http://www.shropshirestar.com/2009/03/31/mp-calls-for-expenses-reform/

The above URL links to an online article titled: MP calls for expenses reform, reporting that Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard has called for
expenses reform.

The quotes here are EXACTLY the same words used by Mark on the Jim Hawkins show on Radio Shropshire leading me to two possible scenarios;

1) Mark pre rehearsed the lines, and sent a written copy to the Star upon request.

2) Some lazy hack in Ketley was listening to the radio this morning and wrote his piece based upon it.

If number two is the correct answer then why not cite the source of your quotes here and give Jim and his team the respect they are due?

If number one is the correct answer then forgive my tone, but given the recent ‘borrowing’ of the Wrekin/Gem stone story from the Birmingham Post finance editor (Source), I’m starting to wonder if the Shropshire Star is being run by 6th form media students.

I would appreciate if it someone would look into this issue and explain the stance. Can I also ask that if, like many times before, my concerns are ignored I shall take this to mean that the Shropshire Star does not mind any form of plagiarism and I am okay to reproduce the entire day’s paper verbatim and sell it at a 5p lower than the Star?

Kind Regards

Merk

Update: I have an email back from the Internet Editor who writes: It could be, of course, that Mr Pritchard gave his comments to Radio Shropshire and the Shropshire Star. Have you considered that possibility?

To which I reply yes I have, thats why I have asked the question.

Update II: This isn’t some sort of personal vendetta against my local newspaper but another possible example of the dwindling standards of journalism and I think that is a shame.

The site has gone live tonight because John and Tanja are attending the Morning Advertiser Great British Pub awards as the Crown Inn is up for two awards. Next year I’d like to nominate the site for Best pub website – looking at last years winner I’m sure we can beat it – especially if we utilise the wordpress back end to it’s full potential with regular blogs from John, pictures and features etc.

There is still some tweaking to do with the site but I’m pretty happy with it.

twitter.com/bigdaddymerk

Antarctic Boy

I believe in the sanctity of life and I believe that the unborn need protecting from an abortion industry that is increasingly relied on for social reasons. I’m not against abortion, but I think it should be on medical grounds, not for social convenience.

Mark belives in the sanctity of life, that’s nice. Before I move on here’s some pictures of Mark.

It could be suggested he’s also a Liar; During the commons debate Mark suggested that he represented ‘the overwhelming opinion of women in my constituency, three quarters of whom support a reduction in the current limit.‘ Which I imagine would come as news to three quaters of women in his constituency as no one in the Wrekin appears to be have been asked their opinion, no local radio coverage, no local newspaper poll not even one of Mark’s famous petitions on his website. So where did he get that figure from? Perhaps it was from this poll?

M x

Crown Inn – Oakengates

www.crown.oakengates.net

I love nothing more now than just sitting quietly listening to stuff going on outside, from people opening up their shops in a morning to pissed up people singing down the road. The weekends are the best, on saturday at Silly O’Clock the little Wellington Road Sweeper brushes past and wakes you up, then you hear the deliveries, the shops opening, the people shopping, the music in the square and general busstle. Then, as the town afternoon draws to a close you hear the shops closing, vans packing up, people leaving and all is quiet for a short time. Then the nights revellers start to arrive, in their droves sometimes. There is singing, dancing, laughing, crying, shouting, more singing and kebab eating.

I’m getting into the habit of Saturday afternoon coffee club at Churchills on Church Street – normally joinging me are Brother and flat mate Stavros, Aaron, Simon and sometimes LukasDave. The coffee is good (as is the fizzy pop) and the banter flows, as ever.

Spending far too much money on booze and nights out – being so close to pubs and clubs is dangerous. The last month has been pretty hectic in terms of going out, Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays sometimes Sundays. I have to knock it on the head a little bit if only for the sake of my finances. Still, being able to just get ready and and walk no more than 30 seconds to your chosen destination is ace.

Eating is cool, there are about 26 places to get fast food from in Wellington so I’m doing my best to avoid doing this often although sometimes I faulter (great Chinese round the corner). Luckily Tesco Express, Morrisons and the Market are all within walking distance so it’s easy to get some fresh food to get my cook on. I’ve finally mastered the fan assisted oven, I think.

Having no neighbours is cool too, I can play music loud any time of the day and no one (other than Stavros) can get pissed off. Should be good for a party soon.

All in all, I’m loving living in town the only downside I suppose being the parking but I pretty much have that covered for now. Still missing some aspects of home but really enjoying it.

Heres some snaps I took the other day (in between the rain!). Wellington Photo Set

Now just need a computer desk (argos or ikea), a couple of wardrobes and some book shelves and we’re almost done.

Some better pics;

The entrance stairs – Not much to see here but I thought perhaps a plant of some description and a bookcase on the red bit.

Kitchen

The kitchen window looks out to a rather unsightly wall and back of the next roads buildings so the owners have had an artist create a Trompe-l’œil which will be mounted in the next couple of weeks.

Living Room

The owners of the property have tried to keep as much character in the renovation as was there when the place was built nearly 300 years ago – hence the oak wall panel which has been restored and hung back on the wall. I think it makes a pretty cool feature.

I want to eventually get another armchair as the sofa is only two seater and we could do with a bit more seating area, but for now we have cube bean bags.

From the other side of the room – that plinth is going to serve as our Entertainment area with the TV and stuff on, from this picture you can see our nearest pub – right over the road!

These are the original oak stairs that were built with the house – they’re a bit steep and took some getting used to but I think again add real character.

My room

Here’s my room complete with shower and random mezzanine level for bed reached only by either ladder or acrobatics.

So there we go, I’ve not got pics of Stavs room as he was flat out on his bed when I was taking pics and he made me delete the picture. So as soon as I can get the blinds and stuff I think we’ll be in.

Last Wednesday I met up with Aaron and Simon for a couple of drinkies at Whispers, then on Thursday to the Crown for a some more brewskies and a band we didn’t much like. Then, on the friday Brother Stavros and Myself went to look at a flat (will talk about that soon) and then back to the Crown to meet up with the gang for even more brewskies and more importantly to catch up with everyones favourite Redwood City, CA’s residents Morti and his lovely missus Mandy. We ended up in CoCo’s for the indie night – the place was empty, the draft beer was warm but the dancing was ace. I had a great night, one of the best I’ve had out in a long while.

Here’s us all practicing our best ‘gays on tour’ pose.

On Saturday I slept, most of the day . Write Off

Sunday was good, the weather was nice so I joined some work friends in Shrewsbury for a bit of picnic and beers in the Quarry with some food and a couple of pints in the Hole in the Wall later on.

All in all a great bank holiday weekend with friends old and new. Ace.

It was a strange experience really, pretty much every time I’ve been in that club they’ve been playing R’n'B and it’s been full of stripey jumpers and folk who look like they have school in the morning (or maybe I’m just getting old) but last night it was full of cool, funky people all itching to hear some Smiths or Stone Roses – we weren’t dissapointed either.

Lamacq was ace and was eager to take requests and have a bit of a chat. Towards the end of his set about 2am he said something about not being the greatest DJ in the world but wanted to play a record for the greatest; John Peel, and proceeded to play The Undertones – Teenage Kicks. ACE

I was a bit unsure about how good it would be last night but I’m happy to say it was class all round, although I’m not sure you need a toilet attended on an Indie night!

Well done CoCo’s.

www.fancyabitetoeat.co.uk is a site that lists not only take aways, resturants and snack shops but also lets you see the menu online. The site owner is from Telford so there are lots of Telford take away menus available already. There are over 600 menus on the site for places all over the UK but the idea is to get more – I have a load I’m going to send over to him but if you would like to contribute then please let me know.

The long term aim is to give people the opportunity to order and pay for your favourite curry, thai or chinese meal online, most places wont/cant offer this service – afterall they’re in the food business not web site creation.

I think it’s a great idea and I use it whenever we cant find menus and want to browse the menu before ordering. Check it out.

I went out last night, perhaps overdid it a bit, I certainly spent too much money but so be it. We went to the Crown for some goodness and then ended up in Pussycats (again) trying to avoid eye contact with the latest ‘celebrity’ guest Anthony from Big Brother – that’s his name now, all ex-Big Brother contestants change their name by deed poll when they leave the house, apart from Nick, Nasty and Goody, thick fucker. I don’t really get these celeb nights – a club pays 1500 quid for a z list to turn up and hang around, take part in a usually sexual innuendo filled stage game and get asked a few questions. It’s quite pathetic, yet people flock to see them, fair play to the club it was rammed and they’ll have more than made their 1500 quid back. I just don’t get it.

2. My Car Arrives soon.

I’m kinda fed up of waiting now, my Dad phoned me up on thursday to say that it has been bought back onto the mainland (it’s been in Guernsey) and it now waiting a service, MOT and someone to drive it up to Telford – I cant wait, since I’ve passed my test I’ve only driven three times and I really want to get out a bit more and practice before I even consider embarking on a long journey, say to Ironbridge.

3. Bad Week at work.

I’ve had a shit week at work this last week, I’m getting fed up of doing the same thing over and over again, it’s like working in a factory. I’m not being tested or learning anything new, I’ve been told this is going to change soon but my impatience came to a head on Friday when I kinda lost it at work, I was very angry and I’m really sure why, I think it was just a case of loads of little things building up to the point where something explodes. I’ve spoken to a few people and talked about it and hopefully stuff will get better but I’m at that point where I’m thinking I’m 25 now, the radio stuff looks like it’s fallen through and I need to think about my career, and I know that my career isn’t in a call centre – our office is fast becoming like a call centre, that’s not for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy where I work, the people I work with and the environment in general and I’m going to stick it out but I have seen a few positions which look intresting so I might just apply for them just to see if I get an interview, if I do I’ll make my decision then.

4. London

I’ve been to London loads but never really done the tourist thing so next weekend, Stavros, Fulla, Fella and I are heading down to the smoke to have a few light ales and check out some old shit – we’re staying near some church called Westminster Abbey, apparently it’s pretty big. Should be good. Hopefully take some photos.

5. Five things…

I would take on a desert Island with me (excluding loved ones and communication equipment)

1. MP3 player – a man without music is a man without soul.
2. A Bill Bryson book – these seem to be the only books I can read without getting bored.
3. Coca-Cola – I know that Coke are a bunch of evil, twisted bastards but gee I love the brown sugar water.
4. My camera – hopefully it’ll be a nice desert island
5. Good Toilet Paper – I’ve never underestimated the importance of good bog roll.

Your turn.

When this bloke was asked to move his stuff so an elderly gent with a walking stick could be seated I thought he was going to explode – HOW DARE YOU ASK ME TO MOVE MY SHIT SO AN OLD MAN CAN SIT DOWN his eyes said. He then continued to go through to the back bar with his little beer themed notepad and his festival glass to try another real ale, no doubt jotting down the ales various qualities – if any. As he walked through the busy bar did he say “excuse me” or “mind yer back mate”? No he just pushed his way through. My Pet Hate.

I’d had a little to drink by this point so every time he walked past I greeted him with cheers of “NOTEBOOK” and “EXCUSE ME….COMING THROUGH”. What a tit.

A day in bed promptly followed on Saturday to sleep off the previous nights merriments and later on met Brendon and the gang in the Beacon, which now appears to only let in birds who dress up like it’s the biggest night of their lives. Still, plenty to drool at! We headed to Pussycats and it all got a bit messy from there on in. I did get the DJ to play Urban Cookie Collective’s ‘The Key, The Secret’, so job done.

Today I’ve felt like shite all day, no doubt helped by last nights booze and a 5am trip to the garage on the way home. I stayed in bed most of the day but tried not to sleep or I’m going to struggle to sleep when I get to bed. Early start in the morning, my driving instructor is picking me up at 8:15 and my test starts an hour later – I’m shitting myself.

I’ll let you know how I get on.

p.s. Stav and I are collecting footy scarves – we’ve got 8 so far with another on it’s way. If you’re planning a trip abroad soon, keep us in mind.

The other week I went to the Wedding of Karen & Reg, in Northampton – Friends I’ve met through the power of the internet, which seemed weird at first but it happens more often than you’d think (I can think of three people who met their now wife online!) – I first visited Reg and the Funjunkie crowd a couple of years ago when I visited for a party but I suppose I ‘met’ them online a good while before then. Anyway, Reg had asked me to DJ for a bit at the wedding evening do and I duly obliged – I needed to take nothing with me apart from a microphone but I took some flashing rope lights too just to hang around the dj area. Reg’s brother Bill ended up doing most of the Djing while I was catching up with the party outside. I was a really nice do but ended far too early, which was down to the anal bar staff – but for about 20 of us the party continued at some boozer.

I’d booked into the travelodge for the one night and was going to try and get another room for the next night should I decide to stay for more shenanigans. I decided I would stay on but the Travelodge didn’t have a room for that the following night – no worries, Andy had offered me his sofa so all was not lost……apart from my bag that is.

You see we’d decided to go for pre-wedding-drinks late afternoon and I called back round the Travelodge on the way to the party to pick up my stuff which I had put into my bag – the bag that until then contained my clothes, towel, toiletries and trainers – which had been emptied on the bed in the hurry to get to the party. When I woke up on the Saturday I realised that I’d left the bag at the party for Bill to take home and I’d pick it up the next day. To cut a long story short, I left the Travelodge with my worldly weekend belongings in a black bin bag. I looked like a tramp.

I was pretty tired, hung over, pissed off and my whole intention was to get my stuff, jump on a train and sleep for a couple of hours home…….only we all ended up a Reg’s mums. Reg’s mum is great, she’s a flamboyant German artist and is a great laugh – She convinced us we should go see ‘Johnny Bongo’ at the Picturedrome.

Johnny was playing his drums, bongos and just about everything that made a noise along to a real eclectic set from a couple of DJ’s – this was great – Johnny brings loads of percussion instruments and hands them round the audience to play along…..not that great if you forget which hand holds the maracas and which one holds the Stella! Somehow I ended up back a house playing ‘Track & Field” till about 4am. A good weekend…..apart from the journey home – 3.5 hours to do an 86 mile journey by train is taking the piss.

The following day I was working doing some Radio training for a group in Smethwick nr. Birmingham – It was good work and the people we were training were pretty good. Again the only thing that let it down was the arduous train journeys to do a 30 mile trip.

That work lasted all week and the Saturday saw Fulla’s birthday celebration – We headed off to Wolverhampton for a Mexican. The only Mexican I could find locally – looked like someone’s house from the outside but the food was cracking, not overly expensive either – £120 for 4 of us including 50 quids worth of bottled lager and a tequila each to finish off the meal. We headed off the Cuban Exchange, which normally looks ace, in fact it might have been ace apart from the million people in there, the too loud music and the full bellies. I’m not sure if any of us finished our beer in there before we headed off to Walkabout.

Walkabout was great, nice chilled out atmosphere, good booze and a free ID session for this baby faced 25 year old – I had no ID on me but he let me in all the same. Good job too or I’d have had to go to the strip club across the road

A pretty good few weeks and I want more. I want to do more stuff. Stav and Fulla are off to Rome but I cant go cause I need to try and pass my driving test before I become a major shareholder in Diamond Taxis. But I do need to do summat. I’m going on a bit of a spending spree this week I think, I’m gonna buy a new 19″ flat screen monitor and probably a new laptop. Oh and some new pants, must buy new pants.

Cya later.
Merk

More photos at Walts Flickr

After much sun, water and Nancy Wilson (all plants love Nancy) may I present to you the ‘nearly ready to sprout fruit plant’.

I’m well chuffed.

Bad
£3 a pint
no Kuler Shaker
achey feet

Good
Mighty boosh on the big screen
Light up dancefloor and Disco 2000
People dancing to saved by the bell theme tune