and when I looked the moon had turned to gold

Congratulations to Manchester City.

In one of the most incredible and exciting finishes to a Premier League season two injury time goals saw them snatch glory from the jaws of despair to win the title for the first time since 1968

I am not a huge fan of clubs whose mega rich owners 'buy' them success but I have to say that over the piece I think City deserved to win the title and showed a resolve that earned them their success.

Earlier on this season they scored two very late goals to earn a 3-3 draw with Sunderland. They also came from 2-0 down to beat Sporting Lisbon 3-2 so it is obviously a self belief they have 'in their locker' to use a very bad Sky Sports expression

I also recall the 1999 Second Division Play-off Final when City came from 2-0 down to Gillingham to score two injury time goals and force the game into extra time. They eventually won that game on penalties to earn promotion back to what is now known as The Championship. They have come a long way since then.

The last time City won the top league was 44 years ago in 1968. That team included the likes of Corrigan, Book, Doyle, Summerbee, Neil Young (before he went off to join Crosby, Stills and that guy from the Hollies) and their two main shining lights Colin Bell and Francis Lee. I remember seeing Bell play in the 70s and he is one of the finest English players I have ever seen. Franny had a reputation for falling over in the box and could certainly have taught Ashley Young or Ronaldo a thing or two about winning penalties.

My favourite memory of Lee however was from 1975 when he was playing for Derby against Leeds and won a dubious penalty. Norman 'bites your legs' Hunter, who had a name for being a hard man, took exception to this and what followed was a full scale brawl between the two. Despite Hunter's reputation Franny was well up for it and certainly did more than just hold his own

I believe Franny went up in a lot of people's estimations after that incident

When City won the league in 68 I was 14 and spending my Saturdays listening to Gary Puckett and The Union Gap singing 'Young Girl' in a record booth in John Menzies in Ayr High Street, or going to see Planet Of The Apes at The Odeon, or asking Susan Waddell out on a date. Now that it's all come good for City again maybe it's time I gave her another call

Also in 1968 I was watching Ayr United playing glamour games against teams like East Fife, Arbroath, Forfar, Alloa and Stenhousemuir. My weekend was not as joyous as that of the City fans. I watched Ayr lose 3-1 at home to Airdrie and suffer relegation back to Division 2 where next year they will be playing teams like East Fife, Arbroath, Forfar, Alloa and Stenhousemuir

In the words of Mr David Byrne...'same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was'

If I only had wings of a little angel, don't you know I'd fly to the top of a mountain

Young Ben and I went to the park on Saturday. He has reached an age where he likes to walk everywhere so I made a fatal error in judgement and left his buggy at home. I was already carrying the new football I had purchased in the morning and I knew my attention span and physical dexterity would not cope with a walking toddler, a football and a passenger less buggy.

I tried to explain to Ben that I would carry the ball until we reached the park as I was not prepared to abandon him to chase after said ball once he had launched it in any given random direction just for the fun of it. This meant that any garden we passed along the way was taken by Ben as being a park and he would wander in and wait for the ball to be thrown to him. Fortunately we were not in a hurry.

He also decided that any form of plant life from flowers to weeds to whatever was growing out of the pavement should be picked, sniffed and kept to take back to his mum. He is a thoughtful child that way.

We eventually reached the park and the ball was finally given it's freedom. Being of a certain age now the game consisted of me booting the ball up a slope and Ben chasing after it and kicking it back vaguely in my direction. This was frequently interrupted every time a dog came anywhere near our vicinity as Ben would then amble off to have a chat with his canine friends. He has an affinity to dogs which leads me to believe he must be distantly related to Mrs Woodhouse somehow

He latched on to one particular poor dog which was minding it's own business basking in the sun. Young Ben was not happy with this lack of activity and found a stick which as we all know dogs are obliged to fetch once thrown. The strangely unobliging mutt tried to find refuge under a picnic table but that did not deter the intrepid youngster who soon flushed him out of there. Only after the dog had gone off and hidden in the trees did Ben finally abandon his pursuit and we adjourned to the play park

It was in here that we experienced a national incident. Young Ben was on the swings so I placed his ball next to the railings. Another young visitor to the play park, whose name I discovered was Lucas, took quite a shine to Ben's ball even though he had one of his own under his buggy (his mum was, not surprisingly, a lot smarter than me and had brought return transport to the park).

This was not causing any problems until an older girl (there's always an older girl, isn't there?) decided she would return the ball to Ben. She was obviously on a day off from her job at the U.N. Diplomatic Corps and informed Lucas that he could not steal other people's balls. This did not go down too well with Young Lucas. I offered to swap balls with him but his mum said he had to learn that he can't get everything he wants. Young Ben has not quite grasped that concept yet, nor have his mum and dad, or his grandparents for that matter, but I digress.

It all ended in tears. Lucas was upset. Ben was upset because Lucas was upset. I was upset because I realised the Cup Final had kicked off and we still had to walk home. The older girl was not upset and wandered off to help resolve some other major conflict in the play park

So, offering Ben a bribe of stopping at the shop for 'goodies' we eventually set off for home. This was when my earlier misjudgement came back to haunt me. Ben decided he was now bored with walking and stood with his hands raised and a pleading look on his face. I managed to carry him as far as the shop and then put Plan B into operation. After we had bought a bottle of water and a packet of Wotsits and Ben had left the shop looking like Rome after a visit from the Vandals, Operation Hansel and Gretel was put into action. After giving him a Wotsit I walked a few paces ahead and offered him another which he toddled along to collect. This worked for a little while until he realised what his devious old Grandpa was up to and that it was more comfortable to be carried and munch Wotsits at the same time

By this time we were almost home anyway and I was optimistic of catching the second half of the Cup Final. Unfortunately Curious George was on a different channel and this battle for supremacy was only going to have one winner. That inquisitive monkey does get into some strange situations

Worn out from his exertions of the day Young Ben was asleep long before his mum and dad came home and when I finally returned home to my own house and switched on the highlights of the Cup Final I found myself asleep almost as quickly as the Liverpool defence

All in all I had a much better day than Mr Dalglish.

Slow down, you move too fast, you got to make the morning last, just kicking down the cobble stones

I was watching the latest Scandinavian crime drama to hit our screens last week. It is called 'The Bridge' and starts when a dead body is found on the Oresund Bridge which links Sweden and Denmark. The programme itself is fairly watchable but the bridge is undoubtedly the star of the show. This spectacular piece of engineering combines  a bridge and a tunnel to allow road and rail transport between Malmo and Copenhagen and still leave a clear channel for ships. I have somewhat of a penchant for bridges and I have now made it one of my top priorities to see this bridge before I die.

This week I give you my favourite 10 Bridges that I actually have seen

1. Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

Walking across the bridge and looking back across the bay  towards the city with Alcatraz off to the left is probably my favourite view in the world

 2. Forth Rail Bridge

     I did not have to travel half way round the world to see this one. 40 miles to the east is this iconic bridge

3. Brooklyn Bridge, New York

   On my sojourn across from Manhattan to Brooklyn I was fortunate not to endure the problems suffered by Godzilla on this bridge

4. Brig O'Doon, Alloway, Ayrshire

Ah, Tam! ah, Tam! thou'll get thy fairin'!
In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin'!
In vain thy Kate awaits thy commin'!
Kate soon will be a woefu' woman!
Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg,
And win the key-stane o' the brig;
There at them thou thy tail may toss,
A running stream they dare na cross.
But ere the key-stane she could make,
The fient a tail she had to shake!
For Nannie, far before the rest,
Hard upon noble Maggie prest,
And flew at Tam wi' furious ettle;
But little wist she Maggie's mettle -
Ae spring brought off her master hale,
But left behind her ain gray tail;
The carlin claught her by the rump,
And left poor Maggie scarce a stump.

5. Tees Transporter Bridge, Middlesbrough

    Like a giant Meccano set this bridge carries up to 9 cars across the river on a 'gondola' suspended from the bridge. Simply wonderful

6. Pont Neuf, Paris


    A beautiful bridge which lets you cross from the rive gauche to the rive droite in style

7. Bridge across the M62 in Yorkshire (Scammonden Bridge, I think)

   I used to spend a lot of my working life travelling back and forth across the godforsaken M62 and this elaborate bridge connecting two places I had never heard of and would never visit used to be one of the few bright spots in my day along with the farmhouse situated between the two carriageways. I always imagined the farmer telling the planners, "No you cannot have my farm. You will just have to go round me", and so they did on both sides. In the hundreds (possibly thousands) of times I drove past that farm I never once saw a human being in or around it. You would not want to break down there at night

8. Adolphe Bridge, Luxembourg

  I went to Europe with my mum and dad on a driving holiday in the late 60s in my dad's Mini and I remember this bridge making an impression on me even back then

9. Newton Cap Viaduct, Bishop Auckland

   Ask any of my sons and they will tell you, I do love a good viaduct and this one holds a special place in my heart. When I first moved to County Durham with my mum and dad we rented part of a farm house which lay underneath the Newton Cap Viaduct.
It was originally built in 1857 to carry the Bishop Auckland to Durham City railway line across the River Wear and the Newton Cap Bank that leads down to the river. The railway closed in 1968 and the viaduct fell into a period of disuse and was at one point threatened with demolition. However in 1995, the viaduct was converted for vehicle use to take traffic on the A689 between Bishop Auckland and Crook

10. Kingston Bridge, Glasgow

      I could not have a list of bridges without including my old friend the Kingston Bridge in Glasgow. As someone who has lived on the South side of Glasgow for over 30 years and worked across the river it seems like I have spent a lifetime on that bridge. At peak hours, a bridge to be avoided at all costs but I guess a small price to pay for living in such a wonderful city as Glasgow



Given that you can never get too much of a good thing, I leave you this week with my Top 10 Bridge related songs

1. Bridge Over Troubled Waters.........Simon and Garfunkel
2. Brothers Under The Bridge.............Bruce Springsteen
3. View From A Bridge......................Kim Wilde
4. Building A Bridge To Your Heart....Wax
5. London Bridge................................Fergie
6. I'm The Man That Built The Bridges..Tom Paxton
7. The Bridge.......................................Elton John
8. Don't Burn The Bridge.....................Don McLean
9. Under The Bridge...........................Red Hot Chili Peppers
10. Bridge Of Sighs............................Robin Trower

OK I am done! Off for a game of bridge now.
I bid Three Hearts. (I hope that's right, I have never played bridge in my life. My mum only taught me Knockout Whist)

If I should become a stranger, you know that it would make me more than sad

As I was flicking channels the other night I came across one of those movies that you have to watch regardless as to how much of the movie you have already missed

This particular one was Gregory's Girl, a film which although set in Cumbernauld always manages to warm the very cockles of my  heart every time I watch it

First rate performances from John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn and Clare Grogan (of Altered Images fame) and outstanding cameos from the likes of Chic Murray as the headmaster ("off you go, you small boys") and Charlie and Andy in their search for girls ("That's not how you spell Caracus anyway. It's c-a-s not c-u-s" "We've been standing here for hours. Why didn't you tell me?")
 Bill Forsyth captures the essence of growing up in Scotland

This made me think of all the other excellent movies which have been set in Scotland. There are the more famous ones such as Braveheart, Highlander (above is a picture of Young Ben auditioning for the latest remake), The Wicker Man and Whisky Galore but today I give you my Top 10 Less Famous Best and Worst Movies set in Scotland

Best

1. Local Hero (1983)......an absolute gem of a movie with a wonderful soundtrack from Mark Knopfler
2. Breaking The Waves (1996)...a tragic tale set in a repressed, deeply religious community in the North of Scotland with a fantastic performance from Emily Watson
3. Small Faces (1996)...the story of three teenage brothers growing up in the 1960s gang culture in Glasgow
4. Comfort and Joy (1984)...Bill Forsyth again as the always excellent Bill Patterson is caught up in a comedic tale of ice cream wars in Glasgow
5. Ratcatcher (1999)...a disturbing depiction of childhood in the Glasgow slums of the 1970s
6. Shallow Grave (1994)...a great modern thriller from Danny Boyle
7. Eye Of The Needle (1981)...Donald Sutherland as a German spy finding refuge on a remote Scottish island
8. Sweet Sixteen (2002)...powerful bittersweet tale of a teenager in Greenock preparing for the release of his mother from prison
9. Dear Frankie (2004)...another one set in Greenock with Gerard Butler showing a softer side to the one he did in '300'
10. Young Adam (2003)...Hollywood superstars Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton in a tense movie set on a barge travelling between Glasgow and Edinburgh

Worst

1. Trainspotting (1996)...didn't like the book, didn't like the film. Also didn't like the fact that all the main drug takers were likable characters and the complete psycho of the group, Begbie, was the only one who did not take drugs. But maybe I am just getting old.
2. Neds (2010)...everything that was captured well in Small Faces was sadly missed in this cliche riddled take on gangs in 1970s Glasgow
3. Gregory's Two Girls (1999).....no,no,no,no,no why would you do this
4. A Shot At Glory (2000)....what could possibly have convinced Robert Duvall and Michael Keaton to appear in this. Was it the chance to perform alongside Super Ally ? Current Ayr manager Brian Reid also showed that his acting skills were on a par with his management skills
5. Loch Ness (1996)....Sam from Cheers is in this truly awful movie
6. Rob Roy (1995)..Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange put on their best Scottish accents. Only Tim Roth gets pass marks as the particularly nasty Cunningham but he comes to a 'sticky end' at the hands of our noble hero Rob. Sorry....Spoiler Alert
7. Brigadoon (1954)....Gene Kelly shows how we Scots love to sing and dance Hollywood style
8. The Big Man (1990)...Liam Neeson again as a miner forced into bare-knuckle boxing to make ends meet
9. The Bruce (1996)....well it worked in Braveheart with Wallace played by Mel Gibson, so let's do a movie about our other historical hero Robert the Bruce and have him played by the legend that is Sandy Welch ...(no, me neither)
10. Greyfriars Bobby (1961)....Scotland Disney style. It's just like you would imagine it....if you were visiting EPCOT

That's me. I am off to watch Balamory for accurate portrayals of we Scots.
Bring back Doctor Findlay that's what I say!
“Aye Janet! You’re still a fine looking woman!”
“Oh! Doctor Cameron, no, no..”

And as life travels on and things do go wrong

So, as the weather in Scotland shifted from St Tropez to Siberia in the course of a few days, Young Ben and I were confined to the house last week and I managed to catch up with what had been happening in the life of 'Special Agent Oso'

I have learnt that Oso means bear in Spanish. Those people at Disney are just so clever. Anyway Oso is a stuffed bear who is a trainee agent for U.N.I.Q.U.E. (United Network for Investigating Quite Usual Events) and in each episode he helps a child with an everyday task such as brushing their teeth, gathering leaves or posting a card

Since he is a Special Agent, all the episodes have a James Bond related title like 'From Grandpa With Love', 'You Only Live In Pasadena', 'A View To A Watermelon' or 'Diamonds Are Forever but A Sandwich from Greggs Will Only Last A Day Or Two'

I was hoping they would have one about a baker with a Midas touch and call it 'The Man With The Golden Bun', but I digress. Each adventure shows Oso assisting the child in need with the aid of Three Special Steps given to Oso by the ever-helpful Paw Pilot.

So when Sally wanted to post a card the instructions Oso received were Step 1...Write the address on the envelope...Step 2 ...put a stamp on the envelope....Step 3 ...put the envelope in a mailbox (that's a post box to you and I)

Oso usually has a mishap or two along the way, which then gives him a chance to use his catchphrase "It's all part of the plan....more or less"

Last week Oso had to help a young chap build an Atomic Bomb. So as not to appear in any way stereotypical let's give this young fellow a nondescript generic name like Kim Jong Un. Oso was only to glad to help in an episode called 'Deathfinger'. Paw Pilot gave them their Three Special Steps and off they went
Step 1....Obtain some Uranium
Step 2 ...Arrange the Uranium in two hemispherical shapes
Step 3....Attach a detonator

Anyway they were getting along famously until some other agents came along and offered them a holiday in some nice Bay in Cuba.

I really hope Oso is back next week in time to help Timmy fly a kite

That's all I have this week. I am off to make a cup of tea

Step 1 ...Boil a kettle of water (but only enough for the tea. Remember to save the environment)
Step 2...Put a tea-bag in a mug
Step 3...Pour the boiling water into the mug

Hang on a minute I have used up all my Steps and I have still to take out the tea-bag, add milk, stir my tea and get a biscuit from the cupboard. Oso where are you when I need you?

Bittersweet memories, that is all I am taking with me

As I stood there last Saturday watching my team Ayr United lose 3-1 at home to Partick Thistle and continue sliding inexorably towards relegation, I thought to myself what is it that makes a football supporter pick his team and then stay with them for life.

There are several factors to be considered when analysing this relationship which lasts far  longer than most marriages

How do we choose our team in the first place?

LOCATION......Most true supporters follow their home town club. I grew up in Ayr so that was the team I went to watch

GLORY HUNTERS......the people who follow the 'big' teams because they win trophies. Even back then I knew these existed when I would see buses filled with Rangers or Celtic supporters leave Ayr every Saturday

FAMILY......many people support the team that their dad supported before them. My dad was not a huge football fan but growing up in Glasgow he had always considered himself a Clyde fan. Fortunately this was not passed down.
I also have two older brothers and one of them followed Ayr while the other went in for some minor Glory Hunting by following Kilmarnock. We don't like to speak about that. Everyone makes mistakes and apart from that he was an excellent big brother

However, once you have picked your team, sometimes they 'move the goalposts' . Take a team like the aforementioned Clyde. You become a Clyde fan, like my dad, because you grow up in the vicinity of Shawfield in Glasgow and then some years later they move to Cumbernauld. I have to say here and now if Barcelona were playing every week in Cumbernauld I would still struggle to go there. This is a town which is twinned with Sodom and Gomorrah and let me tell you there are more than a few pillars of salt around Cumbernauld

There are other changes which can occur to your team that leave you wondering, what is it about my team that actually makes it my team

Stadium.......even if your team does not move all the way to a new town, sometimes they move to a new modern stadium. This may sound like a step forward but if you have ever been to the Strathclyde Homes Stadium in Dumbarton and sat in the one stand looking at three empty sides of a ground you would know otherwise. You can cut the atmosphere there with a blunt spoon

Manager .....unless you are a Manchester United supporter then most supporters' mobile phones last longer than their team's managers

Players .....as with Managers these come and go and the good ones always go a lot quicker than the bad ones. There is also a trend by many supporters to boo players who come back to play against their old teams. This has always seemed a bit harsh to me but at Ayr there are fans who would boo a player even if he left us to join Real Madrid. Players who have previously played for your local rivals are also subjected to abuse. I recall watching a Newcastle United v Aston Villa game earlier this season and there were so many ex-Newcastle or ex-Sunderland players in the Villa team that the home fans booed for most of the game.
Good enough for them I say.

Name .....If you were unfortunate enough to be an Airdrieonians fan not only did you move stadium but you also changed names to Airdrie United after going out of business in 2002.
I was at their last game which happened to be at Somerset Park against Ayr. With Ayr leading 1-0 the Airdrie 'fans' invaded the pitch and broke the cross-bar causing the game to be abandoned. 'Leopard' and 'Spots' springs to mind

Not surprisingly my own three sons are all football fans. The two eldest ones are Rangers fans. Growing up in Eaglesham in the 80s/90s that was not a surprising choice for those Glory Hunters. My youngest son used to come to Ayr games with me but then realised there were better things to do with his Saturdays and subsequently went to Uni in Edinburgh and then a career in London just to escape the strong urge to return to Somerset Park.

For me however, the Odyssey continues. I have followed Ayr through the bad times and the bloody awful times and now it looks as if we are going to snatch relegation from the jaws of safety. We are at home to champions-elect Ross County on Wednesday. Two years ago we had a similar fixture against Inverness Caley. We lost 7-0.

There is an old saying "Adversity brings knowledge and knowledge wisdom". All I can say then is that after watching Ayr for so many years just call me Solomon. 

But the melody keeps haunting me, reminding how in love we used to be. Keep hearing the part that used to touch our hearts

There is a show on tour at present which features The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Crystals and Tavares.

Being a huge Motown fan, a few years ago I would have paid a lot of money to see this show but when I researched the current tour I discovered all is not quite as it seems

Of the original Four Tops line-up which gave us such classics as 'Reach Out', 'Walk Away Renee', 'Bernadette' and 'I Can't Help Myself' sadly there is only one original Top still spinning

Abdul "Duke" Fakir is in the current line-up at the age of 76. Sadly the the other three members have passed away. Lawrence Payton in 1997 (his son is a current group member), "Obie" Benson in 2005 and the wonderful Levi Stubbs in 2008

It is a similar story with The Temptations. Of the original line-up only Otis Williams at 70 remains a fairly aging Temptation accompanied now by slightly less alluring new enticements and giving us 2012 renditions of their number 1 hits 'My Girl', 'Just My Imagination' and 'Papa Was A Rollin' Stone'

The other four Temptations are no longer with us. Paul Williams died in 1973, David Ruffin who had solo success with songs like 'Walk Away From Love' in 1975 died in 1991, Eddie Kendricks who had a solo U.S. Number 1 with 'Keep On Truckin' ' in 1973 died in 1992 and Melvyn Franklyn died in 1995

The Crystals who had Top 10 hits in the 60s with the superb 'Then He Kissed Me' and for some strange reason one of my all-time favourites 'Da Doo Ron Ron' had problems with their line-up even in the early days but the current group include founder member Dolores "Dee Dee" Kenniebrew now 66

Looking at the picture for the current line-up "Dee Dee" appears to have aged better than the gentlemen. Perhaps she has some magic Crystal that keeps her young

Tavares seem like boys compared to The Four Tops and The Temptations and the group made up of five brothers is still going strong although I believe one of the brothers has left. I am sure the audience will be bopping away to their disco hits of the 70s...'Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel', 'Don't Take Away The Music' and their version of the  Bee Gees song 'More Than A Woman' which featured in the movie Saturday Night Fever

This made me think about how a group can continue to use the same name despite massive changes to the make-up of the group.

In the early/mid 70s I was a massive fan of 10CC. I still have their first four albums (10CC, Sheet Music, The Original Soundtrack and How Dare You) on vinyl and I saw them in concert at that time. Then in 1976 they split up. As with most break-ups you have to pick a side and I was definitely a Godley/Creme man rather than Gouldman/Stewart who continued as 10CC.

Surely they should then have been known as 5CC. Their output suffered drastically and apart from the excellent 'Dreadlock Holiday' they produced little to match what had gone before. Godley & Creme on the other hand released 'Under Your Thumb', 'Wedding Bells' and 'Cry' all of which compared favourably with previous material in my opinion

They did all reform for a while in 1991 but as Don Henley says "Don't look back, you can never look back". It didn't last and recently Graham Gouldman is the only original member still performing as 10CC, or 2.5CC as they should now be called.

My mate asked me if I wanted to go and see The Hollies on their 50th Anniversary Tour. They still have some members with longevity but no Allan Clarke or Graham Nash. I always found it strange that when The Hollies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010 none of the current line-up appeared yet Clarke and Nash turned up to perform 'Bus Stop', 'Carrie Ann' and 'Long Tall Woman (in a Black Dress)'

The success of Graham Nash has always amazed me. How he managed to perform with the talent of Crosby, Stills and Young astounds me. It's like Joey Barton being asked to play midfield for Barca with Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas. It's just not right!

Anyway I digress. I told my mate that I did not want to see 70 year old men singing 50 year old songs. So we are going to see Frankie Valli instead. Oh What A Night that should be!