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definitely fit for purpose, clean and tidy. Oh and a loving night of celebration ensued with the lovely Rosie and I, she is too cute, too sizzling, by half. So, next day, daddy turned up whilst Rosie paddled about in her king-sized . 'baarth', and ' ohh, any success yet?', was the ask. 'Success..?..' ' My man , is she going to drop me a grandchild, a chip.off the old block..or not..at 27 she's rootless and unattached.. I don't.. '

Another thing that struck me is just how tough football management is. As a manager you are under massive pressure to get results all the time. The toughest thing is sacking players, telling them they won't play again, trying to sell them on or move them out. Maybe it is tougher with players who you like and have served you well than players you personally dislike. Cloughie has a heck of a task with that Leeds team. I doubt any manager could have done it. The team needed rebuilding.

I think this book is a bit like In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, which he described as a non-fiction novel. Maybe it is a bit like The Crown series, which I have not watched. Quite a lot of The Crown must be conjecture, because most of those conversations were private and not recorded. They were possibly jizzed up a bit. Most novels are a mix of fact and fantasy. Novels may be based on real events and modelled on real people. Some books and plays about real historical people are almost complete myth. However, with books like In Cold Blood and The Damned United, readers might be tempted to believe it is all true. In the Damned United, there are a lot of stats and facts, and I expect most of them are true. But some important facts might not be. Certainly the thoughts going through Brian Clough's mind cannot be stated as fact. His relationship with Peter Walker might have been somewhat different. In the film there was a clip from a local TV programme where the presenter surprises Brian Clough by bringing on Don Revie. This was just after Brian Clough was sacked as Leeds Manager. The Damned United film version and the local TV sports programme version were similar to start with, but then the film version was dramatically enhanced towards the end. This is the sort of thing that is a bit controversial. I suppose it is the start

I think this book is a bit like In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, which he described as a non-fiction novel. Maybe it is a bit like The Crown series, which I have not watched. Quite a lot of The Crown must be conjecture, because most of those conversations were private and not recorded. They were possibly jizzed up a bit. Most novels are a mix of fact and fantasy. Novels may be based on real events and modelled on real people. Some books and plays about real historical people are almost complete myth. However, with books like In Cold Blood and The Damned United, readers might be tempted to believe it is all true. In the Damned United, there are a lot of stats and facts, and I expect most of them are true. But some important facts might not be. Certainly the thoughts going through Brian Clough's mind cannot be stated as fact. His relationship with Peter Walker might have been somewhat different. In the film there was a clip from a local TV programme where the presenter surprises Brian Clough by bringing on Don Revie. This was just after Brian Clough was sacked as Leeds Manager. The Damned United film version and the local TV sports programme version were similar to start with, but then the film version was dramatically enhanced towards the end. This is the sort of thing that is a bit controversial. I suppose this is how myths have always been made.

Nine Little Reindeer - Gene Autry

anyone

ascertain the level of particulate matter, a large alarming looking monitor was wheeled in. Ms Grimbutt donned a pair of airmuffs, plugged in the machine and a loud high pitched humming ensued. While she was thus engaged, Mr Dartboard whipped out his retractable measuring tape and started calculating square meterage per cat ratios. Rosie and I were mostly unaware of all this, and frankly didn't give a flying fudge monkey, we were too busy gazing adorably into each others eyes. However, after several hours( so much for a few minutes of our time!), Messrs Grimbutt and Dartboard had reached their conclusions. Our cat cafe was ...

Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer ~ Randy Brooks (someone had to post it 😂)

to

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry Today's listeners associate Gene Autry with Christmas songs, which are played perennially during each holiday season. These include "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town", his own composition "Here Comes Santa Claus", "Frosty the Snowman", and his biggest hit, "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer". He wrote "Here Comes Santa Claus" after being the Grand Marshal of the 1946 Santa Claus Lane Parade (now the Hollywood Christmas Parade). He heard all of the spectators watching the parade saying, "Here comes Santa Claus!" virtually handing him the title for his song. He recorded his version of the song in 1947 and it became an instant classic.

real pleading in her eyes, a look of hope. 'Oh my dear..at last you know where your bread is buttered..right here', and at that, she threw herself at me, her scented hair cascading all over me. 'See, oi told yer e lavs er..be a wedding soon mark moi words', said Mark, as a couple of suited officials, one male, one female, entered, coughing in order to split our oh so adorable embrace. 'Peter Dartboard, Landan City Caancil..Sir, are you vee owner of this ere cattery'?, asked Mr Dartboard. The woman was 'Audrey Grimbutt, head of cattery compliance at London Council..pleased to meet you..do you have a few minutes to check in as regards regulatory conditions and requirements for a cattery..?' Two hours later, myself, Rosie, Mr Dartboard, and Ms Grimbutt, were all yawning loudly as we sought answers to the question, ' does your cat cafe have less than ten iso particles of surface dust..?..' In order to ....

Here comes the Sun - The Beatles

like

'Too right! You keep your grubby little hands off her. She's mine! And you can tell your mates the same. I'm like 'this' with her Daddy and one word from me and ...' I hadn't heard Rosie coming up behind me, she'd heard every word. 'Is it true, Johnny? Am I really truly yours?' She was looking at me with ...

Here Comes Santa Claus ~ Gene Autry

Red or Dead, Peace' encyclopaedia sized chronicle of Liverpool FC under Shankly, is similarly turgid reading. I will eventually complete my reading of both.

I am reading this. I saw the film with Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall. I think I enjoyed the film more than I am enjoying the book. It is a remarkable book, nevertheless. I am not sure how this book should be categorised, because it is based on real people and events, but it is somewhat fictionalised. I know Brian Clough's son Nigel hated it, and did not think it was a fair reflection of his father. David Peace could not really describe what was going through Brian Clough's mind.

Where the nooks are around the base you could have a little button to press and each one would still play the audiobook of a short Christmas story 😄. I finally got around to putting up Christmas decorations today (though none as cool as the idea above). I’ve been ridiculously busy for the last few weeks and now I think I’m getting a cold, but at least I got to feel festive today! On a related note, I have discovered that I hate doing self-assessment tax returns 🥲.

I decided to do a just-for-fun reread of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for my next challenge read. It’s on the GCSE syllabus, so I use it when I’m tutoring, but I had a student who was really genuinely interested in it and it made me realise that it’s been years since I read it just to enjoy the story. And I really did enjoy it! I’ve also started the In A Glass Darkly collection of short stories by Sheridan Le Fanu.

they

have it within my book loving, once poverty stricken, weedy shouldered, reclusive, dormant self, to feign machodom or whatever these muppets would call it. ?..was I able to engineer jealousy free running of the cafe, get on moderate terms with these bearded hunks of hers as a way in..? 'Noims Mark, moit..speciality todoi is..vegan 'am n chayze on balsamic toast, garnish of Dijon yellow and pickled gherkins..an' cos you're 'er feller, it's on the aahse moit',declared Mark, so what was it with her papa thinking we were doing the horizontsl mazurka and without hideous rubber interferences nor (obviously), toxic pills..and this crud saying I'm ' her gayzer, moit'. Whose bloke?..', I enquired. 'Rowzie, moit, oi mean, oi'd lav a go wiv er if you're not keen , bat oi guessed you lav 'er..aah cowzy', he declared, a mischievous smirk...

This would be a great short option for anyone doing the Victorian group read! That’s an interesting point. It was obviously less easy to ‘confine’ a man for having a mental breakdown (either in his own house or in an asylum) because of the way the law worked in terms of legal ownership. In some ways though, the fact that hysteria (and in fact any sort of state considered to be ‘overly emotional’) was perceived as feminine would have made it even more difficult for men. I know there are a few books about Victorian masculinity and I wonder whether it’s dealt with in much detail there. I might dig around and see if I can find anything!

The Yellow Wallpaper (1892) Charlotte Perkins Gilman A very interesting short story about a woman suffering from depression who is taken by her husband John (a physician) to a country mansion to rest and recuperate. She has recently given birth to a child and this may also be a cause in her mental health deterioration. While there, she becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper on the bedroom wall and with the pattern upon it which she believes resembles a woman. After a while, she begins to think the woman is creeping on all fours and trying to escape from the wallpaper. Given that this was written in 1892, it deals with the subject matter in an interesting and modern way. At first, it seems her husband is very caring and wants to help her but as the book goes along, she reveals that she is more of a captive than we first thought. Her narration is therefore unreliable to say the least. And by the end of the story, she is positively lost in her mental breakdown. The most obvious interpretation of the book is to view it as a feminist exploration of how women with mental health issues were treated back then. But this has a contradictory element. The assumption being that women's mental health issues were dismissed as hysterical or a 'touch of the nerves.' But this implies that men's mental health issues were, in comparison, somehow taken seriously. Or, conversely, that men didn't have these kinds of breakdowns at all. Which is obviously at odds with the interpretation given. I know we must look at everything through the lens of identity these days but I find that kind of simplistic overview a little bemusing. Sometimes, you're not being oppressed, you're simply not being understood. 6/10

Santa Claus is coming to Town - Bruce Springsteen, many others

Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt