London – Mob Rule
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My only comment on the depressing and worrying scenes in London and across the UK at the moment.
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Posts tagged: Life in UK
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Wakeypedia Stan Barstow 1928 – 2011
By gareth, August 2, 2011 10:10 am
Photo credit http://hipteens.blogspot.com/
I was saddened to read that Stan Barstow died yesterday. Fittingly enough for someone who’s work was so firmly rooted in his hometown of Wakefield, he died on ‘Yorkshire Day’. Continue reading 'Wakeypedia Stan Barstow 1928 – 2011'»
Bon Scott of AC/DC “the Robbie Burns of our Age”
By gareth, July 24, 2011 1:34 am
Photo credit www.crabsodyinblue.com
According to an article in posh UK paper “The Guardian”, Bon Scott deserves greater recognition in his native Scotland and should be officially honoured as the modern day heir to Robert Burns. No arguments here.
Bon was born in Forfar, not far from Perth (the Scottish one) but emigrated to Australia aged six. For a while the family lived in Fremantle West Australia, not far from Perth (the Australian one). Later on he hooked up with the Young brothers – also Scottish born – and joined AC/DC. They went on to conquer the world with their brand of loud, good-time, Scottish-Australian hard rock. And this is precisley the kind of UK – Australian crossover that this blog delights in.
No doubt that Bon was good, bloody good in fact. A great rock singer, electrifying frontman and a talented lyricist. It is unlikely that he ever though that his output would be described in these terms though…
“In 1978′s thoughtful ‘Sin City’, there is an ineffable joie de vivre running through the lyric that celebrates living life to the full and enjoying the blessings from the Lord’s table.”
(Elsewhere in the same newspaper, a Rugby League cup tie was described as “coruscating ” – God these guys can write!)
Bon always liked a drink and alcohol was instrumental in his early death in 1980, aged 33. Given that people tend to become more respectable with the passing of the years, surely its time to give Bon a bit of official Scottish recognition?
Northern Food
By gareth, June 19, 2011 6:39 am
I seem to be getting a bit obsessed with food lately. Whilst researching the important question of why pork pies are called “growlers” in Yorkshire, I stumbled across the Northern Food blog. Good review of Tony’s fish & chips in Outwood here and stay on the same page for the word on the very good “Red Chilli II” Indian Restaurant in Wakefield.
Surprisingly enough Australia’s own Bundaberg Ginger Beer also gets a mention.
Classic Cafes
By gareth, June 19, 2011 5:22 am
I have been browing a quite amazing site dedicated to classic cafe’s in the UK. The site celebrates and reviews various cafes of the past which meet the author’s stringent criteria. Cafes which have been shut down, demolished or aesthetically butchered are dolefully marked with an “RIP” and a date next to them… Continue reading 'Classic Cafes'»
School Dinners
By gareth, June 12, 2011 8:54 am
I am linking to this examination of 70′s school dinners some 6 years after Diamond Geezer posted it so I am definitely not getting it whilst its hot (!!!). However it is absolutely bang on the money and well worth a read.
As an aside, does anyone know what the difference between “flan” and “quiche” is? If there is no difference, at what point did the solidly dependable flan become the pretentious middle-class quiche?
I think we ought to know…
Len Martin – the Australian we all knew
By gareth, June 11, 2011 1:49 am
Len Martin - broadcasting colossus!
It’s my belief that progress always comes at a cost and when you gain something you usually end up losing something along the way. Today, for instance, we have far more TV channels and more choice than I ever could have dreamed of when I was growing up with 3 channels on the box (this was before “Channel 4″ was launched on UK TV). This undoubtedly “a good thing” and I’m sure no-one wants to go back to a choice of three stations and no programs after midnight. However, a feature of life back then was that certain TV shows were basically watched by everyone (and people were aware of them even if they didn’t watch them regularly). When I was at High School, absolutely everyone watched Top of the Pops on a Thursday night – you could count on it. It would be TOTP or something unbearable like Emmerdale Farm !
Continue reading 'Len Martin – the Australian we all knew'»
AC/DC in Kerrang! 1981
By gareth, June 6, 2011 11:07 pm
This is the 30th Anniversary front cover of the first ever edition of UK heavy-metal magazine Kerrang! At that time Aussie rockers AC/DC were flying high after their seminal “Back in Black” album and the follow up “For those about to Rock…” was still in the pipeline. Ah!, happy days….
A great shot of lead guitarist Angus Young in all his fake-schoolboy glory with his Gibson SG well to the fore! Amazing to think that he is still doing that now, aged 56, and long may it continue.
Eagle-eyed heavy metal enthusiasts will also note that Wakefield’s very own “VARDIS” also featured in this edition. And if that Australia / Wakefield crossover doesn’t sum up everything that this blog is about I don’t know what does 
Vote for Roland Bunce!
By gareth, June 3, 2011 3:30 am
Beefcake !
We at “thedistanceinbetween” are proud to endorse Roland Bunce’s bid to become the UK’s NEXT model 2011 !
Roland has entered the modelling competition run by the UK retailing giant NEXT and is currently “sitting pretty” in first place.
His bid has attracted huge endorsements from facebook and twitter and, as of this morning, he has our vote too.
Click here to cast your vote in favour of the big man.
Go Roland !
FIFA sucks and this time the English have got it right
By gareth, June 2, 2011 2:09 am
What's wrong with this election?
Like a lot of people, I have long suspected that FIFA is a corrupt and self-serving organisation, full of mediocrities who have got used to the “Five Star” lifestyle it thinks it is entitled to. Lately the corruption scandals have been coming thick and fast, culminating in the now near certainty that Qatar “bought” the right to host the Football World Cup in 2022.
Continue reading 'FIFA sucks and this time the English have got it right'»
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