Happy Yorkshire Day ! MHx

Peace, Love & Tea, MHx

Raise the Capacity, Raise the Roof - German Tour Blog

Right, Right, Right ... where have I been ?

Oldenburg on Easter Monday, you were Beautiful ! Der food ist wunderbar, I ate soooo much pasta it may have caused me to break a little sweat mid show, or I'm verging ever closer to being well and truly 'unfit' ... I think pretty soon you could stamp it on my forehead.

And lovely to return to Bassen and see friends at the Dohm-Eck, one of the greatest things in the world maybe the accent of a German lady married to a man from Darlington now living in York visiting her family at home for Easter ... the Yorkshire Tea is strong in this one !

Tonight I take on the first of three bigger capacity shows, danke schon PS promotion and Christian Steiffen, what an absolute gentleman !!!!

Stay Beautiful folks, I'll see you on the other side x

Things I Like ... Cricket

Sadly I've spent this afternoon at a funeral, mourning the loss of a dear friend, and father of one of my oldest and best friends. He wouldn't have been happy about the length of my hair at present or that I'm not in a safe and steady job, but I'm sure he'd be pleased that I polished my boots at least. And more than happy that, since I heard of his illness, I've had his old cricket mantra circling my brain - "Catches Wins Matches" ... he used to say it over and over when we were training as young lads, and one particular night at an end of season presentation ad infinitum. Top bloke, honest as they come and he taught me how to play "the greatest game ever invented". Goodnight squire !



And it is "the greatest game ever invented", just ask Stephen Fry ! Cricket has the most variables, yet a steadfast set of mathematical and logistical rules, it is glorious, and anyone can play, no matter what physique you might bestow. Runs, catches, maidens, wickets, overs, weather, silly mid-off, the Duckworth Lewis Method ... there's a whole 'nother beautiful language that goes along with the game and it's rules that once you give yourself over to it, you'll never forget it.

Now, I don't play all that often these days, and when I do it's usually just knocking around the nets or a quick sunny afternoon session when the numbers are up. But it's a splendid thing ... oh and did I mention Cricket Teas ... a beautiful idea !!



It might surprise some that I have more trophies as a kid for my cricketing, bit of a Phil Neville I was, I played for a club and school that were both champions of Derbyshire, and had varying levels of success in East Midlands and Midlands competitions, narrowly missing out of representing my school at Lords was a bit of a kick in the teeth, but you grow up and get over it. And I was asked to captain the local Borough of Erewash as a schoolboy after briefly captaining the school team whilst my mate Chris was busy playing for Derbyshire CCC.

And one of the things I always used to do, was attempt to build a scale model of Old Trafford Cricket Ground from my LEGO ... I've no idea why that particular ground, I've no connection with Lancashire or Manchester, and Trent Bridge is the nearest and nicest ground to where I grew up, who knows, eh? Never Lose Your Sense of Wonder.



To link all this in with a bit of music, and a crazy cricket term that I've already mentioned, The Duckworth Lewis Method is one of my favourite albums of all time !! Now, I won't try and explain what the Duckworth Lewis Method is regarding cricket, that might take a few blogs to the uninitiated, but it was and is a concept album based around this great game produced by Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy and Thomas Walsh of Pugwash. An excellent listen if you're ever inclined or have the chance ... The Age of Revolution is one of my favourite songs of the last 20 years, and that's saying something. The tunes are solid, even if you don't get all the references ...

Anyways, thanks for the memories Pete, MHx

Some more Things I Like ...
Fire
Gardening
Film
Yorkshire Tea
LEGO
Tippy The Cat
Khan Academy
Apple Cider Vinegar
McVitie'sBiscuits

I'm starting to think "my mate Chris" deserves his own blog feature ...

---===DOWNLOAD LINKS===---
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep/id814589358
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aint-Easy-My-Life-EP/dp/B00I8ZDJZC/
https://play.spotify.com/album/733AAcf7c2KcZ75SUFlpi3
http://matthenshaw.bandcamp.com/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep
http://www.emusic.com/album/matt-henshaw/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep/14753983/
http://www.7digital.com/artist/matt-henshaw/release/it-aint-easy-my-life
http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/matt-henshaw/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep
http://www.napster.co.uk/artist/matt-henshaw/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep

Things I Like ... McVitie's Biscuits

So, I'm home for one more day, and it's raining. So I'm sat inside with a cup of Yorkshire Tea and a selection of McVitie's biscuits, really getting back to my youth. Like everything I write about on this 'ere Things I Like ... feature on my blog, McVities ties in with the formative years of my life, hold keys to the nature of the universe and I love the company, their products and their history.

As with the LEGO and Yorkshire Tea, there's a tiny part of me that believes I shouldn't be all for advertising companies but, what can I say? They're engrained in my lifestyle, my culture, my history and my narrative, and I don't think they do any harm on the grand scale. So, let's have a look shall we, McVities is a British company, if that means anything to you, still based in Britain, and whilst they're now a subsidiary of United Biscuits the company, their products haven't changed. I've always admired the fact that the Milk Chocolate Digestives come in a brown packet ... brown?? And they still sell, that's a quality product right there !

The staple products have been a staple part of my life and diet since I was a little 'un - Mini Cheddars, Rich Tea, Milk Chocolate Digestives, Jaffa Cakes, Hob Nobs and Penguins - the only real newcomer to suitably impress is the Milk Chocolate Caramel biscuit, although I think that can't be a healthy biscuit, I just admire it's capacity to sustain it's rigid internal and external structure after dipping in your tea for upwards of 20 minutes, me and my best mate Chris have tested it, maybe not scientifically but we eat a lot of biscuits and drink a lot of tea !

Also, every one of their products is suitable for vegetarians so they're a great compliment to all the fruit and veg I get through, and it's nice to know that you don't have to search the packet for a little V logo to know, you just instinctively know.



And whilst I don't own a TV, I happened across the latest adverts, and they are the cutest things I've ever seen, you had me at cats ...

And I guess I'll leave you on a McVities biscuit related bit of music trivia, Noel and Liam Gallagher's mum Peggy used to work in the McVities factory in Manchester, and bring home all the broken biscuits and reject to the boys, which Noel would then take into school. It did make him very popular, but also earned him the nickname "Gallagher The Biscuit" ...

Peace, Love & Tea, MHx

PS. Don't blame it on the biscuits ...



Some more Things I Like ...
Fire
Gardening
Film
Yorkshire Tea
LEGO
Tippy The Cat
Khan Academy
Apple Cider Vinegar

---===DOWNLOAD LINKS===---
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep/id814589358
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aint-Easy-My-Life-EP/dp/B00I8ZDJZC/
https://play.spotify.com/album/733AAcf7c2KcZ75SUFlpi3
http://matthenshaw.bandcamp.com/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep
http://www.emusic.com/album/matt-henshaw/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep/14753983/
http://www.7digital.com/artist/matt-henshaw/release/it-aint-easy-my-life
http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/matt-henshaw/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep
http://www.napster.co.uk/artist/matt-henshaw/album/it-aint-easy-my-life-ep

Things I Like ... Yorkshire Tea

I sit here contemplating my Tuesday and you know who I'm sat with. My best friend. My mug of strong Yorkshire Tea. Every day I manage to get through around 5 or 6 cups of the stuff at an absolute minimum. I could bore you with the health benefits of tea drinking, the restorative and recuperative nature of it's leave or the magical sense of ritual when boiling a pot, but I won't. Just 'ave yourself a proper brew and enjoy your day !



In this last week my world online, in cyberspace, social networking and plugging all my digital wares was wholly 100% vindicated and justified when - probably with a solitary click of a mouse by a staff member in an office somewhere - @YorkshireTea followed me on twitter! Made my day / week / year !

Growing up I even preferred supporting Yorkshire CCC, instead of the local options of Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire, perhaps in part due to being a Sheffield Wednesday fan, or small part being a fan of Michael Bevan and Gavin Hamilton, or the young Ryan Sidebottom's fabulous name, equally fabulous hair, but probably in the largest part due to their Yorkshire Tea logo stitched to the shirt sleeves ... I was a happy and contented little boy, playing with LEGO, drawing flags and watching cricket !



More recently people are becoming more and more aware of my pro-Tea stance, there's even a few bars in Leicester I can go to and get free cups on the house, just at first sight of my face and safe in the knowledge that I won't be ordering a Carlsberg or a Jack Daniels' and Coke. Tea drinking has its ups ... and come to think of it, I can't think of any downs. Keep on slurping people !!

At a wild rock'n'roll party in the not so distant past I regaled the gathered troubadours with tales of fruit, vegetables and tea at 3 in the morning ... producing a holy scripture ... my 'Tea Pyramid' ... it was photographed for posterity and handed down between the ranks. I shall share it with you now, I hope you can make sense of it ... and I hope that if you are a drinker or Earl Grey you are not offended (I'm just that bit to northern to enjoy its perfumed taste) ... and I hope that if you are a drinker of Tesco home brand tea you are offended and you buck your ideas up ... it's not big and it's not clever and you buying that stuff is probably destroying the planet in ways you couldn't possibly imagine ... Spread The Love !



Peace, Love & Tea,
Matt Henshaw x

Ferguson gives out the De Gea-dryer ... Premier League XIs/11s/elevens (continued) click youself a button on the poll machine ...

Well, what an interesting night of Champions League football ... the Champagne corks pop around London and at the Channel 5 offices as the Europa League just got a heck of a lot more interesting ...

With the fantastic response I had yesterday I've decided to put the options in a nice little box for you to pick your first choice, discuss amongst yourself if you have any reservations or reasons why you've opted for your final choice over another that nearly made it ... as for the questions I have come across and received ... this is a question of starting elevens, man to man on a rainy day in South Yorkshire ... which team would beat the other three on any given day at Hillsborough ???

Best all-time Premiership side ???
	Manchester United treble winners
	Arsenal Invincibles
	Mourinho's Chelsea
	Current Machester City team
pollcode.com free polls

Vote Away !

Who cares what Gareth Southgate thinks ???

With Love,
Matt Henshaw

PS. BUY MY SHIT !

PPS. Living with a Dirty Leeds fan ... this is a new section of the blog that I'll update you on from time time, witticisms, quotes and tales from the mouth of the dirty Yorkshire b*stard ... "Manchester United losing and getting knocked out of the Champions League is better than sex" ... he now on a date buying a girl milkshakes, making her laugh and causing her to play with her hair ... bon chance mon frere !!! Stay Tuned ...

Premier League XIs / 11s / elevens ...

A slight diversion in the trail of my blogs of late ... had a raging debate earlier with a flatmate (resisting the urge to use the phrase "mass debate" in this blog terribly so) about football players and who would go in your choice starting elevens ... I'll probably split up the categories over a number of blogs in the hope that it may start a further online debate ... one might say a lovely viral mass debate ... oops! Ask your facebook friends and post on Twitter ... feed me back some info ... 'tis all I want for Christmas ...

So, the topic that brought about the conversation ... we first discussed the best Premier League XI ... the choices were ... Machester United's treble winning side of 1999 ... Arsenal's unbeatable invincibles ... Chelsea under Mourinho ... or the current crop of chaps turning out for Manchester City ...

Hint, Hint - my choice ^^^ ...

Now, of course we may be a little premature with the current Manchester City team (I didn't pick the options, it was all the dirty Leeds that I share a kitchen and a bathroom with!) but just go with it and see who you reckon ... and it's a different age what with more regular squad rotation etc. ... surely no-one believes David May would get into City's current second XI ... so think of it as on the day, storngest side, first XI, no injuries, fully fit and ready for war ... and seeing as it's an English thing we'll say it's to be played on a rainy day in South Yorkshire ... Hillsborough perhaps ... fetch the canoe !

Manchester United's treble winners
Arsenal Invincibles
Mourinho's Chelsea
Manchester City's current team

Think on and I'll be back with more ...