Man O' Man

Hello there,

For this weeks 'classic' entry I go back eighteen months where I tell the tale of my first ever trip to the 'Isle Of Man'.

This is a bit like watching 'Location, Location, Location', 'Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares' or 'Property Ladder' where they do the re-visited programs. I have added some new comments and updated the blog. These bits are in brackets. But like the updated versions of the shows mentioned above the new bits are only small, and are still a repeat really however much we media types say it is jazzed up.

I'll be back early next week with more tales from America Land.

Marc x

Man O Man

I went to the Isle Of Man. I travelled by Ferry. And I was sick. I've never got sea sick before. In fact I love boats. So much so that I would like to go on a cruise when I'm a bit richer. But not a tacky one, and I would like to spend some time in the actual places you visit which I don't think you do on cruises. But I digress. As I said, I like boats. When I went to Turkey last year we went out on a boat and sailed around all the nice beaches. It was the bomb. And I loved the ferry when I went to France with school. So even though I had to get up dead early for a long drive to Liverpool I was excited about the boat trip. More about the boat in a little bit (this is an enticing introduction to the blog) but I should give you some background about why I was on the boat eh?

The reason, curiosity fans, is that I was going to the Isle Of Man. Jim Bob (a singer-songwriter that I 'manage') was playing two gigs there along with the acetastic Chris T-T (who is another man that sings and writes songs). It was the last two gigs of Jim Bob's 'Best Of' tour which has gone very well indeed. Chris had been there twice before and had sorted out this weekender for us. I didn't know much about the Isle Of Man but I was about to find out dear readers. We picked up Chris on the way, he had played a gig in London the night before. And it was jolly lovely to see the old chap again.

It's a tour tradition to make a compilation cd for the car. The last time we were with Chris he said mine was too 'Britpop'. So I put lots of things like motown, Public Enemy and even Moatloaf on it. It was brill and the best compilation I have ever made. I also heard Mr. Spoons (driver, roadie, all round good egg) new compilation which was better than his normal ones which normally feature lots of rubbish Australian bands. He told me he was up until 2:30am in the morning making it meaning he only got three hours sleep. That is taking the art of the compilation too far. Though I was impressed with dedication. Roy Castle said you need it to be a record breaker, but its also true if you are a compilation maker. (Hello it's Marc here in 2008 adding a post script tyoe thing. Avid readers of this blog will note that I used this Roy Castle joke in my last posting on Monday. It's a crazy coincidence that I used the same funny almost two years later in the previous blog entry. It does show what little material I actually have).

Anyway we were soon in Liverpool ready for our crossing into the Irish Sea. By this point I was Hank Marvin so as soon as I was on the boat I got myself a jacket potatoe with cheese and beans. It was delicious and I scoffed it down. This was a mistake and no mistaking. 'Why?' you ask. Because the sea was at a factor eight or something (which means its very rough for any of you dudes who don't know these things). Half an hour into the journey all the stuff in the gift shop came crashing to the floor and all the cutlery in the kitchen was smashing all over the place. All around me people were throwing up into sick bags. And I started to feel a bit woozey. Then Mr. Spoons, who was next to me, started being sick and it made me feel a hundred times worse. I didn't like the idea of using a sick bag so I walked to the toilet. Which was the hardest thing I have ever done as the boat was rocking around so much. When I went in there the whole place was covered in sick. So this made me throw up (I've just realised how disgusting this blog is, what with me talking about sick all the time. Sorry to all my more sensitive readers).

After that I lay in the amusement arcade next to the toilets. I couldn't sit up or on a chair and I just prayed for the journey to finish. Eventually it did but I still felt awful. Jim and Chris were quite unscathed. Mr. Spoons was in a shocking state though and wouldn't properly recover until the next day.

We had stuff to do so we couldn't lick our wounds forever. We met our host Gypo (a lovely man - though everyone has bonkers names in the Isle Of Man, It's the law. Though we can talk. We had a Mr. Spoons and a Jim Bob in our party), went to the venue for a soundcheck, went to the radio station where Jim did an interview and played three songs, then went to a pub and then a restaurant. I had chicken enchiladas. They were nice. It was soon time to get back to the venue. The gig had sold out which pleased Jim and I. I got quite drunk and chatted to lots of new people whilst manning my merchandise stand. Everyone was very friendly. Jim did a brilliant set and it was an ace gig.

Afterwards we went around Smeg's house for a party. Smeg runs Ballagroove records with Gypo (and others). I got a lift with him and his girlfriend, Pippa. Both are lovely people but Pippa's driving scared the living daylights out of me. There is no speed limit in the Isle Of Man. We were doing 100mph on dark country roads and I almost started to cry. I didn't show this though I don't think. We had a good time around Smegs for a couple of hours and met lots more people. It was soon time to retire to Gypo's house where we were all staying. Gypo and his girlfriend's Jo house was lovely. It was done out in a very cool and retro way, my mate Jeremy would have loved it. Mr. Spoons and I were sharing a room. Mr. Spoons snores, but luckily he wasn't too bad tonight. I think I got to bed about threeish. I slept like a baby who is very tired and is being no hassle for its parents.

I awoke at around eleven am and everyone was up. Gypo made us cheese on toast. It was the best cheese on toast I have ever had. It was quite spicy and tangy. I think he had a secret recipe. It was diddy delicious. When we walked out the front door for our tour of the coast I realised we were in the middle of the countryside as there were cows outside. I love cows, I think they are my best animal (I did like Giraffes best but they are too fashionable these days). I felt very guilty about the fact I eat meat at this point. I must admit some vegetarians get right on my nerves when they rant about the evils of meat eating. They remind me of most religious people, but I digress. I do like animals, and if you do then I think its not on to eat meat. So I think I will cut out red meat from this point. I eat very little of it anyway. At home I don't eat meat at all as Emma is vegetarian. But I think I will stick to eating just chicken and turkey. Chickens are ugly things so I feel a bit less guilty. But I will be a good boy and only eat the ones that have been raised in a nice farm. The trouble about me becoming a vegetarian is that I think vegetables are revolting. Apart from carrots. I love carrots. And I love fruit. I eat lots of fruit. Fruit is excellent.

(Another note from me in 2008. Avid readers will know that 18 months on I have finally starting sticking to this promise and I have been clean of red meat for almost two months. I feel a lot better for it too. It's funny how relevant this Isle Of Man blog is, it really was the start of me thinking about animals being killed for meat. This is the joy of visiting old blogs, it's good to see what ideas you follow through on).

How have I ended up talking about this? Probably because I spent the weekend with Chris T-T. He has some very strong views about most things. He is very much anti meat. But what I like about Chris is you can have a reasonable mass debate with him. He is passionate in his beliefs and I respect what he has to say. Being in his company gets you thinking after the conversation. Rather than putting your back put up, which a lot of people can do if they are ranting. Instead you go away having a think. Which is always good after a mass debate (I will never tire of that joke).

Back to the Isle of Man. We got taken to the seaside town of Peel. It was dead nice. We had a pub lunch. I did have sausages but that was when I was thinking about the whole meat thing. So I didn't enjoy it as much as I should of. Though we did see Norman Wisdom walking by outside. He lives in the Island. I wanted to shout "oooh, Mr. Grimsdale at him" but I didn't. We did have a lovely ice cream afterwards. I got a rum n' raisin one. It was here I made one of my best jokes. "I have gone for raisin as we had a strong current yesterday". People thought this was hilarious and laughed for hours. I then had a walk along the beach, which was nice.

Later on we walked to the next gig in Port Erin along the railway tracks as the steam train had made its last journey for the day. This was brill. Chris T-T and I jumped over a stream. Though I got scared on the jump back. Jim was a special surprise guest to Chris tonight. This was good as I am a bit bored watching Jim play his mammoth seventeen hour sets (only joking James) and it was good to see Chris T-T play for a longer time. He did a lot of old songs, like English Earth, that I have missed hearing him do. Afterwards I got quite drunk. I even had a Baileys. I do like a nice Baileys. On the way back Jo made Mr. Spoons stop the car and we walked to where the waves were going dead high. This was good. We got covered in water and could have been swept onto the rocks and died but it was great anyway.

We then went back to Gypos. I think I had a cup of tea. How rock n' roll is that? Though I did partake in a few nuts. Not a mans nuts, but ones you eat. I am no gaylord. I think I went to bed at three am again which meant another three hours sleep. We said goodbye to Gypo and Jo at the Ferry place. I was sad to say goodbye. Not only had they been amazing hosts, showed us their ace island and put on two great gigs - but they were lovely people to boot.

I was dead nervous about the crossing going home as it was a longer trip. Luckily it was a bigger Ferry and the seas were better. The journey was smoother than a baby's bottom. I was able to sleep most of the journey back in the quiet zone. I loved it in the quiet zone as it was chav free. We then had a long drive back to London, which was alright but I was a bit tired and irritable. This was made worse by an argument with Jim over whether The Kooks are any good. He seems to think they are good. I reckon they are poo and the new Toploader. I think we both agreed to differ and went to sleep in a huff. At least I went to sleep in a huff.

We eventually got back in the evening. I had a bath straight away and it was lovely. I love a nice bath.

More next time.
marc x