| Tigers at Layer Road 21:11 - Sep 23 with 151832 views | SparkfilmsTV |
In a strange twist of events l found myself in conversation with a young lady who had attended Layer Road for a match against Hull City in our first season in The Championship. The 5-1 encounter.
We were attending a promo evening for a band called The Datsuns in North London in 2008.
During the evening she explained that she had been present at a party that made the national news due to the tragic death of someone by the name of Mark Blanco.
The incident occurred in December 2006.
This incident will be shown on Channel 4 on Monday night at 22.00 in an hour long documentary and several people known to me have made contributions.
It may be of interest to some.
I am very much hoping that the police will reinvestigate the death of Mark Blanco as a result of what will be included in the content.
I know that what l was told by this young lady 15 years ago has been instrumental in the making of this documentary.
|  | | |  |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 10:42 - Jun 30 with 2957 views | SparkfilmsTV |
Continuing with 'This OBSESSION'
Word was
You were back in town
I summoned up
All my courage and called round
We sat in your garden
You smoked
While we watched
The tracks of shooting stars
As they darted around
In the night skies
Surely this was a sign
And it occured to me once more
That all the most beautiful wonders
I always seemed to share them
With you
Rainbows
Waterfalls
Moonlight
And birdsong
So a new phase developed
And just like it's predecessor
Fraught with tension
Seeped in drama
At any given moment
You were prone to
Vitriolic outbursts
Was it the drink talking?
That knew no bounds
( TBC ). | | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 20:08 - Jun 30 with 2893 views | SparkfilmsTV |
'GAZE'
This is a first rough draft with many flaws.
Gaze out of the windscreen
At all your favourite movie scenes
And things you see in cherished dreams
Scan the horizon
With your crazy sense of timing
Once captured forever binding
See a hilltop begin climbing
Reach the apex start sliding
Look out across the ocean
See the world from afar in motion
All the things to which you aspire
Live the dream fly higher and higher
Yet everything will come at a price
Swept up in the heat
Then cold as ice
Step down from the stage
And turn another page
For each giant leap
You delve into the deep
( Apologies, wrote this straight off just now - it's about wanting then achieving stardom ). | | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 12:53 - Jul 1 with 2820 views | SparkfilmsTV |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 20:08 - Jun 30 by SparkfilmsTV |
'GAZE'
This is a first rough draft with many flaws.
Gaze out of the windscreen
At all your favourite movie scenes
And things you see in cherished dreams
Scan the horizon
With your crazy sense of timing
Once captured forever binding
See a hilltop begin climbing
Reach the apex start sliding
Look out across the ocean
See the world from afar in motion
All the things to which you aspire
Live the dream fly higher and higher
Yet everything will come at a price
Swept up in the heat
Then cold as ice
Step down from the stage
And turn another page
For each giant leap
You delve into the deep
( Apologies, wrote this straight off just now - it's about wanting then achieving stardom ). |
Continuing with 'GAZE' in breakneck key strokes...
Bond Street window shopping
Scanning your reflection
You're the glossy digital print
From the latest collection
Leaving absolutely nothing
To chance
A style guro
Could not have made you
More enhanced
Jump out of the liquid crystal
And dance baby dance | | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 11:39 - Jul 4 with 2631 views | SparkfilmsTV |
'GAZE'
( Updated version ) -
Gaze out of the windscreen
At all your favourite movie scenes
Things you see in cherished dreams
Scan the horizon
With your crazy sense of timing
Once captured forever binding
See a mountain top begin climbing
Reach the apex then start sliding
Look out across the ocean
See the world from afar in motion
All the things to which you aspire
Live the dream fly higher and higher
Yet everything will come at a price
Swept up in the heat then cold as ice
Step down from this backlit stage
Then ruefully turn another page
For each and every giant leap
You delve further and further into the deep
Bond Street window shopping
Scanning a skeletal reflection
You're the glossy digital print
In another fashion collection
Leaving absolutely nothing to chance
A style guru could not have made you more enhanced
Jump on to this restaurant table
And dance baby dance
( It took seven or eight minutes to write the initial draft and then another half an hour changing odd words here and there - still quite raw though ). [Post edited 8 Jul 11:06]
| | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 17:27 - Jul 6 with 2512 views | SparkfilmsTV |
I have a recurring dream.
I'm in bare feet walking around London.
Feeling vulnerable and out of kilter with my surroundings.
This has been going on for the past 50 years now.
I used to have a friend who had a budgerigar.
Sometimes l could overhear conversations he was having with the thing.
He would speak to the budgie about his Ex wife and how he planned to kill her.
The budgie seemed to chuckle at the thought.
Some time later l heard that the Ex wife had been found dead in her bath.
I wondered if there was any malice or even if the budgie may have been involved in some way.
And if so, would that be conspiracy to murder?
Shortly after that the budgie died.
My friend was so distraught he took his own life a few days later.
I had a flash back about this while watching the tennis at Wimbledon this afternoon. | | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 20:14 - Jul 6 with 2473 views | SparkfilmsTV |
I woke up around 4am this morning -.something must have startled me because l was some way through an absorbing and confused dream sequence.
Part of this dream is set in a 1920's ish building over several floors.
There are about five floors and a basement in the structure.
I am somewhere between the second and third floors on a concrete stairwell.
As l am walking up a blonde female, maybe around 28 with green eyes momentarily stops and our fingers touch on the handrail as she makes her way down the stairwell.
She has shoulder length hair and is sending some kind of telepathic message to me.
It's just gone 8pm and this sprung up again.
I have vivid dreams....quite often they are even more impactful when going back to sleep after around 4am.
I tried to locate the building in the next dream but was unable.
Perhaps the green eyed blonde will reappear in the twilight hours. [Post edited 6 Jul 20:15]
| | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 12:27 - Jul 9 with 2267 views | SparkfilmsTV |
I stopped off on a dog walk this morning to look at the former National Tyres garage at 16 Middleborough in Colchester central.
It's sitting there in silence. Must have closed quite recently but l have likely gone past it and not even noticed.
I was buying buildings in the late eighties and early nineties - this trait virtually bankrupted me when the market crashed around '93.
If it was 1989 right now and l saw this building was available l would likely have purchased it.
It's got extended work shops and storage and a decent sized car park at the rear.
It would have made the perfect location for my business back then.
I particularly like the dynamic of height in the area where the tyres were fitted.
This property has so much going for it but l suppose there is the possibility of it being demolished and a block of flats replacing it.
Bars and nightclubs are closing in Colchester but this building would have ( or may still make? ) a fantastic music venue and recording studio facility.
šš¦® [Post edited 9 Jul 12:30]
| | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 20:42 - Jul 9 with 2211 views | SparkfilmsTV |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 12:27 - Jul 9 by SparkfilmsTV |
I stopped off on a dog walk this morning to look at the former National Tyres garage at 16 Middleborough in Colchester central.
It's sitting there in silence. Must have closed quite recently but l have likely gone past it and not even noticed.
I was buying buildings in the late eighties and early nineties - this trait virtually bankrupted me when the market crashed around '93.
If it was 1989 right now and l saw this building was available l would likely have purchased it.
It's got extended work shops and storage and a decent sized car park at the rear.
It would have made the perfect location for my business back then.
I particularly like the dynamic of height in the area where the tyres were fitted.
This property has so much going for it but l suppose there is the possibility of it being demolished and a block of flats replacing it.
Bars and nightclubs are closing in Colchester but this building would have ( or may still make? ) a fantastic music venue and recording studio facility.
šš¦® [Post edited 9 Jul 12:30]
|
This building is initially being marketed as a garage / auto establishment at Ā£43,000 per annum - in excess of 5,000 square feet.
The short selection of images online ( just seven ) do not do it justice.
A few hundred yards away is the former 14th century building that was later known as The Stockwell Arms public house.
It's had an amazing refurb into a residential property with a guide price of Ā£800,000 - seems like a great buy for someone. | | | |
Login to get fewer ads
| Tigers at Layer Road on 06:28 - Jul 11 with 2106 views | thrillseeker |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 20:42 - Jul 9 by SparkfilmsTV |
This building is initially being marketed as a garage / auto establishment at Ā£43,000 per annum - in excess of 5,000 square feet.
The short selection of images online ( just seven ) do not do it justice.
A few hundred yards away is the former 14th century building that was later known as The Stockwell Arms public house.
It's had an amazing refurb into a residential property with a guide price of Ā£800,000 - seems like a great buy for someone. |
National Tyres seemed to close overnight with no announcement.
I find it strange it is being marketed for rent as doubt there will be many takers. I suspect it is being advertised for rent in readiness for owner to confirm to council there is no interest in property as a business concern and then planning application to be submitted for flats.
Wasn't the Stockwell Arms property previously being advertised at Ā£1 million? I may be wrong on that figure but sure Ā£900K has been bandied about.
The renovation/ refurb has been tastefully done but I think vendors have misjudged market conditions and think Ā£800K is even optimistic in that area for now [Post edited 11 Jul 8:05]
| | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 18:23 - Jul 12 with 1968 views | SparkfilmsTV |
When l was in my first year of secondary school...in fact possibly the very first lesson a blonde curly haired kid let out this strange sound from the back of the classroom.
This would be a regular occurrence throughout his time at the school ( St Helena in Sheepen Road, Colchester ) he may have had some condition that no one had worked out back then.
Or perhaps not.
It is now my belief that he was imitating the sound of Dinosaurs.
63 million years between the extinction of dinosaurs and the beginning of humans?
That is proving impossible for me to get to grips with.
We are just a tiny spec in the passage of time.
[Post edited 12 Jul 19:22]
| | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 19:06 - Jul 12 with 1946 views | SparkfilmsTV |
1997. Kings Road, Chelsea.
I was working for an advertising agency in the area. We were always busy and took a quick lunch most days and Bob Geldof would be sitting outside his favourite cafe ( The Picasso? ) drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes.
We used to say hello to him and he would reply.
I have 'Live Aid' on TV - BBC 2.
It's 40 years since.
I wish now l had hugged him and said 'Thank You'. [Post edited 12 Jul 19:10]
| | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 18:26 - Jul 14 with 1789 views | SparkfilmsTV |
I was in the lower Castle Park last night around 7.30.
There was a country music festival and a very nice vibe around the place.
We have a boating lake with no water in it.
Something to do with the work on the bridge at Middle Mill.
Anyway, l was watching the flight of seagulls who were circling above.
They were weaving patterns, circular and curvature manoeuvres, swooping down, then elevating themselves back upwards and l wondered if they were flying as their interpretation of the music?
The more l watched them the more their movement seemed in sinc with the sound waves.
Once you start watching something like this you notice how they just glide and hang in the air.
Seems like a form of ballet. | | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 18:44 - Jul 14 with 1777 views | SparkfilmsTV |
Here is a tip for anyone buying a watering can.
The nozzle may well be loose in the bottom of the thing and it's tempting to get it out to inspect.
I tried this but got my hand caught in the watering can and was unable to get it out again.
Perhaps this is all recorded on CCTV.
I managed to pay for it with one hand and wore it on the walk back home.
It took 10 minutes to get it off.
It's a green plastic one. [Post edited 14 Jul 18:46]
| | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 11:31 - Jul 16 with 1673 views | SparkfilmsTV |
First draft for 'Hotel'
Hotel
Hotel food
Hotel mirror
Hotel bed
Hotel bathroom
He takes the elevator to reception
Meets his connection
Could be a man
Maybe trans?
A lady boy?
He is handed a suitcase
Laden with explosives
Bids him farewell
With a cursory
'Let this be the language of the land'
The timer is set for 11.08
And all he has to do is
Contemplate
Born July 21, 2005
Died July 21, 2028
Hotel
Shattered glass
Acrid smoke [Post edited 16 Jul 12:46]
| | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 18:41 - Jul 16 with 1629 views | SparkfilmsTV |
BREAKING NEWS
WARNING - FLASHING LIGHTS
I'm working in the office.
( Bedroom 3 ).
I heard raised voices across the square.
Looked out.
A woman has either a saucepan or frying pan and she has whacked the male across the head with the thing.
It made quite a clunk.
Children playing nearby stopped their activities momentarily.
He staggered across the road.
Got in his white van.
Drove off.
FURTHER UPDATES ON GB NEWS | | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 19:09 - Jul 18 with 1472 views | SparkfilmsTV |
August 1967.
When Louise was seven she ran away from home.
Joined a circus.
Found a bale of hay in the Big Top and fell asleep.
Dreamt she was a trapeze artist and lion tamer.
After about an hour she woke up ran back home. [Post edited 19 Jul 6:53]
| | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 18:30 - Jul 19 with 1387 views | SparkfilmsTV |
August 2004
Brick Lane cafe
I'm sitting at a table by the window.
Louise is opposite.
I ask her -
'What is the most exhilarating thing you have ever done?'
She replied -
'When l was 19 l did a ten minute wing walk across Southend sea front naked at 2am'.
I was thinking about that yesterday.
I've seen a few wing walkers at air shows but that is in daylight.
There can't be many people who have ever done this in the dark and nude.
( Perhaps just goggles and ear plugs ...chocs away...The Kursaal Flyer! ). [Post edited 19 Jul 19:53]
| | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 22:24 - Jul 19 with 1370 views | noah4x4 |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 18:30 - Jul 19 by SparkfilmsTV |
August 2004
Brick Lane cafe
I'm sitting at a table by the window.
Louise is opposite.
I ask her -
'What is the most exhilarating thing you have ever done?'
She replied -
'When l was 19 l did a ten minute wing walk across Southend sea front naked at 2am'.
I was thinking about that yesterday.
I've seen a few wing walkers at air shows but that is in daylight.
There can't be many people who have ever done this in the dark and nude.
( Perhaps just goggles and ear plugs ...chocs away...The Kursaal Flyer! ). [Post edited 19 Jul 19:53]
|
At her request, I booked a wing walk for my wifeās 60th birthday. That is for her, and not for me. She is fearless and when in the RAF she apparently did parachute jumps over the ocean. I get dizzy coming down the Stadium Steps in sunshine.
The week before said booking, the aircraft engine had failed, and it had to be shipped to the USA for repair and hence the wing walking event didnāt happen. It took me six months to get my money back. But, I instead took her indoor parachuting.
They wouldnāt let me do it as Iām a tad over the weight limit (hmmm!). However, in an Emma Peel like cat-suit she skilfully spread-eagled herself over the huge fan and then when the full power kicked in she soared 20+ feet upwards, doing all manner of weightless aerobatic paragliding stunts, and the instructor just let her go. She had been well trained in the military. She kept her clothes on.
I wonder, anybody else here have a wife with a wholly unexpected blow your socks off talent? |  | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 20:58 - Jul 21 with 1231 views | SparkfilmsTV |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 22:24 - Jul 19 by noah4x4 |
At her request, I booked a wing walk for my wifeās 60th birthday. That is for her, and not for me. She is fearless and when in the RAF she apparently did parachute jumps over the ocean. I get dizzy coming down the Stadium Steps in sunshine.
The week before said booking, the aircraft engine had failed, and it had to be shipped to the USA for repair and hence the wing walking event didnāt happen. It took me six months to get my money back. But, I instead took her indoor parachuting.
They wouldnāt let me do it as Iām a tad over the weight limit (hmmm!). However, in an Emma Peel like cat-suit she skilfully spread-eagled herself over the huge fan and then when the full power kicked in she soared 20+ feet upwards, doing all manner of weightless aerobatic paragliding stunts, and the instructor just let her go. She had been well trained in the military. She kept her clothes on.
I wonder, anybody else here have a wife with a wholly unexpected blow your socks off talent? |
I was once in a car with someone else's wife who had a talent as a getaway driver when her husband threatened to kill us both.
It was effectively her ex-husband who had left his wife for his PA.
Anyway, we were just getting into her Range Rover in Muswell Hill when a car came speeding towards us with it's lights flashing.
She said 'Oh xxxx - it's xxxxx!
We sped off down Grand Avenue. I didn't get a chance to put the seat belt on as we were rocking and rolling all over the place.
He must have done a three point turn in the road and the xxxx was on our tail blasting the horn.
We went up on the path on several occasions and nearly took out an entire bus queue in the process.
After about a mile or so she managed to lose him.
It was a mighty impressive example of driving on fear, impulse and adrenalin.
We were on our way to see Pulp at Wembley.
I thought the least l could do was pay for the parking and check her car over
By a miracle it was untouched.
I was never able to return to her house and imagine xxxxx put.my belongings on a bonfire.
Shame that. We had all kinds of fun and she was an Arsenal season ticket holder and loved to talk football ( and other topics ).
Just remembered that l managed to entice the getaway driver to visit Layer Road a few weeks previously for a match against Bournemouth ( her place of birth ) but the match was postponed and we were able to sample the delights of Robert's Wine Bar in Crouch Street.
. [Post edited 21 Jul 21:08]
| | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 21:25 - Jul 21 with 1223 views | SparkfilmsTV |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 14:09 - Nov 8 by SparkfilmsTV |
Random thoughts and memories
Part Seven
Canary Wharf, London 2001
I get invited to a book publishing reception type party in Canary Wharf. The invite comes through on email a few days before.
It is scheduled for the Saturday night from 8pm.
I go up by train and trek along to the big tower in the sky.
Once in the reception l see a board with directions to the event that l would only experience for around a minute.
Two large double doors open up in front of me and there are several hundred people who look like the party had been running all day.
I was about five metres inside and a female walked in my direction. She appeared to be unsteady on her feet.
She got closer and closer and grabbed out at me to hold her up.
I thought this must be a case of mistaken identity.
She said she had drunk too much and could l take her home. I like adventures and my immediate instinct was to go along with things.
I asked her where she lived and she replied that it was Muswell Hill. I thought this a good omen because Ray Davies of The Kinks had written Muswell Hillbillies and it sounded like a good scene.
She had a suede jacket and a bag of some kind that was hanging like a long necklace.
We made it onto the tube and changed lines.
After a while we are waiting at a bus stop. A bus arrives. We get on. We find a seat and within seconds she has fallen asleep on my shoulder.
I try to wake her. I have to shake her. She opens her eyes and looks out of the window and leaps up. We get off at the next stop.
For the next few hundred yards l am almost carrying her but l have no idea where we are headed.
Eventually we see a sign for Grand Avenue which she seems familiar with.
We arrive at her home.
I have no idea what to expect.
It is quite a property.
We are on the doorstep and she is fumbling for a key in her bag. Then she says she may have left it in the kitchen.
There is a top window open on the bay. I offer to climb in.
She insists on undergoing the task and to my amazement has climbed in and is reaching down for a catch to open a side window.
She gets the window open and manages to crawl in.
I was impressed with this especially considering her condition only minutes before.
She opens the front door.
It was a property l became familiar with over the following months.
It was only when we were in her kitchen drinking coffee and having toast and marmite that l learned her name and her circumstances.
A couple of years ago l looked up the property on Rightmove. There were images of every room. The garden. The summer house.
I thought of the car chase we once had when her ex husband had threatened to kill us both.
It included her having to drive up on pavements across North London and going against the grain of traffic to get away from him. We ended up staying in a hotel that night in Slough.
She was a Pulp fan. Me too.
And she was aptly named Deborah. [Post edited 8 Nov 2024 21:27]
|
This might help with the getaway driver incident. | | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 16:37 - Jul 22 with 1160 views | SparkfilmsTV |
Issue Two of 'Monster' is ( hopefully ) airborne now.
We have a few sample copies put by for folk in the UK.
Some content may be deemed controversial.
All writing, collage artwork, casting, photography, room set design and lighting by Sparkfilms TV.
Anyone who may have a copy of the first issue is more than welcome to sell it on eBay or any such platform. Have a burger and coffee on Sparkfilms TV. There may even be enough left for a dessert.
šš„ [Post edited 23 Jul 9:26]
| | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 09:21 - Jul 23 with 1046 views | SparkfilmsTV |
SUNDAY, 18th October, 1970
KINGS HEAD
MARKET PLACE, ROMFORD
BLACK SABBATH!
Unforgettable.
A lifetime experience that l cherish.
R.I.P. Ozzy
xx | | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 21:27 - Jul 23 with 970 views | SparkfilmsTV |
1963.
Margaret Road, Colchester
My mother has her first and last driving lesson.
It last's around 20 seconds.
My father is the instructor.
I open the double gates
My father puts the Vauxhall Wyvern into reverse gear and my mother does the rest.
Then - whoosh - backwards across the road, up on the path, through another pair of double gates ( that were closed ) and into No.5.
My dad did blame himself for this an hour or so later.
So, no more driving lessons for my mother but she still managed to crash the Wyvern by grabbing the steering wheel on a bend in Birch on a Sunday afternoon drive in the country.
The car ended up on it's side in a ditch.
No seat belts in those days so a few bumps on the head. | | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 21:57 - Jul 23 with 964 views | SparkfilmsTV |
1963.
We lived in the back room ( the dining room ).
My father would sit in one corner.
My mother opposite.
I would be laying on the sofa by the wall next to the kitchen.
Now l don't quite know why, but l was recalling how my father would make these monster cheese sandwiches only yesterday on a dog walk.
There was real bread in the sixties that would be cut with a knife from a loaf.
My father would cut two doorsteps, butter them and then cut a massive wedge off the cheese.
He would put it on a plate and sit back down and l used to watch him trying to open his mouth wide enough to eat the thing.
This was a struggle for him.
Once he had managed to bite a portion off he would chew it for an age.
It used to take him about 20 minutes to eat one of these things.
He was a good cook.
Better than my mother, and as things turned out, probably better than myself.
My mother was good at crosswords.
My father spoke fluent French, German and Spanish.
I was into the 'Spot the Difference' pictures in the newspapers....
And l used to draw pictures.
Sketched my mother reading the paper.
Still have those drawings. [Post edited 24 Jul 10:59]
| | | |
| Tigers at Layer Road on 22:27 - Jul 23 with 958 views | SparkfilmsTV |
Colchester Art School 1971.
It's an evening class for life drawing.
The model has failed to turn up.
The lecturer has failed to turn up.
A fashion lecturer from St Martin's has come into the studio and offered to model for us with her clothes on.
She does a series of quick poses.
Arms folded.
Arms in the air.
Just fab movements.
I still have those drawings.
She saw them.
Liked. | | | |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
