I visited her in hospital a couple of weeks ago, with my Dad. She was sedated and confused, so opportunity for conversation was limited. He just sat and held her hand, communicating more than words ever could.

For the last week, my Dad and his other sister spent every waking minute with Betty. Wealth and riches may come and go, but a loving family is forever.

Liverpool Central reborn

Liverpool Central was highlighted in a damning report as one of the ten worst interchange stations in the UK, news which came as a surprise to no-one who has used the station. It’s dank, dirty and overcrowded – not good for Liverpool’s busiest station and hub of the Merseyrail network.

Change is finally coming this year; the squeaky escalators, brown formica panelling and chewing gum encrusted platforms will soon be swept away in favour of something rather more modern. It remains to be seen whether the refurbishment will solve the station’s main problem – that of the Northern Line platforms being just too damn narrow – but let’s face it, it could hardly be worse than it is now. The station will be closed for up to six months this year, which will be a lot of upheaval (especially for my daily commute, as Central is by far the nearest station to work). There’s no doubt, however, that it will be worth it in the long run.

Star Trek: The Next Generation in HD

TNG is celebrating its 25th anniversary, which – as well as making me feel really old – is the perfect opportunity to launch the remastered HD version of the series, to be released on Blu-ray this year. Normally I’d be thinking “oh hurray, a chance to buy the stuff I already own on DVD all over again,” but I’m refraining from this, because the video on CBS’s web site (linked above) looks gorgeous. The big question remains: will they manage to edit the racism out of Code of Honor?

The 2012 Olympics

Yes, really. Yes, it’s a horrendously expensive event which is taking away vital funds at a time of austerity. Yes, the capital will be a nightmare to live, work and travel in for the duration. And yes, the city will be a fortress where anyone dark skinned can expect to be Tasered within an inch of their life. But the pomp and spectacle of the opening ceremony will be amazing; a once-in-a-lifetime event for this country. It’s a shame I failed to get tickets, but I now have a Freeview HD box and frankly, 1080p is just as good as being there. Hopefully it will be Ken, not Boris, who represents London as mayor at the ceremony.

I won’t be watching any of the sport, of course. Well, maybe the men’s diving. Definitely the men’s diving.

Festival Gardens opening

In 1984 the Government gave Liverpool a ton of money to create a beautiful riverside park, complete with miniature railway, Japanese gardens and futuristic dome. The International Garden Festival was a huge success, attracting visitors from all over the country and leaving a lasting legacy for the people of Merseyside. Or rather, it would have, had the Militant-controlled city council not allowed the park to close and fall into disrepair. It’s a huge embarrassment to Liverpool that this was allowed to happen, especially after the Japanese government, horrified that their gift to the city had become overgrown with weeds, threatened a diplomatic incident.

Now, after 25 years of closure (excluding the brief existence of the amusement arcade/scally magnet Pleasure Island, which closed due to being shit) the Festival Gardens are about to come to life again. The opening, originally pencilled in for Summer 2011, has been delayed by almost a year due to various issues, but is finally expected to happen in the Spring. I’ve peeked through the locked gates to the park and it looks rather special. The Liverpool Echo got a rather more close-up view.

Travel

Following my jaunt to Tallinn last year, there will hopefully be at least one overseas trip this year as well. Like Joseph Stalin in 1944, I have my sights firmly set on Berlin. I’m also planning more Station Master excursions. Altnabreac, I’m coming for you!

I promise to be more active with my blogging this year: there will be blogs, tweets and videos from me throughout 2012, I promise.

The lack of activity here on the site is in stark contrast to the activity in my life. There’s been a hell of a lot going on for me – I just, er, didn’t tell you about it.

Travel was on the agenda: this was the year I left the UK for the first time in 25 years, when I visited visited Estonia. Less exotically, I started my Station Master blog (currently in hibernation, but back with a bang in 2012, I promise). I also found time in September to celebrate my birthday with a weekend in London, and had a smashing day out in, er, Birmingham.

Yes, 2011 was the year I got out and about a lot. I didn’t even allow the swiping of my iPhone, by an expert pickpocket, to dissaude me.

I got up close and personal(ish) with McFly at their Liverpool concert, after my friend Andrew got tickets. I also saw Beautiful Thing, in its original stage incarnation, in Manchester. I failed, however, to get tickets to the Olympics.

An event which required no tickets was Liverpool Pride, which was great fun despite a funding shortfall which enforced a change of location. 2011 was really the year when “gay” really did mean “happy” for me. The cap on it all came in the Autumn, when I gained and then lost a boyfriend (it lasted only a few months, but the important thing is it happened).

Finally, with only days to go, I fulfilled one of my new year resolutions for 2011, by doing a videoblog – believe it or not, this grainy, poorly-lit video promises great things for the future.

So that was 2011. Hopefully 2012 will be just as, if not more rewarding for me. Maybe I’ll even write a blog post or two about it. Or not. Happy New Year everybody!

Anyway, I had time on my hands tonight, so here is the first of what promises to be a series of at least one videos.

Back when I was a little kid, I got annoyed (probably thanks to influence from my mother) that the religious origins of Christmas were getting lost amidst rampant consumerism and secular merriment. A decade or so later and the position is somewhat reversed. What faith I had has long since evaporated and Christmas is a strictly secular celebration for me. In fact, I kind of wish they’d demolish that Church down the road from me – it’s the perfect location for a new Starbucks.

That said, there are plenty of aspects of Christmas which can be embraced by everyone. Peace on earth, goodwill to all men. Giving gifts. Spending time with loved ones. Thinking of those less fortunate than yourself. In fact, I’d argue that we, as a society, should perhaps set aside more than one day a year for those things.

Of course, many of our modern-day Christmas traditions are derived from old Pagan customs for Winter Solstice. Apparently one ritual involved building a fire in the woods and dancing naked around it. I think it’s high time for this one to make a comeback. Does anyone have any matches?

Merry Christmas everybody!

I was there to help my mum with the Christmas food shopping. She had picked up too much for one trolley and called me to request an extra pair of hands.

“I’m by the fruit & veg section,” she advised, “but I’ll come to the main entrance and meet you.”

“No need,” I jauntily assured her, “I’ll find you no problem.”

I was on familiar territory, I thought. I use the Tesco Superstore in Liverpool city centre all the time. It’s just around the corner from work and is therefore great to dash into on my lunch hour to pick up items. Now I was about to set foot in a Tesco Extra, but surely the difference can’t be that great… right?

My breezy confidence quickly evaporated when I walked into the building.

It was massive, and seemed to possess a TARDIS-like “bigger on the inside” quality.

I walked around the harshly lit shop for a good few minutes. I dodged harrassed-looking mothers with screaming kids, lonely twentysomethings picking up frozen meals for one and shifty-looking scallies trying their best to evade the security guards. There were signs screaming “3 for 2″ and “Special Offer”. What there wasn’t any sign of was the fruit and veg aisle. I was lost. Lost in a supermarket.

I’m lucky mother’s sense of direction is better than mine (at least when it comes to groceries) otherwise I would probably still be there now, bewildered and confused in the confectionery aisle.

I’m not sure about Tesco and their ongoing plans for world domination, but their Park Road store is very nice. They have an entire aisle just for different types of frozen chips!

But what of here, where I blog about “about anything that interests me: mainly culture, Liverpool, politics, trains and a whole lot more besides”? I’m finding it hard to write stuff on this blog because, frankly, who cares? Well, I’m sure some people do, but I’m not sure I do any more.

The BBC blog from a couple of days ago is a case in point. I was angry and wanted to say something, but when I tried to express myself, it didn’t translate well and I had trouble coming up with something vaguely readable. For me to get satisfaction from blogging, it’s got to be either (a) amusing or (b) well-argued and coherent, otherwise I’m just another semi-literate person mashing the keyboard with his fists. That would be good enough for RightMinds, but not for me.

This may be just a temporary blip. In any event, I’ve just paid to renew my web hosting, so I’m stuck with this until October 2013 at least!

I was going to do a full write up of the day, but my heat-of-the-moment Tweets from yesterday seem to capture the atmosphere quite well, so they are reproduced below for posterity.

10.33am: Why is there no “Straight Pride”?

11.01am: Sufficiently disorganised that I managed to leave the house without my phone. Quick dash back and I’ve missed the train I wanted to get.

11.33am: Crowds are gathering! #liverpoolpride

12.05pm: And we’re under way! #liverpoolpride

12.14pm: #liverpoolpride

12.22pm: Now mingling with bemused bus passengers in Queen Square. #liverpoolpride

12.38pm: Heading up Lord Street. #liverpoolpride

12.50pm: #liverpoolpride

12.52pm: Christian hate mob successfully drowned out by cheers from marchers and onlookers #liverpoolpride

1.03pm: And we’ve arrived at the Pier Head! #liverpoolpride

1.19pm: Good advice.

2.55pm: Now guzzling beer outside The Poste House. #liverpoolpride

4.26pm: What is it about Pride and stilts?

5.21pm: RT @thisisrjg: This is @hampo draped in our flag. At his own choice.

5.35pm: Back at the Pier Head with copious amounts of alcohol. #liverpoolpride

7.19pm: In The Arch Chinese restaurant. I was awkward and ordered Siu Mai which took longer to cook than the other appetisers.

10.21pm: The Lisbon on #liverpoolpride night is not a place for claustrophobics.

11.05pm: Now the DJ is playing “It’s Raining Men” – how predictable. #liverpoolpride

11.20pm Big crowd in The Lisbon tonight #liverpoolpride

11.45pm: @andrewrtw is trying to chat on Grindr but is being stymied by lack of signal, bless him.

12.07am: Well, it’s after midnight – think I’m officially a pumpkin

1.36am: Home at last. I’ve had a great day – and nothing got stolen, which is a big improvement on my last night out.

1.37am: Also great to feel like I belong in a community. Yay for the gays! #liverpoolpride

1.42am: …and of course thanks to @merseytart, @andrewrtw and @thisisrjg for providing conversation and buying rounds. #liverpoolpride

That joke has unfortunately come back to bite me on the bum somewhat. I was not mugged, but I did have my pocket expertly picked in Liverpool city centre in the early hours of this morning. Thankfully my wallet and house keys were safe, but my iPhone and Trio ticket were both removed. A quick trip to Queen Square Bus Station this afternoon sorted out the latter, the former is not so easily remedied.

Insurance should cover most of the replacement cost, but that’s not the point. In the few weeks that I had the phone, a great chunk of my life ended up on there: phone numbers, calendars, notes, photos, Grindr (ahem). Hopefully it is all backed up, but until I can get up and running on a new phone, I’m slightly bereft without access to them.

Luckily I don’t use the phone for things like holding travel e-tickets, or making credit/debit card payments – if I had, I really would be screwed.

It’s left me a bit shaken up, to be honest.

“What’s your name?” he barked at the salesman, “I need it for Trading Standards.”
“It’s Chris,” came the reply. The expression on Chris’s face suggested that he had seen it all before.
“Chris WHAT?”
“I’m the only Chris in this store so it makes no difference.”

I feel sorry for the 3 Store staff on Church Street. Not only do they have people like that barging in, but three days a week a group of Christian fundamentalists set up shop outside, complete with a fire and brimstone preacher who yells continuously from 10am until 4pm about how we’re all going to hell. It’s not an environment that’s conducive for selling Blackberries.

I will point out that I have no beef with Chris – he was very polite and helpful. Although, after the aforementioned encounter, he did seem extra keen to make sure I understood how many inclusive minutes I was getting.