Probably the Oddest Football Mascot in the world?
South Park V Met Police in the 4th qualifying round of the FA cup. This was the mascot going around the ground.
Police Mascot
Arcticterntalk.org
The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world
Archive for the tag “vacation”
Carshalton AFC 1 Hastings 0
A first win in the league for Carshalton since Easter monday and well deserved. Things have been a bit chaotic at Carshalton this last few weeks with many senior players departing, the manager changing and only an interim manager in place. So the fact that a young side was even competitive was impressive. There were actually three good goals in this game but according to the linesman, two of them were offside. Good atmosphere and good burger. The other bonus is that this was non-league day and Carshalton did everyone proud by allowing in free of charge anyone with a League club season-ticket or local residents. A moment of amusement when the girl on the turnstile had no idea that such a club as Brentford existed! I had to spell that one out. The person before me was a West Ham season-ticket holder.
Anyway the game was fast-paced and played in good spirit. Nick Hamann the Carshalton keeper was man of the match in my view making some impressive saves, suggesting that he could perform easily at Conference level if not in the league. But carshalton deserved the luck and in fact should have been 3-0 up by half time. This is a club well worth visiting. The fans are friendly and the football always interesting.
Carshalton football Club
Lucinda Belle Orchestra. Amazing, underrated, consistent and fun
This is the third time that I have had the priviledge of seeing the LBO this year and the second at this same venue. On a miserable wet rainy night the venue was packed and LBO gave another excellent performance. Lucinda Belle is like a lead guitarist and singer except she has no guitar. Her instrument is the Harp which she plays sometimes slow and melodically and sometimes like a rock musician. This band are excellent and deserve to become famous. They sit on that cusp where their fans fill the venues but more media attention is needed. Perhaps the next album due out in early 2013 will do this. the songs from the new album are going to be even better than their first album and last night certainly were played with more emotion. The set was superb, the musicians were superb and sometimes there is a danger of forgetting that a whole band produces the amazing sound. Sheldon Conrich stood out last night not only as a singer, but also as a vocalist he is not too shabby either. He has great stage presence. This was a great set that we all enjoyed. I guess we all need to spread the word and tell others that this band is worth listening to. LBO play a few ( 2 in fact last night) covers, but really a few other bands would do well to play covers of the LBO songs.
The LBO sometimes has a different line-up due to space restrictions and no doubt monetary ones too but the sound is always the same. Great band, great evening and great chance that they will move onwards and upwards. A word of advice. If you get the chance go and see this band. They are on the cusp of achieving something special. I really hope they just fall over that cusp and end up being as famous as they deserve. Shame that none of the newspapers reported this concert today, shame for them that is. 
A word of advice. If you get the chance go and see this band. They are on the cusp of achieving something special. I really hope they just fall over that cusp and end up being as famous as they deserve. Shame that none of the newspapers reported this concert today, shame for them that is.
Lucinda Belle Orchestra
Lucinda Belle Orchestra
Sheldon Conrich
Reflections of Glasgow
It has been a few months sinceI was last here and I always enjoy visiting. Coming in to land it was clear that there was no drought here. Many fields were waterlogged and rivers on the verge of flooding. The airport seemed quiet until one approached the taxi queue. Posters advised and indeed almost entranced me to use Glasgow Airport Taxis. Listings of wondrous reasons why. The sad reality was that the plane was full and around 100-150 people descended onto a taxi rank where there were no taxis. Each minute a few would arrive, take a single passenger and off they would go. Two things struck me. Firstly the sole man in charge of masterminding the entry of a person into the taxi ( would enjoy reading his job description) might well have considered for example saying ” this taxi is going to SECC, anyone up for sharing?”. My guess is that there would be relatively few places folks were heading. He did not, so each taxi departed with a solitary fee paying passenger having spent upwards of 30 minutes waiting in a queue. Secondly, the taxis were all mini buses. Most were designed to hold 7-9 people. Again these would depart with one passenger. Ludicrous. The alleged reason for the wait for an accident on the M8 ( I saw nothing of the kind) and a breakdown ( again nothing seen by me). What I suspect is poor planning. Clearly plane landings are predicted, clearly things can go wrong, but in general terms if you have a monopoly on a service you should be able to either provide that service or amend the service you do provide. Waiting for the taxi for some people was longer than the length of their flights. So I am afraid Glasgow Airport Taxis, you have failed on your commitment but I guess in your own way have provided an exceptional customer experience.
The taxi driver was an interesting character. I made the mistake of talking football with him. He then talked at me the whole journey and was still talking to me as I entered into SECC. The reason was his unhappiness, if I might tone it down, about Glasgow Rangers and their punishment being banished to Scottish League 3 with a transfer embargo until 2014 ( he said). I said what happens if all the players leave and you have none, surely then you can sign players? He skipped answering that one, but it was a sad tale. Whatever one thinks about the alleged crimes that Glasgow Rangers have committed, these have not been done by their fans.
Glasgow Airport
- Glasgow Airport
- Glasgow Airport Taxis
Cycling from London to Istanbul for Charity 4500 kms. Aeriel view of where they cycled – sort of.
Just to remind anyone, a group of Exeter students including my son Charles Bushe cycled to Istanbul in temperatures of often 40 degrees this summer. The 13 cyclists did an incredible thing to raise money for Help for Heroes. Below I have reposted what i originally wrote. But today i flew back from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to london and for most of the journey the plane followed the route that they cycled. it took them around 40 days and the plane around 5 hours to do that stretch. I hope these photos remind folks what an epic thing that was to do. the quality is not good as they were taken with the humble i Phone 4S.
A week ago on 26th July 13 students from the University of Exeter commenced a 4500km cycle to Istanbul. Why? To support Help for Heroes. Many of these students had just completed their degree and graduated 2 weeks before. Somehow they found time to train,organise and generally prepare for this strenous trip. Aside from the obvious physical aspects there were numerous other planning aspects to consider. For example how to spend as little as possible on the trip, as this would reduce the sponsorship amounts for the charity. So, they spend most nights in tents and some nights in cheap hostels. The van they were donated is not of the Formula 1 category and rather like a beached whale is not deemed well enough to migrate the Alps, so will go around and meet the cyclists on the other side. To date they have reached Lyons and are having a well deserved rest day. My son Charles Bushe texted that he had spent a good day but things like washing needed to be done. They will have finished and be back in UK on September 8th. They deserve as much support as is possible. Even if you can only donate £1 then please do so and also importantly please pass on this message so that others can donate.
They are all good folks and already it is clear that they have bonded well together and are supporting each other when needed. For example the first day of their cycle down to Folkestone the temperature was well into the 30′s C, and there were obvious heat problems. A couple of them have had minor injuries such as a fall and tendonitis but they all keep going.
The links are below.
http://www.justgiving.com/Charles-Bushe for Charles
for the others they can all be accessed here.
http://www.justgiving.com/teams/London-Istanbul2012
So, even if it appears a very small sum of money do please donate and help them to collect a decent sum for Help for Heroes. Do not forget that all the weather we have had here they have had too and have continued to cycle! Even Charles 11 year old sister has donated 5£ of her pocket money. Charles also gave up his olympic tickets to see the weightlifting to go on this cycle. Many thanks and again please pass this on to all that you know.
Jeddah and all its airports. Final KSA Chapter for now. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
I really have enjoyed my time in Saudi and find the people so pleasant but nothing surprises me here and that is the key to enjoying the country. This morning I was picked up at 6 am for a taxi ride to the airport. Simple. The first question was establishing which Jeddah airport. There are three all within a proximity. The first one would have been for Saudi Arabian Airlines flights which was 12 km, the second was for only the Saudi Royal family, this was about 25 km away and finally the last , third, and final airport which was for all foreign airlines 35 km away.
I was fully prepared for plentiful discussions and debate with passport control and border agency equivalent staff at Jeddah, as that was my recollection from my last visit in 2008. Establishing beyond doubt that I did want to leave, that I had not and did not intend to commit any crime in KSA and to enquire as to exactly what I had been doing for the few days of my stay. My paranoia was misplaced. My interview with passport control was over in 5 seconds and the stamp provided and no-one else expressed any interest in what I was doing in Saudi Arabia.
As I sit here in the lounge watching the sun rise higher in the sky and trying to look out of the windows ( not so easy as they are all covered in sand and dust), it does seem that KSA has changed for the better over the last 4 years and I would really look forward to the opportunity to return here one day not too soon.
Final thoughts on Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Do you want to pay 9p for a litre of petrol?
The two days I have been here have been interesting although I am not sure I have seen much if any of the kingdom. My conclusions are simple that I like the people or to be precise I like the men. They are more humble than I would have predicted, not all but most and interesting human beings. I hate the roads they are full of cars and bad driving. Yet astonishingly I have not seen a single accident. The reasons for the roads? Easy. The price of fuel is incredulously cheap and each family has 2-4 cars. Women are not permitted to drive so a second car is needed for the driver who drives the women.
The whole women thing takes some getting used to. In the audience for my talk tonight ( they like the term talk and not the term lecture) were no females. To have allowed them to be present would I was told have needed special governmental permission. I did see around 10 females arrive and sit down, and one was of european origin, but then they vanished. At the end of my ADHD talk I realised where they were, in a separate “womens room” presumably watching the slides on a monitor. Yet on the Saudi Arabian airlines flight this morning the cabin attendants were all female and wore no specific coverings of the face. Maybe I need to understand a little more.
Saudi Arabia is not a small country with a constantly growing population of 28 million inhabitants of whom 8.4million are non-nationals. The two largest cities are where I have been staying, Riyadh 5 million and Jeddah 3.5 million. The native name for KSA is actually Al-Mamlaka al-‘Arabiyya as-Sa’ūdiyya (I have to admit to copying and pasting that one).
Geography was never my strong point but it is interesting to note the size of Saudi Arabia when compared with the other Gulf countries that surround KSA. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Arabian Peninsula. It occupies an area about the size of the United States east of the Mississippi River. Saudi Arabia’s population is 28 million, including 8.4 million foreign residents (2010 census), and its capital city is Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia’s geography is diverse, with forests, grasslands, mountain ranges and deserts. The climate varies from region to region. Temperatures can reach over 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the desert in the summer, while in the winter temperatures in the north and central parts of the country can drop below freezing. Saudi Arabia gets very little rain, only about four inches a year on average.
green background, with in white letters the Muslim creed in Arabic: “There is no god but God: Muhammad is the Messenger of God.“I will definitely return and would encourage others to do so.
By the seaside. Jeddah in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)
Jeddah is about 75 minutes flight from Riyadh and very different. Firstly it is by the sea and I know that as I can see the sea from my window on the 6th floor. The humidity is incredible, so different from Riyadh which seemed pleasantly warm although around 30 degrees even in the evening. Lots of usual signs appear for Domino’s pizza, Subway, McDonalds and many more. The driving here is incredulous. I would issue a challenge to anyone to determine in the first 30 minutes of being in this city which side of the road they drive on. At one moment this morning my taxi on the right hand side was passed on its right hand side by another vehicle. Each and every car has serious dents and paintwork needs and I can see why. Most cars are Hyundai, the Elantra seems popular and most cars are white which is a big mistake as the sand everywhere soon turns them a kind of beige colour.
The hotel I am in, Crowne Plaza seems excellent and its location at the end of a dusty bumpy road is just odd. So, sadly with no swimming items I can neither go down to the sea, though suspect that oil tankers might be my company there nor go in the swimming pool that can be seen below. But the last bit of good news if you are listening Marriott hotels, is that the room wi-fi is totally free and excellent quality. That alone would make me choose this hotel. Simples…….
A Great Place
The rants and warblings of an active and some would say disturbed mind. A Brentford Fc supporter and a psychiatrist and photographer. Welcome to my musings and rants.
chris1957
Arcticterntalk.org 
