Pacific Quay Musings?

[26th of foot 6,084]

Bookends.

 

The Adjutant drew deeply on his fag, flicked it off and says, "there it is". I replied, "I'd rather not". A smile crept upon the Adj's phizog, "you're a Subbie, he's the Commanding Officer".

 

Above was the end of a conversation in Shrewsbury, forty years ago. A new CO had arrived, looked at the qualifications of his junior Officers to instruct soldiers in Adventure training and, found us wanting. Half-a-dozen were dispatched around the country to gain the necessary certificates in Kayaking, Ridge Walking, Top Knotting, Abseiling and my particular good fortune took me to Rosyth for the month of March to become proficient in Sailing. Early Spring on the Firth of Forth, with nightly refuge in a naval dockyard.

 

Being most windswept and interesting was not enough, I had to room with a Royal Horse Artillery Subbie who approached the course with all the enthusiasm of a new born giraffe. Quite right too, he had the incentive of Cypriot sunshine awaiting at the end of the month. I suspect it made the endless capsize drills more bearable? Eight hours every day allowed us to progress through the various classes of dingy, none awarded any protection from the elements. Still, preferable to an evening of cold fatigue with a Gunner possessing a cassette player and two cassettes.

 

The choice was an uplifting hour of Joy Division or Simon and Garfunkel warbling Bookends. Eventually, I read the sleeve notes on the latter. Apparently, Paul Simon had written the songs on his two year sojourn in England and for his commission to provide accompanying music for the Graduate. Koo-koo-ka-choo Mrs Robinson. Paul sat in Rochdale railway station, ticket for his destination and was dreaming of making out with St Cecelia. A journey ending, another beginning, who knew Paul Simon indulged in ambiguity?

 

Preparing to jibe, jibing now. After months, years of Stuart Cosgrove continually telling us he was a loner, did not interact, preferred to read, .................... etc. This season he has provided a couple of Bookends. During last Summer, with the SPFL's organised vote on declaring both Champions and relegations, he became exceedingly exaggerated that Doncaster, McKenzie and, Maclennan would not deliver their promise to Peter. He ranted, became excited and, spoke of a lunch in Gamba with Neil Doncaster. He opined, "Neil Doncaster should remember what I said to him"?

 

On Sunday last, the guest on Off the Ball is Tony Watt and he tells of his daily twelve minute commute from Mount Vernon to Fir Park. Of course, Stuart has a far more interesting commute. Back in the day when he was a Staff Writer at the NME, his office was in the same building as the Daily Telegraph. This would be 15 years past and the CEO of the Telegraph at the time was Murdoch Maclennan. Regularly over a period of 2-3 years, Shifty McGifty gave the Blessed Stu' a lift home to Sarf London in the his Chauffeur driven car. What a commute, oh the conversations? I guarantee you, the word Rangers was NEVER used.

 

Shifty and Cosgrove in the same car, driven by HATE. 

 

Garrulous Stu'  was in a state of high excitement on Sunday, he told of Saint's journey from worst team in Scotland, back to the Premiership and wondered why BBC Scotland had not commissioned the Documentary? Stuart, along with big Sellik man, Don Coutts had their own Production Company, 'A Big Star in a Wee Picture'; they produced numerous programmes, 'Halfway to Paradise', 'Possil Girls', 'Talk on the Wild Side', .. etc. Why doesn't Stu' produce the Journey? Oh, that's right, the production company went burst, hope they paid the face painters? 

 

Cosgrove ended the show with two predictions, Hibs to win 0-2 and ra Sellik to win the Scottish Cup tie at Ibrox. I think he was trying to cover his tracks after revealing he is BIG pals with the Scottish football Establishment? Seriously, the Club should call out the Bampot. Look around, the leaves are brown and, when Cosgrove's around, it's always a hazy shade of winter for Rangers supporters.

 

  

[26th of foot 6,084]

Equivalence?

 

I have not been in Northern Ireland in nearly thirty years. The dozen years before, I was a regular visitor to the Province. All six stays were professional, assisting the civil authority. We called the visitations, 'Tours' and they lasted between three and six months. I began in Londonderry in Spring'79 and finished in west Belfast, Autumn'92. The civil authority in most cases was the Police, but could easily be the District Nurse, Midwife, Postie, the Gas Board, ........ etc. My final tour included commanding the protection of Dr Joe Hendron.

 

The Falls Road GP had committed the crime of defeating Gerry Adams in the '92 General Election for the West Belfast seat. The SDLP man was dedicated, insisted on continuing to do the occasional shift at the practice. Home visits, particularly those in the early hours were problematic. Gerry made Joe and us pay a heavy price. The approach to every patient's house had to be cleared before medical care was administered. The brave bhoys always knew when Joe was on shift and the calls increased knowing Hendron would always attend. An OAP requiring pain relief was a pawn to King Gerry's hurt pride.

 

You got around the Provence, and the majority of my sympathy was always for the young folks on both side of the divide. Their social lives were rarely expansive. Republicans in Turf Lodge were the same as Unionists in the Waterside, the social horizon did not extend beyond a dozen streets. Of course, those streets were controlled. Think about it, access to amenities such as a Library, a swimming pool, a public park, ...... etc? Being denied amenities was a legitimate complaint, denying the other side access was equally important. It was a false equivalence.

 

Rioting was a gift, controlling forces allowed and encouraged it when an attention shift was necessary. Those participating looked forward to the action enormously. Lobbing bricks, petrol bombs and, coffee jar explosives was fun, fun, fun. It took your mind off depravation and relieved the boredom. On the receiving end, we prayed for two things, something good on the telly and torrential rain. Rationalising the trigger mechanisms was a waste of time, why are we enduring a third night of unrest in Fermanagh, when it began with a cancelled parade in Antrim?

 

I rediscovered some of those feelings of being nonplussed a week to a fortnight past. Unionist youths were rioting in Belfast for a week. Largely ignored in the rest of the UK but being reported quite prominently in Scotland, particularly by BBC Scotland. We are in a run up to the Holyrood elections and political capital can be made from teenagers waving Union flags and aiming fireworks at Police officers. The usual suspects appeared on PQ's various current affairs outlets and call-in shows to parrot, "see, it's like a few weeks ago when Rangers won the league, it's a disgrace". Why were we the equivalence?

 

A lot of the contributors are known to be sympathetic to the Scots Nationalist aspiration. Further, they ignored the legitimate causes of depravation, poverty, boredom, ..... etc. The rioters were similar to celebrating Rangers supporters, both enjoyed ENTITLEMENT. 

 

The death of the Duke of Edinburgh has intervened, it has stopped this false equivalence. I suspect temporarily? The only entitlement bestowed upon Rangers supporters from PQ is to marginalise and demonise us at every turn. Occasionally, they have taken opportunity to dehumanise us too. The Club and support no longer engage with BBC Scotland but I think we might have to find a way stymie such unfettered equivalence. I understand the trigger mechanism for the riots was the PSNI 's decision NOT to take action over events surrounding the funeral of IRA Volunteer, Bobby Storey. 

 

Three thousand people lined the streets to pay respect, there was no social distancing and no face masks. The Sinn Fein leadership followed behind the coffin to church, attended Milltown Cemetery and, the crematorium. Prince Philip's funeral is taking place today with 30 mourners, all socially distanced and face masks are being worn. I hope PQ can do the equivalence of entitlement but I am sure they will simply ignore. Last Saturday, the minutes silence at Celtic Park lasted eleven seconds before the first firework exploded. The organisation often lionised by PQ employees, the Green Brigade could not share the respect being awarded by their club, as the pyrotechnics continued the Ref' cut the silence short, it lasted twenty seconds.

 

BBC Scotland's Liam McLeod was doing commentary on the Celtic - Livingston game and he made no comment. Richard Gordon cut in and the line to Celtic Park was temporarily cut as he explained frequency changes. There was a return for live coverage from the kick-off. Still, there has been no mention of this deliberate interruption on BBC Scotland. The Green Brigade can rely on such entitlement, absolutely.

 

 

[26th of foot 6,084]

The match in Perth has finished ten minutes, a penalty awarded by the Referee in the 4th minute of injury time has secured the Saints a 1-1 draw.

 

On BBC Scotland's football webpage, Jamie Lyall has a typical report, "the result leaves Rangers unable to amass 100 points".

 

So, Rangers are on 93 points with three left to play; obviously PQ arithmetic differs from normal numeracy? Three wins achieves nine points and that added to 93 would leave 102.

 

I note Jamie has changed it, "Rangers remain on track to amass 100 for the first time".

 

Poor Jamie, having to work Chris McLaughlin's Suvul Calculator. 

[Tannochsidebear 2,420]

Pretty sure we got to 100 points in a previous season too?

[Rick Roberts 246]

Havent seen it covered anywhere, apologises if it has.

 

Feel its important to catalogue the Turnbull kick against Aberdeen. A quick scan showed the BBC report and match text hadn't mentioned it. 

 

Twitter suggests Clyde FM, unsurprisingly, are pretending it never happened.

 

For me, this has to be the kind of incident that Rangers somehow have to force the issue over. Make it the news, make the CO system work. It's grubby work, but just ignoring means we can just expect more inconsistency again next season. 

 

 

[the gunslinger 3,366]

i know he got a yellow but would be amazed if the CO doesn't deal with this. It was wild. 

[Rick Roberts 246]

12 minutes ago, the gunslinger said:

i know he got a yellow but would be amazed if the CO doesn't deal with this. It was wild. 

Yep, it's a lot less subtle than the Alfie or Roofes incidents. 

[26th of foot 6,084]

BBC Scotland news just reporting David Turnbull is free to play against Rangers at Ibrox next week. He will not be cited. Apparently, kicking Dylan McGeoch after the ball has gone, is legitimate? I cannot help but think if the PQ CSC had put a bit more effort into highlighting the offence ...............

 

Anyways, talking of PQ; Michael Stewart was outraged at Turnbull's actions and is demanding Alfredo Morelos is the recipient of a six match ban. Talking of Michael, he has not been doing much talking on BBC Scotland recently. Rangers supporters complained about his lack of support for Kamara's claims of racism emanating from Slavia Prague player, Kudela. Michael preferred to utilise Rangers complaint reference Gardyne of Ross County, we should not complain, players might have misheard, "just like the alleged homophobic comment made by Michael Gardyne". 

 

Michael Stewart has been deliberately kept away from matters Rangers on both TV and Radio. It's similar to last years rant from the former Manchester United star, Michael stuck it on James Traynor knowing he would have no comeback. Michael was ignored by PQ for several weeks, it allowed Michael to settle in at his new gig, Celtic TV. BBC Scotland has announced that there will be no disciplinary action taken against Michael this time, because those 1,000 Rangers supporters complaining had done so, "in a targeted manner".

 

There you have it, Rangers supporters are sinister and David Turnbull kicked out at nobody. 

[CammyF 8,129]

Bad news for Dunfermline - drop down a division according to BBC and playing both East Fife and Arbroath today 

 

Posted at 16:1516:15

 

GOAL Dunfermline 3-2 Arbroath

Craig Wighton

Dunfermline retake the lead and it's looking gloomy for Caley Thistle once again.

1. Posted at 16:2616:26
    

   GOAL East Fife 2-0 Dunfermline

   Aaron Steele

    
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[26th of foot 6,084]

Switching Tracks.

 

I caught the extra time and penalties of the Killie - St Boo Scottish Cup quarter-final on BBC Scotland's second channel. I feel everything is a lottery on the Rugby Park pitch, but my ghast was truly flabbered when PQ went straight over to the Scottish Cup semi-final draw, live. Hosting the draw was none other than Creepy Connie McLaughlin. You have got to marvel at the continual reciprocal agreement going on between BBC Scotland and ra Sellik.

 

When Lennon's Sellik were turfed out of the Champions League last August in the qualifying rounds, it was decreed the problem lay in the players lacking mental toughness. This was resolved amid considerable publicity, a Consultant was brought in to Lennoxtown to work on both players and coaching staff. The Connie Choo-choo came around the bend, a steaming and a rolling. Connie has her own company, 'Inner Buzz' and she NEVER misses an opportunity to encourage everyone to rawk their inner buzz.

 

Well, how did Connie's efforts do? In August, ra Sellik had all three domestic trophies and the Europa League to navigate. The tracks were laid down and Lennie the Tanked Engine strained for purchase. Two years past, BBC Scotland's second channel was launched in a flurry of publicity, it would provide programmes pertinent to new, modern Scotland. We have had the documentaries on Priest School, the First Communion, ............. etc. Why have we not had the documentary revealing the trials and tribulations of Creepy Connie doing her Casey Jones? I mean everybody loves a train wreck, don't they?

 

Anyways, sustained by brotherly love, Connie emerges from the carnage to present the Scottish Cup draw. It shows as one green'n'grey hooped project hits the buffers, it's easy to change tracks and remain seriously Sellik minded at PQ. Seamless shunting in a yard full of Annie McGuire, Angela Haggerty, Jane Graham, Michael Stewart ... etc, everyone guaranteed a good standard of life.

 

Choo-choo!