Box News #48 August 30th, 2010

Mick talks about Romeo at Kids Camp, Midsummer’s Night Dream in the forest, Bob Daisley’s email, Spurs in the Championship league, Entertainment and sports couples break ups, and the passing of George Weiss. He also discusses disposable shopping bags, the credit card busker, rainy England and a 3stone 8.7lb tumour. He also talks about his iPhone 4, urine whiskey, public signs, shop signs, the passing away of Peter Buchanan, the miners in Chile, The Faces, smart gadgets, Francis Rossi ice cream, and nearly burning down the holiday Inn hotel.

It has been a relatively quiet week with much of the same happening every day. Romeo is in Kids Camp Monday to Friday and loving every minute of it, and our next door neighbours little girl Senal goes too, so her father Alan and I take it turns to either take them up there, or pick them up. After being at Kids Camp on Monday all day doing every sporty thing imaginable, two hours later Romeo then did an hour of circuit training with the grownups, and he was the only kid there. He has an amazing amount of energy, and it is fantastic to see, and it is way better than him sitting for hours in front of a Play Station or X-Box all night for sure.

While Romeo was doing the circuit training, I took Elvis for a walk in the forest. After we had been walking for quite some time, I saw a part of the forest that was decorated with straw blocks made into seats, and different colour material dangling from the trees, and I wondered what was going on. I then noticed a poster pinned to a tree that read “A Summer Family Theatre Experience.” There have been performances of  “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”  in the middle of the forest, which I think is absolutely brilliant. What a fantastic setting, and such a wonderful idea.

I received an  email from my old mate and ex Heep bass player Bob Daisley in Sydney Australia, filed under  Grumpy Old Men, which I thought you might like to read.  This basically pertains to the UK and is on three subjects which are Cows, The British Constitution and The Ten Commandments. This coming from an Australian, although he did live in England for many years.

Cows: Isn’t it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic, our government could track a single cow, born in Bourne almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the county of Lincolnshire. They even tracked her calves to their stalls, but they are unable to locate 125,000 illegal immigrants wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.

The British Constitution: They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq , so why don’t we just give them ours!  It was drawn up by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for centuries, and we’re not using it anymore. 

The Ten Commandments: The real reason that we can’t have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse or Parliament, is this -  You cannot post ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal’, ‘Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery’ and ‘Thou Shall Not Lie’ in a building full of judges and politicians ….. It creates a hostile work environment. 

Well Spurs played the second leg of their football match at home to the Young Boys from Switzerland after being a shock 3-2 down from the first leg. At home Spurs were a little too much for the Young Boys, and won 4-0. Peter Crouch bagged three of the goals and Jermaine Defoe one. Crouch has been going through a hard time of late in the press, because he has been playing away from home so to speak, on his lovely fiancée Abbey Clancy. The UK press are showing no mercy with headlines like “Rat will do nicely: Love cheat Pete bags threesome in red-hot romp,” “Crouch has a threesome,” and “Crouch bags three in one night,” being just a few of the headlines. He did play a blinder though, and scored two headers and a penalty. Defoe’s goal however was a blatant hand ball, and he was lucky to get away with it. After scoring he hesitated, waiting for a whistle that never came, before celebrating, so he knew it was. It was an all or nothing night for Spurs with over £20million at stake for progressing into the Championship League, and even more in sponsorship. I am to say the least double delighted, and I hope the Glory days are back for Spurs, though I fear there is a long way to go! The first game is against European Champions Inter Milan, so we really are going in at the deep end.

I am baffled by some of these relationships going pear shaped, with the men cheating on their wives and fiancé’s, like Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancy, Ashley Cole and Cheryl Cole, Tiger Woods and Elin Woods. All three woman are gorgeous, and the men all play away, and in my opinion with not such nice looking woman as their wives. They must be nuts, or is there something I am just not getting! I was sent an email that was doing the rounds on the internet, which had snapshot pictures of absolutely beautiful women, with the last picture of a few men having a beer. The caption underneath said that somewhere on this planet, a man is enjoying a beer, because he got rid of his beautiful girlfriend. The same obviously applies the other way around with the woman ditching the man, but playing away from home, and getting found out by the world media is not too smart is it. We will never know the true reasons why, and to be honest I wouldn’t want to!

What a shame that George Weiss the wonderful songwriter has died at the age of 89. He passed away from natural causes at his home in Oldwick, New Jersey on Monday this week. George wrote such classics as “What a Wonderful World,” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” He wrote songs for artists like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Louis Armstrong, and he also co-wrote songs like “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” He was involved in the writing of Broadway musicals like Mr Wonderful, starring Sammy Davies Jnr, and he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984. RIP!

I had to smile at the report that the number of disposable plastic bags given to shoppers has fallen for the fourth year in a row. About 43% fewer were handed out, which is a drop of 4.5 billion, compared with the year 2006. The figures reflect a trend towards greener reusable bags. The British Retail Consortium say this is tremendous achievement by supermarkets, and customers, to reduce environmental impact. Now I have a confession to make, as I am dreadful at this. I have literally thousands of them all neatly folded inside each other, and they never leave the boot of my car, as when I go shopping for the family, I always forget to take them into the shop, until I am at the cashier. Then because of this I add the recently purchased ones, and some given to me by the shop, to those in the boot, and pretty soon there will be no room for me or the shopping in the car, as I am overrun with them! I am going to have to pin a note on the dashboard to remind me to take them in next time, but I am always in such a rush, which is why I forget to take them in the first place. Doh!

I heard on the radio today about a busker who plays the guitar, and he has a credit card facility on the top of his guitar, so rather than have different types of coins being given to him in a hat in the traditional way, people can swipe their credit card to the tune of a minimum of £5.00 if they like his music. I guess he will be going home with earnings of zip then!  A few coins YES, but a swiped credit card for £5.00 NO WAY JOSE!

I can’t believe the rain we are having here in England. It is depressing, especially after such a dismal summer really! This spell of miserable weather shows no sign of ending either. Even over this upcoming bank holiday weekend, forecasters say wind and rain! Oh well out with the rain coat, wellington boots and umbrella then! I have to admit I do not give in easily, and still walk around in shorts and a T Shirt. If I get soaked, I get soaked, especially as Elvis still needs walking!

Did anyone see the enormous tumour doctors cut out of a woman in a marathon four hour operation? The 3stone 8.7lb growth was taken out of a 54 year old woman’s womb at a Buenos Aires hospital. She complained that her belly had grown so big she could not bend down, and her weight ballooned to 16 ½ stone. Medics say it is the biggest malignant tumour ever removed in the world. The surgeon Oscar Lopez said that its weight was comparable to that of a four year old boy, or a woman pregnant with quintuplets. She came out of hospital 5 ½ stone lighter. Unbelievable! It shocks me that this had not been diagnosed at a much earlier date, and to allow it to grow to that size is quite frankly shocking!

Well I can report my iPhone 4 is working a treat. There are so many wonderful things on it, and the apps are marvellous. I keep discovering all sorts of things, and I was most delighted to find a free Gibson guitar app that gives you a guitar tuner, which will be most helpful in hotel rooms, when I have a play on my travel guitar. I also downloaded the Spurs football app so while I am on tour I can, get the results, see videos of the goals, plus player and managers interviews. It really is a cool phone, and I receive all of my texts and emails easily, and hell I even made a phone call on it the other day! I love it!

Now isn’t this disgusting! James Gilpin 25, a science nut, is making his own whiskey from his diabetic granny Patricia’s urine. He boils it up, then removes and cleans the sugar crystals, before adding them to grain, malt and water. He decided to use urine from diabetics, after reading it is rich in sugar and makes good booze. He has recruited volunteers nationwide, and puts their names and ages on the labels of his Gilpin Family Whiskey. He does not intend to sell the liquor, but says that the urine produces a very nice drink. I have some friends in Sydney Australia called Lee and Anna, and they love a drop of whiskey, and like trying out every different type there is to mankind, but I think even they would put a block on that one.

I read that two men spent three months touring the USA to correct public sign spelling mistakes, and have written a book about it back in Philadelphia their hometown.  I can truly believe this, as I have seen so many on my travels, much to my amusement. I am also a big fan of names of shops. Here is an example of a shop that sells vinyl called “Criminal Records.” There is also one called “The Record Detective  Agency”.

Another person who has passed away recently is Peter Buchanan 84, who co-wrote “My Old Mans A Dustman,” in 1960 with skiffle king Lonnie Donnegan. This song was sung in every London East End drinking establishment throughout the 60’s, and still is in many of them. Buchanan was Donnegan’s business manager from 1956-1962, and he also wrote several TV series including “And Mother Makes Three.” Glasgow born Bucahan, died at his home in Walsingham Norfolk.

I was horrified to see on the news that miners in Chile were trapped nearly half a mile underground for nearly three weeks, and it will take a further four months to rescue them. Wow!
Emergency teams sent down a probe which the men used to send back a note saying that all 33 of them where okay. They have been given fresh food and water, and a video camera that showed their faces. It will take four months to safely drill down to them, and the oldest of the trapped men is Mario Gomez who is 63 years old. The 33 men became marooned when the main access tunnel collapsed at the gold and copper San Jose mine, near the northern town of Copiapo. They are trapped 2,300 feet below the surface, which is nearly three times the height of Britain’s tallest building at Canary Wharf. They are in a small shelter the size of a small flat, that is equipped with water tanks, ventilation shafts, and two wooden benches. Experts have estimated that already each one of them has shed 20lbs in weight. This will be four months of both physical and mental endurance, and we are all hoping for a happy ending.

I heard that The Faces were reforming  with Mick Hucknall singing? I am not sure about this, as Rod Stewart was the perfect guy in every respect for this role. He had the voice, the look, the cheeky chappy with a twinkle in his eye persona, and he was just a great front man. It will be interesting to see how Hucknall takes on this role, but I was never a fan of his in Simply Red, so I might find it hard to accept. I am ready to be proved wrong of course, but it really was the sum of the parts, and chemistry that made The Faces what they were. In 1977 bass player and songwriter Ronnie Lane  was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and on the 4th  June 1997 Lane succumbed to pneumonia, and died. Now Ronnie played a huge part in The Faces success so he will be sadly missed in this reformation too, so I am intrigued to say the least how this will sound, as I was a big Faces fan. We did a number of shows with them in America, and they were just great. They were full of fun, with equal amounts of showbiz glitz, and musically loose as a goose, but it all worked perfectly, and they had some good songs. The reformed Faces will be Ronnie Wood, Kenny Jones, Ian McLagan, plus Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols), and vocals from Mick Hucknall (Simply Red). It will be great to hear songs like “Stay With Me” again though!

Last year it is reported that last year we spent £50.5bn on must have items like iPhones, HD TV,Laptops, and MP3 Players. The technology market has grown by 80% in the last 5 years and it is predicted to grow by another 140% in the next five years, as 3D TV, updates iPhones and iPads and other smart gadgets are launched on to the ever hungry market. I guess I am doing my bit then for the gadget industry!

On Saturday night we went to a birthday party of some friends of ours, and it was lovely, and about two thirds into the party an Ice Cream van arrived, and you could have your choice of ice creams and lollies. What a lovely touch that was. The ice cream was Rossi Ice Cream from the family of the Status Quo front man Francis Rossi. Now this made it all very rock n’ roll. It was a great evening ,and that night we stayed in a Holiday Inn nearby overnight so we did not have to drive. In the morning we went down to breakfast, and Sheila asked me while I was up at the food table to get her a slice of toast. I put some bread on the toaster and it burnt to a crisp, which in  turn set off the fire alarm system, Doh! Everyone had to evacuate the restaurant, and worse the whole hotel had to empty into the car park. We were all standing there in the cold, when two fire engines arrived, and 30 minutes  later we were allowed back in. We went in and finished our breakfast, but the toaster was understandably nowhere to be seen. I think Sheila will think twice about whether she will ever ask me for some toast again!

Before the above party, Romeo’s uncle Bill took him to see Spurs v Wigan, on the back of his motorbike. Romeo loves to ride on his bike, and to see Spurs too, so he was in heaven and very excited. Unfortunately they lost 1-0, so that sure brought them back down to earth after the Championship League win earlier in the week.  Especially as the last time they played Wigan we won 9-1, and supposedly Wigan have never won at White Hart Lane, so that was very disappointing to say the least.

Well I hope you all had a fabulous week, and I hope to see you here next week, same time, same place, for a new blog.
‘Appy days!
Mick

www.mick-box.net