Never Underestimate an Old Man With A Jaguar

I have my Jag back from the garage ! It came back holding a repair bill for £1,401.24p  - oh well it's only money.

Guess I will have to sell more of my books and push the author royalties up a bit in 2018. My publisher is for ever complaining I do not promote my writing enough. Anyone want the job of being my manager ?

Of course I could always moonlight as a DJ on a pirate radio station. Are you old enough to remember the evil Marine Offences Act which sank the pirates ?  How about we launch a campaign to repeal the act.

Never underestimate an old man with a Jaguar.

Actually my book sales for 2018 have started well, perhaps that bill for the Jag's repair won't be so bad after all. Mind you I would still like to be a DJ on a pirate radio station !

I went to the cinema last night to watch Star Wars - The Last Jedi ! Oh dear what a load of rubbish that was. Special effects and loud music can not compensate for a weak story line.

My assessment:

• Special effects 10 out of 10
• Music 7 out of 10
• Characters 5 out of 10
• Story line 1 out of 10 and that is being generous

I hope my books have a better story lines than that !

One thing is certain, certain for sure, is we have some great story lines tomorrow brought to the Secklow Radio Roadshow

by the three good causes represented in the Asda Green Token Community Programme.

Medical Detection Dogs - Jo's Hope - OurRebekah

With the Jag back and working I will have no difficulty packing everything into it to transport to Asda early tomorrow morning. 

Everything is planned, everything is in place. We have a great story line, the music will be loud but not too loud and the special effects provided by customers dancing in the isles of the biggest supermarket in the region.

Yesterday I popped in to Asda with the balloons for staff to inflate - THANK YOU for taking on that job.

All I have to do today is to sort a running order. Not a strict playlist but something more general so we can react to how the customers are bopping. I will have everything set up and running for half past seven and will probably kick off with a bit of honky-tonk piano from Russ Conway.

Conway was a star from my early childhood. I admire him, admire him for the way he turned his life round from being a young offender in Borstal where he learned to play the piano to becoming one of the most popular entertainers of his day.  The end of one of his fingers was

amputated yet he could still bash out a tune like this.

If you read my teenage autobiography (I write under the pen-name of Max Robinson so do not be confused) you will learn how through out all of  my school days I was an under achiever. Today I despise underachieving

The last thing Russ Conway was, was an underachiever. I wonder if he drove a Jaguar !

Then I want to play some music from Disney as we give out the balloons Asda staff will have so kindly inflated.

You are listening to the music here on the blog aren't you ? Get into the mood and bop.

In one of my books I exploit Quantum Physics to travel through time and space back to the 1960's where I do indeed become a DJ on a pirate radio station. QUANTUM MECHANICS - A trilogy of time travel.

Do you think The Geriatric DJ would be given a job on a pirate radio station ?  I do have the right gear to wear. It will be worth coming down to Asda tomorrow just to see me look like that.

I have heard on the grapevine that Asda's press office is sending someone along. I wonder if I may end up on the cover of their customer magazine.

Never underestimate an old man with a Jaguar.

What next ?  I have music from the 60's and 70's.  I am definitely going to play this.

I am a teenager you know.....YES I AM !  I am 17 years old - 17 + 50 !  One thing I am not packing into the Jag to take to Asda tomorrow is my Zimmer Frame.

I spoke about how I was an underachiever at school. There will be no underachieving

tomorrow.....Life is a DISCO and everyone at Asda will be dancing.

My Teenage Autobiography has no under achieving in it.  Those were great years full of music and full of fun.

So what else am I going to play ?

Yesterday I watched the New Year Concert from Vienna. This is always a highlight of Christmas for me. This year's concert was the best I have ever seen. So I will play a Strauss waltz and encourage customers to dance in three-four time to the music.

I think I may have to take off my 1970's platform shoes before I dance myself !

He he............

Throughout the day we will be taking requests and dedications. At three o'clock I will play HI

Ho Silver Lining for my friends at Sheffield Wednesday who will be kicking off in a cup tie against Carlisle United. Then when the final whistle is blown I will play Singing The Blues to celebrate the victory. 

The club asked yesterday if Gary and I wanted to be part of their executive grandstand buffet for the game against Aston Villa next month. 

Put it this way.......

Win tomorrow and I will turn the volume for Singing The Blues right up and then you can book us in for the dining room.

Does that sound like a good deal  ?

I will be e-mailing Club Director Trevor with a good luck message later today and will make sure the boys know I will be playing music for them.

I have never written a book about football although there is one chapter in The Wild Adventures of Di Central Eating where young Di has an adventure with his local team, Aston Villa.

There is a lot of music in that book, perhaps I may play a dedication for young Di.

What I do want to do, what I will be doing, is to play lots of dedications for the three good causes the roadshow is supporting tomorrow. I will play requests and dedications for customers and staff at Asda.

Can I play something for you ?

e-mail me now at dashford566@gnail.com or message me on Facebook

Better still.............. COME ALONG TO ASDA SUPERMARKET IN BLETCHLEY TOMORROW BETWEEN 8am and 8pm to join in the fun and have your request played.

Does anyone remember this tune ?

That's something I have in my head to do at a future roadshow. Let me think it through a bit then I'll say more in a later blog.

So I'll see you tomorrow then.

One final thing !  Hey, my publisher - have I promoted my books enough today ?  Yeh, I know there are a lot more but will what I have put here today shut you up ?

Life is a DISCO - so DANCE

Yesterday the blog achieved a readership of  215. That's not bad but today I want to reach a bigger number. This is a bit of a grasshopper edition as I have so many different things to share. Let me start with Saturday.

The Geriatric DJ is a bit behind in the schedule for Saturday's twelve hour marathon of

music in Asda Supermarket as I play music to launch the store's Green Token Community Programme for January, February and March. Have no fear, all will be sorted by the end of today.

I have to prepare the display boards for the three good causes, take the one thousand balloons down to Asda for staff to inflate. Then I need to sort the playlists. You can help me with that.

On Saturday we will be inviting the 10,000 + shoppers passing by the Secklow Radio Roadshow to make requests

for us to play.  Ahead of that is there a request I could include for you ?  Would you like me to dedicate a song for you ?

Just drop me a line at dashford566@gmail.com or hit me with a message on Facebook.

The picture of Yours Truly on Facebook wearing my Geriatric DJ  pulled FORTY, yes forty, comments.  I am flattered.

Shut up David - play some music.

One thing that is worrying me about Saturday is my transport to ans from Asda. The Jag is

poorly, very poorly. It is possible the garage can fix everything in time for Saturday but if not I have to pack all the equipment, display boards, the vinyl collection and even myself into our spare car. When I put together the display boards this morning I need to pop in something else, a notice to put on the back of the ridiculous vehicle saying THIS CAR DOES NOT BELONG TO ME !

God I hate that silly little car. 

Get well soon my lovely Jaguar.

Let's play some more music.

How about this ? 

While you watch and listen check out the three good causes we will be supporting on Saturday.

I do have two requests booked in for Saturday.

At three o'clock precisely I will play HI HO SILVER LINING by Jeff Beck, playing it for all my

friends at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club. Then when the final whistle is blown, round about 5.50pm SINGING THE BLUES to celebrate a win.

I purchased original singles of those two songs from e-bay, paid to have them mounted then  took Tony Ingeldow from Secklow Radio's programme Time Tunnel to Hillsborough to present them to the club.

I had a lovely Christmas card from Ronald McDonald House in Nashville Tennessee and beautiful e-mail from Ronald McDonald House in San Francisco. Tony - I have an idea !

Costing a small fortune - he he - I waved my Visa Debit card at the club shop to get a pair of Sheffield Wednesday away shirts. How about you and I drive up to the club's training ground and get the players to autograph them. I will take one to San Francisco in April and the other can be given to Nashville. We can collect requests from those at Hillsborough and at the training ground which you can play on your Afternoon Delight show. Good idea or what ?

Wednesday is going through a bit of a team manager crisis at the moment so I will leave our friend Club Director Trevor alone but in a couple of weeks time I will run the idea past him. Trevor, I know you dip into my blog, if you find this hang on and I will call you later in the month.

I was a very good boy yesterday.  I wrote another one thousand words for my book The Bridge House. I promise to write some more today. 

The Bridge House is the story of the times through which my grandmother Lily lived. It begins shortly after her 11th birthday in 1901 and ends a year before her death in 1983. 

Lily is a real character, she was my grandmother, and the times I am writing about are historically accurate but I do wrap everything into a blanket of my author's imagination.

Lord Henry Wilton, for example, is fiction but the situations I take Henry and Lily through are real enough.

The book, when finished, will be published in May with all royalties going to Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham. We are talking about a book launch in June or July so I had better get cracking. 

I have written a Sheffield Wednesday player from the era of

World War One into the story, he is real enough but he never actually knew Lily's husband William as he does in the story.

Another purchase I made on e-bay was the Adam Faith LP - Adam. This was the very first LP I ever owned. I hope it arrives in time for me to play some tracks from it on Saturday.

I am at the point in  the story where I buy that original LP from Stone's Newsagent just over the road from where Lily Lived.

Nan quite liked the songs Adam Faith sang.

Let's have another piece of music I plan to play on Saturday.

When The Bridge House is finished, ahead of submitting the text for publication, I need help. LOTS OF HELP to proof read it, edit out the numerous typo's and advise if the plot development works for the reader. I think there are times when a sub plot is needed to link different situations together.

This is where I intend to find that help - MY LEONITES. Look at Lord Muck sitting in the middle. 

This is the last of four year groups at Leon School who had me at its head. I am so proud to have many, many Leonites as friends. It has been twenty years since I was inside a classroom. I will be turning to my Leonite Friends to help proof read The Bridge House.

Leonite Rachel suggested we should start a series of monthly social get-togethers and perhaps do something in memory of Leonite James who passed away last year. Just after Christmas I bumped into Leonite Paul and ran the idea past him. I think we should make this happen and make it happen quite soon.

So my Leonites how about you pop by to Asda in Bletchley on Saturday, any time between 8am and 8pm and request a record for me to play ? We can chat and make a plan.

You won't miss me - that tee shirt stands out a mile.  AND I have not changed that much from when Sir used to muscle his way onto the microphone of the school disco and make you dance to silly songs.

Why are so many of you sitting down in that picture ?  Nobody will be allowed to sit down on Saturday. Life is a Disco SO DANCE !

On Saturday I am definitely going to have people dance to this. On your feet and give it a go. Come on UP you get.

See you all on Saturday but before then send me your requests to play.

E-mail them to me at dashfiord566@gmail.com or message me on facebook.

So this is David aka The Geriatric DJ, aka Secklow Radio's Audience Development Manager, aka Max Robinson Author, aka The Patriotic Pensioner aka a PROUD LEONITE signing off for today.

Never forget - Life is a DISCO - so DANCE !

Come and rock with The Geriatric DJ

The Geriatric DJ  will be appearing between 8am and 8pm at Asda Supermarket in Bletchley on Saturday.


Just look at those shoes !

On the blog yesterday I spoke about SUPPORT click here if you missed it.

Seventy-eight people checked the blog. How many will read today's page ?

Today I want to speak about support again but today support in a different form.

On Saturday I will be wearing my wig, shades, tee shirt, flares and those incredible shoes to help launch Asda's Green Token Scheme for January to March. 

Asda runs its quarterly community programme inviting customers to vote for their favourite among three good causes.

Playing music with The Secklow Radio Roadshow 
I will present the three good causes and invite customers to vote with their support.


So let me tell you about the three causes I will be playing music for on Saturday.

The first good cause is MEDICAL DETECTION DOGS - Click Here for their website.

There are BIO DETECTION DOGS  who can be trained to identify the odour of cancer and potentially the development of a simple method of non-invasive cancer diagnosis.

There are MEDICAL ALERT DETECTION DOGS who with their amazing sense of smell our Medical Alert Assistance Dogs support individuals who live with dangerous health conditions.

I don't know about you but I find that pretty amazing. I shall be proud to play music on Saturday to support this good cause.

Asda has provided Secklow Radio Roadshow an amazing opportunity to play music INSIDE their store on Saturday. TWELVE HOURS of music !  We expect TEN THOUSADND customers to pass by our music decks.  I am working on the playlist. If we can average twenty-five songs an hour  we are going to need three hundred songs ! Three hundred songs x ten thousand people -
 WOW !

Here's a quick pic from the Roadshow in December. We played lots of Christmas music then. Yesterday I went out to buy a Disney CD to play music for the children.

I am definitely going to play this song  NO don't skip this PLAY THE VIDEO BELOW !  This comes from my favourite ride in Disneyland California - The happiest place on Earth.

On Saturday that original Disneyland will have a rival, Asda Milton Keynes may well steal its thunder to become the happiest place on earth.

The second of the three good causes represented in Asda's Green Token Scheme for January to March is Jo's Hope.

CLICK HERE to visit Jo's Hope's website.

There have been funding cutbacks meaning several crucial provisions are no longer available to those suffering from breast cancer.

Those suffering from Breast Cancer requiring surgery will not be provided with the post-surgery bra needed to help wounds heal.

There is a limited supply of Psychological Assistance needed for cancer patients.

Jo's Hope is not aware of any services that are currently available for the families of non-bereaved members.

There are no non-medical therapeutic provisions available to cancer patients that don’t involve a waiting list of up to six months.

Jo’s Hope's goal is to help patients return to the person they were before their diagnosis.

Wearing my Geriatric D J costume on Saturday I will be supported by Stuart Moore who presents the Mind Your Own Business show on Secklow 105.5.

Stuart will be handing out sweets and balloons,

we have ONE THOUSAND BALLOONS to give away to the children and a mega-fun pop music quiz sheet to all who fancy a bit of a challenge.

Catherine Rose, presenter of Secklow's popular  Classics From Scratch show will be spinning the discs during the afternoon.

Taking off my Geriatric DJ persona to become a little more sensible I was honoured to be the guest on Catherine's show last week. It was great fun and I enjoyed myself so much as

Catherine presented my four favourite pieces of Classical Music.

Catherine, I have an idea.  Let's get everyone to clap to the Radetzky March.

Come on everyone - get into training and CLICK HERE.

Allow me to set modesty aside. May I invite you take some time out and listen to Yours Truly on Catherine's show last week.

CLICK HERE - go on DO IT.

The third good cause represented in Asda's Green Token Scheme is OurRebekah. The website is being redeveloped but you can visit it by CLICKING HERE.

Rebekah was born with Chronic Renal Failure. Her family was among the first to be supported by the very first Ronald McDonald House in the country. There are now 16 Ronald McDonald Houses in the UK and 366 world wide supporting and keeping families together when they have a child sick in hospital.  

Rebekah died suddenly and unexpectedly on 19th May last year. Her friends set up OurRebekah to support families with a child sick in hospital.

Let's have another piece of music.

We are going to have a super day on Saturday. To quote a phrase from pop music history - BE THERE OR BE SQUARE.  

We have invited Asda staff members to snatch the microphone out of The Gerriatric DJ's hand and spin some discs as we party.

One tune The Geriatric DJ will be keeping to himself is this.......................

We think The Geriatric DJ has a penalty or two for anyone who does not dance and do the actions. BE WARNED.

Here's a picture of Mayor David Hopkins as DJ at a Secklow Radio Roadshow. David is appearing on Tony's Time Tunnel on Monday 22nd January to present his favourite top ten hits from the 70's. On the right of the picture is Mayoress Susan. She said to me shortly after she and her husband took office: IT DOES NOT MATTER WHICH GOOD CAUSE YOU SUPPORT PROVIDING YO SUPPORT ONE.

There are three good causes presented by Asda over the next three months, three great causes, every one worthy of your support, every one as good as the other two. It does not matter which you select to support providing you DO select one. When you shop ask the check out staff for a green token then use it to vote for your choice.

So this is David the Audience Development Manager at Secklow 105.5 aka The Geriatric DJ signing off and saying.....

SEE YOU ON SATURDAY - BE THERE OR BE SQUARE

I will leave you with The Secklow Radio Roadshow signature tune - Red River Rock by Johnny and The Hurricanes and REMEMBER Life is a DISCO so DANCE !

Let's talk about support shall we

I made my way into the dining room ahead of the match, wished the happy smiling people at Hillsborough a Happy New Year and looked forward to an exciting game.

There was a gift of a club calendar for 2018 at my place. Sheffield Wednesday FC THANK YOU.

AH !  Look what else had been put on the table to await my arrival.

An invitation from the club;'s community programme to attend a twelve week fitness course ! Was someone trying to tell me something ?

I must confess that for a while I seriously considered signing up but to support my team at Hillsborough involves a three hour drive up the motorway and then a three hour dive home again. To commit myself to every Monday evening for twelve weeks could be, what is the word I am looking for ?

BONKERS ? Perhaps.........

Sheffield Wednesday is the best football club in England. FACT. This fitness project is part of a vast community programme which would put some of the "big" clubs to shame.

I have always liked Sheffield as a city, I have known it for many years. It is a warm, friendly city with a proud history. When the steel industry all but collapsed Sheffield did not fall into depression, it reinvented itself to become what it is today.

That warm city welcome is what everyone finds when they walk into Hillsborough. The kind lady who manages the reception desk smiled yesterday, wished us Happy New Year then without asking our names, she knew who we were, handed over the envelope containing our tickets.

The backroom staff, the stadium management team, the car park staff, the stewards, the media team - they make Sheffield Wednesday Football Club the best in the country.

25,506 PEOPLE attended yesterday's game. I am careful to use the word PEOPLE and not supporters. Let's say there were one and a half thousand Burton Albion SUPPORTERS there yesterday leaving twenty-four thousand to cheer on Wednesday.

Not the club, no not the club - the TEAM at Sheffield Wednesday is going through a bad time. Sixteenth in the table the finger of relegation is starting to point our way.

I was still in my seat when the final whistle blew to confirm a humiliating 3-0 defeat. The Burton Albion fans were there. Burton Albion is in twenty-second place in the league with the hand of relegation reaching out with certainty.   How many of the Wednesday fans remained ? Five thousand perhaps. Not a lot more.

I watched temporary coach Lee Bullen give his post match assessment on the club website, the word he kept using was EMBARRASSED.  He is a man of passion who was bitterly let down by his players yesterday. I am sure he told them what he though after the game. I know nothing at all about football tactics but I know a lot about passion and even more about support. Had I been in that dressing room with Lee I can assure you some backside would have been kicked.

Without a twelve week training course for overweight, aging fans such as I my performance on the pitch yesterday would have showed more passion than that of the highly paid team members.

The backside kicking I would have delivered to some players - not all, however, would have been a gentle tickle to what I would like to give to the fifteen thousand or so supporters who deserted their club ahead of the final whistle. When anyone in any area of life goes through a tough time that is when support is needed. YOU DO NOT WALK AWAY.

It is times like these when the club is working with a failing team of players that the cheering of the fans needs to be at its loudest. Loudest does not mean 75% of the fans walking out of the stadium ahead of the final whistle. If I were a player in a failing team who had just put out a rubbish performance fans deserting their seats would hardly inspire me to put passion into my game.

Passion !  Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a club of passion.  Win or lose I love my trips to Hillsborough and hope I bring some passion with me. Fans yesterday lacked the passion to inspire the team to do any better than it did.

Here are two players yesterday who for my money played with passion every second of the game. 

How did they feel when seventy-five percent of the fans walked out ahead of the final whistle ?

If Sheffield Wednesday had a squad of players like these two people clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United could shut up shop and play cricket instead of football.

Next time the fans start chanting COME ON WEDNESDAY - COME ON WEDNESDAY someone needs to walk round and hand out mirrors so the fans can chant it to themselves.

Sheffield Wednesday IS the best football club in England.  It has the best chairman, it has a fantastic stadium in a fantastic city, it has a superb backroom staff. The team is playing rubbish right new - SO WHAT !  The chairman could bring in any manager he wished but the best way to inspire the team is for the fans to get behind them 101% and SING THE BLUES.