The random musings of a short man in a big world

Another week, another Mini show as AMOC took part in the Grampian Country Fair at Fyvie Castle. It was an early start on what was a miserable day, but fortunately the weather mostly held.

The event is a long-standing charity fundraiser with the cast of Emmerdale on site as special guests.

Kelvin Fletcher who plays Andy, made a couple of stops by the AMOC display and happily posed for photos. Kelvin has recently started racing Minis so took a keen interest in the seven cars we had on display, which included two from Inverness as friends of the club had made the trip down to join in the fun.

I’m not a fan of soaps so didn’t embarrass myself by asking for a pic of the chap with my Mini, but made up for it by being dragged into the show ring to talk about the club and draw some punters our way… Oh the joys!

AMOC display at Fyvie

Having got Red Dwarf back on the road, I felt it was about time I started to get involved in more Mini events, and what better place to start than the Thistle Run?

This annual event is run by the Central Belt-based Mini Clan, and this year’s route was to run from The Falkirk Wheel to Anstruther Harbour, with funds raised being split between the MS Society Scotland and Anstruther RNLI. Thanks to my sponsors, who pledged a total of £240 for these worthwhile charities.

My passenger Chris and I convoyed with Iona and Andrew on the way both to and from the run.

The run route was never going to be direct and took in some stunning scenery as we headed north through Dunning Glen and back down towards Falkland in Fife. The final leg took us back north towards Cupar, and then cross-country to Anstruther for a static show of the 180 participant Minis.

It was a bumpy ride at times, quite literally, but all the cars made it to the end by hook or by crook

In terms of Red Dwarf, she didn’t miss a beat though there was a slight “SPANNERS OOT!” incident when she failed to start after a fuel stop in Dundee on the way down. Nothing serious, though!

A few pics below, including a very unusual “old” Mini!

Well then, well then! I’ve not forgotten about you blog, I know you are here, just waiting for me to return. Where were we when last we spoke?

That’s right; I’d just bought a second car as a daily driver due to general Mini unreliability, and was awaiting pickup. Since then, I’ve had two cars for 10 months and driven countless miles (yeah, I know they are counted. I just can’t be bothered to “do the math”).

Crucially, what I’ve also done is bring the Mini back to something resembling full health. Not perfect by any means, but close to it.

Let’s go back to the end of February. After a winter off the road, my faithful little friend was much like this blog. A little sorry for itself, seemingly neglected and in need of a little something to perk it up.

So, off for an MOT it went. And lo and behold, it… failed. Miserably. While mechanically sound, there might have slightly been some holes requiring attention. Erk! Erk to the tune of 850 quid, even.

Still money well spent, only for the starter motor to die when I went to pick the car up from the garage. Another £150 spent, and the rolling total up to £1000. Ouch.

But you know what? Driving a Mini is such fun, it’s worth it. Fully MOT’d and taxed, the beast is BACK!

So then, back to the road we go, and after a few trips to road-test, we really are back in action… UNTIL… (you knew there was an “UNTIL”, didn’t you?).

Off to a mate’s for a BBQ and, as I start up the car on a warm and sunny evening, I wonder why there’s condensation on the windscreen… then notice the unexpected water feature in the passenger footwell. I can’t find any leaks so best guess is the heater matrix has given up the ghost. Let’s test those Mini-fixing skills I’ve acquired!

Changing a Mini heater matrix is pretty simple, though it can be a bit awkward getting the unit out due to the cosy nature of such a small cabin. You’ve got to drain the cooling system, trying not to get coolant everywhere, and then haul the heater unit out the car. Then it’s just a case of withdrawing the matrix and slamming in the new one.

The worst part? Driving around for the duration of the hottest week of the year so far, with the heater at full blast to try and dry out the carpet. Joys!

Hello. Long time no see! What you been up to?

Here’s a brief synopsis of my life of late. Drinking, City winning cups, working, drinking, working more, drinking more, gigs (encapsulating drinking), coming second at quizzes, making plans, ruining plans by buying a second car…

Which is why I’m blogging. The Mini now has a companion! Being the sensible adult I am, Red Dwarf developed an(other) issue, so I bought a (hopefully) more reliable companion for it. Despite having nowhere to store the Mini. I’ve not fixed the issue, and have an MOT (and tax, insurance) due in August. Whoops.

If you remember when I bought Red Dwarf, almost two years ago, I couldn’t even drive, so this is hardly a surprise. Whims I am accustomed to.

So, the plan is that Red Dwarf will go into some form of hibernation, and I will drive the new thing (an 05-plate VW Golf) while carrying out essential maintenance. And looking for a flat in Aberdeen, rather than being in Kemnay. Yes, I’m made of money, apparently.

Motor II

It’s all a bit exciting, innit?

I’ve already been on the AmD Milltek website, sadly they have nothing for the 1.6 FSI. Kents.

Now, this thing where I have two cars which need tax/MOT/insurance in August… Whoops.

All this amid the background of my work being taken over, and a (hopefully) increased workload. Woo!

So, yesterday turned into a bit of an unintentional experiment. I’d been asked by the PA to cover the Aberdeen v St Johnstone game, and with Peterhead’s season already over, agreed to do so.

I’ve worked at Pittodrie before so know the script. There’s a wireless network there, so I’m able to work off the laptop to fulfil the copy requirements of:

120-150 words before the kickoff
Another 120-150 midway through the first half
up to 200 at half-time, to include a brief summary as an intro
Another 120-150 midway through the second half
Up to 200 again at the full-time whistle
A 600 word consolidated report ASAP after full-time

It sounds a lot of work, but it’s managable, and the requirement to send updates through piecemeal makes it easier to concentrate on the writing.

I arrived in plenty of time, before the team-sheets were even out, so was well ahead of schedule, whipped out the laptop and wrote the first piece of copy. I hadn’t been able to connect to the internet through the wi-fi connection but figured that as I was ahead of the game I’d have time to resolve any issues.

I’d had problems with the internet flaking out the last time I’d been at the Dungheap, but refreshing the browser had seen the connection come back, so I thought this may be the case. Unfortunately not.

By now, I was under pressure and decided to retype what I already had into the iphone, and email it through that. time-consuming, but eventually I got it through. The alternative would be to phone through the copy, which takes forever and isn’t really feasible in the noisy environment of a football stadium, even though it was less than a third full.

Still unable to connect to the wifi, and having also tried a BT Openzone hotspot I was detecting from somewhere, I realised I was going to have to repeat the process for all my copy throughout the game.

I don’t have a word processing app, so continued to type everything up on the laptop in order to use that functionality, but as I was going along I was also typing everything into emails on the phone and, once sent, copied the text into Notes so it’d be there for the full-time copy.

As it turned out, this worked well and allowed me to put through all the copy, bar the first piece which was slightly delayed, in a timely manner and meet all the deadlines.

The phone also acted as my stopwatch as it normally does when I’m working at games, and also the voice recorder for post-match quotes, so essentially an all-in-one productivity device for football reporting.

It’s not perfect, but as a backup solution it certainly did what was required, and with a bit of research and fine tuning, I’m sure it would be possible to find a suitable word processing app with word count feature.

The only failing as far as I could find, was that the voice recorder and notes apps, even with multitasking, are unable to run side by side, so it would be unsuitable for typing up a quotes piece without a second device of some form.

That said, I’m off to buy a mobile broadband dongle as a backup…

Steven Milne’s Dirty Hearts Club is well known for pulling in some of the best new talent both locally and from around the country, and Rachel Sermanni from Carrbridge maintained that fine tradition on Thursday night.

Still just a teenager, she played at the Homecoming Scotland Burns Supper last year, and followed a tour with Stornoway earlier in 2010 with a number of festival appearances. She is booked to play next year’s Celtic Connections festival.

It was on the Stornoway tour that I first saw Rachel, and was instantly taken by the contrast between her strong delivery of her songs and the slightly nervous chat in between.

In the intervening months, she has clearly become more comfortable with that aspect of her shows, and through the night we learn that she’s a bit of a dreamer and, with a little assistance from the crowd, that being asleep is “the only time you really know yourself”.

But that’s a wee bit deep for the back of eleven on a Thursday night, and Snafu was happy just to allow Rachel to captivate us all with her soaring voice.

A lolloping rendition of Pirate Song sets the tone but I’m most impressed with The Burger Van Song, a frustrated riposte at a difficult customer Rachel experienced while spending a week working in a Burger Van.

What connects these songs is that they’re the ones that seem a bit more experimental and allow Rachel to stretch her voice a little more.That feeling of experimentation is also evident in The Circus Song, which seems to reference the likes of KT Tunstall.

Throughout her set there’s a sense Rachel is genuinely appreciative, not just of the small but attentive crowd who have turned out, but also of the talent she has. She tackles this in Ever Since The Chocolate, a song written at a time when she had lost her voice and was unable to sing.

A 40-ish minute set comes to an end with a touching rendition of Song To A Fox, written after seeing one of said animals for the very first time last year.

Rachel performed Bones for BalconyTV back in May:

She’s on Myspace at: http://www.myspace.com/RachelSermanni

The Americans are often criticised for their lack of understanding of proper football, as best shown in their commentary of sawkerball matches, which is usually cringeworthy to say the least.

Clearly, though, they have picked up on the perfect term for the dirty reds from the wrong side of Manchester, as evidenced by their headline about Rooney’s seemingly imminent departure from the crusty claws of Sir Awex:

… I don’t just watch motorsport in the hope there’ll be some crashes, but…

Somehow I don’t think this Formula Ford car was meant to come round that corner at that speed and at that height, let alone BACKWARDS!

Friends of mine will know that I really like my music. Like, REALLY like my music, but my attendance at gigs tends to go through bizarre cycles where I might not go to one for a month or two, then will see three in a week or so.

And so, my next load of gigs is coming up. In the next wee while I have…

This Month:
Hold Your Horse Is + Shoes and Socks Off + Shakedown Project + Transmata + Del Noble. Note, Del is a top bloke.
Sky Larkin + Deportees + Min Diesel. Two of the best bands in Aberdeen, and Sky Larkin? YAS!
Oceansize + This Town Needs Guns. Seen both before, maybe I’ll remember them this time…
Mark Morriss from the Bluetones. I’ve somehow never seen the Bluetones, but looking forward to seeing Mark. How have I not seen the Bluetones?!?!
Manic Street Preachers + British Sea Power. MSP + BSP = entertianing, I’m sure. Strangely looking forward to BSP more…

Next Month:
A wee trip to Fife to see blog favourites the Deportees with A Genuine Freakshow, followed by the same bands in Abz the following day. Hopefully with a cup semi-final in between!

Further ahead, I’ve got Motorhead, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and two, yes two, Mogwai gigs (Edinburgh and Manchester, baby!). Hoping to add BRMC to the list shortly. Busy times!

The last post reminded me of Top Gear’s tribute to the BTCC. Why do we like Touring Cars?

Oh… Yes, you’re right.