Come What May!...

FREECYCLE
I mentioned that I had joined Manchester Free Cycle a couple of weeks ago on this blog! Well today I made my first acquisition, a computer monitor. I had noticed that quite a few old crt screens are being given away as people upgrade to the newer flat-screen technology. I found that I needed a moniter as I have two very old computers, both inherited, that I now need to recover information from as I am compiling a book for Nicola entitled Fifty Bites! No, it's not a vampire novel or anything of that ilk. It is quite simply a collection of the first fifty editorials from her monthly Newsletter Raw Meat. So, a very BIG thank-you to the kind man who donated the crt monitor that will make this project a whole lot easier. And oh yes! if you want to get some FREE stuff why don't you check out your local free cycle? You can clink the link to Manchester Free Cycle here!
StraightTalkingStreetTalkingSweet..
So, what's new on the STSTS.. blog this Tuesday? This week I have posted the title poem from my Salford collection, it's called Cowardy custards. It is an observational true-life portrait of a gang of little kids on Salford Ski Slope. (Bet not many people know about that.) Also, this week I have linked to WriteOutLoud which is a belting site promoting performance poetry. They very generously agreed to accept my profile and have listed me on their great site. I have had some photo's taken and guess what? I'm going to post them as soon as poss not only on WriteOutLoud but also on STSTS! So, if you really wanna know what I look like...
BIKE-BITS, THIS+THAT!
Well, I've had a really good week on the cycling front, I haven't located a Ziggy Bike yet but I have built (almost!) my own version of the American xtracycle. I put it together from a couple of old cycles I bought for bobbins when I was a member of Manchester Lets. In case you don't know Lets stands for Local Exchange Trading System and bobbins and threads were the currency that the Manchester Lets people traded in. I bought two cycles from another member about ten years ago, a gents sports bike for myself and a ladies racer for Nic's live-in helper. Anyhow, I sawed the ladies bike in half and stripped everything off the frame. I then inserted a wheel axel in the bottom bracket and bolted it up tight between the rear drop-outs of the mens frame, after removing the back wheel, of course. I then put the back wheel onto the bolt-on bit of the ladies frame and BINGO! I had my very own extra cycle! Well? Not quite, there was a little more to do, like extending the gear cable and rear brake cable, not to mention the chain. Then when I tried it I found the dual-frame needed strenthening. I used a makeshift threaded bolt and four nuts, after drilling a hole thru the seat tube on both frames. It does work, but really it needs welding. You can buy a kit from Xtracycle in America for about $400 that does the job properly but who's going to invest that much candy in a cycle in Manchester when a bike is stolen every 37 seconds in Britain.
CANAL WALKING
Canal what? Not me! No it was those Coronation Street people, showing off the oldest proper canal in Britain the Bridgewater, at Castlefield basin, this week just gone. If you saw the episode with Ashley's wife and her new friend walking under the Victorian overhead railway lines that is. If you missed that one then you may well have caught a glimpse of the Manchester Ship Canal a couple of episodes later. Corra used the Lowry gallery at Salford Quays as a hotel in a sordid scene with an escort girl! The girl in question was Les Battersby's wayward daughter and the ship canal scene was when Les and his ex wife Janice arrived in a private-hire taxi (mini-cab) outside the fictional Bowden Hotel. See, it wasn't me! canal walking, was it? In case you don't know, I should explain Coronation Street is a long running British soap opera made in Manchester by Granada Tv and has been running for well over forty years!
GREEN GILBERT
This weeks Green Gilbert nomination goes to Andy Gilbert a business consultant from Leicestershire. He plans to give-away £65,000 that he won on a Tv show. He says that he is going to give £1,000 each to sixty-five deserving people. Don't bother sending in a begging letter because Mr Gilbert has ideas of his own as to who he should distribute the loot to. How green is that? Well, he's not just giving the money away because he's a 'nice chap' he's doing it so he can write a book about the whole experience and hopefully make ten times the prize money. A case of 'Cast your bread upon the waters and in many days it will be returned to you tenfold' perhaps!
EAT-ON-DEMAND
I have now reached the half way stage on my non-diet, I still haven't weighed myself but the flab continues to melt. The eating regime is ok, it doesn't bother me that I have to cook a gourmet meal each evening for some of Europes most critical starvers, namely Nic + Jack. What I have noticed though is that portion size plays a big part in weight control. I cook less food than before but still there is some left over most days. In the past I would have eaten up any left-overs in addition to eating a larger plate of food than Nic or Jack. So, I can see that this is an area I will have to deal with after I start my life changing diet on May Day! I have completed six weeks of the projected twelve that I have set aside to reach my target weight. Three months isn't a long time in anybody's life but I can tell you when your counting the days - IT DRAGS!
FOOTBALLING
Guess what? You guessed it! City are out of the FA cup! and that's official! So, what have they got to play for this season? Well, good question! The answer of course is simply survival! They now find themselves in a relegation battle near the foot of the premiership. The only good news is that we actually won away from home at the weekend after losing the previous six. It's strange how people, myself included, say 'they' when talking about their team losing and 'we' when they're winning. I had a kick about with Jack and his friends the other day and I would really like to play in a competitive match again - maybe I can start an old codgers league!
IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!
(MIA ZAPATA)
Mia Zapata born August 25 1965. Mia was the lead singer with Seattle indie band The Gits. Sadly, she was raped and murdered just four days before my son Jack was born in July 1993. If you would like to find out more about this unique singer you can clink the link above to The Gits web site.
If your birthday falls on the same day as mine and Mia's, August 25, you can write in and I'll post your details on this blog! That's all folks!