Another Website Created; Official Website for Terry Jenkins

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Krispy

Another Website Created; Official Website for Terry Jenkins

Terry Jenkins website

Terry Jenkins website - it's the Raging Bull!

Yep I’ve been very busy, and created yet another website, hosted on my own server as I like to do.  Another based on WordPress, with a custom header and the new twenty eleven base theme (with some custom tweaks to make the header a bit smaller!).

Terry is a PDC professional darts player, known as ‘The Bull’, who is currently world number 10, but has been as high as no 5 in recent years.  He’s a real fans favourite too – and does a lot of darts exhibitions around the country.

The site will allow Terry and his team to keep fans updated with his results and news, plus also sell his exhibition tickets using a shopping cart plugin and Paypal system.  It’s the second website I’ve done for a darts pro (I run a big darts fansite of course, and get to meet the players, many as friends).  Hopefully there will be more!

You can take a look at terryjenkins.co.uk 

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London Beer Trip; Gram’s 40th Birthday Bash

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Krispy

Saturday was one of those social events that just can’t be missed; my old school chum Graham’s 40th B’day drinky down in the big smoke.  It was a great chance to catch up with some of the best lads around, and also an excuse to get a little bit tipsy.

I think around 16 of us ended up in the Euston Flyer pub, our first stop on a pub packed journey.  Someone had done their homework, as we were able to walk between Kings Cross and the 5 or 6 pubs, then back again to catch a pint back in Pboro in the Great Northern hotel bar, sorted.

LOADS of bottled beers at the Euston Tap

LOADS of bottled beers at the Euston Tap, there was another set of fridges like this the other side of the bar!

The Euston Flyer was a fairly standard Fullers pub, although some of their beer wasn’t kept as well as you’d like.  One pint was nice n bright tho, and went down a treat (mind’s blank as to what it actually was mind you, not a ‘standard’ Fullers pint that I’ve seen before anyway (had Discovery before that, and I’m told the Pride was fine).   The pub was PACKED by the time we left, as it’s a great place to meet up (which is why we had chosen it), and the football was on.  Unfortunately Pete H had managed to lose his phone within seconds of arriving – NOT CHUFFED!  So he had some catching up to do after dealing with the lovely people in lost n found back at the station.  We were the usual group of concerned blokes, showing empathy by ensuring we used our phones in front of him at every occasion :)

2nd pub was a classic, and a bit of a surprise; The Euston Tap.  The pub is in the park outside the Euston station, I think it was a station building at one point – one of a pair of gate houses (the other is being turned into a cider house I believe).  There’s little room in side on the ground floor, just enough for the interesting bar and standing room to order.  There’s seating upstairs, but as it was a cracking day for October, we stood outside in the sun.  The pub serves a massive amount of ales – mostly ‘craft’ ales from around the world.  Some 27 beers on tap(!), including one of my UK favourites, Jaipur.  I had a couple of great beers, a very rich ‘milk stout’ (can’t remember brewery :( ), and an American ruby ale, which was full of hops.  I completely recommend the pub, well worth a visit if you’re going past/through Euston.

Gram and Jez

The birthday boy Graham himself (left), before things got messy

Pub three (The Doric Arch) wasn’t anything to shout about inside, a Fullers pub which again sold some other good beers (Blue Moon from America, a Hoegarden type wheat beer), but it was only a few steps from the Tap, and showed football scores, so pretty handy at the time we were there!   Good news to make the afternoon even better, Peterborough won!  UP THE POSH!  The pub’s toilets were protected from local drug addicts by a code lock, not something easy to remember half way through a beer session!

A curry was required at this point, as we were all STARVING!  I think it must have been 7 or 8pm .. I’d lost track of time.  We found a local place and boosted their trade by 300% :)    A couple of beers and fish curry later, it was on to ‘The Bree Louise‘, which I believe has been CAMRA pub of the year for a couple of years running?   A PROPER pub this one, with a real mixture of drinkers.  Many real ales, most being served by gravity from the cask, and a large selection of ciders too – at least 7 or 8 I seem to remember, again from the cask on the whole.  I think I had a vintage scrumpy – so things were a bit hazy.  A whisky was also involved at some point.   Cracking ‘real’ pub – don’t expect pristine interior, or any keg lager (in fact there was one – 1664).

Then it was time to jump back on a train and get back to Boro for cheeky pint before home.  A cracking day out – not just for the beers, but to see some old friends, and to make some new.  I probably learnt a few things – and being a (MOSTLY) lads beery do, I heard the term “reach-around” far too many times, and probably had two asthma attacks from laughing so much! Â

 

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Darts T-Shirt Range Full Steam Ahead

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Krispy

My “Darts, Beers & Cheers!” brand is continuing to grow, with not only several websites coming under the banner;

But now I have a small but growing range of fun and unique darts t-shirts for sale, through my good friends at Cultzilla.co.uk.   The designs are a must for any hard-core fan looking for something a bit different to wear, especially when wanting to stand out at TV tournaments!

More designs coming all the time – darts wear for the discerning darts fan!

Keep Calm and Play Darts

"Keep Calm and Play Darts" design - a competition winner

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Peterborough Beer Festival Day 1 – Tuesday Scouting Mission

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Krispy
Peterborough Beer Festival 2011

Peterborough Beer Festival 2011 - I arrive at 5:40pm Tuesday

Well the traditional Tuesday ‘scouting mission’ at the Peterborough beer festival (beerfest) went well, with a few ales tried in the trusty half pint ‘tankard’ glass.  They even have straight half pint glasses if you prefer that; thought of everything the organisers have!

The festival is still in the new layout first tried last year, which I’m told is far better for the staff (and what a great job the volunteers do!), but wasn’t at all popular with punters last year – the music tent felt half deserted early in the week, as it was a bit of a dead end spot.

Well without constant rain, the new layout did feel better, and a very clever touch this year is a small ‘mini bar’ in the music tent itself, in the far corner away from the main beer tents.  It must about.. 20 or so real ales (a bit of a mixture of some of the more popular and easy drinking), 4 real ciders, and a fridge full of the European beers (including the ever popular ‘slag’).   So now those who like to watch the bands don’t have so much of a trek, especially those who fancy a cider which is the other side of the site.  Good work pboro CAMRA!   The music tent was certainly fuller than last year, so it seemed a success.

Dreamcatcher from Oakham Ales

Dreamcatcher from Oakham Ales - powerful 6.9% festival special

The rain stopped about 4pm in Peterborough, and amazingly by 6pm the floor was dry enough to sit down, and it was great to see a large amount of people enjoying being able to stand and enjoy their ales outside this year, after last year’s washout.

As for beer – I started with Oakham Ales’ festival ale – ‘Dreamcatcher’ – which was a hefty 6.9%, and probably a bad starter.  But I’m a traditionalist when it comes to the beerfest, and I always start with the Oakham festival beer!  It’s a ruby ale, very powerful hops – pretty damn good, as I found it pretty easy drinking too.  The Oakham bar was it’s usual high standard, and the staff all dressed up in Red Indian theme to go with the special.

Other tipples quaffed included; Hopshackle’s Lonestar – a TPA (Texas Pale Ale).  An American style 5.8% beer.  Very nice it is too.   Thornbridge‘s Jaipur (had to be done), Blue Monkey’s ‘Ape’ (5.4% IPA), Victorian Porter by 8 sail, and a few others which aren’t coming to mind :)   Oh there was another Thornbridge IPA, which had an odd name, and was 8.4% which I had.  A bit too much that one, lost it’s hop in all the strength.

Lucca

Ross' dog Lucca, who drew his own crowd of admirers

I found my brother and sister in law as they turned up, their new dog Lucca in tow.  Dogs always make pubs feel better, and it’s the same at the beer festival.  Their dog was a real crowd pleaser, as many people came over for a stroke and chat.

Food wise (another important part of the festival!), early doors I had a cheese n onion pastie, just to take the edge off… and later just before leaving I visited the oriental stand for some noodles n thai red curry, lovely stuff!  Just what you need after a session of half pints pretty much all over 5%!

The good news is I’m back tonight – my good Aussie friend Lindsay will be driving up from Bournemouth for the Wednesday night and all day Thurs sessions; that’s dedication!  I’m sure I’ll bump into more friends and family over the 3 (or 4) days I’ll be there, it’s another tradition, bumping into old friends.

Opening times, how to find it, and beer lists can be found on the official website here.

Oh and if you do go and are a CAMRA member, take your membership card!  You save a LOT of money being a CAMRA member (you can join at the event).

Cheers and good ale, Krispy

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Peterborough Beer Festival Nearly Here!

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Krispy

Thornbridge Jaipur IPA

Thornbridge Jaipur, an amazing beer, totally recommend. You can currently buy at Waitrose, which is what I've been doing!

I may be getting a little excited, and my annual pilgrimage to the CAMRA Peterborough beerfest is nearly upon me.  Luckily it doesn’t overlap any big darts tournaments, else my two major hobbies would give me a conflict of interests! :)

If you’ve not been, but could get to Peterborough between  Tue 23rd and Sat 27th August, 2011, I completely recommend it!  Well if you don’t like real ale (or real cider, or British wines), then I don’t recommend it at all – unless of course you go for a soft drink, some food, and some of the great live music!

The event is the 2nd largest festival of ale in the UK – with nearly 40,000 visitors over the 5 days, and over 350 real ales on draught, plus a ton of European bottled beers, and real ciders and perrys.    Each night there is live music in the massive music marque, with some great bands playing live.  One of my favourite ever bands to play the festival is back, The Hamsters, who are AMAZING live.  Well they are especially good if you are a Jimi Hendrix and ZZ Top fan.

I’ve posted about the beerfest before in previous years, so you can get a bit of an idea.

Just to get in the mood, I’ve been practising by drinking some of the best beer I’ve drunk in a long time – Jaipur from the Thornbridge brewery.  It’s an IPA (5.9%) with MASSIVE hop flavour.  If you don’t like a hoppy beer, you better steer clear.  It reminds me of some of the American IPA’s I’ve tried, but a little better balanced.

CAMRA Peterborough Beer Festival: The Embankment, Bishops Road, Peterborough, PE1 1EF. Tue 23rd to Sat 27th August, 2011.  You can find out a lot more at the official pboro beerfest website here.
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New Website; MDA Promotions

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Krispy
MDA Promotions

My latest creation - a re-design of an existing website, built in completely new technology

I’ve been busy the last few weeks, doing a re-design for a friends website; MDA Promotions.   Matt runs a darts exhibition and event company, which put on darts promotions around the Leicestershire and Derbyshire area, with some of the biggest names in darts being put on show (Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld, James Wade, Gary Anderson amongst previous players).

The website is built on a WordPress install, but customised with an ‘e-commerce’ paypal shopping cart.  I have created custom headers and background to go with the new ‘twenty-ten’ template.  The site is not hosted by me, I’ve worked with the existing infrastructure.

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My Latest Website; The Cynical Times

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Krispy
The Cynical Times website

The Cynical Times, my latest website and form of self expression

I’ve created another new website, again using the WordPress software as a base.

The Cynical Times; http://www.cynicaltimes.co.uk – which I’ve created to be a tongue in cheek look at the world around us.  Many of us sit at work chatting about the news/sport/the world at large, and it’s usually quite cynical.

So my new website is a form of self expression and a way to vent some of the pent up ‘anger’ over how the world is run, and how the media present it to us.  There’s plenty to have a pop at; Sport (footballers and their obscene wages are an easy target), Politics, big business, politicians, political correctness… the list goes on.

I’m not writing it myself, as I am asking for likeminded cynical (and funny)  people to come and submit articles – one of which is a great swip at Wimbledon.

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Peterborough United win Play-Offs At Old Trafford

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Krispy
outside Old Trafford

Brother Ross, mum Lynda, and step dad David just after we arrived at the ground, about 11.15am

Well I had a cracking day out this Sunday, as I spend the day travelling too/from Old Trafford, and the time in between watching the Super Posh beat Huddersfield Town in the 1st Division play off finals!  Get in there!

We met our private coach in the car park of the Brewery Tap pub about 7.45am… and arrived in the Old Trafford car park about 11.15am.   After deciding against playing a quid to get into the local Wetherspoons pub (shame on you for charging!), we ended up in the ‘secret’ “Old Trafford Bowling Club”.  The beer was VERY CHEAP there – the local bitter at only £1.65, and various other ‘smooth’ brews going up to £1.85 – hardly bank breaking.

A quick KFC with my mum and brother, and it was off to the ground to have a nose around the club shop, which is bigger than many towns local Tesco’s!  They must take a few quid in there on match days.  Well Manchester Utd match days, as most in on that day were doing what we were doing, just having a nose around, with no intention of buying any of the Man U stuff!

View from our seats

The view from my seat, and you can see the blue n white stripe effect of the Huddersfield 'believe' t-shirts. Didn't work tho!

Luckily we missed the downpours, and made our way into the stand by about 2.15pm.  A bottle of £3.20 beer later, we made our way up to our 2nd tier seats.  Great view – and in with the ‘vocal’ fans (as it had been described when buying tickets).

Excitement was growing as the build-up started.  There was some bizarre flag twirling girls as ‘entertainment’ before the players came onto the pitch.  It was half hearted at best, and might have been impressive if there were several hundred girls, rather than 10.  If you’re not going to do these things properly, just don’t bother!

One area Huddersfield outdid us was both the number of fans (32,000 ish vs. our 15,000?), and also the very smart use of blue n white t-shirts left over the seats, which when put on made their side of the ground look very swish.  Made us Posh fans look a bit scruffy… or more like true footy fans, take your pick :)

The first half was pretty much won by Posh, without scoring any goals.  Craig Mackail-Smith hit the post in the first few minutes, and again just before the break somehow just missed another from close range (seeing on TV that night I saw a defender did get a toe in to be fair).

2nd half saw Huddersfield have a good 15 minutes – it was a little worrying at that point, as the confidence seemed to go from our team.  But we did hold solid, and they never quite looked like scoring… and then in about the 78th minute, Tommy Rowe deflected a very hard hit whipped cross into the goal – to

Posh fans enjoying the day

Some of the Posh fans enjoying their day out in Manchester

massive celebrations from us Posh fans.  Still.. 12 minutes+ to go, that isn’t enough for me (or any Posh fan!).  The great thing was, the goal seemed to break Huddersfield, who seemed to give up.  Cue goal 2, a Mackail-Smith deflected shot (from some good teckers from Boyd on the wing!) – 2-0 and we went nuts!

With just over 5 mins to go, we won a free kick on the edge of the area, as Mackail-Smith was tripped… I turned to my brother and said “We better get this one in, 5 minutes is a long time, and I don’t trust us only 2 ahead”.  I needn’t have worried, as our capt and set piece specialist Grant McCann smashed in a fantastic free kick into the top left corner to completely seal the game.  We could have got more – but maybe I’m just greedy, and the players did look pretty out on their feet.

Final whistle started the celebrations properly – as the fans, players, manager, Barry Fry, and owner enjoyed the win together.   After the presentations we left the ground in great spirits, and met up with everyone at the coach, were we did the usual footy fans thing and re-lived the game all the way home, stopping off in a pub in Bawtry to have a bit of liquid refreshment.  I’m sure the landlord didn’t mind, as two coaches with nearly 100 drinkers turned up at their pub on a Sunday evening!

A great day out, a great day for all the Posh fans and players – and who knows what it could lead too?

 

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Come on the Posh!

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Krispy

This Sunday see’s my local footy team “The Posh” (Peterborough United) head to old Trafford for the league 1 play off finals vs. Huddersfield.

I can’t wait – it’s quite a family trip out, and thanks to my mum n step-dad, we have a 57 seater coach booked (and filled), and my brother has my tickets (seats behind the goal)… game on!

I’m just hoping that if we do win, that next season in the championship is more fruitful than last time we were there, when we found it far too tough playing with ‘the big boys’.

To all 15,000? posh fans who are travelling up to Manchester tomorrow, I salute you!

POSH WE ARE!

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Another Spring, more Gardening

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Krispy

They thought it would never happen, but I’ve beaten the doubters and helped do a bit of gardening for two years in a row!!  The harsh winter seems to have managed to kill some of the plants, even those who my more informed Mrs tell me are ‘hardy’.  Or maybe it’s my less than skilled fingers which managed to kill em??

Anyway – the roses are doing nicely, as well as a plant I can only describe as.. the one which has taken over the corner with purpleish flowers on sticks.  That’s as close as I get to all this latin nonsense :)   Rather than tackle our enormous back garden (which still has the original roses and clematis thingy we planted when we first moved in), we are working on improving the front, which we see every day unlike the back, which I see once in a blue moon.

The front hedge has to go, so it’s had an attack of the electric trimmers, plus several coats of herbicide.. it will be my battle of the summer I’m sure.  Once gone we’ll replace it with something a bit less ‘keen’ at growing huge and fast, and maybe Mrs Krispy will be able to get more light in the front room for her sewing n hobbies.

Click on any/all of the images below to see them full size, then there’s a left n right to look through them to save time…

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