Random stuff from the mind of me.....

Mum

2011-05-16T00:50:00.001Z

4 years ago today.

My only regret is that you and dad never got to meet Connor.

Still miss you.

Love,

George

Dr Who on the banned list?

2011-01-06T14:04:00.002Z

In the Christmas special, Dr Who told a wee boy to "Keep the Faith" - will this get him on the FollyFolly banned list - and is it further proof of the unseen Fenian hand?

A wee add for a new book.

2010-12-07T00:38:00.003Z

Have a look at this. It contains some of the work from the guy doing Johan the Barbarian on Celtic Underground.

Facebook

2010-03-13T15:50:00.001Z

What does it do?
Why is it there?
Am I doing it right? (oo-er!)
Does it count as cyber-stalking?
Can I get a free drink out of it?
Does it make me interesting?

Same old, same old....

2010-02-05T14:23:00.004Z

Jeez, you let him bring in his own players.
You let him get rid of the ones he doesn't like.
You may even make a little money if the chief-exec is on the ball.

THEN you sign a top notch, blue chip (should that be green chip?) striker!!

And the team still looks like it met in the car park just before kick-off and don't know each others names...

Every game is now a must win. (and for the record, I don't think they will)

Growin' Up

2009-09-17T05:25:00.002Z

Christ, these things are about as rare as hen's teeth, these days....

Believe it or not, I'm going to have even less time to post, but probably more inspiration, as my wife is due to give birth to number one child soon.

Holy smokes, I'm gonna be an adult....

40? Bollox!!!

2008-06-28T19:14:00.003Z

My arse.
40? Fuck off. Never. We've been through a lot together and you know what? I love you all. Those that I never kept in touch with but should have?! Those that I sort of kept in touch with and didn,t....well, erm, ...too bad...

Tommy Burns - Legend

2008-05-15T12:21:00.004Z

Exactly 364 days after my mother died, it was announced today that Celtic great Tommy Burns had also succumbed to his own personal battle with cancer.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family today. I know how much it hurts at this time.

Tommy Burns, R.I.P.

You'll Never Walk Alone

Stereophonics II

2008-05-02T04:42:00.002Z

Wow. All the favourites were played....Local Boy, Bartender, Madame Helga, Mr Writer, Tramps Vest.....

The band seemed to enjoy themselves as much as the crowd did. A small venue (around 500 people) didn't detract from what was a band playing a tight set of songs they clearly enjoy playing.

Excellent stuff.

Stereophonics

2008-05-01T04:24:00.003Z

Going to see Stereophonics in Fremantle tonight. Looking forward to it, basically because it's a small club (about 600-700 capacity) and you probably wouldn't get them playing anything smaller than the Barra's at home!

Should be good!!

March 2008

2008-03-03T14:03:00.002Z

40 degree Christmas Day. 42 degree Boxing Day......every cliche you could think of was there. Then we went to Yanchep National Park and saw my very first real life Koala!

Things are going pretty good....

Well, hello. How have you been?

2007-12-19T04:13:00.000Z

It's been a while. Been in Perth for almost 4 months now. Am enjoying it, although I miss my family and friends.
Perth is a small but lovely city. Outside the city, the bush goes on for miles. The sheer scale of things here is just outrageous. It's a FOUR HOUR flight to Sydney. Not your 45minute jaunt down to London from Glasgow! Four hours!! I've holiday'd in Europe on shorter flights!!!
Not missing the Hoops too much, what with the local supporters club showing every game live, although some of the performances lately have been making me thank my stars that I'm half-a-world away!!

Still not seen deadly spiders or snakes, kangaroos or koala's, but there is still time...

G.

G'day!!

2007-07-28T18:30:00.000Z

We're off.

Either I'm officially an okay guy, or the Aussies are so short handed they'd accept me anyway, but either way, we've been granted a 457 visa!! We fly to Perth (via Dubai) on the 5th of September.

We are so looking forward to this, as we both think that if it doesn't work out, we'll come back richer for the experience anyway.

Already made contact with a member of the local CSC, so it's all good.....

If you are in or around Perth from the 6th of September, I'll be the guy with the bad haircut, Scots accent, white skin and biggest smile you've seen!!

G

Holiday reading/watching/listening....

2007-07-18T15:43:00.000Z

Anyone looking for a fairly exhaustive list of good reads should take a wee look HERE
They have been recommended by the good citizens of CQN - a link to which appears at the side of the page.

I can also recommend My Playlists for decent music (even if I do say so myself.)

Die Hard 4.0, Madagascar, Taladegga Nights, Shrek 3 and Almost Famous are worth watching too....

Pirates 3: Too Long and Too Loud....

2007-05-28T20:29:00.000Z

Went to see Pirate of the Caribbean 3 today with Mrs. I must be getting too old for this shit, because I thought it was too long and too loud!!!

The effects are very good, especially the battle scene at the end, and I don't think I'll be spoiling it when I say they all live happily ever after...or do they?

Go back to work tomorrow after a few days off to get over the death of my mum. Only now is the fog lifting, although I'm sure there are dark days to come, especially when the money grabbing basturds at the district council try to get their pound of flesh.

Oh well. Thank goodness for iPods and alcohol!!!

G.

Ashes to Ashes....

2007-05-21T20:41:00.000Z

Buried mum today. Quite posibly the most difficult thing I've had to do.

My younger sister held it together quite well, but my younger brother really freaked out. Hope they will be okay.

I took a lot of comfort from the amount of good wishes I recieved.

I Was Dreading This Moment

2007-05-16T22:11:00.000Z

Hallelujah

Mum died this morning at approximately 6.45. She went down-hill very quickly. The nurse told us she didn't suffer. Even they were surprised how quickly she went.

I may be offline for a few days....

If I Should Fall Behind

You Can't Win Them All.....

2007-05-08T20:31:00.000Z

Finally won the league. Got the big prize after our home game against Hearts. They spoiled the party somewhat by beating us. Went to the 'brox and lost 2-0. Sometimes you just can't win. Need to get the team motivated for the Cup Final against Dunfermilne. Not going to be as easy as it should be on current form.

Mother is getting worse. She is now on morphine 4 times a day, and has had a catheter(sp?) fitted. If it's this painfull for me, how bad is it for her?

Still Waiting....

2007-04-24T12:40:00.000Z

Who'd have thunk it?

Over a month on and am still waiting on word on that job......
In that time Celtic have won the league, I've changed my car, my company have relocated to a city centre office bloke with less character and more toilets (I don't know!?!??!), my brother has moved out to Italy to work and my wife was on her first submarine!!

My mother is slowly getting worse, her short-term memory is deteriorating and her motor skills are virtually non-existent. She is due to leave hospital and go to a home or hospice, but I don't think she'll be there long.

I've been compelled to update thru' events elsewhere on the web, and vow to try and make it a more regular occurrence.

G.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.....

2007-03-13T08:34:00.000Z

I am waiting on news of a job application for a company in Perth, Western Australia.
Luckily there is a large and thriving Celtic Supporters Association there.....although the current Mrs hasn't realised that yet!!!
Anyone with any experience of Oz, and particularly Perth, your comments would be appreciated.

It's been a while....

2007-03-02T21:12:00.000Z

It's been a while since I updated. My original plan was to post on a regular basis, and change the "Tacks Of My Years" daily, but frankly, I cannae be arsed!
We are baby sitting my two neices tonight, Emma and Sarah, and whilst I love them to bits, I am glad when they go home! They are constant - always on the go - 100mph.

I wonder if it's worth posting this stuff.....does anyone read it?

Celtic vs AC Milan

2007-02-19T12:30:00.000Z

We are standing on the brink of unknown territory (well, unknown in the way that Uefa's history boys would like to forget about the European Cup before the Champions League - and that's a misnomer - Champions League should just be the Champions playing, not the third or fourth team in the league....)
Celtic have been here before - on more than one occassion. We won the tournament in 1967, and were beaten in the final in 1970.
However, the majority of fans will be experiencing this sort of thrill for the first time. Sure, we had Seville, but that was "the wee cup". This is where we NEED to be, regularly. This is the benchmark competition.
Celtic Park will be rockin' tomorrow night. If you can get to a TV to watch it, do. There isn't a spectacle like Celtic Park on a European night.

CQN Charity 5's - Post Match Report

2007-02-11T07:36:00.000Z

As far as I can tell, a good day was had by one and all.
Got horsed in both our games (well, I was in goals!!!) but the tournament was played in the correct spirit, and we all seemed to enjoy ourselves. Althought the team that won had two ex-pro's and both teams in the final obviously played together a lot (stewards inquery, surely?)

After a couple of beers with fellow CQNers, it was along to the ground to see Celtic vs Hibs. A much anticipated game, as Hibs have been playing some good football this year. Unfortunately, the match was a little insipid, with chances few and far between. Fortunately, a little piece of magic from McGeady on the left made space for a cross, which found it's mark with Craig Beattie powering home a header.

Next home game for Celtic is against AC Milan in the Champions League. Looking forward to that immensely.

Next CQN 5-a-side tourney is only a year away. Better get into training now, 'coz I won't be in goals next year......

G.

CQN Charity 5-a-sides

2007-02-09T10:03:00.000Z

Our friends over at Celtic Quick News (see link at the side of the page) have organised a charity 5-a-side tourney at Glasgow Green tomorrow morning (Saturday 10th Feb).

Come along for a laugh and if you can, bring a donation.

All the details are available on The Celtic Quick News Site.

Hope to see you there.

What the **** !!!

2007-02-07T16:49:00.000Z

Recently found out that my mother has a lymphnoma in the brain - a form of cancer that only affects approximately 10 people per year here in Scotland. I guess this is a form of therapy for me, to help me cope.

I knew she was special (ALL mothers are special-aren't they!?!) but why couldn't she be a dancer or an artist or something?

Ach well, just need to deal with it....

Funny story that probably says more about us than the doctor involved...when I got the call to go to the hospital, I obviously got there as quick as I could. Mum and the doctor (a German girl, I think) were sitting by the bed and invited me to sit. Mum had obviously been crying and I was mentally preparing myself for bad news. The doc was shuffling papers and getting ready to break the news, but before I got sat down, mum says "The Big "C", son."
Without thinking, I responded "That's alright - you learned to swim, didn't you?"
We both laughed, cried, hugged, etc, with the doc sitting like a lemon, not fully understanding what was happening.

It's that black humour that'll help me.

Cheers for listening.

G.