Motorblog The New EMP Merchandise: 48 page catalogue has the now Legendary Lemmy Kilmister pointed finger photo on the front cover, with a side-bar saying 'Official Motorhead Merchandise.' Inside there are 10 different T-shirt designs, a rather cool leather belt, a leather wrist strap, and even two 'Lemmy Design' T-shirts amongst loads of stuff for other bands. Go to http://www.emp-online.co.uk/ and have a look if you need something before the November tour.

Bloatermog Library Talks: The first 'Friends For Upton Library Author Talks' began yesterday, with 'The Dorset Days of Enid Blyton' author, Viviene Endecott.
Rather than lug loads of rare books around, Viv talked us through a slide show featuring a great many of the Blyton output. It would be difficult to show every one of them, as Enid wrote well over 700 titles in her day, and all were not of the 'Noddy' or 'Adventure Series' type which she is so famous for. Enid also wrote books about farm animals, British wildlife and so on, and our audience of about 20 interested local people were as enthralled as I was to learn about this author's tremendous output. Even today, Enid is still the 6th most popular children's writer.
By sheer coincidence, yesterday's local paper, The Daily Echo, had a feature about Viv's new Blyton enterprise. As well as her 'Ginger Pop' bookshop in the nearby Dorset village of Corfe Castle, Viv is taking on a building which used to be one of the great pub's on Poole Quay, The Swan, and is turning it into an Enid Blyton story and character themed adventure theatre.
The Swan has some characteristic and bespoke tiling covering the front of the building, which was designed and fired by the local Carter Tile Company, and will be kept for the sake of the town's history.

Next month, Pamela Fudge will be talking about writing 'Take A Break' magazine style 'Coffee Time Stories' and Romantic Fiction. Pam has several titles on Amazon, which you might like for the wife or your Mum's Birthday present?

Bloatermog Fastway: There's a 'Live At The Marquee' Fastway CD on EBay. It's got (P) and (C) Eddie Clarke so it's official.
Tracks are: All I Need / Crazy Dream / Easy Livin' / Far, Far From Home / Feel Me, Touch Me / Give It All You Got / Heft / Say What You Will / We Become One.
At £4-99 plus postage it's money well spent, but it's in one of those plastic wallets rather than a CD box with an insert; but it's the music we need, isn't it, not the fancy box!

A bit like that old joke.
What have Ferero Roche chocolates and David Beckham got in common?
They both come in a posh box.

Motorblog Girlschool: will be supporting Motorhead throughout the November UK tour!!

Motorblog More Motorhead Summer Festival Dates Added: to the January 28th listing posted below.
Note: Wacken has Sold Out!!

Bloatermog The Knott Of Olives: Since my fairly recent and somewhat accidental foray into the world of Local Interest books, several names whom have flown the flag of writing about this wonderful County of Dorset, have emerged.
But those names have no websites, nor do they produce any satisfatory results from an Internet Search; and to say information about them is scant is an immense understatement. So, by mentioning their names here they should then in turn crop up on any future Searches, and thus at least have some sort of Internet 'Home.'
The absolute star who seems to be the pioneer of the Local Interest book, and began publishing when I was just out of nappies, is Olive Knott, who has lived at Sturminster Newton, and also the more local to me, Broadstone. Her reason for writing books with titles such as 'Down Dorset Way' (1954), 'More About Dorset' (also 1954), and 'Dorset Again' (1956) was the will to see the old stories, which had been told by her father, relations, and friends; and also the broad old and fast dying out Dorset dialect; preserved for future generations to enjoy and learn from.
Another local lady, from nearby Parkstone, Patricia Wilnecker, also felt the need to write and publish her childhood and wartime experiences in book form, so that those, too, would not be lost to future generations.
And whilst both of those names, nor indeed the general volume of Local Interest books available were known to me at the time my initial 'foray' began, these two very astute women certainly need their names in lights for their stirling work.
Whilst self-publishing was not available to Ms. Knott; who found publishers in Poole, Dorchester, and Castle Carey in Somerset; Ms. Wilnecker took the brave stance of either funding and self-publishing her booklets personally, or publishing them through a local history society press.
Put on the spot after offering my services to a local community magazine without even a thought toward what I might be writing, my initial impetus was to pen a few humourous poems and 800 or so word essays about what this village of Upton was like when I grew up, so that it would also not be lost to future generations.
As a child, like many of my peers, I had the foolhardy idea that nothing, or at least very little would ever change, and of course, it does and has; immensely. And even now, some of the people whom take their dog's along the Country Walk behind where I live, don't have a clue that it was once a railway line; hence the title of 'When Upton Had Trains.'
But this Blog has been written to ensure that both Olive Knott and Patricia Wilnecker have an Internet Home, and I hope this does the trick; even though they deserve a far more fitting accolade.
(Anyone wishing to make contact regarding Olive Knott or Pat Wilnecker's publications can do so via the address on http://www.alanburridge.freeuk.com/ )

Bloatermog New Pussy: In October, we took on a male cat named Charlie. He'd spent 2 years with son Steve's girlfriend (and their kids) and was a typical strutting Tom with an attitude.
Meanwhile, Steve's girlfriend bought another cat, a 'more homely' female, and grandson, Liam, named her Lucy.
We had Charlie a month before letting him out, which is recommended, and the second time of doing so, he vanished. 'Have You Seen Him?' notes around the immediate neighbourhood brought a couple of possible sightings, but no actual Charlie. Steve, Jane and I were devastated.
At the run up to Xmas, Lucy started knocking the tree down at Steve's girlfriend's; so we took her on for 3 or 4 weeks, but when the time came it was felt she'd be happier with us, bearing in mind Liam's sister, Amy, was just under 1 at the time.
Lucy is a typical loopy kitten, and tearing around and jumping up at things as she does, she knocked her tail out of joint, and a right-angled tail looked very odd, and she made a lot of painful noises over it, too. 5 months old, she needed the appropriate jabs and signing on at the vet, so we did that and had her tail looked at at the same time. The vet recommended an x-ray, but to avoid two (£50 a time) anaesthetics, did we want her spayed at the same time? Jane had muttered about letting her have one litter as mother's make better adult cats (Queens), but put on the spot at the vets and without Jane there, I agreed to the spaying as I knew we wouldn't want to part with any of the kittens, and a houseful of cats isn't my idea of heaven.
With a shaved side and stitches, which she's just had removed, Lucy isn't quite as looney as she was before, so the op has calmed her down just a tad. She had parted, but not broken or fractured, a couple of bones in her hip, and after the vet had looked at her, it didn't happen again and it hasn't bothered her since.
So now Lucy's the new MotorCat; and she's all right.

Bloatermog The Death Of Quaint Old England: Why did smokers just roll over and accept the government's smoking ban which came into force on July 1st 2007? Where were the domonstrations against it? What happened to the rallying in Trafalgar Square to show the Government it wasn't on? Why was no one arrested whilst demonstrating? Why didn't anyone chain themselves to the railings in protest? The repurcussions from the Ban "just sailing through with no objection" has caused an average of 6 public houses a week to close down, plus the bingo halls and betting shops have also suffered and are now operating on-line.
The supermarkets aren't helping, either, with cases of cheaper-then-cheap booze on 'Special Offer' in-store and being advertised during the TV commercial breaks, so people are, quite rightly, staying at home where they can have a drink and a fag just like the old days; rather than standing outside a pub freezing their bits off when they want a drag.
And the breweries aren't complaining, are they? With people drinking at home and the pub's closing, and often being demolished as a result, the breweries are selling as much or more beer via the supermarkets and off-licenses, yet their overheads of rent / rates / running costs / wages for running those pub's has gone, so they don't care because they're making more money. All they need to do now is brew the beer and sell it to the supermarket chains, we do the rest!
But the trouble is, those old and quaint pub's which attracted a huge amount of tourism, will soon be gone; and even the bigger town and city pub's will be missed, too. Where will we to go to have a game of darts or pool? Where will we go when we've had words with the Mrs and storm out the front door? The pub's not there now to drown our sorrows, so with the drinking and smoking taking place at home, we'll just have to put up with the wife's company whilst mulling over the disagreement with a beer and a fag sitting with her in the front room!
The Social Structure of England, and the UK in general is becoming unglued with that ban which the non-smoking fraternity though was their Ace in the pack. But now we have the reality of it, even non-smoker's say they miss the fag smoke as it "was all part and parcel of the atmosphere of a pub!"
The Working Men's Club, Royal British Legion's, ex-Servicemen's Clubs; EVERY hostelry which has been there selling booze for decades is suffering, and will disappear; and that quaintness will be filled by ugly modern buildings in the countryside, and even uglier apartment blocks in the towns and cities.
RIP having a quiet pint and a fag in a Bristish Pub!

Just remember that joke:-
A wife arrives home from the doctor's.
Husband is sitting in the armchair with a can of lager and a fag on the go.
"The doctor said he thought my bust was wonderful for a forty year-old," she said, proudly.
"Oh yeah?" asked the old man with a snort of disdain "and what did he think of yer forty year-old c**t?"
She smiled "Oh, he didn't ask after you!"