of Robert. Painted a lot of birds.), Jack Hawkins 1910 (Ectaw. Tended to play stern but sympathetic military types.), Clayton Moore 1914 (Actor. Played the Lone Ranger... er... that was it. See Rupert Hine, below.), Janet Davies 1927 (Actress. Mrs Pike, in Dad’s Army.), Terence Donovan 1936 (Snapper.), Walter Koenig 1936 (Actor. Chekov in Star Trek, that was him.), Nicol Williamson 1938 (Ectaw, dear leddie. Cited as ‘The greatest actor since Marlon Brando’. Really? How interesting.), Martin Tyler 1945 (Footy commentator.), Pete Agnew 1946 (A bit of Nazareth. The last founding member still involved with the band.  Time for a clip. Should have called the AA.), Sam Neill 1947 (Actor.), Paul Kossoff 1950 (Guitarist with Free. Another clip, methinks. Here’s Wishing Well.), Ray ‘Butch’ Wilkins 1956 (Footy bloke.), Kepler Wessels 1957 (Creekutty blike.), Morten Harket 1959 (Aha! A Norwegian singer.  Have a clip.  I doubt if the bean counters at the Beeb Beeb Ceeb would agree.), Dmitry Medvedev 1965 (Prime minister of Russia.), John Power 1967 (Musician. Front man with Cast. A clip? Here’s Free Me.), Mark Webber 1970 (Guitarist with Pulp. Another clip coming up. Here are some Common People.), Andrew Lincoln 1973 (Actor.), Amy Winehouse 1983 (Singer. Have a clip. All together now... They tried to make me go to rehab...), Steven Naismith 1986 (Footy bloke.), Tinchy Stryder 1987 (Rapper. Here’s his first number one called... Number 1.  What are the chances of that happening?) and Douglas Costa 1990 (Cara de futebol.).

Now then, what about the 21st of September? John Loudon McAdam 1756 (Engineer.), H.G.Wells 1866 (Orfer.), Gustav Holst 1874 (Composer. This could be his most well-known piece), Preston Tucker 1903 (Car maker.), Kwame Nkrumah 1909 (The well-known president.), Chuck Jones 1912 (Animator.), Karl Slover 1918 (A Munchkin.), Bob Stokoe 1930 (Footy bloke.), Larry Hagman 1931 (Actor. J.R. Ewing, that was him.), Shirley Conran 1932 (Orfer.), Leonard Cohen 1934 (Singer/songwriter. He was very popular in France where this song, Suzanne, reached number three.), Jimmy Armfield 1935 (Footy bloke.), Henry Gibson 1935 (Actor.), Bobby Tench 1944 (Jobbing musician. Here he is during his stint playing guitar for Streetwalkers.), Keith Harris 1947 (Gentriloquist.), Rupert Hine 1947 (Musician. Had a top ten hit with this Quantum Jump song.), Stephen King 1947 (Orfer.), Charles Clarke 1950 (Politician.), Bill Murray 1950 (Actor.), Dave Gregory 1952 (Musician. Former member of XTC, now with Big Big Train. Have a clip. Here’s English Electric.), Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor 1954 (Drummer with Motörhead. Here’s their biggie.  All together now... If you want to gamble...), Ethan Coen 1957 (Filmmaker.), Simon Mayo 1958 (DJ and orfer.), Corinne Drewery 1959 (Singer with Swingout Sister. Time to break out.), Curtly Ambrose 1963 (Cricketty bloke.), Cheryl Hines 1965 (Actress.), Ricki Lake 1968 (Actress, talk show host.), Liam Gallagher 1972 (Swaggering singer. A clip? Let’s have some Oasis.), Andy Todd 1974 (Footy bloke.), James Allan 1979 (Musician. Frontman with Glasvegas. Meet your social worker.) and Richard Dunne 1979 (Footy bloke.).

 

 

 

 

I’ve received a letter...

 

Dear Mr. Grangler,

Thank you for playing a track by that wonderful band of the nineties, Cast. They were a pretty successful outfit, as well, having seven top ten singles from 1996 to 1999. I can remember some of them, but can’t for the life of me remember the follow up hit to the track you gave a link to. Can you recall it?

Yours hopefully,

Guy Dingstarr

 

.....oooOooo.....

 

Let’s move on to grangling... grangling?... grambling matters. How did the last edition’s predictions fare? Not very well at all. Not a penny piece back. What happened? Read on...

Colchester vs Walsall - Prediction Home win

Result - Colchester 0 Walsall 0

Ooh! ’It the bar!

The Saddlers defended well to pick up an away point, in a game where defences were on top.

Colchester almost took a first-minute lead through defender Ryan Jackson, whose low strike was well held by keeper Liam Roberts.

Roberts was in action again soon after when he pushed away Luke Norris' low drive while Danny Guthrie's effort for Walsall was plucked out of the air by keeper Dean Gerken.

Visiting goalkeeper Roberts saved another low strike from Norris just before half-time and early in the second half, Ryan Clampin's deflected effort flew just wide for Colchester.

Just before the hour mark, Gary Liddle's 25-yard deflected strike was pushed away by Gerken, as both sides looked to make the breakthrough.

But the U's looked more likely to break the deadlock, with Jackson's 20-yard strike turned away by Roberts.

Walsall substitute Elijah Adebayo's spectacular overhead kick flew straight at Gerken as the spoils were shared.

 

Orient vs Swindon - Prediction Home win

Result - Orient 1 Swindon 3

Boo! Told you...

Keshi Anderson put the visitors ahead in the 23rd minute. He was fouled and sent his free-kick into the wall but reacted quickest to pounce on the loose ball and curl into the far corner past Dean Brill.

Swindon continued to push forward and that attacking intent paid dividends again two minutes before the break, with Rob Hunt's audacious side-foot from the corner of the box taking a telling deflection off Orient left-back Joe Widdowson and flying past a surprised Brill.

The game was then over in first-half stoppage time when Lloyd Isgrove provided his sixth assist of the league season when he darted through the centre of the pitch before laying off to Jerry Yates, who cut onto his right foot before finishing with aplomb.

Jordan Maguire-Drew curled home brilliantly from 20 yards to give Orient hope with 16 minutes of normal time left but Swindon held on to send their fans home happy.

 

Mansfield vs Scunthorpe - Prediction Home win

Result - Mansfield 2 Scunthorpe 0

Yay!

The visitors started confidently with Abo Eisa firing just over after 12 minutes.

Seven minutes later the same player was booked after diving to try to win a penalty.

Scunthorpe goalkeeper Rory Watson beat away a long-range Nicky Maynard effort in the 22nd minute, after Jordan Clarke gave the ball away.

Matt Preston slotted home CJ Hamilton's cross at the back post to give Mansfield the lead nine minutes later.

Jamie Proctor nearly levelled four minutes before the interval when he fired inches wide from a free-kick.

However, Danny Rose doubled the lead nine minutes into the second half, after taking advantage of indecision between Andy Butler and Watson.

Jamie Proctor headed narrowly off target in the 74th minute as Iron failed to get back into the game.

 

Plymouth vs Oldham - Prediction Home win

Result - Plymouth 2 Oldham 2

Ooh! ’It the bar again!

Oldham opened the scoring against the run of play following a 27th-minute counter-attack as Johan Branger fired an unstoppable low angled drive past the diving Alex Palmer from the left into the far corner.

Just two minutes earlier defender Niall Canavan had cleared Filipe Morais' looping header off the Argyle goal-line, with Palmer beaten.

Central defender Scott Wootton levelled with a close-range 31st-minute header, powering Josh Grant's headed cross into the roof of the Oldham net.

Argyle took the lead when wing-back Callum McFadzean's angled cross was swept home by fit-again striker Byron Moore on 74 minutes, but it was short-lived.

Oldham skipper and central defender David Wheater leapt to head the visitors level from Branger's 77th-minute corner.

Oldham goalkeeper Gary Woods made a last-minute point-blank stop to deny substitute striker Zak Rudden as the on-loan Rangers forward slid in to meet McFadzean's cross.

 

Forfar vs East Fife - Prediction Home win

Result - Forfar 1 East Fife 2

Boo!

As usual, nobody at the Beeb Beeb Ceeb realises that games take place north of the border, so they just don’t even bother providing a match report. I think I will quote the words of the wise and wonderful Mr Johnson, our esteemed PM [I detect a touch of sarcasm. - Ed.], donnez moi un break!

Anyway, the result was not what The Grambler had predicted, so it all means that we lost our money. Can he/she/it come up with five spot-on predictions this week? I have every faith in The Grambler. [You must be about the only one. - Ed.] What are this week’s selections?

Game - Result - Odds

Albion vs Edinburgh City - Prediction Away win - 10/11

Annan vs Stirling - Prediction Home win - 7/10

Elgin vs Cove Rangers - Prediction Away win - 3/5

Queen’s Park vs Cowdenbeath - Prediction Home win - 17/20

Stenhousemuir vs Brechin - Prediction Home win - 10/11

Hmm... The Grambler seems to have simply selected the Scottish League Two fixtures. That is odd predicting. One thing I can predict; there won’t be any write-ups available next time... the Beeb doesn’t cover such ‘lowly’ games.

The bets have been placed (10 x 20 pee doubles plus 1 x 20 pee accumulator) and if they all go according to The Grambler’s Predictions (Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!), the Bobby Moore Fund stands to receive a whopping....

 

£10.08

Unwhopping, I reckon.
 
 

.....oooOooo.....

 

Teaser time. Yay! Last time I asked you which top club was originally known as Dial Square F.C. Did you manage to answer Arsenal? Then, you’d be right.

One for this week? Can you guess the player from this description?

Born in Romford in 1978, this player began his career with West Ham United before a switch to Stamford Bridge brought 147 goals in 429 games. Won the Champions League in 2012.

Any idea? One to start a discussion down the pub.

 

 

.....oooOooo.....

 

As usual (at the risk of repeating myself), I remind you of the main reason for continuing to publish this blog – to raise awareness about bowel cancer. If you have any bowel problems, don’t be fobbed off with the line that you are too young for bowel cancer to be a consideration. Just point your doctor in the direction of http://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/campaigns-policy/latest-campaigns/never-too-young-campaign

 

.....oooOooo.....

 

Please, also take the time to click on this link, an informative little video from Mersh (a great friend of Stewart’s).

 

…..oooOooo…..

 

 

And finally Cyril? And finally, Esther, let us finish by celebrating an anniversary... a week late, admittedly. Did you know that sixty years ago, on the 14th (or 13th if you lived further east) of September 1959, the first object from Earth landed on the moon? No? Well, it did. I say landed... crashed is a better word to use as that was exactly what happened. Luna 2 was an unmanned Russian spacecraft which was launched on the 12th (13th?) of September and its mission was, basically, to hit the moon. Apparently, there had been five earlier attempts, but all had either failed to launch or had simply missed the target.

Do you recall that Neil Armstrong had stuck the American flag into the moon’s surface in 1969? Well, the Rooskies did their own version of flag planting ten years earlier. Just prior to impact, two sphere-shaped pennants with USSR and the launch date engraved in Cyrillic were detonated, sending pentagonal shields in all directions.

It was the start of all sorts of junk ending up on the moon. The remains of various USSR, US, Japanese, Indian, Chinese, Israeli and European Space Agency rockets have been left on its surface. Other objects such as lunar buggies, commemorative plaques, a bible, a statuette and golf balls have also been left up there. In all, there has been over 187 tonnes of man-made rubbish left up there.

You may be interested to know that there are also something like 130 million items of debris orbiting the Earth. There are so many up there now that they are becoming a hazard to spacecraft.

There is even a hypothesis known as the Kessler Syndrome which suggests that if these objects start colliding with each other, they would fragment and the smaller pieces would continue colliding with each other and keep fragmenting. The thinking goes that the Earth’s orbit will become so crowded with fragments of rubbish that satellites will also be damaged and in their disabled state will continue to collide and break up, so adding to this ‘soup’ of debris flying around up there. The worry is that eventually the Earth’s orbit will be so overcrowded with junk that it will become impassable. So much for the idea of travelling to other planets. And as for mobile phones and satnav...

Thought that might cheer you up.

Nice to know that we humans are not only making a mess of our planet by filling it with crap, we have progressed to filling space with our junk as well. What a clever bunch we are, to be sure.

 

 

 

That’s all for this week folks, but remember you can read the musings of The Grambler every week by going to the blog at www.thegrambler.com

 

Happy grambling.

 

Friday 6 September 2019

Week 6 - The Grambler asks for cash back


Welcome to The Grambler, the most ill-informed blog you are ever likely to see.

Stewart was an amazing person - A wonderful husband, a fantastic brother, a loving son and an adored uncle. He was also a brilliant friend and colleague and is missed by so many people. His family are determined that his death will never be in vain and are doing their part to beat bowel cancer for good. We are fundraising for the Bobby Moore Fund which is part of Cancer Research UK and specialises in research into bowel cancer. If you wish to donate to the fund, you can via https://www.justgiving.com/Geraldine-Smith3 .

If you haven’t already done so, please read the article which appeared in the Daily Record and learn from Stewart’s story that you must never be complacent. It makes grim reading for us, his family, even though we were beside him throughout his ordeal, or battle; call it what you will. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/heartbroken-widow-geraldine-smith-raises-3452997

Similarly, if you haven’t heard it, please listen to Geraldine’s moving radio interview which was on Radio Scotland recently.


Stewart began writing The Grambler when he was between procedures and hoping for some form of recovery. He loved all aspects of football and was a lifelong Motherwell supporter. His wish was that The Grambler should continue after his death and I have been happy to oblige. Read on and enjoy

 

I often revisit topics which I have covered in the past and I apologise in advance, because I’m going to do it again.

You may remember a blog from way back where I had a pop at Bri... UK Gas (Do you see what I did there?) for their odd pricing methods where you sign up to various ways of paying your bill rather than everybody paying the same amount for the same product.

Sadly, the practice continues and I was advised that I was paying too much for my gas and electricity. [Surely, that’s a given. - Ed.] Don’t call me Shirley. So, just over a year ago I signed up for a fixed payment deal over a period of time that was also fixed. Having recently checked my payments of the last few months I can announce that I now understand how the scheme works. In their favour, is my conclusion. [That is also a given. - Ed.]

I was told that the amount of energy I used added up to 90 quids a month. Thus I would have 90 quids extracted from my bank account each month. Okay so far. That makes sense.

All went well until February when, without my knowledge, the amount that was being swiped out of my bank account rocketed to almost 120 quids... that’s an increase of... um... lots. Not right, thinks I.

So what had happened to warrant this massive increase? Well, around the time of the increase, Bri... sorry, UK Gas, make ‘adjustments’ based on the amount of energy used over the previous three months. It just happens to coincide with the winter period when the Grambler household uses a lot of energy on trivial things like keeping warm and being able to see when it gets dark. So, instead of the expected three-monthly payment totalling £270, I ended up with bills totalling £450. Hang on a minute, I signed up for £90 a month, not £150.

The odd thing is that, six months later when another ‘adjustment’ figure is made (in my case, less than half the winter total), they don’t automatically take the price down to compensate. No, it stays at the higher figure. They can’t do that without my permission, it would seem; I have to ask for it to be reduced.

Odd that they don’t need my permission to take more, but do when they are to take less.

Do they keep the excess money, I hear you ask. Yes, if I don’t ask for it back, they do. Until I do that, it accumulates and my energy account shows that I am in credit.

By the time I realised what was happening, I had accrued quite a sum. When I asked for it back, it was willingly given; it is my money, after all.

What, then, is the purpose of this odd method of accounting? Well, while my dosh was in their hands, it would have been accruing interest. Not much; maybe just a few pounds. However, is this same way of gathering money used for every customer?  Given that they supply 21.8 million customers in the UK, that would mean that they are raking in 21.8 million times a few quids. A nice little earner, as Arfur Daley would have said. It is an even better earner for UK Gas if the customers don’t bother to ask for their money back. How many people actually take the time to track the payments they are making? Less than half? Probably.

Last year UK Gas profits were 1.39 billion quid... That’s billion, not million. To my socialist mind, that profit ought to be a big round zero. Why should some fat-cat shareholders be profiting from something that is a necessity? Don’t get me started... Anyway, they shouldn’t be raking in even more than they already do by ‘looking after’ our money.

Come on gramblerinis, do what politicians are always telling us to do, take back control... Well, at least take back your own money.

Fixed price billing? You’re telling me it’s fixed!
 
Money money money
Must be funny
In an energy provider's world
 

 
.....oooOooo.....
 

Let’s move on to the birthday honours, shall we? Were any famous or notorious individuals born on the 7th of September? Of course there were. Here are some I’ve even heard of. Elizabeth I aka Good Queen Bess aka the Virgin Queen 1533 (The well-known queen.), William Friese-Greene 1855 (Cinematographer.), Anna Moses aka Grandma Moses 1860 (Artist who only began a career in art when she was 78 years old.), J.P. Morgan Jr. 1867 (Banker... I said banker.), Edith Sitwell 1887 (Posh poet.), Leslie Hore-Belisha 1893 (Politician with an illuminated orange head.), Anthony Quayle 1913 (Actor.), Peter Lawford 1923 (A member of a pack of rats.), Laura Ashley 1925 (Needle pusher.), Eric Hill 1927 (Author and illustrator. The Spot man.), Malcolm Bradbury 1932 (Orfer.), Buddy Holly 1936 (Singer. Time for a clip. Yay! Introduced by a typically creepy-looking Ed Sullivan, here’s Oh Boy.), John Phillip Law 1937 (Actor), Alan Oakes 1942 (Footy bloke. Factoid: Holds the record for the most appearances for Manchester City - 564.), Peter ‘Hatchet-man’ Storey 1945 (Footy bloke.), Gloria Gaynor 1949 (Singer. A clip? Right, all you blackbelts in karaoke, all together now... First I was afraid, I was petrified...), Julie Kavner 1950 (Actress. The voice of Marge Simpson.), Chrissie Hynde 1951 (Musician. Here’s Chrissie in best Emma Peel impression mode... except Mrs Peel drove a decent car. A Reliant? I ask you!), Morris Albert 1951 (Singer. Have a clip. How are you feeling? [I’ve heard of the Morris Minor and Morris Oxford, but what’s a Morris Albert when it’s at home? - Ed.]), Corbin Bernsen 1954 (Actor.), Diane Warren 1956 (Songwriter. Factoid: she is the third most successful female artist in the UK. Here’s a song wot she wrote. Those 80s' fashions are just... awful.), Jermaine Stewart 1957 (Singer. Here he is fully dressed.), Andreas Thom 1965 (Fußball-Typ.), Toby Jones 1966 (Ector.), Marcel Desailly 1968 (Footballeur.), Tom Everett Scott 1970 (Actor.), Vera Zvonareva 1984 (теннисный парень Ha! That threw you. Apparently, it’s Russian for Tennisy bloke.), Adam Eckersley 1985 (Footy bloke.) and Charlie Daniels 1986 (Footy bloke.).

 
 
 

I’ve received a letter...

 

Dear Mr. Gargler,

We thought it was fantastic to hear a song from the great Buddy Holly. It is amazing just how many of his great songs were hits for other artists. There was Not Fade Away by the Rolling Stones, Oh Boy by Mud, Everyday by Don McLean, True Love Ways by Peter and Gordon and many others. One, we believe, was a hit for Leo Sayer, but neither of us can remember which. Can you help?

Yours with love and kisses,

Ray Ning, Ian Mahart.

 

.....oooOooo.....

 

There were no predictions from The Grambler last week, but he/she/it is back this week with five surefire winners [Believe that and you’ll believe anything. - Ed.]. Because of qualifiers for some piddling little competition... the Eurovision Championship or something, there are very few Saturday games available for The Grambler to choose from. Basically, League Two plus a few from League One...

Game - Result - Odds

Colchester vs Walsall - Prediction Home win - 21/20

Orient vs Swindon - Prediction Home win - 21/10

Mansfield vs Scunthorpe - Prediction Home win - 10/11

Plymouth vs Oldham - Prediction Home win - 3/4

Forfar vs East Fife - Prediction Home win - 17/20

...oh, and one Scottish League One game.

Leyton Orient to beat Swindon? You are having a laugh, Grambler.

Any road up, the bets have been placed (10 x 20 pee doubles plus 1 x 20 pee accumulator) and if they all go according to The Grambler’s Predictions (Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!), the Bobby Moore Fund stands to receive a whopping....

 

£16.80

 
 
That is whoppingness of the highest order, if you ask me... which you haven’t done.

It is, though.
 
 

.....oooOooo.....

 

Teaser time. Yay! Last time I asked you to name the three clubs which, as of September the 3rd, had a 100% points tally. I thought you would easily get two, but wasn’t so sure of the third. The answers are Liverpool (top of the Premier League), Celtic (top of the Scottish Premiership) and Dundee United (top of the Scottish Championship).

One for this week? Here’s a cracker. Which top club was originally known as Dial Square F.C.?

 

.....oooOooo.....

 

As usual (at the risk of repeating myself), I remind you of the main reason for continuing to publish this blog – to raise awareness about bowel cancer. If you have any bowel problems, don’t be fobbed off with the line that you are too young for bowel cancer to be a consideration. Just point your doctor in the direction of http://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/campaigns-policy/latest-campaigns/never-too-young-campaign

 

.....oooOooo.....

 

Please, also take the time to click on this link, an informative little video from Mersh (a great friend of Stewart’s).

 

…..oooOooo…..

 

 

And finally Cyril? And finally, Esther, I am indebted to various individuals for this week’s finishing items which are political. Sort of. Unless you have spent the past few weeks in a jungle retreat without a decent wi-fi signal, you are probably aware that the Yuk has a new PM. Sadly, Bullying Bojo is not getting things going quite the way he had hoped. He lost his first vote in the House of Commons and, in that typically understated British way, there was an immediate shout of ‘Not going too well, Boris’ from the gallery. Boris’ main reason for reaching Number 10 was his determination to get Britain out of Europe while doing his Noel Edmonds impersonation... Deal or no deal.  Geddit?  No?  Please yourselves. The difference is that Noel carries a big mug, whereas Boris is a... No.  Perish the thought.  Anyway, with that in mind, let’s finish with a few (not necessarily new) Brexit gags...

“A lot of Leave voters say ‘Stop complaining, it’s democracy!’ Well democracy doesn’t always work. If five people democratically elect to take your iPhone, it’s a mugging.” - Dane Baptiste

An Englishman, a Scotsman and an Welshman walk into a bar.
The Englishman wanted to go so they all had to leave.

“I voted Remain, not just for political reasons but because my mum’s moved to Spain and I want her to stay there.” - Leo Kearse

Have we tried unplugging 2016 waiting ten seconds and plugging it back in?

In and out’, it’s a very hard decision. It’s like the other day, my flatmate was making me a peppermint tea, and he said ‘would you like bag leaving in, or taken out?’ If you leave the bag in, on the whole the cup of tea itself will get stronger, and it might appear that the bag is getting weaker, but it’s now part of a stronger cup of tea. Whereas if you take the bag out, the tea’s now quite weak, but the bag itself goes directly in the bin.” - James Acaster

“I was surprised when people kept voting to keep Wagner on X Factor, and ever since then it’s never surprised me, our ability to mess up a vote.” - Alex Brooker

“We have no negotiating position. The EU has a negotiating position, it’s this: “Well, f*** off then!” - Jonathan Pie

“A Brexit deal could take ten years. That’s not fair. Most of the people who voted for it could be dead by then.” - Gary Lineker

“Let’s get one thing clear, personally I in no way believe that all those who voted for Brexit are racist or stupid. People voted based on the information (albeit limited and misleading) put before them by politicians. We could just as easily have arrived at a result by counting belly buttons. Innies Vs Outies. Turns out we are a nation of outies. - Sajeela Kershi

Hello, I am from Britain, you know, the one that got tricked by a bus. - Ahir Shah

“What’s driving Brexit? From here it looks like it’s probably the Duke of Edinburgh”Milton Jones

 

 

That’s all for this week folks, but remember you can read the musings of The Grambler every week (well... most weeks) by going to the blog at www.thegrambler.com

 

Happy grambling.

 

Tuesday 3 September 2019

Week 4/5 - The intolerant Grambler


Welcome to The Grambler, the most ill-informed blog you are ever likely to see.

Stewart was an amazing person - A wonderful husband, a fantastic brother, a loving son and an adored uncle. He was also a brilliant friend and colleague and is missed by so many people. His family are determined that his death will never be in vain and are doing their part to beat bowel cancer for good. We are fundraising for the Bobby Moore Fund which is part of Cancer Research UK and specialises in research into bowel cancer. If you wish to donate to the fund, you can via https://www.justgiving.com/Geraldine-Smith3 .

If you haven’t already done so, please read the article which appeared in the Daily Record and learn from Stewart’s story that you must never be complacent. It makes grim reading for us, his family, even though we were beside him throughout his ordeal, or battle; call it what you will. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/heartbroken-widow-geraldine-smith-raises-3452997

Similarly, if you haven’t heard it, please listen to Geraldine’s moving radio interview which was on Radio Scotland recently.


Stewart began writing The Grambler when he was between procedures and hoping for some form of recovery. He loved all aspects of football and was a lifelong Motherwell supporter. His wish was that The Grambler should continue after his death and I have been happy to oblige. Read on and enjoy

 

Apologies for this week’s blog being a little bit... erm... late. Blame tinternet. No, blame the lack of tinternet. Anyway, better late than never, [You reckon? - Ed.] let us begin...

A sad start to this week’s blog as it marks six years since Stewart died. Sometimes it seems like only yesterday when we, his family, were gathered round his hospital bed feeling helpless that we couldn’t help this young man whose life was being taken away. He had endured so much suffering in the months... years... leading to this moment.

Other times it all seems a lifetime ago.

Although we think of him every day, this week he is in our thoughts even more as we curse bowel cancer for taking Stewart from us. Please, take the time to read some of the important links highlighted in this blog. Being able to spot the early signs of bowel cancer is important.

Nobody deserves to suffer the way Stewart did.

 

.....oooOooo.....
 

And now, on with the usual drivel...

I wonder if, like me, you have an acquaintance who you must never greet with the words ‘how are you’; the reason being that he or she would be only too willing to tell you... at length. Let’s face it, when we ask how someone is, the answer should be ‘I’m fine’. We don’t want to know of any coughs/sniffles/operations. It’s a silly question to ask, really; far more sensible to just say hello.

It is odd that some people just love being unwell and telling everyone about it. My own dear departed mother was very much someone who ‘enjoyed poor health’. I lived a distance away from her so would ring each week and the conversation would always begin the same way. I would ask her how she was and these are some of the responses...

‘I’m no better,’ or ‘They’ve changed my prescription,’ or ‘I can’t get an appointment til a week on Tuesday.’ These were her opening remarks. There was never any lead in. Thus, I was unaware what she was no better than or what her prescription consisted of or who she couldn’t get an appointment with (although, I always suspected she was talking of doctor rather than hairdresser).

Other people love to ‘big up’ whatever is wrong with them. How often have you heard somebody announce that their ailment is ‘the worst case of (insert ailment of choice here) the doctor has ever seen’? Why should that make your illness special?

Another example is saying that the doctor told them that they had got to see him just in time. They never add anything to that; you are left to infer that if they hadn’t seen him when they did, they would be dead. It’s more likely that the doctor said they had got to him just in time because he was about to leave the surgery to play golf.

Any road up, where is all this leading, I hear you ask. There is another type... the type with a condition. It might not be anything life threatening; instead it is probably something that can be contained by drugs or sensible eating. Many people have what is known as type 2 diabetes which can be kept under control by improvements to diet and lifestyle. Most people just get on with it, realising that it is of no consequence to anyone else. Others have to tell everyone they meet. To be honest, bloke standing next to me at the checkout in Tesco, I really wasn’t in the least bit interested that your shopping basket contained very few sweet things because you are diabetic. I felt like announcing that my basket had only sausage rolls and cola in it because I’m a lazy lard-arse. I didn’t though, because it didn’t and I’m not. [Mrs G might disagree. - Ed.]

I remember a business meeting taking place at work many moons ago. There must have been twenty or so individuals sat around a large table discussing some important topic. I knew it was important because several senior managers were present. As is the norm with such meetings, this one dragged on a bit and, after a couple of hours, one individual (not a manager) reached down into a bag he had with him. He then placed on the table his lunch-box [Steady on. - Ed.] from which he removed a sandwich. As the rest of those present looked on incredulously, he began to eat. After a while, he explained that he was diabetic and had to eat at regular times.

Fair enough, but did he have to make such a show of the fact? The only thing missing was a checked napkin tucked into his collar in the style of Oliver Hardy sitting down to a meal. He could surely have brought some less ostentatious food with him to keep him going until his proper meal time; something he could have eaten without drawing attention to himself. But then, that was the point... ‘Look at me. I’m diabetic.’

Then there is Tom. Who is Tom, I hear you ask. Tom is intolerant. That’s what he keeps telling anyone who might be around when there is food about. ‘I can’t eat that; I’m gluten intolerant,’ he will announce to no-one in particular. The simple answer for most people who must eat a gluten-free diet is to seek out those foods which they can eat. If they are in a restaurant, they will look for the gluten-free options. Not Tom. He has to go through the menu, item by item, telling those about him that he can’t eat it. He’s gluten intolerant, you see.

Do the get the impression that his behaviour annoys me? Yes? Well, you’d be right. I mean, I can’t sleep on those low Japanese settee type beds. Do I tell the world that I’m futon intolerant? Of course I don’t. I really don’t like a town in Bedfordshire, famous for car manufacturing. Do you care that I’m Luton intolerant? [Okay, I think we’ve spotted the trend. - Ed.] Of course not. I’m not enamoured of the people who lived in Jutland in the 4th century BC, but I don’t tell everyone that I’m Teuton intolerant. [Yes, all right, we get the picture. - Ed.] And I can’t stand those crunchy bits of bread you get floating around in soup. [Crouton intolerant? - Ed.] Exactly. And don’t talk to me about gravity. [Sorry? - Ed.] Don’t stop me now; I’m on a roll. An apple falling out of a tree proves gravity? Do me a favour. I am definitely Newton intolerant. [Groan... - Ed.]. Russian politics? No thank you. I want my politics totally Putin free. [All right! I give in! Please stop. - Ed.]

And as for Tom... Do you know what? I’m you, Tom, intolerant!

I can’t stand burnt toast either. [Pardon? - Ed.] I’m black toast intolerant.

 

.....oooOooo.....
 

Let’s move on to the birthday honours, shall we? Were any famous or notorious individuals born on the 24th of August? Of course there were. Here are some I’ve even heard of. William Wilberforce 1759 (Politician. Slave trade abolitionist.), Max Beerbohm 1872 (Writer don’t cha know.), Jean Rhys 1890 (Writer don’t cha know.), Alyn Ainsworth 1924 (Musician.), Yasser Arafat 1929 (Politician.), Kenny Baker 1934 (Actor. R2-D2.), Antonia Duffy 1936 (Orfer A.S. Byatt.), Mason Williams 1938 (Guitarist, composer, writer, comedian, and poet... in fact, a right old smarty boots. Here’s his most famous guitar piece.), Jean Michel Jarre 1948 (Musician. Have a clip.), Carlo Curley 1952 (Organist. Have a bit of cult'yur.), Linton Kwesi Johnson 1952 (Poet. Here’s Englan is a Bitch.), Sam Torrance 1953 (Golfy bloke.), Jeffrey Daniel 1957 (A bit of Shalamar. Another clip?  Here's A Night to Remember.), Stephen Fry 1957 (Writer, actor, comedian end netional treasure don’t cha know.), Steve Guttenberg 1958 (Actor.), Mark de Vries 1975 (Voetbal kerel.), Denílson de Oliveira Araújo 1977 (Cara de futebol.) and Rupert Grint 1988 (Actor.).

And now...

August the 31st. Caligula 12AD (The well-known emperor. Who would have thought a complete nutjob could be in charge of a country. Looked nothing like John Hurt.), Fredric March 1897 (Actor.), Bernard Lovell 1913 (Astronomer.), Richard Basehart 1914 (Actor.), Alan Jay Lerner 1918 (Librettist... They can’t touch you for it. Here is a selection of his work from Julie Endrews.), Buddy Hackett 1924 (Comedian. It says here.), Herbert Wise 1924 (Television producer... I mean he produced TV programmes... not... actual... tellies. I Clavdivs was one of his. You know, the one with John Hurt as Caligula, the well-known loony.), James Coburn 1928 (Actor.), Roy Castle 1932 (Dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician... yeah... right.), Martin Bell 1938 (Journalist. Aka The Man in the White Suit.), Jerry Allison 1939 (A Cricket. Played the drums. Have a clip. He co-wrote this.), Roger Dean 1944 (Artist famous for his album covers for certain prog rock bands.), Clive Lloyd 1944 (Crickety bloke.), Van Morrison 1945 (A charming singer. Have a clip. Here’s Les Them with Gloria.), Itzhak Perlman 1945 (Fiddler. Here’s a wee bit cult'yur.), Bob Welch 1945 (Musician. Another clip? Here’s Sentimental Lady.), Richard Gere 1949 (Actor. Don’t mention the hamster.), Edwin Moses 1955 (Runny jumpy bloke.), Glenn Tilbrook 1957 (A bit of Squeeze. Have a clip. Here’s Pulling Mussels (From the Shell). Don’t ask what the lyrics mean... You really don’t want to know.), Debbie Gibson 1970 (Chanter. Time to shake your love. Just do it when no one’s watching.), Greg Mulholland 1970 (Politicky bloke.), Kirstie Allsop 1971 (Presenter presenter presenter.), Ian Harte 1977 (Footy bloke.), Simon Neil 1979 (A bit of Biffy Clyro. Have a clip. Here is the band’s highest-placed single - Mountains.), Pepe Reina 1982 (Portero de fútbol.) and Cédric Soares 1991 (Cara de futebol.).
 
An example of Roger Dean's work -
a gentle, giant octopus
 

Do you also need reminding that a certain Princess died in a car crash 22 years ago? No? Okay.

 

 

 

 

I’ve received a letter...

 

Dear Mr. Tangler,

Thanks for giving us a link to a song from one of my favourite bands, Squeeze. Listening to music is something I enjoy doing as I travel the canals of England in my large work boat.

Here is a question you might be able to answer for me. What Squeeze album included Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)?

Yours with love,

R. Gee (bargee).

 

.....oooOooo.....

 

Now it’s time to look at the last bets we had based on The Grambler’s predictions. Did we win? Did we fu... No we didn’t. Well, that’s not quite true. We actually had a return of 62 pees from our £2.20 bet. Does that count as a win? Nah. What happened? Read on.

Bradford vs Oldham - Prediction Home win

Result - Bradford 3 Oldham 0

Yay!

Goals from skipper James Vaughan, Clayton Donaldson and Sean Scannell gave Bradford a comfortable win as they swept aside Oldham 3-0 at Valley Parade.

They took the lead in the fifth minute when Connor Wood crossed from the left and Vaughan scored at the far post from close range.

Oldham had most of the possession after that setback, with some neat, constructive play causing some anxious moments in the Bradford defence.

And captain Mohamed Maouche was unlucky to see his shot from the edge of penalty area rebound off a post in the 21st minute.

However, it was the home side who went further ahead in the 32nd minute when right-back Kelvin Mellor's lofted pass found Donaldson unmarked and he lobbed the ball over the head of advancing goalkeeper Gary Woods for Bradford's second goal.

The second half was an evenly fought affair before the Bantams put the result beyond doubt. Donaldson held the ball up on the right before laying it into the path of the onrushing Scannell to score with a superb shot into the far corner.

 

Colchester vs Cambridge - Prediction Home win

Result - Colchester 1 Cambridge 2

Boo!

Substitute Harry Darling's goal was a late winner as Cambridge came from behind to secure a 2-1 victory at Colchester.

The hosts had made a fast start, taking a ninth-minute lead following a confident penalty by Luke Norris.

But they failed to add a second despite dominating the first half, with Luke Prosser heading against the crossbar from Jevani Brown's corner late in the opening period.

Cambridge were on level terms 10 minutes into the second half as Marc Richards headed home from a Leon Davies cross.

And their winner came four minutes from time when goalkeeper Dean Gerken was unable to keep out an acrobatic effort from Darling.

 

Northampton vs Macclesfield - Prediction Home win

Result - Northampton 1 Macclesfield 2

Boo!

Theo Archibald scored a last-minute winner as Macclesfield secured a dramatic 2-1 victory over Northampton.

Macclesfield led at half-time through Ben Stephens' strike.

Jordan Turnbull equalised, only for Archibald to win it at the death.

Joe Ironside headed an early chance wide for the visitors but Northampton pressed for the opening goal with Matty Warburton off-target from long range and Scott Wharton heading over.

Macclesfield struck against the run of play six minutes before half-time when Archibald's perfect through ball was swept into the bottom corner by Stephens.

Jak McCourt smashed a post with a free-kick in first-half stoppage-time and David Cornell was at full stretch to deny Stephens a second after half-time.

Northampton levelled with 18 minutes to go when Charlie Goode flicked on a corner and Turnbull poked in at the back post.

Andy Williams missed an open goal three minutes later and that proved costly when Archibald found the bottom corner in the last minute.

 

Scunthorpe vs Crawley - Prediction Home win

Result - Scunthorpe United 2 Crawley Town 2

Ooh! ’It the bar!

Crawley squandered an opening inside the first 20 seconds as Rory Watson saved from Ashley Nadesan, but went in front when Bez Lubala drilled home from inside the box in the 20th minute.

Scunthorpe levelled not long after the half-hour mark as Rory McArdle headed in from a corner and 10 minutes into the second half they led after Matthew Lund rifled home from 20 yards.

Crawley hit back with Nathan Ferguson's equaliser in the 73rd minute - and would have won it but for Watson's acrobatics - a series of fine late saves - one of which kept out a Bez Lubala penalty - denying them. He got down well to his right to push away Lubala's 79th-minute spot-kick and later tipped a long-range strike from the same player onto a post.

 

Annan vs Albion - Prediction Home win

Result - Annan Athletic 3 Albion 2

Yay!

No match report... this being a lower Scottish league and therefore non-existent to the English-based Beeb Beeb Ceeb... so here are the scorers for you.

For Annan - Swinglehurst, Nade, Lynas (og)

For Albion - Wilson, East.

 

There is no bet for this week as the blog is being published so late. Rest assured, The Grambler’s predictions will be back next week. [Is that a promise... or a threat? - Ed.]

 

.....oooOooo.....

 

Teaser time. Yay! Last time I asked you which companies sponsored various English Premiershit teams. The answers were...

M88 - Bournemouth

W88 - Aston Villa

American Express - Brighton and Hove Albion

Lovebet - Burnley

Chevrolet - Manchester United

Yokohama Tyres - Chelsea

SportPesa - Everton

Union Standard Group - Sheffield United

Etihad Airways - Manchester City

AXA - Liverpool

Incidentally, it is sad that, despite all the noises being made about the evils of gambling, ten teams in the Premiershit are still sponsored by betting firms.

Any road up, how about a teaser for this week? Here’s one that is current, but might change very soon. Without referring to the senior league tables (English and Scottish) can you name the three clubs which, as of today (September the 3rd), have a 100% points tally? You will get two, but the third? Hmm...

 

 

.....oooOooo.....

 

As usual (at the risk of repeating myself), I remind you of the main reason for continuing to publish this blog – to raise awareness about bowel cancer. If you have any bowel problems, don’t be fobbed off with the line that you are too young for bowel cancer to be a consideration. Just point your doctor in the direction of http://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/campaigns-policy/latest-campaigns/never-too-young-campaign

 

.....oooOooo.....

 

Please, also take the time to click on this link, an informative little video from Mersh (a great friend of Stewart’s).

 

…..oooOooo…..

 

 

And finally Cyril? And finally, Esther, I am not known for serious thoughts on political matters, but I am indebted to a Mr S. Fry who gave us some wise words regarding the recent machinations from Bozo Bojo to force the Brexit decision to go his way...

Weep for Britain. A sick, cynical brutal and horribly dangerous coup d’état. Children playing with matches, but spitefully not accidentally: gleefully torching an ancient democracy and any tattered shreds of reputation or standing our poor country had left.

 

 

That’s all for this week folks, but remember you can read the musings of The Grambler every week by going to the blog at www.thegrambler.com

 

Happy grambling.