Plymouth has drawn their second consecutive match in a row against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium. Neither team looked like they were going to win the match, chances were few and far between, but if any team should have won, it was Argyle, but both Nails and Norris failed to make the best of opportunities presented to them. But it’s still a point, which keeps the Pilgrims in the hunt for a top 8 finish, as the teams around them haven’t done much either, Argyle are only seven points off 8th placed Wolves, so anything could happen. But more importantly, that solitary point against The Potters keeps Plymouth from slipping backwards, although we are only ahead of Stoke on goal difference, Argyle are four goals to the good. With a bit of luck Plymouth can make home advantage count when Coventry visit Home Park on Saturday afternoon. If Argyle can take the win, potentially it could mean moving up to 12th position, should other results go our way, fingers crossed!
Bad news for smokers, Parliament has voted for a total smoking ban in all enclosed spaces, including pubs, clubs and restaurants, but you can smoke in private homes, residential care homes, prisons, hotel bedrooms, and ironically hospitals. What are these idiotic bureaucrats thinking? Why should smokers being persecuted for doing something they enjoy doing? What’s next; banning people drinking alcohol in pubs? The whole idea is idiotic, most pubs have smoking areas, so if people don’t want to be exposed to cigarette smoke, then stay the fuck away from the designated smoking areas, simple? Like Mr. Pain, I believe that it will kill off many of the smaller pubs, as most of their clientele tend to be smokers. The problem is that if Landlords elect to let customers smoke in their establishment, they will face a £2,500 fine, so they are screwed either way. It seems to me that the politicians really are mindless drones following whatever the EU decides on, grow a fucking brain and do what’s best for our country, not what the petty minded health freaks and Europe wants. I bet that the government will be complaining about the shortfall in revenues if a lot of people give up smoking and/or drinking, then what will happen, more council, income and fuel tax rises, you can bet your bottom dollar on it! And all this comes from a non-smoker, but I respect other peoples rights to smoke, if I didn’t want to be subjected to smoke, I would stay in the non-smokers area, but as it doesn’t bother me, it’ll sit with my mates in the smoking area, I hope that the civil liberties people really kick up shit about this, what’s the next step, being told what we can and can’t do in our own homes!
Have a read of this BBC News article, it raises some interesting points about the ban!
Not too much to report from last night, it was a pretty average gig, reasonable crowd. The bands played well, the sound was good, albeit helped by the crowd all standing in front of stage absorbing the usual mess coming off stage (due to the acoustics, not the bands). The headlining band had a bit of a nightmare as their van broke down, they had to come down by car, so could only bring a limited amount of equipment, two keyboards, one acoustic guitar, bass guitar (DI’ed through the PA), snare drum and ride cymbal. But despite this, they still went down well, and sounded good as I had full control over the sound as the only physical sound coming off stage was the snare drum, which wasn’t loud anyway as he wasn’t a hard hitter! And they were rather nice guys as well, so I am glad that the crowd clapped, cheered and sang along as the band did make the effort, they could have easily cancelled when their van broke down, so respect goes out to the Chaser guys!!!
On a personal note, I am starting to feel sadness that the Phoenix Revolution is coming to an end, I know it’s only a building, but the last few years have been an amazing rollercoaster, there’s been good times, there’s been bad times, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I have met lots of new and interesting people, worked with some amazing bands, and made some great friends in the process, you know who you are! It’s not so much the building that’ll I miss, it’s the people, the friendliness, and the atmosphere, the Phoenix has been something really special, I know that a lot of people will agree with that sentiment, especially bands that got their first break at the Phoenix. And that is the saddest thing of all, new and young bands will find it hard to make any impact once the Phoenix has gone, I don’t see the likes of The Hub, The Viaduct, and The Junction putting on unknown bands, which leaves Plymouth’s live music scene is a bad state in my opinion.
Here’s some more bizarre stuff from the Register; Freeview box pre-invasion broadcasts.