The official Score Podcast recorded last week brings a discussion from the past week of sporting events in Preston.
Scotsman, Daniel Birch was part of the panel with Ell Bretland, Thomas Cummings and host James Lowson as we discussed Preston North End manager, Graham Westley’s record at Deepdale so far as well as Holly Bleasdale and Helen Clitheroe’s performances at the World Indoor Championships.
I also discuss the Preston Sports Awards and there is also a perspective local Boxing and Rugby.
Joseph Kony is a Ugandan warlord whose army is accused of being responsible for more than 30,000 deaths. He also mutilates people’s faces and abducting small children.
The video below covers everything.
Social Media has broken this story and showcased it more than the mainstream media is currently doing and word is spreading out fast.
The purpose of this particular post on this story which is being covered a billion a second across the world is to talk about the event that is happening in Preston and UCLAN.
Posters will be scattered across in cities and places across the world on the night till sunrise through civilisation.
For those in Preston and UCLAN, it is worth getting involved in the Facebook group below: http://www.facebook.com/events/324680440913273/
The gathering location meet up point is yet to be confirmed at this current time but should be announced soon.
The Student Union at UCLAN has yet to give their official backing to the event although we hope they will.
I am really excited about such a worldwide event that we could remember for the rest of our lives.
It is extremely important that the Student Union recognises this and something occurs in Campus.
Gatherings of people hustled around at night taking over the campus putting up posters is a fine aspect of civilisation surely?
The police may indeed have something to say about this but lets get our camera out and do social media shiz and hustle round town on Friday 20 April.
Importantly an aspect of culture and time never to be forgotten.
Below is a blog which showcases the main cities in the United Kingdom holding ‘official’ events.
http://peskytimepirate.tumblr.com/post/18878537189/20th-april-kony-events-in-the-uk-and-ireland
Bamber Bridge 1-3 Garforth Town:
Northern Premier League Division One North
DANIEL BIRCH at the QED Stadium.
THE hospitality at Bamber Bridge’s QED Stadium last Saturday was seen to be believed.
The warm, cosy and friendly feel provided by fine people that make this club tick on another level.
The experience helped to serve this particular staple of the world of non-league football on an equivalent with what is provided in the grassroots depths of Rugby Union.
However lurking in the shadows is something more presiding at Irongate.
A major restructuring of the club is currently taking shape as assistant secretary, David Rowland revealed in his official match programme notes.
In his piece, Rowland added that the club are changing the way they organise themselves to survive.
This is an admirable strategy to look up to as only last autumn; they were reported to be in dire financial straits and in need of a ‘life-saving fundraiser’ following an alleged unpaid tax bill.
The annual club EGM Wednesday night has presided a crucial period in Bamber Bridge’s history but the manager, Neil Crowe admitted he preferred to focus on matters on the field.
He said “What goes in this social club is nothing to do with us. We just want to do what’s right on the pitch. We are interested in what we are doing on the pitch and that is all”.
For all these contrasting matters, the players showed clear battling qualities despite being reduced to nine men against Garforth last Saturday.
Crowe has spoken of retaining commitment to his current team meaning he is unlikely to make any changes, bar injury for tommorow afternoon’s must win trip to bottom placed, Wakefield (kick off: 3:00pm)
He will have reflected on last Saturday’s match in plenty of detail.
A chance just before half-time for Danny Mahoney whose shot went inches wide would have given Bamber a the equaliser at 2-2 before the break.
Danny’s brother, Matt had already scored to come behind from a spectacular overhead kick from the visitors, Chris Walton and although Bamber Bridge had gone 2-1 down, the football was pleasing to the eye.
Crowe’s assessment post match that his team were doing all the correct things had been heavily outdone by the red cards to Ryan Salmon and George Bowyer.
Crowe in particular described the referee’s decision to send off Bowyer as ‘diabolical’.
A high point was the performance of substitute, Leon McLoughlin.
He provided natural flair that included creating a chance for Alistair Waddecar right near the end.
Crowe added “Leon’s come through the reserve set up this year and we’ve given hm his chance.
He missed the last game and that’s why he started on the bench today.
Leon can be good from the bench because he is an impact player and he can come on and change games “.
A win tommorow at Wakefield will send blood flowing after an interesting week.
Bamber Bridge : Dovey, Bowyer, Lakeland, Atherton, Lawlor, D Mahoney, Waddecar, Reynolds (Barton 81mins), Salmon, M Mahoney, Marlow (McLoughlin 61mins). Unused Subs : Green, Clark and Bonaminio.
A match focus preview was published in The Score Newspaper, Preston on Saturday 2nd March 2012.
NORTH END GALACTICOS 0-0 WHITENDALE
FRESH evidence is likely to emerge from the referee’s report today of yesterday afternoon’s riot which finished a highly charged goalless affair between these two sides.
The report is almost certain to include that during the riot, North End defender, Edward Rooney was allegedly punched in the mouth severe enough to cause blood.
Ultimately for the other teams and spectators that watched the game, an invasion was almost certain to happen as both teams were locked in a highly tense battle near the bottom half of the league, with both sides eagerly desperate to pick up three points.
It was a completely different atmosphere at the start of the match with Ashton Park completely deserted. North End were eager to continue from a fine 4-1 victory over Athletico Product Design last week and went for an attacking 4-4-2 formation bringing last week’s double goal hero, Sam Longstone into attack.
Arguably, from a watching perspective in terms of this first period, Whitendale looked more composed with their passing and looked to provide a counter-attack threat that so often has been the forefront for the goals conceded by North End this season. North End however have patched up their defence since the start of the season. A 6-3 defeat to Preston South End may have leaked six goals but it was still a positive display which brought onto last week’s victory. Jack Ryan fresh into the starting line-up had the best chance of the half with a shot which tested the Whitendale keeper.
The second half was a completely different cup of tea. The challenges got harder. The shouts became angrier and the game became more rushed. With this came more entertainment value as Ashton Park started to rise in numbers taking interest in the unfolding events of the match. The pitch represented a muddy heap from a televised Scottish Cup battle but then so did the mood of the game.
Without any exaggeration, it was clear that North End were the more dominant team in the second period and desperately tried to test the Whitendale keeper who looked incredibly shaky throughout the ninety minutes.
Krishan Chauhan had a fine chance with a shot with his right foot after making a fine run. Wing wizard Karl Povey also came into the frame eager to take advantage of the opposing keeper’s spills.
Harder tackles soon came into the game as Whitendale eagerly tried to play long ball tactic away from their defence. The possession of the game would soon play into the middle of the park as both sides desperately tried to gain control but were unable to do so through a lack of space, a trodden pitch or even desperation.
The tackles became even harder at this point with the match referee ignoring calls from players for free-kicks. Right at the end, the crunching tackle on right-back, Josh Hawley at the end provided the tonic for a melee of both teams which provided a value of entertainment for spectators but really a goal was the honest dream that would have been cherished.
I have just spent the last part of three hours searching and finding new music as much as I can from a list of numerous blog sites that I follow. I have found it’s actually really hard work trying to find new music just like going through the ancient libraries of yesterday.
To talk the truth, I have just come back from a day of travelling back from a crazy weekend in Cardiff. It wasn’t quite all hazy partying though as on Saturday afternoon at Cardiff University, I took to the ice rink and tried to run on it without slipping off. The BUCS X Country Championships just happened to take place on the blizzard of Britain and ice followed by more snow occured just before the race was due to start. I spent half my time before the race in the cafe and changing room (a Birch pre-ritual custom for X Country races) but on this occasion, it was really was cold .
Still to think about it, I am not sure quite why I bought this song and I even think it may be a guilty pleasure because it could be kind of uncool to a lot of people but there’s just something about the keyboard riff that sounds like a constant beat you would hear out of a car radio first thing in the morning.
When I initially heard the band before Christmas, I thought they would just be a fun group designed to introduce pure escapism. And they are!
I also think im kind of hungover too, this is very uplifting below
Read the original article on the Press website – http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/features/features/9513212.Vinyl_frontier/
Vinyl records are making a comeback. Is it because of a hunger for the past, a love of album cover artwork – or simply a recognition that they sounded better all along? DANIEL BIRCH and STEPHEN LEWIS report
THERE has always been a certain magic about vinyl. Okay, so a vinyl LP can be scratched and it might hiss and crackle. But it’s so much more real and solid than a CD, let alone a tune downloaded to your MP3 player.
The rituals associated with putting on a vinyl record make it an action to treasure: slipping the disc out of its sleeve; blowing to remove the dust, or else wiping it lovingly with a cloth; lifting the stylus to place it at the beginning of the track you want.
Then there are the sleeves: works of art during the days of vinyl, but so much less satisfying on a CD box.
Digital is much more convenient and easier to use, but where’s the soul?
Given that we are in an era when retro fashion is all the rage, it is hardly surprising that vinyl is beginning to make a comeback. According to Alex Fox, of Attic Records, in Patrick Pool, York, vinyl sales have gone up by 11 per cent over the past couple of years, while CD sales have gone down 30 per cent.
Major bands including Radiohead and The Horrors brought out vinyl releases last year. Vinyl is also big in dance music again – just like in the early 1990s during the explosion of rave music.
Underground DJs who have appeared in London-based internet television station Boiler Room TV have been releasing LPs and performing live sets and introducing turntables to a younger generation.
In the radio world, BBC Radio 6 dedicated New Year’s Day to a series of vinyl-only records. Blog and internet culture has also played a part in the awareness of vinyl. Creative art magazines including FACT and This is Fake DIY have played a prominent part in talking about its comforting appeal.
The vinyl renaissance is not all about nostalgia, however.
Staff at hi-fi equipment shop Sound Organisation Ltd, in Gillygate, stress that vinyl has always had an appeal – for the simple reason that it sounds better. “A record player has got human emotion and it has character,” says Bob Priestley, who works there.
The shop’s owner, Hamish MacDiarmid, who opened the store in 1984, agrees. Music downloaded on to your MP3 can be so compacted that the quality just does not compare. And even digital CDs can’t compare with the sound quality of a vinyl record, he says.
“There is more information in the record groove of a vinyl. It is analogue, not digital, so is more related to the flow of the music. Digital sound is chopped up into bits.” The more bits, the better the sound, but it still doesn’t compare, he says.
Sound Organisation Ltd has long been arguing this, even though it sells CD decks and digital streaming equipment, as well as old-style record decks. People didn’t believe them before. “But now they are beginning to,” Hamish says.
It isn’t simply a generational thing, either. The store sees older people coming in to look for record decks on which to play their vinyl records, but it has members of the younger generation asking for such decks too, Hamish says.
Alex Fox at Attic Records agrees. Located upstairs above a barbers shop, the store has a traditional record shop feel. The tiny cramped space is piled with vinyl records. One of the big things about vinyl – apart from the sheer joy of leafing through all that wonderful sleeve artwork – is its collectability, he says. A CD loses its value the moment you take it out of the shop. A vinyl disc can be an investment.
He thinks part of the upsurge in sales is also down to the hunger for retro fashion. But like Hamish at Sound Organisation, he stresses it isn’t only the older generation trying to recapture their past who is buying vinyl. “We get a real mix of people: from guys who have been collecting for 30 or 40 years to students.”
Inkwell Vintage Shop, in Gillygate, is a hub of student activity. On a chilly winter day, the shop is a welcoming place, its warmth and golden brown colours a relief from the cold of the street. Inside, you can get everything from comics to vinyl records. It is the kind of place where you can lose yourself, exploring the cultures and tastes of a different time.
Paul Lowman, who runs the shop, believes that during an economic recession, vinyl offers comfort and reassurance: it harks back to a time when the world appeared simpler.
Part of the appeal is also undoubtedly the wonderful sleeve artwork. A girl once walked into his shop once and bought £40 worth of vinyls despite not owning a record player, he says.
But there is more to the appeal of vinyl than that. For example, the local music scene is now taking more of an interest in bringing out LPs, Paul says. “Over the last year or so it has really taken off. When local bands come, they’re putting out 7 inch singles.”
Whatever the reason, the resurgence of interest in vinyl is good news for independent record stores, he believes. “Three or four years ago, these kind of independent record shops would not have existed. This shop is an example of how record stores are going to be. If a town is lucky enough to have a music shop in two to three years, it will be an independent store.”
NORTH END GALACTICOS 0-7 SUBSTANDARD LIEGE
DETERMINED Student footballers were gleaming with pride today after boosting their match fitness levels in the wake of fixture cancellations by the local council yesterday.
But the exhibition match between North End Galacticos and Substandard Liege at Moor Park this afternoon was still abandoned after 70 minutes after a further warning from the Student Union Football League about playing friendly matches on the public park pitches.
The 7-0 defeat was a painful score to add to the results list from the season but was certainly above other performances, against a team in the other respective division. Matthew Tresman, on loan from George FC for this match played a role up front with Jack Coates and the pair helped to create opportunities. Tresman’s dribbling ability was a handful for the Substandard defence. Coates however was looking to add to his goal tally with two opportunities. The first opportunity saw the striker hit the crossbar from yards out with a superb drive. The second chance came from a corner kick with a flicked on header bouncing straight to the player who narrowly shot over the crossbar.
Notable performances included Josh Hawley who was impressive at right back linking up with the midfield and producing a fine shot from distance and Aidan Hicks who occupied several positions across the park throughout the game and performed admirably.
The fixture cancellation has occurred inevitably due to the weather conditions. The Galacticos though will be hoping to face the teams in the bottom half of the Ashton Park Division with big matches coming up against Athletico PD, Whitendale and the Hellenic Society.
Hateley, Hawley, Davies, Carl, Birch, Hicks, Stone, Povey, Jack, Tresman Coates
Subs: Carl
Attendance – 2
Venue – Moor Park
Read original review on the Press here
“I HOPE you all get home safely tonight,” said the Johann Strauss Orchestra conductor, David Juritz, in response to the night’s winter chill.
Dancing ahoy!: Let us dance like this in clubs today
His voice echoed across the Barbican, stirring imaginings of the empty, isolated and frosty streets that awaited outside in the January blues, only for those thoughts to be overtaken by a musical masterclass that was both enthralling and educational.
Last Friday’s Johann Strauss Gala focused on the magic of the Viennese Ball in a celebration of the most popular music and song and dance of the Strauss family, with the orchestra being conducted from the violin by Juritz, who has worked previously with the Mozart Festival Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic.
The Waltz King set the mood and there were fine individual performances all round, including by soprano Amy Freston, whose outstanding contribution was Il Bacio. The violin solo by Juritz that followed this gave out particular emotional resonance.
Such favourites as The Radetsky March, Chatterbox Polka, Voices Of Spring and The Blue Danube were performed too.
Arguably the highlight of the night was the dancing.
Led by dance captain Julianne Rice-Oxley, the dancers produced outstanding spins and conveyed character traits to give a human face to the gala that the audience could identify with.
Overall, this was a performance of nostalgic delight, travelling back to a time when society appeared to be more respectful and polite in nature.
- Daniel Birch
This is pretty random but what isn’t! I love creating writing so here goes..
The scene is set. Leeds Festival. Sunday night turns out to be Bonfire night. All the tents are getting destroyed. Chaos ensures. The reports will be on BBC Look North the following night. All the Harrogate people in a doubled up campsite get together. I take my bag and put it in the crowd’s tent in the heart of the Orange camp site at Bramham Park. It’s 4am, and I want to go to bed. I find salvation inside, get my mattress and doze off…
The following morning, I woke up absolutely brimming of a freezing state. I knew that as soon as I woke up, I had to leave Bramham Park. It was Monday morning and some people were going home. I hardly had any money. I asked a friend what the time was and they said “6am”.
Branham Park (above) could I actually get out of here?!
I couldn’t be bothered waiting so decided to head back home and find a bus. Unfortunately the buses didn’t appear to be coming, according to the steward guys outside the festival. Thinking back to how I originally got to the festival, I decided to go down the bus route which had taken me to the festival in the first place. This involved walking down barren, green fields next to bushes. I might have been stupid, and indeed I knew at the time it was a silly idea. But I suppose I wanted a sense of adventure. I was shattered from a weekend of crazy partying, and I was keen to find out what civilisation was really like.
I ended up in the village of Bramham and went to the local shop. It was so weird to be back in civilian surroundings. Bramham Park although only across the motorway with the music blaring was a different world. I bought dairy milk and phoned my parents with the battery that I had left and proceeded to go on the biggest and weirdest walk.
I walked all the way from Branham to Clifford. I had my sleeping bag mattress with me, but I felt the pain from having to carry all of this. I continued up Bramham Road, and quite clearly was feeling the pain. I knew that there was a bus that would take me home somehow. But I wanted to continue walking exhausted and tired remember, in the hope I might find a big supermarket.
Now is the time to put on your best Yorkshire prowl when you read this. Maybe not in a dialectic way but certainly worth bearing in mind!
I eventually decided to stop at a local bus stop after asking a local man who I christened ‘Old Bert’ if there was a Morrisons nearby (It’s a Yorkshire custom). He told me there was one nearby but the nearest one was Wetherby. I was in at Clifford at this point and suddenly all the local people came out to play. I waited at the Bus Stop for what seemed like forever. I just wanted to go home. I was never going to pay a £10 ticket to get a shuttle bus from the festival to Leeds City Centre. I also didn’t want to wait around so just went for it. The buses were running inconsistently because it was a bank holiday Monday.
The hour was one of the most interesting perks of the weekend (well maybe not). It turned out that ‘Old Bert’ was going to Wetherby for a cup of tea and a look around the shops, like a gentleman in his cap and his shirt and tie. He belonged to another era. A polite one. I didn’t ask if he was a Leeds United supporter though I wish I did. His other retired friend soon joined him, and I wanted to believe there were talking about the horse races and betting. This didn’t turn out to be true of course. These people got the bus stop everyday it seemed and this was their way of life. Exciting!
More people joined including a lady who told me about all the noise from the festival that they had heard. They had heard Kings of Leon. I think they quite enjoyed it. She certainly didn’t seem annoyed about it all! A young couple with a baby soon came, and I think we were complete here, with a picture of British Image 3 of people waiting at the bus stop, from all different perspectives. David Hockney, please make a collage of this!
Picture the scene. I am wrecked and tired, and I am sat in a bus stop for an hour. I want food, shower and a bed and I am here with the local people of Clifford, listening to their chat and gossip on village matters. I feel like I know everyone already. It might be slightly journalistic but it’s more of an adventuristic view. Having walked all the way here, surely I count myself as an official Clifford citizen! It was actually really nice.
Eventually the Bus came. I sat in it and wiled away the time by looking at the scenery. Old Bert got off his stop, and we went past the hustle and bustle town of Wetherby. Famous for the Wetherby Wheller, and Wetherby Athletic FC…
There you have it, a journey from a festival, with no money and no food but it was brilliant! It was not entirely random but it was an adventure. I felt like writing something out of the blue for about an hour, and the blog was the best platform for this.
Thinking about it those Suburbia areas are rather nice.
Clifford, Bramham, Leeds, I love you Yorkshire, always in my heart!
King Charles @ Mad Ferret, Preston Saturday 5 November 2011:
Quite simply the word ‘Love’ reached a positive level of the entangled web of the simple name at the Mad Ferret on Saturday night.
Happy couples held hands tightly. Fashionable attire was a stark of positive diversity. The changing room upstairs from the main stage had a ‘Wayne’s World’ feeling to it. The dark lights and the intimate setting was what a gig should be in the underground and focal metropolitan point of Preston guitar world.
The first support act came from Karima Francis. The Blackpool born singer songwriter has received lavish praise in the national music press recently for her tender song writing. She appeared shy and nervous with the crowd, but it was her ability to hold the people watching her that made her stand out. As she hailed from Blackpool, she sold merchandise in the form of Blackpool Rock with her name crested into the butterscotch flavour. This was a fine characteristic to behold and her emotional songs set a nice tone of the start of the night.
Manchester band, Rock & The Ravens on the opposite end however were uninspiring. Their heavy brash sound, and over exaggerated acting on the instruments did not fit in with the meaning of the night. The band was also led by a keyboard player, who doubled as a singer and the reaction from the crowd was one of dazed, repetitive tedium as they waited for the main act of the night.
King Charles finally came on, and with his music, it made you smile. His charisma was there for all to see with his exceedingly long hair flapping about like a careless person. His backing band’s costumes sparked connotations of old medieval England in an enchanted castle complete with a roast hog dinner.
Musically, he had spoken about wanting to make people joyful as part of the ‘Tail Lights Disco Tour’, and glazing at the diverse crowd at the Mad Ferret, you could tell that they had been embraced by his presence.
The personal highlights of his set included the performance of upcoming single ‘Bam Bam’ which is released next week. The harmonies from the backing singers smoothed sweetly with the keyboard chords. It simply made you want to dance.
Video taken from the club night by ‘LEMMYMARK’. Visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/LEMMYMARK for his page of live gig videos taken from around the Preston gig scene.
It was incredibly refreshing to hear Charles’s lyrics not just being based on the industry’s current predicament on love but also on modern day Britain. Lyrically speaking, talking about the X Factor, Gordon Brown, and the aftermath of Princess Diana was of high relevance. He spoke about retaining a sense in the generation uniting and understanding our sense of identity. “There are protesters in the stage, the world economy is miserable and it’s always the arts that put a lot of the ideas, and starts uniting the generation “said the singer. “ I think that’s definitely going to start emerging more as people become more satisfied with life. Art is designed to be a commentary on life and to highlight the good things “. There is no doubt that as a generation surely is still searching for its voice that this is something we desperately need more of.
The night ended with the launch of ‘ANTICS’ the clubnight spearheaded by Ark Preston editor, Gareth Butterworth who was the DJ with a fine selection of underground based indie and rock music, which attracted a crowd largely based from smash hit club, The Warehouse where they will have been besotted by a new selection of music.
Daniel Birch
