So, it’s 3 AM, and as you’ve probably gathered, I’ve just finished work. I’m feeling happy. Though, despite the fact I’ve only been in the house for a mere 30 minutes, it’s been rather interesting. On my way back to Scribbler Towers, I noticed big, flashing police lights in the distance, and found one of the cul-de-sacs near here was blocked off by a police car, with all its lights blazing. Despite the fact I rubbernecked, and tried to get a closer look as I went past, I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

A little further up, another police car came hurtling down the road, also blasting its lights. Oooh. Something a little interesting must have been going on. So, I arrived at Scribbler Towers, and nip upstairs for a pee. I’m stood there, thinking “Bloody hell, the boiler’s knocking out a bit of a rattle tonight”. I looked, and it was turned off. Hmmm. Then it dawned on me - it was the copper chopper!

I rushed outside, to see what was going on. It was hovering pretty much directly above our house, with its searchlight on full….

You’ll be unsurprised to find I took loads of pictures, though this one was the clearest. I think it turned out quite good, though. I like the fact that the rain has “enhanced” the beam’s appearance somewhat.

I also took some pictures of the replaced bridge at the bottom of Powlett Road eariler in the day. I’ve yet to decide whether I like it or not.

A full view, from pretty much the same position I took the old one at. It doesn’t look as lumpy as the old one, and clearly isn’t as rusty, seeing as it’s less than a week old. I suppose the blue and white scheme is done so it appears to blend in a little with the sky. though, give it a few years, it’ll probably fade, then look like shite.

This is a view from underneath it. It’s not at all clear at this resolution, but there’s already a pigeon looking to set up a roost on there. I’d have hoped that when they’d fitted the new bridge, they’d put up some type of shield to stop birds getting in. The amount of bird shit underneath the old one was nobody’s business, and the second it rained, it became as slippery as a well-buttered ice rink.

Another area to be going through a renovation is the town centre. The old Barlow building on Park Road is being torn down to make room for … ahem… “luxury” flats. And so, Park Road has been closed for the past week or so. But never fear, you can always follow the diversion…

…. town center? Town CENTER? Who does the lettering for these things? Awful spelling like that (or rather, Americanised spelling used in the English language) makes me want to hit people with a clue bat. We are not America. This is not America. What really makes my ringpiece itch is when someone spells the letter Z out to me, and calls it “Zee”. It’s fucking ZED…. ZED. GET THAT? ZED. IT RHYMES WITH DEAD, JUST LIKE I HOPE YOU ARE IF YOU USE PRONOUNCE IT “ZEE” AND ARE NOT GENUINELY AMERICAN ON THESE SHORES. Well, okay, I over-reacted, but seriously, I hate it. If Chad Phillips were reading this (don’t forget, he emigrated to Japan to become and English teacher), I’m sure he’d agree.

And, you know what? He probably is reading this! After a multi-year absence, he’s left his trademark calling card in the comment of the previous post, identical to the one he left in February 2001…. And, considering else there’s nobody else I can think of who will understand what “I haven’t got a kipper, I’ve got a fanny” will mean, as well as connecting from Japan, more precisely from the “Hiroshima Perfectural Education Center” (It’s a quote. Don’t count that as ME using the word “center”). Unless I’ve suddenly became some kind of superstar in Japan, without me knowing…. and my entire childhood is featured in a novel. That would be great if it is, though a little far fetched.

I always assumed be’d become a businessman of some sort. Somewhere in the “archives”, I have an audio tape of me and him when I was about 8 (he’d have been about 12) from when he started up an ice lolly business. The tape is classic. Seriously. It begins with him explaining how the lolly business worked (I think), then he wrote me out a ticket for a free ice lolly. I remember, this was in green ink too. Strange how you remember these things. Unfortunately, by that time, I’d became entirely bored of the whole idea, and proceeded to rip up my free ticket. Chad butted in, with the line “And Jamie’s destroyed his ticket, so he doesn’t get his free lolly!”. The whole plan went to worms when his parents, apparently sick of having all of these lollies in the freezer, gave me a load of them. He was devastated.

Other yearnings towards the business side of things also came in the form of another audio tape, which sadly no longer exists. During his school days, he’d made some paper mache puppets, and Barry, David and Chad held a puppet show in Barry’s back kitchen. I wasn’t present at the time, and considering they were doing a puppet show and recording it on AUDIO tape, most of it was indecipherable bollocks. Except for the end. Chad came on and said the following, despite being interrupted by David…

“If you think(ALRIGHT!)… If you think this puppet show was any good, then…. please give us summing.”

No, he wasn’t requesting mathematical puzzles. “Please give us summing” is best Hartlepool twang for “Please can we have something for our efforts?” The tape then cuts to the last few seconds of Black Lace, performing “Knock Three Times” from their “Party Party” album. It was a beige C-30 tape, manufactured by Philips, ironically enough.

Though I’m sure if he does read this post, he’s gonna take the piss in the comments section somewhat. Despite putting up with a number of years of peer pressure, and a certain amount of bullying, I must admit that some of the best times of my life were spent in “the Magnificent Seven” And, for that very reason, I’m currently listening to the Auf Weidersehen, Pet soundtrack.

One of the last recorded elements of the Magnificent Seven came in the form of a black and white camera which was connected to an old video recorder, and was recorded on June 26th 1992, only a matter of weeks before my mother died. The magnificent Seven at the time of recording had dwindled to four. Me, Chad, Scott and William, larked around for a few hours in front of the camera. It is very clear indeed that I was still a naive youngster.

This was probably less than a year before we all stopped being children, and went our seperate ways. Chad went to college, Scott had exams, William began to breed pigeons and partially lost interest in our friendship. Unfortunately, the tape I’m mentioning here has became another victim of time and/or magnetic degradation. Although it plays, I can’t convert it to DVD or whatever. Not that it matters, because I really, really, never want anyone else to see it. Ever.

As for the sex, I made that bit up.

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