Category: General

A Little Bit More….

By , 5 December, 2015 16:31

A little bit moreA quick heads up to say that my dear friend, Sarah, has her new mini album, “A Little Bit More…” out now and available to buy.

If you love a bit of easy listening, swing music, then this is for you. I’m lucky enough to have a copy and it really is a beautiful piece of work.

There are only a limited number of copies available, so if you want one, you’ll have to get in quick.

Check out Sarah’s Facebook page or her homepage to get in contact and grab yourself a copy.

Publicity For a Friend

By , 5 October, 2015 11:23

sarahThought I’d post a shameless plug for my dear friend Sarah and her singing. If you’re after a fantastic, soloist singer for your events, then look no further than Sarah St. John.

“Sarah comes from a background of Musical Theatre, where she has performed as leading lady in such classics as ‘My Fair Lady’, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, ‘Anything Goes’ and ‘Hello Dolly’.

She now performs as a Solo Vocalist to a backing of fully orchestrated, big band, professionally recorded tracks.

With her own PA sound system and liquid style, she provides a subtle mix of soft Popular Jazz, Slow Swing and Show Tunes (The Great American Songbook) to accompany your afternoon or evening event, be it a Wedding, Formal or Private Dinner, Luncheon, Reception, Garden Party or Corporate Event and can be as ‘unobtrusive and completely background’ or as to the fore & ‘cocktail lounge style’ as you wish”.

sarahstjohn.co.uk

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RIP Maurice

By , 25 August, 2015 09:08

mauriceJust found out in this Daily Mail Article, that an old mate was one of the victims in the Shoreham air show disaster. He was the chauffeur, driving his beloved Daimler Limo that got hit. He will be known by many of you who fished Brighton Marina back in the day, when Maurice worked security there.

That is where I first met him many years ago when I was a copper in Brighton and worked a response car in that area. We spent many an hour in the security hut, chin wagging and swilling countless gallons of tea and coffee. Being ex military and ex police, he was never short of old stories to tell and laugh over.

I would always pop in for cuppa with him, Mick, Terry, Adrian and the rest of the crew, whenever I fished at the marina but only after I fished because I knew that if I went in beforehand, I’d never get to actually fish.

Also spent time fussing over and generally tinkering with his small collection of classic cars, which he regularly hired out to film and TV companies.

He was an exceptionally good guy, who was always first on hand to help out anyone, wherever he could.

RIP Maurice. My sincerest condolences and sympathy go to his family and friends and to all who have suffered in this tragedy. Thoughts are also with the emergency services involved and the difficult and awful task they have.

A warning and Advice

By , 18 July, 2014 10:21

This is somewhat of a serious post but please bear with me.

On Sunday just gone, I was bimbling around at home when I got a sudden pain in the chest. I thought it was down to me having shifted some stuff around in the house and maybe pulled a muscle. Was it that or something more sinister? I was in two minds what to do.

I thought about having a brandy and laying down for a while and rest it. I then considered the more sinister options and so to cover bases, I had two puffs of my GTN spray (out of date) and chewed an aspirin… no result. Another two puffs.. no result. Something in the intelligent part of my brain said “Wanker, dial the 9’s”, So I did.

Ambulance arrived, hooked up to ECG, which showed nothing. Second paramedic turned up and was put on ECG again. This the time the words from them were “Not good, we need to get going”. Oh fuck!

Blues and twos straight away. By now the pains were like nothing I’ve EVER experienced, Pretty much how I would expect to feel if I was being crushed under a car.

After about 10 miles and with 2.5 to go until we got to the hospital, the crew are told to turn around and go to Hastings, which is over 30 miles in opposite direction. Control were told by the crew “He won’t make it that far, were coming to Brighton – now”.

Anyway, was cleared for Brighton, arrived, straight to A&E and straight to theatre, where blockage was cleared (large blood clot) and stent implanted.

NHS have been beyond excellent, from call taker, medics, doctors, nurses, HCAs, to the domestic staff. Every single one did their bit. Hats off to you for making sure I’m still here.

The moral of the story?… any bad, unexplained chest pains, please ring 9’s you guys and gals – no fucking around. As I was told, they’d rather check you out and find it’s indigestion, than turn up to a stiff. I was lucky that I listened to the intelligent portion of my brain that told me to pick up the phone. I wasn’t that far off being brown bread. If you have a GTN spray, check the expiry date, if out of date, get a new one!

Heart Attack Revisited

By , 15 July, 2014 13:04

Yup, another heart attack, four years after the last one. This one was scarier and more a lot more painful.

As with the last one, NHS staff, from the operator, to the paramedics, nurses and doctors were outstanding and certainly helped save my life.

Should be back home on Wednesday and will then obviously have loads of spare time to get the bloody webcam up and running properly.

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