Not me Guv !

From today's "Manchester Evening News" ...



.... because I'm only 53 !!!

Other than that - a fruitful afternoon (say no more) - a nice sirloin steak for tea - the Bank Holiday weekend has well and truly started (check out the weather - hmmm !). Tomorrow sees some serious "garden-type" shopping before afternoon footy at the Blocksages ...
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Quick Election Aside ...

I wonder what the descendents of Winston Churchill think of this "hi-jacking" by the British National Party ? A touch naughty I feel ..



I must say however - in the interests of fairness - that our local rag the "Tameside Reporter" has managed to exclude the BNP Candidate for our constituency (Stalybridge & Hyde) from their "Election Special" supplement today - nor is he mentioned on the Manchester Evening News "Candidate List" .... don't worry, they're certainly not getting my humble vote, but fair's fair ...

Meanwhile, back @ the TV "Mass Debate" (tee hee !) my instant reaction was:

Brown - Stolid .. but .. those bloody ears !
Cameron - Smarmy.. lousy make-up job
Clegg - Fresh .. but .. looking like a member of the "same club"

Did absolutely nowt to influence my voting intentions ... with not having to leave the house early to go to work these last few weeks (months ??), I've also suffered the slings and arrows of Radio 4 in the morning - and I'll be honest - I'm bored - we have three parties who are more interested in slagging each other off rather than sitting down and telling the truth (although I'll be honest, I don't think reporters like John Humphries do much to encourage "proper debate" either - now there's a phrase .. "proper debate" ..).

... and none of them offered me a job either ...
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The Great Election Debate - Part 3

OK - I missed the first two due to Mossley's Thursday's games - it's now half-way through the third one (2120) - and all I have worked out so far is .....

Hasn't Gordon Brown got HUGE ears ?

Maybe more later .......
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The Day After Wednesday ...

= Thursday !

'Twas the Conf North Play-Offs (1st Leg) last night - and a big "Well Done" to Droylsden (beating Fleetwood 2-0) and Alfreton (beating Workington 1-0) - I like to think I've friends at both of the winning teams (as well as "Docs" @ Fleetwood of course !), but it certainly opens things up for the second legs on Sunday. Couldn't attend at the Butchers last night - should have been college but it was once again cancelled "late doors" (this time - family bereavement) - getting to be a bit of a joke this college course - delays, communication breakdowns, numerous cancellations - a 17 week course that's going to take the best part of 52 weeks to complete (either that or someone "up there" is telling me that IT is NOT the way forward !!). Fingers are crossed for an Alfreton v Droylsden final ... incidentally, let me just say that Droylsden snapper Carl is "calling it a day" at the end of this season - he has his own reasons, but it's going to be a helluva loss on the non-league snapper circuit (check out here for his pix from last night) - one of my early "mentors" when taking up the DSLR route was Carl ...

Anyway ... Thursday - a total "zilch" on the job hunt front - a miserable day weather-wise - Mrs Smiffy will be well hacked off when she comes home from work - we were going to have another crack at the garden - yes that's what I ended up doing last night ... 'tis a deceptively large garden in various parts - so we're starting at the top and working down - last night was organising borders (me setting up stones and faffing with weeds and soil) and planting up ( the expert - i.e. not me !) . I took some "snaps" with babycam today in the rain ... and we had a guest star appearing as well !!



The "grassy/weedy" bit in the middle is next to sort out ...... but what's that in the tub ??



Yep - a grey bugger ... so you go closer ...



... and he runs up the tree !!

Tonight - another culinary test - we had a load of left over salmon a few weeks ago, so I created salmon fish cakes/salmon patties and attempted to freeze them in such a way that they wouldn't turn to mush once defrosted - they've been defrosting all day (in the fridge - word on t'web was "DO NOT DEFROST AT ROOM TEMPERATURE" (mush prevention I guess !!) ... we'll see !!
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Curzon Ashton v Colwyn Bay

"Welcome to HELL !" - the ever genial Harry Galloway - Curzon Chairman

... in the Unibond League 1 North Play-Off Semi Final ... all in all a pretty grim game to watch as a supposed "neutral" - when Curzon took the lead on the stroke of half-time, I reckoned that would certainly open things up ... but to be honest it didn't. The Bay penalty seemed to be the cue for Curzon to completely lose their way for the next 15 minutes, during which time Lee Davey put the Seagulls ahead. There then followed 9 minutes of normal time and God knows how long added on time (officially 5 if I remember) when Curzon surged forward for that elusive equaliser - which was not forthcoming ... pictures at

Curzon Ashton 1 Colwyn Bay 2

So it's Colwyn Bay who travel up to the Giant Axe on Saturday to meet Lancaster City (2-0 victors over Skelmersdale United). Had it been Curzon, I may well have gone myself - but circumstances (OK finances really) dictate ... so, I'll be looking elsewhere ... the good money is on Dukinfield Town v Manchester Gregorians (with a 1400hrs kick-off).
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Latest from the DWP

Signing Off ?? I wish ....

Following today's appointment:

1) Now have to sign on weekly instead of fortnightly;

2) Have to extend my search to jobs up 90 minutes travel (by public transport) from home - you know the deal - 70% of your wages go on travel and the other 30% to the bloody Exchequer;

3) They have my CV - and their "Job Match Team" (!) will do stuff on my behalf - well, y'never know !!

So ... I've put myself forward for a possible "Work Trial" in Hyde ("Work Trial" = work for nowt for 30 days, and then they say "No" - or is that me being pessimistic ??)

So ... I've just applied for a job in Wigan ...

Tonight - looks like I'll be the only Mossley fan there shouting for the "local team" - every bugger else has been applying for "honorary Welsh passports" !!
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Bits and Bobs ...

... some recent "oddbits" from big cam/small cam ...



Friday night "Anniversary Walk" - the 'local attraction' ...



Sunday - The old Monsal Head railway platform - now reduced to a "butty stop" ...



Today - waiting for train home after "dole appointment" - first electoral beer of the campaign ?
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Major Hot Shoe Crisis - solved !!

Nothing to do with overheating trainers (!) - down to me using the external flash on Saturday - and the "old age" of the camera I guess !! Noticed yesterday that the Exposure Compensation seemed "stuck" at +2 - and the pop-up flash ... wouldn't. Seems that there is a tiny plastic (aargh !) switch in the hot shoe that drops down when you attach an external flash, and (should) pop up when you remove it (allowing use of the on-board flash) - all I was getting was a whirring noise and "ERR 05" !

Step forward Google - or more to the point Conrad Erb - an excellent article indeed (that does beg the question "How do you take photographs of your own camera - ha ha !) - so - a quick trip to the local DIY shop for some baby screwdrivers (£1-69) - a piece of paper so I didn't lose the tiny screws (free !) - and bingo - problem solved ! The plastic switch was "sticking" in the down position, so I gave it all a bit of a clean - dust and gunk - wiggled accordingly - and put it all back together again.

Success !! (although I may well stick that tiny screwdriver in my camera bag, because it may well happen again - maybe not just age of camera, but also my insistence in "not hiding in the stands" when the rain comes down - and we've had a pretty cold and wet winter - haven't we ??).

So - all sorted for tomorrow night @ Curzon Ashton ... but - before that an appointment with a "Personal Adviser" down at Chez Dole - I've hit the magic 13 week mark - maybe they start to get dirty now ... suppose I also ought to mention the job interview I had on Friday - the interview went fine - then I was given a lengthy test which unfortunately included "newer" stuff from SQL Server and T-SQL where my knowledge is next to non-existent - ouch - this was not mentioned at all in the job spec - ouch - we'll just have to wait and see - and in the meantime ... keep looking and keep trying ...
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Mossley v Rossendale United - Pictures

... made it before midnight !!

Mossley 4 Rossendale United 1

I'll leave the words for later ...
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Yes I've Been Away !

... after yesterday's game, a quick hour in the club to snap presentations etc - and hear the sad news about the resignation of Mossley Manager John Flanagan (will say more later) before dashing down to Manchester to catch the TransPeak "slow coach to Belper" to catch up with Mrs Smiffy ('twas her Auntie's 90th yesterday) - a brisk walk today (Monsall Dale, Tideswell Dale and a couple of other Dales) before home. Tonight is Part Two of the family "Come Dine With Me" competition (small boy), so I don't think I'll get too near yesterday's pics before 2200 tonight - and with it being the last game of the season, it would be nice to do a "bumper bundle" - please bear with me - yet again !!

A quick look around yesterday's other results has turned up a nice local game for Tuesday night - as in Curzon Ashton v Colwyn Bay in the Unibond 1 North Play-Offs - that was TOTALLY unexpected - and then next Saturday ... who knows ???

Back later - or early tomorrow - with "the goods" ...
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Mossley v Skelmersdale - Pictures

at ...

Mossley 1 Skelmersdale United 1

For words - I (just this once - it's been a busy 24 hours or so !!!) lazily refer to SJNR's view

Last game in 13.5 hours time ... then it's a case of "spot the game" for a few weeks ...
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Mossley v Skem - quick one

Got a job interview later today ... so can't bugger about with pictures too much now - got a deserved 1-1 draw in the end - and here's the equaliser from Andy Russell (click for big) ...



Will try to get more up later - but as well as job interview, 23rd April is also Wedding Anniversary (26 and counting !!) - so I may well struggle !! Please bear with me !
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Two for One ...

... of the Orange variety tonight - me and Mrs Smiffy gave Gurinder Chadha's "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" a go down at the Ashton Multiplex flea pit. Having done one review this week ... why not another ??

Overall impression was ... rather weak. A bit of a muddle between humour, horror and romance with a plot (?) that didn't really go anywhere. If you're going to cast Sanjeev Bhaskar - give him some dialogue (he was sadly underused with very few funny bits). Maybe I missed some of the jokes - there were certainly some Indian people in the audience laughing at times when I wasn't. A few nice "rip offs" mind - exploding stomach a la "Alien", the final scene was reminiscent of "Ghost", and the lengthy "Carrie" - type scene at the party was very good indeed. I'll be honest - until the credits came up at the end, I thought it was Maureen Lipman playing Mrs Goldstein - never thought it would be Zoe Wanamaker !!

So ... harmless fun I guess - no doubt people will try to compare it with Chadha's other real biggie "Bend It Like Beckham" - it's certainly not a patch on that film. Would I recommend it ? Well on a "2 for 1" night - maybe ...
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Mysterious sightings over Mossley today ...

Whilst on my "constitutional dolescum walk out" today, I spotted these very strange things up in the sky - noisy as well - so out came the babycam - can anyone advise ??

Mossley v Garforth Town

A bit of a goal-fest last night at a deceptively cold Hurst Cross ...

Mossley 5 Garforth Town 2

Three up in 15 minutes - pegged back to 3-2 before a fourth goal pretty much sealed it just before half-time. Second half was a "genteel affair" with not a lot to play for (apart from 7th place in the table !!) - and only one more goal. We also had a cameo outfield performance from goalkeeper Peter Collinge (he put himself about a bit too !!) - older viewers may remember Rod Bates doing the same for Mossley up at Penrith one Sunday afternoon (as I recall he did the full 90 minutes though) !!

A crowd of only 90 though - oh dear ... Thursday sees Skelmersdale coming to Hurst Cross - revenge for the 5-2 defeat might be sweet ... and hopefully a few more through the gate as well, before the season comes to an end with a "real proper home game" on Saturday against Rossendale United. It would be nice to finish the week with 9 points - and maybe, just maybe 6th place - although if Leigh get a point or more tonight at home to Salford City we can look no higher than 7th - which would cap what has to be seen as a tremendous season considering all that has gone on !

The Unibond 1 North is pretty much sorted now - Halifax confirmed as champs (although they had to come back from 2-0 last night to get "that point") and Lancaster City, Colwyn Bay, Curzon Ashton and Skelmersdale United in the play-offs (yes I know Leigh "could" - but we are talking mathematics - and a goal difference of 14 !). Oh, and commiserations to Belper Town, beaten 2-0 at Pride Park by Matlock Town in the Derbyshire Senior Cup Final - hope they all had a cracking night out though ... enough for now ...
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County Cups ....

Best of luck tonight to Droylsden who play our good friends (!) Trafford in the Manchester Premier Cup at Ewen Fields (Hyde United FC) - best behaviour boys !!

... and also to Belper Town who will be treading the "hallowed turf" of Pride Park in their Derbyshire Senior Cup Final against Matlock Town. Me - I'll be watching Mossley v Garforth Town up at Hurst Cross ...

I see Curzon Ashton made a bit of a c*ck-up last night losing 2-0 away at lowly Harrogate RA - makes getting that third place (and a home game in the play-off semi final) that much more difficult now - unless they want to play away ?? While already 99.99999% certain of the title, FC Halifax Town should wrap it up completely at home tonight against Clitheroe (unless of course they lose about 12-0 and Lancaster smack 20 past Radcliffe Borough ... yep ... unlikely !!!).

Nearly there ...

Oh yeah - I have another job interview (this time an IT one) - Friday afternoon ...
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Weekend in Edinburgh anybody ??

Due to a "series of unfortunate incidents", we find ourselves in possession of 4 return rail tickets from Stalybridge to Edinburgh (the "advance" type - as in "No bl**dy refund whatsoever" - d'oh !). Details below:

Friday 7th May

Stalybridge depart 1526
York arrive 1635
York depart 1646
Edinburgh arrive 1913

Sunday 9th May

Edinburgh depart 1400
York arrive 1626
York depart 1645
Stalybridge arrive 1745

All journey legs come with seat reservations ... and are obviously easily extendable from Manchester etc.

If you were booking now - they'd cost you £82 each - all we want is to recoup our "losses", so we're knocking 'em out at £35 each (or nearest offer !).

If anyone out there in "bloggerworld" fancies a weekend in "Auld Reekie" - or knows anyone who might - pleae let me know - Ta !

(That was a begging letter on behalf of the Smiffy Party)
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"The Prisoner" (remake) - early thoughts ...

... missed it on Saturday night - too busy faffing with photos - but ITV4+1did the business tonight...

OK - only Episode 1 (but I believe only 6 to play with instead of 17) - this opener was called "Arrival" (just like the real thing) - but I'm not convinced at the moment ...

1) Remakes always fill me with dread - the obvious question is "Why ?" Only recently I mentioned on here watching the re-hash of "Assault on Precinct 13" ... and "hash" just about summed that up ... so many other remakes have either been "pants or pointless" ... so probably I went into the start with a slightly "biased" view.

2) It's been "Americanised" - another cause for concern ... "The Village" isn't a village at all ... it's bigger (and has a night club - WTF ?!) - the area around "The Village" is also "bigger" (i.e. a bloody desert) - some tokenist "Brit" slants (kept seeing a Moggy Minor floating around in the background - and the 147 taxi was certainly right-hand drive !)

3) Only seen one blazer (on the dead "93") - the whole idea of "Individual vs Collectivism" loses a lot purely on the lack of blazers/"uniform" dress - and no penny-farthing either !!

4) "The Village" people are not just "people with a secret" (ex-Government agents etc) - they just seem to be people who have had their memories wiped (OK there was a pic of the Statue of Liberty and talk of "dreams", but nowt much else - yet) - and what was with the bomb ?

5) James Caviezel (Number 6) seems to be playing the role more like Jack Bauer out of "Lost" rather than the pure anger that was Patrick McGoohan - put that down to the writer maybe ?? We don't really know where he's come from - something that was fairly obvious in the original (what with the "Danger Man" prequel and the opening credits) ... maybe this will become clearer - eventually ..

It might appeal to some - but I'm not too sure after Episode 1 - I'll stick with it mind ...

Here endeth my effort at being Barry Norman ... maybe I should stick to football !!!
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Early "Fall-out" from Iceland

... phone call from Ashton College - Wednesday night computer course cancelled as tutor is "trapped" somewhere outside the UK ... and no, I didn't "blow my top" when I got the message ...
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Sunday Walk - Edale

... a brisk seven miler today round Edale, Rushup Edge etc etc ... won't bore you you too many photos either (too late anyway) - just the one (double-click for big) !!!



... let's see what next week brings ...
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