Geraint Jones

He is in the England Test side as he is a superior batsman to Chris Read. However, Chris Read and not Jones makes the One-day side where traditionally you pick the better batsman and a lesser 'keeper. Does that make sense?

Ashes Verdict

I was watching the comments on Sky after the England loss in the Third Test whcih handed the Ashes back to Australia. There was a very interesting interview with David Graveney being interviewed by Charles Colville and Bob Willis ("my father's never heard of you..."- as Sam said to him at one international). I have never seen anyone get quite as fluched - he was almost purple by the end but he kept his cool and was the very model of professionalism when grilled deeply about Monty v Giles, Duncan Fletcher, the captaincy, the preparation, Trescothick, the 14-a-side games, Vaughan being involved on the tour, the No.8, the wicketkeeper, taking injured players on tour and all the other talking points in the press and everywhere else...

Graveney kept being polite, answering questions giving some away only, acknowledging the points and the anger of the interviewers, agreeing to reviews, but never being divisve and never contradicting or demeaning the captain or coach.

All text book stuff but the reading between the lines - the body language and the choice of words, as well as what was not said and the way it was said - al suggested somethgin very different to the message coming out.

Definitely media trained. Good performance though.

Negative

Photo 48
Originally uploaded by Jonathan D Hall.

I might just bleach the beard - I like this effect.

Chin and Spiky

Photo 14
Originally uploaded by Jonathan D Hall.

Not just one but two

Photo 19
Originally uploaded by Jonathan D Hall.

Not something you see every day.

Rafferty

Photo 21
Originally uploaded by Jonathan D Hall.

I like these effects...

Family Group

Photo 10
Originally uploaded by Jonathan D Hall.

From Photo Booth

Jonathan

Photo 1
Originally uploaded by Jonathan D Hall.

Photo Booth on my iMac is a superb piece of software. i can't do much with the subject matter though...

The weird and wonderful world

Photo Booth on my iMac is a superb piece of software. See for example the following few posts.

Vienna 2006

1 Stort Close from the air

From Google:

Rafferty at 14 months

Creative Vandalism

Now I don't condone vandalism in any of its forms, but sometimes it can be somewhat humorous. For example, tonight I found it quite funny when someone had removed an estate agent's "sold" sign from a random house and had propped it up next to the playing fields on Ladygrove. Whether it was humorous as in "someone's pretending to have sold the playing field", or with a touch of irony that that might be actually within the town council and the developers' plans, I'm not sure.

Humorous nonetheless.

The Return of Jim Hendrix

As I was walking the dog around the estate tonight, I was listening to my iPod on random, as per normal. Every now and again, it flings out a song that I either haven't heard for ages, or have never properly listened to. Tonight, it was "The Return of Jimi Hendrix" by The Waterboys, from "Dream Harder".

I'd forgotten just how good that was:

The Return of Jimi Hendrix

(c) The Waterboys

I dreamed about Jimi Hendrix
he came back for one day
was born weepin' out of an egg
the mid-wife said
and straight away began to pray
with lifted head

He spent the early hours
communing with the morning stars
and then he came over to my house
where he tried out my guitar

He was young and black and beautiful
big eyed, perfect skin an'
he played my guitar like a lightning storm
like twirlin' feathers in the wind
he could make it sound like the end of the world
a fire, the flick of a knife
he could squeeze it slow and masterful
like the hand that brought the world to life

Together we strolled in sculptured gardens
passed the sleepy afternoon
maids were dartin' back and forth
from a window came a violin tune
angels, dressed as nurses toyed with playin' cards
looters sprung from prisons filled the yard

A yellow sun hung low and dawned,
and as it dipped
Jimi stood up straight, grinned
and shook his velvet hips

Callin' himself King Electric
in the evening he went wild
played on a dozen stages
in the clubs of New York -
lit the city end to end
wired it up, fired it up
scarved, bejewelled, long-legged, snake-limbed
athletic, driven, dangerous

He made all Manhattan shake
and every street and sidewalk quake
his stratocaster caused the mighty Empire State to vibrate
his whammy bar caused shock-eyed punks from Hackensack and Yonkers
raised on speed, metal and rap to enter trance and levitate

He played Purple Haze and Pyramid,
Voodoo Child and Sin-E,
Up From the Skies and Storm Free
in King Tut's Wah-Wah hut

He did a forty-two minute
cosmic rise in future shocks
Star Spangled Banner
in the back of CBGB's

He stopped every clock in New York state
and every heart that heard him
and time itself was beaten and confused
and fell lamb-like under the spell of his fabulous flashing fingers

He played an encore at the Bitter End
a heartburst Little Wing
even the waiters cried
and then we fell outside
and in the dusty dawn of Bleeker street
a sweet rain fell
and Jimi died

Three Red Cards

Great story - Dundee player gets three red cards in the same game. One for hitting someone on the pitch, one for hitting someone on his way off the pitch, and another for kicking a hole in the referee's changing room door.

Makes you wonder if the ref carries his cards wherever he goes - shows it to a driver who has cut him up, uses it in any instances of trolley rage, etc...

England Managers

It appears that England's main sports teams have all got (or have had in the recent past) the same problem - a manager who has  lost touch with the game as a whole and will play it according to his vision only with his favourite players.

Selection policies of all of Andy Robinson, Duncan Fletcher and Sven-Goran Eriksson have all been similar - large number of players used, lack of consistency. players played out of position and some favourite sons always getting into the side no matter what.

To a certain extent, I leave out criticism of Fletcher regarding the Ashes in 2005, but the one-day squads and the current ashes tour bear out the point quite nicely.

Cricket first - Ashley Giles and James Anderson have been playing despite not having any warm up cricket to speak of, Monty Panesar has been left out despite being in cracking form (and he has showed that he can even bat and effect run outs).  I believe that the captaincy went to the wrong person - it should have been Strauss not Flintoff even though Flintoff was technically the man in possession.

The wicket-keeping is another matter entirely.  As pointed out in the Telegraph today, England have taken Jones, Read, Prior and one other on the Academy tour, but have left out the one player who is a proven high class keeper as well as having made serious runs at Test level - James Foster.  Personally, I think that Jones and Prior should be in the team only if they deserved their place as a batsman.  Neither does.  The choice should therefore come down to Foster or Read, and I think that Read did nothing wrong to deserve being dropped fro a second time.  This is especially true after the Western Australia game where Read got 59 and Jones 0.  The fourth seamer is a difficult one until Simon Jones returns from horrendous injury, although Flintoff seems very reluctant to bowl anyone but himself, Harmison and Hoggard.  Would it be better to bring a batsman who can bowl seamers (Collingwood...?) then the No. 8 position is made easier?

Rugby - Andy Robinson seemed confused and insistent on (a) playing people too soon after injury, and (b) playing his favourites (Corry, Goode) even if they were not delivering the goods.

Football - too much has already been written about Erikson's issues, although McLaren is not proving much better in terms of results.

Oxfordshire

It seems to be turning into a dangerous place to be at the moment - a man beaten to death in Henley by a gang of youths, and a body of another man found outside Seacourt Park and Ride in Botley, treated as "suspicious".  Not to mention the forensic polonium research being carried out elswewhere in the county.