Everything that starts with W ...

This is a review I wrote a while back, but I have now updated it (October 2008) - it's a long one so be warned. Since this is a Cafe piece, although I have said it is about Workington (where I live), that bit comes after the journey I took getting to Workington! How I ended up in Workington Leaving University and Best Laid Plans I had it all planned when we left Hull Uni in June 2003. I would get my dream job in London doing social research. Hubby (then fiancé) would carry on working in Hull for a brief time until he found a job in the South of England. We would then buy a house, get married ... more

This review hasn’t just been created for the reason of saving money but more on avoiding being ripped off from an industry not usually known for this. A number of years ago my wife gave me as a present a lovely Citizen watch, it was a chronograph style with a moon phase feature, stop watch & alarm. The alarm was particularly helpful as I travelled a lot & it saved me carrying a travel clock. Around six months after the guarantee expired the watch stopped, I took it back to where it was purchased at Ernest Jones who looked at it & told me it would need to be sent back to Citizen. Around a week ... more

Permit me a 50th review indulgence. I did have something else prepared, but on reflection 'prepared' wasn't really the word. A simple album review (Belle & Sebastian's 'The Boy With The Arab Strap', for what it's worth) spiralled horrifically out of control, and so I've chopped it up and have attempted to salvage the wreckage. One section in particular, where I considered the hilarious 1999 Brit Awards incident when B&S infuriated the subject of this piece by beating his underlings Steps to the Best New Act prize…well, my attempt to contextualise said gent's qualifications for judging popular ... more

----------------------------------------​--------------- Peter Osgood - King of Stamford Bridge ----------------------------------------​--------------- I can't remember where I read it or heard it but I recall the sentence with amazing clarity. Never meet your heroes or your idols - You'll only end up being disappointed in them. ------ 1972 ------ Although a typically snotty-nosed six year old kid with over-sized trousers and practically living in my elder brothers hand-me-down Spiderman T-Shirt, I was lucky enough to grace some of the greatest football stadia of the early seventies - Highbury ... more

A year ago things could not seem more grim, my life revolved around trying to get work as an extra and nothing pretty much. I was living in Cornwall and could not get a job for love nor money, the reason? I was over qualified, and a very likely flight risk. So without giving me a chance there I was without a chance of a job. But things were already pretty grim, at the start of 2005 I had a successful business ruined because of Paypal; I wont bore you with the details but someone accessed my Paypal account not only draining the funds from the account but also emptying our business bank account ... more