Jeremy Beadle Dies aged 59

I heard last night that Jeremy Beadle had died....and i felt strangely sad because since his first outing into the public eye on the show "Game for a Laugh" in 1981, he has, up until quite recently been one of the "bread and butter" entertainers of my generation.His shows are known to millions, and he was sometimes cruely lampooned although i haven't found out why this is for myself...and most people who used to greet his name with a wry look can't either !.
Then i found out something that made me feel even more sad, the fact that the fella had been diagnosed with Leukaemia and Kidney cancer in 2004/5, but had (unknown to me ) been heavily engaged in raising money for childrens cancer charities for many years,even throughout his own battle with the disease.
You know it's a also sad fact that those who quitely go about doing good,worthwhile work for others and don't seek publicity for their actions, are the ones that we appreciate least...and, worst of all,are able to thank least for their contribution.It's easy to be a pop star and appear on "comic relief" or the likes simply to promote your latest single....that's using charity as a vehicle to ultimately line your own pocket by keeping your face in the public domain.Jeremy was not really creditied with the part he played in helping hundreds and possibly thousands of youngsters to fight cancer, but in the end when the truth is out and all those people who had a good old pop at Jezza discover just what a great fella he was, it will be them that feel ashamed, and Jeremy ?...well i guess he gets "the last laugh" !

Scirocco...now with build in swimming pool !

I noticed recently that the floor of the car appeared to be...erm...rather moist !.Have made a few enquiries and come to the conclusion that it is being caused by the windscreen seal leaking.....somewhere !.I suppose that with it being a 21 year old car (well it will be on the 31st March) i should expect these sort of "glitches".
It was about this time that i started to read my latest Jezza Clarkson book titled "I Know You Got Soul".I have read most of his others,"On Cars","The World According to" and "Motorworld", and apart from the blasphamy in one of these where he refers to the Roc as "A Ford Scirocco" ! i find his babblings quite entertaining.
Anyway...getting back to my latest read, in which Jeremy makes quite a poingniant and true statement relating to the significance of faults in machines.......such as my leaky window... In the introductionj to the book he says...
"But some machines do have soul.Sometimes,as is the case with Concorde and the AK47,it's because they possess that most of human qualities,a flaw".
Maybe then it's no accident that the Scirocco model was given the type number "53" when it was first being developed....what's significant about 53 i hear you ask !, to which I will refer you to the worlds most famous Volkswagen...Herbie...remember the bonnet number ? And you know what fun and games the drivers of that particular car had don't we :-).

S2M talks to John Holmes on BBC Radio Nottingham

So Glen and myself made our radio debut today a@ 3.15 on the John Holmes show at BBC Radio Nottingham. The nice thing about John is that he is so easy to chat too !, and lets you just "get on with it"!. Having had a rather good hot chocolate in the foyer of the building we were ushered in and then sat just outside the studio for a few minutes before John appeared and at once began to make us feel at home, we then bimbled into the studio, took a seat and after a brief round of Rod Stewart (Maggie May!) we were into the interview!

Real Simulation supply "Sky high" prize

Many thanks are also due to Kevin and Adrian at Real Simulation for supplying us with an absolutely superb prize to be won in our planned prizedraw.

Just to elaborate, real Simulation are based at a place called Arkendale in Yorkshire, and are a company that specialises in offering flight simulations for anyone who wants to experience the feeling of flying without ever leaving the ground !.

They have 2 simulators in use, an airliner simulator of the Boeing 737 , and for those of you who have always fancied a go at being "Maverick" (Top Gun !) there is an awesome F-4 Phantom simulator also.

I have had the experience of the Phantom, and believe me it is just like being in the real thing,all the controls are there, the unit moves around in relation to your flying input, and you really do have to keep reminding yourself that at no point are you ever more than 15ft from the floor..:-).

We will be sorting out the details of the draw later, but don't miss the chance to win this prize (worth £279 !)of an hours flight in the "virtual" aeroplanes of your dreams....

AW Accident Repair Group to help S2M

Got some excellent news this morning when i recieved a phone call from Andrew Walsh, the owner of the AW Accident Repair Group.He has very kindly offered to not only paint our "work in progress" half a Scirocco trailer for us, but also to give "Scarlet" a bit of a makeover also ! and as we all know a car that looks good also drives much better :-).

This news is of great significance to our project, and I would like to just take this oppertunity to thank Andrew for his tremendous support with our challenge although it is not the first time Andrew's company has helped one of my projects out, he also helped a few years ago when the Cranwell Aviation Centre Jet Provost aeroplane needed some TLC and he very kindly sorted out a part respray for the JP which left her looking a thousand times better !.

Just got to get the trailer built now......anyone handy with an angle grinder and a mig welder ?:-)

S2M is VR on 2L !....Second Life !

S2M is Now VR on 2L !...What ?.Well ok,Scirocco 2 Morocco is now "virtually" advertised on a site called Second Life....it's a "virtual" world on the web.Anyway, i had a go at producing an object on the site and it turned out to be...erm...welll a large box really...with the S2M logo on it !.

Took a few snaps of the Challenge logo advert box and of my virtual "Avatar"....a virtual me !...but 20 years younger and a lot slimmer !

If you have a go on Second Life (It's Free !), see if you can find either my Avatar or one of my expertly (!) made logo boxes...then let me know where or take a snap :-)

Listen mum...we're on the Radio !

Ok,so the cars back on the road and being used as a daily driver due to the fact that i firmly believe that a use car will fair better than one thats laid up for months on end and is then expected to perform 100%...the reality is that a car that is laid up has a better chance of suffering a failure of some sort as soon as you ask it to perform at all !.....so I decided to keep her rollin' and if anything does need to be sorted then at least it will give us time to complete any nescessary work before we set off on our "little trip" !.

I've started to gather together a few items that i think would come in useful on the run like a fire extingusher,300W inverter (to power and charge all the "gadgets" that we are going to have on board),oh, and a mini fridge ! with just enough room for 4 large cans of beer....luvvly !

The team have been invited to the BBC Radio Nottingham studio's next Thursday to appear (is that correct in radio terms ?)on the John Holmes show.I have met John once before when i did a short stint on his show to talk about my last Scirocco themed charity drive "Roc Around the Clock", and i found the experience an excellent one as John is the sort of fella that you feel you have known for years and who has that ability to make you feel completely at ease almost as though you are chatting to him down at the local pub....but obviously the BBC don't serve you best mild whilst your on air !

If anyone gets the chance to tune in via terrestrial radio or via a web feed then the deatils are: The John holmes show,BBC Radio Nottingham,23rd January 2008,3.15PM (GMT).

Ode to the Morocco Scirocco !

Ode to the Roc !

I decided to write an ode to Scirocco, but all that would rhyme was the place called Morocco !.so faced with a case of poetic block, i decided to call it "the ode to the Roc" !

Twas back in the 70's when that great man Giugiaro took hold of blank paper a ruler and Biro ...then shouted ......"eureka" ! "i have an idea"...before pottering off for a fresh glass of beer !.

For weeks he did toil, like a man that's possessed , and when he was finished said "i think it's my best !".
gazing down at the drawing he stood and he grinned " such a sleek shape I've drawn it should go like the wind !"

So he called it Scirocco, and the legend was born, and many a driveway this car would adorn, all over the world from Antwerp to Bangkok folks fell in love with the lines of the Roc.

Then in '92 production did cease and Volkswagen laid the Rocco to rest in peace, but 2008 See's the phoenix reborn and the IROC begins a windy new dawn !

Andy W

Dakar Rally cancelled for 2008

I have just read that the Paris-Dakar rally has been cancelled for 2008 due to the murder of a French family in Mauritania.Makes you wonder what the people who did this thought they would acheive by killing a women and 2 children, and severely injuring the father ?
I have often heard people say that it is a wicked world, but what they should really say is that it is a beautiful world with some wicked people in it !.

For more details about the cancelled rally follow this link :

http://www.marathonrally.com/news/dakar_2008_moroccans_saddened_by_dakar_rally_decision.8743.0.html

It's 2008...way hay, nine months to go !

So it's now officially 2008 !.It still seems like 2007 really except that we have a lot less cash in the bank and a lot more bills to pay 8-).Anyway, i suppose that this situation is par for course in most households at this time of the year...or is it just me ?.

On a more sober note, it was just before Christmas that i had one of those "this is what it's all about" moments.My wife told me that a close friend of hers had just found out that her niece in Australia had been diagnosed with Lymphoma...and at only 11 years of age she was now preparing to begin chemo whilst the rest of us looked forward to a month of festive fun.
This sort of reality check helps to remind me of why the hell i am arranging (along with Glen and Gary) to undertake this trip to Africa in September, because sometimes the attitude"it only happens to other people" is an assumption that can prove to be a wake up call to us all when that isn't the case.

Meet the team. Andy Ward

Hi there.My names Andy Ward (the one without the dummy !),I'm 41 years old (young ?) and I am the guy who got us all into this mad quest !.

I suppose it's only fair that I give you a quick rundown of my background as I am expecting complete strangers to help our team out on our adventure next September so here goes:

I am currently ,like Glen and Gary, also employed within the NHS but i work for the Kings Mill Hospital as a medical Technical Officer (I repair the machines that "go ping" in hospitals as was featured in a sketch by the Monty Pythons team many years ago !).Before I was employed by the NHS I served for 12 years with the RAF as an Airframes Technician working at several stations including RAF Cranwell,RAF Lyneham,RAF Honington and finally RAF Lossiemouth in the deepest darkest highlands of Scotland.I services and maintained a wide veriety of aeroplanes such Jet provosts,Hercules and Tornado GR1's.

I have been married to my wonderful wife Teresa for 20 years (in July) and we have been blessed with 3 children, Rachel,Lauren and Andrew Jr.

My interests include Ebay,Online games,Messing with my car (yes it's a Scirocco and I have owned 4!) and giving up some spare time (if i can find any these days !) to help out at the Cranwell Aviation Heritage Centre at Rauceby were I maintain their static displayed Jet Provost Tmk4 and other exhibits.

Why am I doing the challenge ? Well in August 2006 I was unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with Chronic Leukaemia, and after a few months in "the wilderness" i got my head back together and decided to turn my efforts to trying to raise money for Leukaemia Research, which is how I ended up together with Teresa, undertaking Roc Around the Clock in August 2007, and at the end of that event we started to think "bigger"....and after a few months of consideration and debate Scirocco 2 Morocco was born and named as such due to the the fact that Morocco just happens to rhyme nicely with Scirocco :-)

I am really glad that we are doing this challenge, and that i will have the company of a very good friend of mine for what i believe will be a memorable trip, and that not just one, but 3 charities are hopefully going to benefit from our efforts.

My fundraising page is at: www.justgiving.com/scirocco2morocco .

Meet the team.Glen Place.

Now that Scirocco2Morocco is underway, we thought it would be a good idea to tell you all a bit about ourselves, so here goes……

My name is Glen Place, Im 31 (in February) and has worked for the NHS for 12 years!! I currently work in Gravesend as a Rehabilitation assistant, helping patients suffering from a variety of neurological illnesses and conditions including MS, Parkinson’s disease, and Stroke.

My hobbies include ‘trying’ to play the guitar, editing videos (I have a few on youtube under gplace01) and, surprise – Sirocco’s! I have owned 8 of these cars since I passed my driving test in 1995 and still have a keen interest today. I am also the events co-ordinator for the Scirocco Register - the UK’s best Scirocco club, and I’m a regular visitor and contributor to the forum (http://www.sciroccoregister.co.uk/).

So, how did I end up volunteering for this venture? Obviously I heard about the idea from its creator – Andy Ward, after meeting him at a few of the Register meets and events in 2007. I even joined Andy and Teresa on their final leg of their ‘roc around the clock’ challenge this year, helping them to achieve their 35 Hospitals visited. Shortly after this venture Andy mentioned an idea to enter something a little more ‘ambitious’ in 2008 and I quickly jumped at the chance to assist him in his efforts. It was only after this decision that Morocco became the ambitious destination! However, this only boosted my interest and determination to help – what an idea!

We decided to support a charity each on our adventure + the Air Ambulance. I chose to support MacMillan partly because so many of us have lost friends and family to cancer and also because my wife Rachel recently lost her Aunt Nell to cancer. It was during this difficult time that I learned how much help and support this charity gives to sufferers of this terrible disease. This has made me all the more determined to raise as much money for them as possible

So that’s me! If you think you can support us on our perilous quest (thought I would add some drama at this point!) please visit my web page at www.justgiving.com/scirocco2morocco-mac or if you would prefer to support one of the other charities we are supporting, click the respective links on my page. I will leave Andy to explain more about these.

Thanks for your support

Glen Place

Goodbye GT2 :-(

Today I said a very sad goodbye to my Lovely GT2 Scirocco,but it had to go as running 2 Scirocco's was proving far to expensive a luxury these days what with Christmas and all the associated costs pertaining to the demands of 3 enthusiastic children :-).The car has now moved a little further up north, and i can only hope that the young fella that bought her gets as much pleasure out of owning her as i did.
To be honest though, i suppose that still keeping our charity car "Scarlet" softens the blow somewhat :-) and now i can concentrate all my efforts in ensuring her best condition when we set off on our "jolly jape" in September.
After i waved the GT2 off it suddenly occured to me that i had neglected to take into account the fact that the last time Scarlet went on an outing (her MOT test) i had to loan the battery from the GT2 as the Scala's was flat as the proverbial pancake, and now the GT2 's battery was winging it's way north (along with it's battery!) so i now had a red Scirocco sat on the drive without any power...damn!.Thankfully a quick call to John at Pitstop garage in Sleaford soon sorted out my little oversight, and he duly supplied me with the required battery free of charge...or should that be cost, as a battery without charge is.....well you know :)..Anyway,many thanks to John for helping me out with that little problem.
Oh yes, i had to change the insurance back from the GT2 to the Scala (again) and as i expected Norwich Onion (you know who i mean!)duly charged me yet more money because apparently the Scala is group 14 and the GT2 was group 12, although i did try to stress that the version of the Scala was the carbed variety, not the FI version...that still cut no ice with them "they are all the same group" i was told....so even though the injection version of the car benefits from an extra 22+ BHP i would still have to pay the same.....how unfair :-(.The insurance is due for renewal on the 14th January, so i will have to make some enquiries to see if i can get the cost down as at the mo the insurance premium is more than i would get for the car !.

Wouldn't it be nice to get on Top Gear ?

Having spent countless hours pondering about things we can do to improve our exposure within the community of the W3, i came to the conclusion that in order to gain more attention, you need to gain more profile, and to gain more of a profile you need to get on TV !.
The last time i tried anything like this (Roc Around the Clock) i found that once you get into local papers and local radio it sets in motion something that i refer to as a "snowball effect", in other words once the first steps have been taken, you've appeared (or been heard on !) local radio,or seen in the press, you seem to gain a lot more interest in your project !...that's why we need to get onto BBC Top Gear, because that would be the metaphorical "springboard" that would give us the exposure that we need, and thus more funds would be raised for our selected charities :-).
If anyone knows James May,Richard Hammond or Jeremy Clarkson...put us a good word in !

Bought a camera...i love Ebay !

I bought a video camera for the trip on Tuesday, a Panasonic Full sized S-VHS (on the shoilder job !) that uses your standard full size VHS video cassettes.It comes complete with charger,all leads,battery and carry case, all in full working order and for the pricely sum of...wait for it.....£14.99 :-).
Ok, so its about 19 years old, but that still makes it 2 years younger than the car, and a LOT younger than me and i work ok..well most of the time (my boss says i sometimes don't work at all !...what can he mean ?).
The reason for buying such an antique peice of video history ? Well someone on another Blog (realbuzz.com i think) suggested (after i winged that people doing documentries always get more help cos they have a camera crew) that we invest in a camera, not just any camera, but one that looks like a "proffessional" one (is it 2 ff's or 2 ss's...oh well i'll use both !), so that we can appear (to the unannitiated) to be making a documentry during the drive, and thus gain the trust/help of the locals if we need any "favours"....crafty eh ?.....and of course we will be using it to film our progress also !.
Is that the time...damn, that's lunch finished...better get back :-).