Reclaim bank charges

Reclaim bank charges
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Watchdogs Back Fight Against Bank Charges (from The Argus): they're all at it now! The Argus jumps on the 'reclaim your bank charges bandwagon'!

I first became aware of reclaiming bank charges through Martin Lewis's money saving website but didn't do anything about it until I saw the BBC Money Programme on a village where they'd all done it! So a letter - a combination of the two templates - went to the Co-op bank on 13 December claiming 160 quid's worth of charges from when I went slightly overdrawn - plus interest - and a letter came back on 3 January with a refund (no interest, but I'm cool about that). Now everybody is at it!

Had a hilarious half hour on Satuday watching a recording of Count Arthur Strong's radio show at Komedia. It also starred Sue Perkins and Dave Mounfield. An excellent 2 quid's worth of entertainment!

Wob

Wob
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Being on the wagon is not conducive to going out, hence the lack of blogging recently. I have in fact actually set foot in pubs since 1 January 2007, on a Clarion bike ride and to the Catalyst Club at the Jooglebury last Thursday. On the first I resisted a pint of Harveys for that excellent and cheap substitute - a pint of lime and soda. At the Jooglebury it was easy to forgo their selection of overpriced young-persons' continental lagers in favour of said substitute, but at an extortionate £1.45 a pop it was nearly cheaper to go for beer! However I couldn't resist a night at the Albert and a pint of Pullman. It did go straight to my head and I had to immediately water it down with an 80p (that's more like it) glass of L & S! The occasion was Kerry's birthday gig and the line up was Deacon on piano and guitar, followed by Asbo Derek (with Kerry on bass and Don Bradman as guest harmonizer), Pog (also with Kerry on bass, Deacon on keyboards and Wob on drums) and Wob with band headlining. Wob was augmented by a bass and drums (John and Jon) and played selections from his excellent new mini-album 'A month of Sundays' (which can be ordered from his website), including the rather wonderful charity shop anthem 'All for a good cause'. Not going out much means you forget to stock up with cash so it was only by sticking to the one pint (and an L&S) that I could scrape together the necessary fiver to purchase a signed copy of said mini-album. Wob has a fine voice - give him a listen.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Happy New Year to one and all! I've still got a stinking code (cold) so spent last night watching Adaptation (must watch it again whenever I get writers' block!) and Jools Holland on tv, sipping some of that amazing cask-strength apple brandy Sam bought me for Xmas (I am now today officially on the wagon)! Went on the obligatory Clarion bike ride to a jam-packed Carats cafe at the end of Shoreham harbour. It was a glorious day, albeit with a strong wind against us as we travelled west. Behind us Brighton was busy preparing security for the Fatboy Slim concert this afternoon. After polishing off a plate of egg and saute potatoes in the open air outside Carats, stopped off to do some trawler spotting behind Fatboy's house on Millionaires' Row, hoping maybe to see the one Judy Stevens drew. Back in town, I managed to bump into most of the people I know in Brighton, including Peter Chrisp who reminded me I hadn't blogged the Count Arthur Strong show I saw with Peter and Lisa. So here it is: he's a sort of cross between Harry Worth and Fred Emney, with a touch of John Shuttleworth and Freddie Frinton, ie a posh drunken thespian of Northern Origin prone to 'senior moments' played by Steve Delaney. He was ably assisted in the Komedia performance of 'It just wouldn't be Christmas without us - now would it eh!' on 23 December by sidekick Terry Titter, a scouse entertainer of yesteryear, buxom TV cook Irene Titter, and Malcolm, a camp graduate of the Count's Doncaster Academy (all played by Terry Kilkelly). After several false starts with voices off, it started shambolically and got even more chaotic, but in the most amusing surreal way, ending with the audience tiptoeing out leaving Count Arthur and Terry both asleep on the sofa in front of the telly! An act to catch again in Edinburgh next year for sure.

Theme Time Radio Hour

I've had a stinking code (cold) since Xmas day so haven't been out much. But I have been thoroughly enjoying Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour, currently being repeated on BBC Radio 2. Checking out the playlists, I'm pleasantly surprised to see he plays a Bonzo track on 'Halloween'. I hope he does a 'Trains' programme sometime soon!

Yvonne's tour diary

All the back-stage gossip and photos of the Bonzo's tour I didn't see - from Yvonne Innes on the Neil Innes Music website.

Filming Axed Arts Centre

Irony Of Film About Axed Arts Centre (from The Argus): "A documentary on the last months of an arts centre is being funded by the organisations whose cuts contributed to its closure. Award-winning film-maker Michele D'Acosta will shoot a fly-on-the-wall documentary about the final season at Gardner Arts Centre in Brighton. The film is being funded by Brighton and Hove City Council and the Arts Council South East." As Nick pointed out, Londoners wouldn't think twice about travelling 10 minutes to see a gig or concert! Shame on Brighton!

The Lovely Brothers

lovely, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

My camera went bananas at the Pog gig at the Cowley Club last night and produced some weird ghostly images of The Lovely Brothers (I'd set the flash to 'slow'!). I'd already missed openers We am Janet but caught a fine set by Asbo Derek (check out their anthem 'The night James were excellent' on MySpace), an energetic Wob, and then after another personnel shuffle (Paul's sister Kerry seems to be in most bands tonight!) it was Pog, playing for the second time that day (most of the bands had played earlier at the Albert to celebrate Paul Stapleton's birthday). Then, fresh from an engagement in Shoreham, The [incognito] Lovely Brothers exploded onto the stage area to finish another fantastic free event at the famous anarchist club in superb style, lubricated on my part by Dark Star's excellent Solstice and Pale ales (cheers Rich!). I'd missed the Sussex County Arts Club xmas party to be here, but no regrets (there'll be a rant about parties and group meals another time, suffice to say that IMO while parties drain the energy out of you, live music continues to be exhilarating and life enhancing - support it whenever you can!). So tired this morning I missed my regular Clarion ride...

Is The Gardner Arts Centre too far from the City?

Is The Gardner Arts Centre Really Too Far From The City (from The Argus): my letter about the closure of the Gardner Arts Centre at Sussex University, Falmer. Can someone explain how the excellent Gardner Arts Centre in Falmer is considered too far away from the city centre for Brighton and Hove City Council to continue funding it ("Arts centre faces closure", The Argus, December 8), but that the proposed football stadium, across the road in Falmer, is close enough to be treated as a city resource? Do sports fans exist in a different space/time continuum to arts enthusiasts? Alan (Fred) Pipes, Gerard Street, Brighton

The Gift

The Gift, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

What do you call a tribute band with one of the original members? The Gift is Rick Buckler, drummer with The Jam, along with Rickenbacker wielding Paul Weller substitute Russell Hastings and Bruce Foxton sub Dave Moore. They were playing at Concorde 2 in Brighton, not my favourite venue as it's a bit of a cycle, but redeeming itself by having a single Harvey's pump on the bar among the ubiquitous lagers. Support when I arrived were local mod rockers Young Soul Rebels who sounded just right for this audience of hardened Jam fans. Then a gap and on came The Jam, err The Gift. To a chant of 'we are the mods' from an audience possibly too young to have been first-generation (or even second-generation) modernists, they launched into 'This is the Modern World' and from then in it was Jam song after Jam song, much to the delight of the ecstatic audience who sang along to every one. Half way through, unannounced, on walked the real Bruce Foxton, and the crowd went mental. Dave handed over the bass and took up rhythm guitar and we had the great Kinks cover '(I wish I could be like) David Watts' played by two-thirds of the original Jam. Finale, several hits later, was the rousing 'Eton Rifles' and the three-song encore finished with the crowd pleaser 'Down in the tube station at midnight'. That's entertainment! A fantastic gig, with all the energy, drive and freshness of those Jam gigs way back when, twenty-odd years ago. On the way home, along Madeira Drive, police were out keeping an eye on boy racers with pimped-up cars, and inspecting (and towing away) stretch limos! Brighton on a Saturday night is a very strange town.

Minor rant: the ticket price was a good value 12 quid, but I paid 13.50 at the Dome Box Office. Why the extra 1.50? Booking fee, that's what (I should have bought it at Resident Records, who only charge a quid). If I'd bought it on t'internet I'd have paid booking fee, credit card surcharge, postage, etc etc. Never mind outrageous bank charges, this needs to be looked at! Rip off, I say!

A Jolly Xmas

A Jolly Xmas, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Have a great Winterval!

fred

Bonzo photoset

Some superb photos of the Shepherd's Bush Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band gig I didn't go to!

The King Blues

king_blues_4, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

It's not often you find a new favourite band. The last time was when I ventured bored from the Wooden Bridge in Guildford in the late 1970s up to the Royal and was captivated by my first hearing of The Vapors. The same thing happened at Paul Stapleton's garden party where I first saw and heard The King Blues. They'd sold out of CDs then so I bought one off the website and it's been buzzing round my head ever since ('Taking over, taking over' etc). So tonight's gig at the Albert was no disappointment. The gig started with We am Janet, an Anal Beard spin-off, followed by the consistently entertaining Pog, whose line-up seems to change with every gig. This time, Paul's sister had a new string bass. They did all our favourites and allowed us to join in alternate tracks. Someone at the Catalyst Club once said that the best thing about going to church was that you could sing as loud as you like and nobody would mind. It's the same at a Pog gig. We la la laed and went vegan (you cow sucking pervert) at the top of our voices! It was a relief too to hear his song about football. So, it is allowed to oppose the stadium at Falmer, after all? Phew! What if it were a Bingo Hall, said Paul? Eh? What would Attilla think?

The King Blues were another gear up. Any band as political, and with whistling and ukulele action too, is fine by me. What's with the name though? They don't do blues as we know it - it's more like do-wop ska punk folk reggae rap really. I asked Itch and he said it was a reference to those big Rizlas. The climax was that great community sing-along 'Taking over' with Itch dividing the room into competing halves. The encore had a fine voiced Fruitbag taking over the mike to sing an empassioned 'Bella Ciao' which everyone loved to bits. They are somehow involved with the ongoing Smash EDO protest in Brighton too. So If they are appearing near you, get along there - you are in for a treat.



I noticed when unlocking my bike that someone had vandalised the Banksy kissing policemen outside the Prince Albert, but strangely left George Best alone! This area of wall is usually meticulously conserved, so will it be restored, I wonder?

Roger McGough and Andy Roberts

Roger McGough and Andy Roberts, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Despite being cream crackered from a 21-mile bike ride round Chichester harbour with the Clarion (no, I didn't cycle all the way there, we got the train!), I managed to hobble (cycle) down to the Komedia's new back entrance to see Roger McGough and Andy Roberts. Liverpool poet Roger McGough was consistently laugh-out-loud entertaining, flitting from chair to chair, so as not to confuse the audience, with readings from his poems old and new, and extracts from his autobiography Said and Done. Brighton resident Andy Roberts took time off from the Bonzos tour, to accompany Roger and perform some of his own songs. The second of two sets started with Andy in a Chinese robe accompanying Roger's hilarious extracts from the diary of the friend of Confucious who invented hiakus (didn't catch his name, but he had a young wife!). I also bumped into my old chum and neighbour Curtis Tappenden and his daughter Tilly who were sketching throughout!

Attending a gig like this can work out expensive, what with the entrance fee of £12.50, a couple of bottles of Newcastle Brown at £3.50 each (Komedia kindly supply some decent bottled beers to augment the young-persons' continental lager on tap), a paperback copy of Roger's book for 9 quid (1p above the rrp - Amazon price £7.19 for those thinking ahead) and a copy of the GRIMMS CD Sleepers (for the bonus tracks) for another £12 (Andy was the R and Roger one of the Ms in this short-lived band). But it was signed by Andy (but not by Roger); I'd earlier got my 1967 Penguin Modern Poets 10: The Mersey Sound (already signed by Brian Patten, but unfortunately not by Adrian Henri RIP, which originally cost 3/6d) and After the Merrymaking (1971, 60p) signed by Roger.

Are iPods telepathic?

To see if my iTunes was telepathic, this afternoon I set it on shuffle. Out of 10,828 tunes to choose randomly from, it chose the following artistes:

Elvis Costello
Bob Dylan
Elvis Presley
Neil Innes
Tragic Roundabout
The Only Ones (so far, so good)
Steve Earle and the Del McCour (!!)
The Kinks
Bonzos
Dylan (again!)
The Flaming Lips
Viv Stanshall
Free Up Session - Sharleen Boodram (!!)
Others - Stan Bowles
The Rutles
The Exciters
John Lennon
John Prine with Iris DeMent (nice)
Carly Simon
Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
Viv Stanshall (Radio Flashes - longest track so far)
Pulp
10cc
The Mull Historical Society
The Pipettes
Boy Blue (Boogie Children)
Bonzos (again - fantastic)
John Shuttleworth (at last!)
The Beatles
Barry White (!!)
Bauhaus
Neil Innes (again)
Duncan Lamont
Car 54 where are you
Charlie Rich
The Beatles (again)
British Sea Power
Elvis Costello (again)
Sly and the Family Stone
Gilad Atzmon
Snap
Little Lights
Bonzos (yet again)
Lemon Jelly
Andy Williams
Ben Bernie (Violin) & His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra
Platform Six
The Departure
Kaiser Chiefs
The Miracles
Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch
The Church
The Who
Michael Nyman
Michael Nyman again (the first time two in a row by same artiste happened)
Jimmy Vaughn
The Kinks (again)
The Animals
The Byrds

Conclusion: pleasantly surprising, made good choices, tho no Steely Dan (but there again there are none in my collection) or Bruce Springsteen (only 4), but where were The Smiths/Morrissey and David Devant?

It's a Bonzo life

It's a Bonzo life: On the road with Phill Jupitus: an online diary of the reformed Bonzos tour by one of its guest artistes. I decided not to attend the Shepherd's Bush gig as I thought it couldn't live up to last january's Astoria gig. Will I regret it?

Bury's Lowry to be auctioned

Bury council is determined to sell off their Lowry to cover a budget deficit. Here is an online petition for you to sign if you are as appalled as I am: Flickr: Bury Lowry

Up North again

Up North again, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

If it's Thursday, it must be Tahiti. Well, it would have been if the John Otway world tour had gone ahead. So, I'm back in chilly Brighton after my world tour of the North West, home of interesting pies and superior (and cheap) beer. The first gig, at Liverpool's Cavern did go ahead, tho I had to leave while Glenn Tilbrook (of Squeeze) was doing a mini-set, as I was being put up by friends in Crosby, in the house once lived in by Captain Smith, commander of the Titanic.

'Trudging slowly over wet sand' I sang as I approached the sand dunes and beach at Waterloo, between two lakes of wild birds, to cop the Antony Gormley installation 'Another place' last Friday. Not exactly Angel of the North, but impressive none the less, tho the locals have started dressing the more accessible ones. Then it was onto the train for the Liverpool experience, first a trip on the Ferry across the Mersey (excellent value at less than a fiver for an hour's cruise) in the freezing rain, then for a swift pint of Bowland's Vertigo in the White Star on the edge of the 'Cavern Quarter' (I'd had a pint of Bombardier the previous night in the splendid Volunteer Canteen in Waterloo, a great old geezer's pub), before embarking on the Magical Mystery Tour (again a great value two-hour Beatles-related coach trip around south Liverpool). A swift drink in the FACT cafe, where an Oxjam and some Biennial events were going on, then down to the hotter than hell Cavern 2 for Otway.

Saturday, I was going to explore the Wirral where Grandad was born, but the left luggage at Lime Street was £5.50 and my feet were killing me so I headed to Bolton, via Manchester (the train was a bit crowded - never travel on a match day!). Sunday, I discovered it was a steam event at the East Lancs Railway, with seven locos advertised, including Princess Elizabeth. She wasn't, as it turned out, but 71000 Duke of Gloucester was. Wow, I didn't see much of her (him?) but what a beauty, with the most sublime sound at rest, like someone blowing across the top of a stoneware sarsaparilla jug. I'm not really into tanks, but 80135 (made in Brighton) was also quite good looking in BR green and quite a monster with its backwards pacific wheel arrangement. Also in steam were the lovely jub 5690 Leander, mickey 45157 The Glasgow Highlander, jinty 47324 and class 4 oldie 44422. And the weather was perfect! Had a pint of Gunpowder mild at The Good Samaritan in Ramsbottom, and a tub of hot black peas from the kiosk by the station. Monday, I had a wander round Bury charity shops and Tuesday headed off to New Mills, where I had a quick tour round the spectacular Torrs Millennium Walkway over the energetic River Goyt. Home yesterday was by a long circuitous route (via Barnham) because of a fatality at Haywards Heath.

Veggie black pudding

By heck! R. S. Ireland are making a veggie black pudding. I used to love black puddings when I ate meat - a boiled one in newspaper on Bury market with the skin pulled back and a dollup of yellow English mustard in the slit! I shall have to look out for them when I go Up North next week. (Technically, I suppose it is possible to make black puddings without killing an animal if one's vegginess is on moral grounds?) What next? I vote for veggie faggots (if they can do veggie haggis, they can surely do faggots, savoury duck and saveloys?) and veggie 'steak' and 'kidney' puddings (like the gorgeous wild mushroom suet pud I had in Terre a Terre a while back).

Wet weekend in Brighton

Wet weekend in Brighton, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

I've been a bit lax on the old blogging front lately. 'Winter draws on' as the vicar once said. I got soaked yesterday cycling down to the Fishing Museum to see an exhibition by the Sussex Art Collective, featuring Lesley White's landscapes, Katherine Morton/Smith and the ubiquitous Nick Orsborn, who told me all about how the famous Festival posters started (his was the first in 1987). Got some nice haddock for my tea from the smoked fish man while I was down in the Old Fishing Quarter and had a quick cycle up and down the front.

A funny thing happened on the way home from the Catalyst Club on Thursday (excellent value as usual, with a free Viv Stanshall Sir Henry CD thrown in – of course I had them all already, but I'm always up for a freeby!). I was cycling up my road about midnight when I passed a chavvy-looking young lady on her doorstep shouting down her mobile telephone. 'Mister, mister!' she paused to shout after me. 'Can you open the door for me,? I can't turn the key cos I've just had me nails done', she pleaded displaying a full set of talons. I did the deed and she was very grateful, but didn't seem to understand me when I said it was a neighbourly thing to do!

The Indy was a jolly good read yesterday, lots of interesting articles (Spamalot, Ian Rankin) and of course the latest instalment of Chris Ware's Building Stories. Genius!

Finally, I had two days without internet last week thanks to nt-hell cutting me off inexplicably. It took over a dozen phone calls and three hours of my time, backwards and forwards between customer 'care' and tech support to get me back online, albeit with a new user name and password! Grrr. What a fragile world we live in dot dot dot

EnvironMental

EnvironMental, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

While shopping at Sussex Stationers on London Road yesterday, I heard a European woman's voice shouting down at me saying I wouldn't be disappointed if I came up. Naturally I fled - to the safety of a nearby Co-op. Today I ventured back today to what I now know is part of the Brighton Photo Fringe. Fringe to what you may ask? Why the Brighton Photo Biennial, taking place all over town. Back to our local show: it's an exhibition called EnvironMental, curated by Denise Felkin (website www.denisefelkin.com/36a now appears to be working) in one of those amazing Georgian houses hidden behind shop facades, comprising photos and videos mainly by local women plus sculptures by the Mutoid Waste Co, an outfit I remember organising warehouse parties back in the 1980s. Well worth a visit, and you get a good view of Brighton's other famous Banksy! Popped down to the Art School to catch some official photo art, but they're shut on Sundays!