Off On One Again

Europe

2011-12-09T22:27:00.000Z

The new European treaty will include "a requirement [for member states] to submit their national budgets to the European Commission, which will have the power to request that they be revised". If that is not a erosion of sovereignty the I'm not sure what it is. And what is the "power to request that they be revised". That doesn't actually mean anything apart from adding time and bureaucracy to the nation (not European) process.

Zulqarnain Haider - was this a fixed match?

2011-02-05T22:55:00.002Z

Very interesting seeing the team members who won - Butt, Akmal and Asif, two of whom have now been banned from cricket and the other has bee at the centre of (unproven) controversies.

Facebook statuses

2009-10-04T07:58:00.001+01:00

is deliriously happy with the Welsh victory over Australia
11.29.08 18:36:29
is writing an audit report at 1:30 in the morning, in the nude
12.23.08 02:22:08
is hoping for a quieter 2009 where I can lose some girth.
12.31.08 17:38:00
is going to work to be depressed. Again.
1.28.09 09:20:59
is pleased that he finally remembered his Facebook login details.
1.28.09 09:21:46
is naked
2.13.09 00:02:53
Jonathan has driven to Acton and back and had a fun half hour in Morrison's. Somehow going back to work for the afternoon was more entertaining.
3.18.09 19:42:39
Jonathan really doesn't like painting.
3.31.09 07:04:08
The dog is afraid of the rain. Hence I'm getting no sleep. And I've just run over the cat's tail with my chair.
4.8.09 04:48:53
I need a shave
4.8.09 05:11:17
Tired and surprisingly sunburnt. That's the problem with going bald, there's bits that never used to see the sun...
4.14.09 19:41:44
How come Force India get into good racing positions then lose it at the end?
4.19.09 12:05:42
is tired of counting waste drums
5.8.09 00:49:08
is pleased with the shot that got him 4 but not happy with the way he got out or the bowling performance
5.10.09 08:10:18
is annoyed at giving a simple return catch to a rather poor opening bowler. Enjoyed opening even if it was only because no-one else wanted to...
5.18.09 08:09:10
likes the English (Pirate) option on Facebook
5.20.09 08:33:04
Jonathan hit 31 not out yesterday to beat my career highest score of 28 when I was 10....
5.31.09 10:55:28
is averaging 16.75 for the season, easily better than the season I got to the dizzy heights of 0.5
6.15.09 07:28:16
has just beaten his highest career score with 34. 18 from 4 balls. And the fourths won for the first time in their existence. Happy happy!
7.26.09 11:47:09
needs a shave
9.21.09 19:38:37
My legs hurt from climbing ladders all day. I want to get back to being in my office all day having a snooze.
9.25.09 05:54:27
Another week, another descent into depression and cynicism.
9.28.09 08:02:25
The dog is not well at all.
9.29.09 13:58:46
I'm going to eat you little fishy. I'm going to eat you little fish. Ow, I broke ma tooth.
9.29.09 19:26:33
Flashforward - I worry that I might get hooked. Bring on the last series of Lost first.
9.29.09 19:33:02
Sam tells me that the fashion of the 80s is coming back. This means that my hairstyle will only be one decade out. Woo-hoo.
9.29.09 19:34:05
is depressed at getting up in the dark again as the nights get longer.
10.1.09 07:38:47
Forgot to turn my alarm off and its Sunday. Oh well, watched Algersuari fail to make it to the end of the GP.
10.4.09 08:55:04

Trying to cash a cheque for $360,000,000,000

2009-07-30T17:01:00.000+01:00

If it worked, it woudl have brought the banking system down to its knees. Again.

Ed Joyce caught in fielder's pocket

2009-07-10T12:39:00.001+01:00

Excellent photo of one of the more bizarre cricket dismissals...

Lelli Kelli

2009-05-25T19:49:00.002+01:00

Has to be the most annoying advert ever, which anyone who does not habitually have pre-school television forced at them by a 3.5 year old will not have endured. Why on earth does an advert for (frankly nauseating) pink jelly shoes concentrate on the kitten make up bag with a magic wand? Don't ask, I think the advertising agency was on acid for that one. Seems to be on twice for every ad break as well. The theme song (Lelli Kelli, the cutest shoes...) is sang very badly by a pre-pubescent shriek, pronouncing he product name in a very strange way. Intensely annoying. WIll not be buying shoes even if Rafferty was (a) female, or (b) wanted shoes.

They now do party shoes with a heel for £50. There's some silly money out there. Pester power is one thing, but...

What is even worse is that I keep bloody singing it....

Heerenveen

2009-05-14T05:45:00.000+01:00

7th May 1950. Heerenveen were 5-1 down to Ajax in the Dutch League with 25 minutes to play. Abe Lenstra then led them to a stunning 6-5 victory.

Can you imagine the betting on that game…

The Lions

2009-04-28T05:54:00.003+01:00

Good to see that Jerry Guscott got abut 30% of the team wrong... Still can't believe that Ryan Jones failed to make it though.

Snakebyte

2009-04-28T05:54:00.001+01:00

Shame that this wasn't actually us...!

Button injured in horrific F1 accident

2009-04-17T06:21:00.001+01:00

Old but good

Irelands worst driver

2009-02-20T08:37:00.004Z

The Irish Garda have tracked down a driver who has given 50 different addresses after 50 different driving offences and had not been caught. He was Polish but that was all the Garda knew. Turns out his name, Mr Prawo Jazdy, is actually Polish for "driving licence"...

Demons

2009-01-25T14:20:00.001Z

Very good, but basically a British Buffy. Even has an American role (played by a Briton) playing the British role in Buffy

Shirts

2008-09-07T20:04:00.004+01:00

I've just counted the number of shirts that I own. Sam guessed at 20. I have 43. Most too small, too worn out or ones that I don't have any ties to go with them.

What on earth does anyone need 43 shirts for?

That doesn't include rugby shirts, T-shirts, etc...

Well, it worried me.

You know what it is

2008-09-07T20:04:00.001+01:00

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord
Ive been waiting for this moment, all my life, oh lord
Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord

Well, if you told me you were drowning
I would not lend a hand
Ive seen your face before my friend
But I dont know if you know who I am
Well, I was there and I saw what you did
I saw it with my own two eyes
So you can wipe off the grin, I know where youve been
Its all been a pack of lies

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord
Ive been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord
And Ive been waiting for this moment all my life, oh lord, oh lord

Well I remember, I remember dont worry
How could I ever forget, its the first time, the last time we ever met
But I know the reason why you keep your silence up, no you dont fool me
The hurt doesnt show; but the pain still grows
Its no stranger to you or me

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord...

Aussies - wind up merchants and very bad losers

2008-08-22T07:06:00.000+01:00

http://www.foxsports.com.au/beijing_olympics/story/0,27313,24221767-5016818,00.html

Last Place Medals

2008-08-20T05:10:00.001+01:00

Number of last places at the Olympics - if a medal was give for finishing plumb last,,,!

Have a chew

2008-08-20T04:55:00.002+01:00

Tajikistan's Dzhakhon Kurbanov has been disqualified for biting Kazakh Yerkebulan Shynaliyev in their light-heavyweight quarter-final bout in the boxing.

The stupidity of sport governing bodies

2008-08-20T04:47:00.001+01:00

Stolen from the BBC:

"The New Zealand hockey manager has been banished from the field at a crucial men's match because officials objected to his players' underwear. Kevin Marr was ordered to watch the must-win match against Germany from the grandstand as punishment for three players wearing black undies beneath white shorts in an earlier match."

The article goes on to suggest that Olympic dress codes demand players' underwear match their shorts. Who decided that? What did they envisage might happen if that rule didn't exist?

5 Live's Phone in

2008-08-11T21:28:00.003+01:00

This morning's hour of opening up the national airwaves to the uneducated and opinionated British public, otherwise known as the phone-in on 5Live, asked the question of whether we should care about minority sports (in other words anything but football).

They seemed to completely miss the irony that as the self-titled Olympic station, they chose not to broadcast prime time from the Olympics (4 pm in Beijing) but broadcast drivel of that sort....

World Record in 4x100 Freestyle

2008-08-11T21:10:00.002+01:00

In today's 4x100 men's Freestyle relay swimming at the Olympics, the USA beat the old World Record (set at 3:12:23). Impressive but not unusual. They knocked nearly four seconds off the record, which was gain impressive but not unusual. What was stunning was that all the top 5 broke the old record, with the 6th place Canadians 0.03 seconds outside the record. The GBR team in 8th were 0.6 seconds outside the record, which would normally be enough to at least get a medal. They beat the national record by 6 seconds. The best 5 times ever set in history all happened in the same race.

Stunning.

The EU as a religion

2008-07-01T08:34:00.002+01:00

Interesting quote from the French President this week about the EU and the fact that Ireland and now Poland have rejected or not signed the Treaty of Lisbon:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said "something isn't right" with the EU and warned citizens may be losing faith

Faith suggests a religion and that we, the members of the independent states, should be "believing". It is not a religion.

Cricket

2008-06-13T06:29:00.000+01:00

I’m all for extending cricket’s reach into new countries and new markets, but extremely one-sided matches make a mockery of this.

Two particular matches are cases in point – firstly a qualifying match for the ICC Women's World Cup played last year between Bermuda (who beat Canada to pre-qualify) and South Africa. Bermuda were put in and scored 13 allout. Eight ducks, and three batsmen scored 1 each. Extras top scored with 10, Loubser took 6 for 3. Bermuda then bowled and Paynter took none for 15 in 4 legitimate balls – she bowled 9 wides and one no ball in her over. Interestingly, in the 7th/8th play-off of the same tournament, Paynter was Bermuda’s best bowler with 4 for 16 in 9 overs in far better, more evenly matched encounter.

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/women/engine/current/match/312284.html

In the ICC International Division 5 tournament held last week in Jersey, Nepal played Mozambique in the group stages. Nepal batted first and scored a commendable 238 for 7, with several good contributions from the lower middle order. Nothing too special, but then their left arm seamer Mahaboob Alam opened the bowling and proceeded to take all ten Mozambique wickets for 12 runs in 7.5 overs (5 bowled, 4 lbw, 1 caught behind). 4 of the runs conceded were wides. Mozambique were bowled out for 19, with 9 players failing to score, Kaleem Shah scoring 9, Younis 2 and extras 8.

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wcl/engine/current/match/352381.html

Having said that, the tournament itself was a success, with Afghanistan beating Jersey in the final. The USA and Nepal reached the semi-finals, with Mozambique finishing 8th of the 12 countries.

In a far better match, Denmark played Holland at Brondby, (http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/other/engine/current/match/354029.html), and Denmark won by 8 runs in a very close encounter.

Smoking and fascism

2008-06-06T19:49:00.002+01:00

Very interesting that the first people to ban smoking were the Nazis.

Cricketers' Underwear

2008-06-05T18:51:00.001+01:00

From Cricinfo:

New Zealand are set to try out high-tech bowlers' trousers, specially designed to put shine on the ball, for the third Test against England at Trent Bridge.

The trousers - manufactured by New Zealand-based outfitters Canterbury - were set to be used only from October, but they have been tried in practice. Also included is the micro-slide version for fielders, and the IonX BaseLayer performance underwear which is claimed to improve performance by 2.7%.

Please tell me what measure of performance is improved by your underwear…

Barrack Obama

2008-06-05T04:20:00.002+01:00

According to the BBC, one recent opinion poll suggested 15% of Americans believe that Barrack Obama is a Muslim, despite the problems caused by his former (Christian) pastor. In the current climate, does this make him unelectable in some parts of the US?

Phil Tufnell

2008-06-04T18:06:00.002+01:00

Conversation between Henry Blofield and Phil Tufnell on TMS:

Blowers: "What was your highest first class score Tuffers?"
Tuffers: "67. All with fours."
Blowers: "I think you're suffering from a spot of mathematical incontinence old thing"

From the Test match Special blog

2008-06-03T20:58:00.000+01:00

On the BBC:

I saw Rory McGrath eating a sandwich on the Tube the other day. If it helps, a load of football fans were singing 'there's only one Rory Bremner' at him."

Keeping up with the Joneses

2008-06-03T20:46:00.000+01:00

The Wales side to play SA on 7th June includes 6 Jones in the starting XV and 7 in the 22. 40% of the team…. Must be a record.

The Doctor's Daughter

2008-05-12T23:02:00.002+01:00

I spy a spin-off... Possibly next year when there are only 3 Dr Who specials??

Finland

2008-04-13T16:07:00.001+01:00

The album "Huggin' an' a Kissin'" by Bombalrina (basically Timmy Mallet) stayed at number 1 in Finland for 12 weeks.

Not a lot you can say to that.

Ladygrove

2008-01-18T06:57:00.000Z

Why, a year ago, didi the local council find it necessary to put signs up denoting that the estate on which I live is "Ladygrove Park". When I say signs, of course - there are 4 entrance roads to the estate. The "Welcome to Ladygrove Park" sign went up on one entrance... I don't understand.

Channel 4's "Greatest" series

2008-01-16T22:56:00.000Z

Channel 4 are really running out of ideas. They started off with the 100 greatest comedians, 100 greatest albums, 100 greatest TV shows, 100 greatest films, etc. Then there were 50 Greatest... On tonight was the 30 Greatest political comedies. That's getting a little specific, a little desperate and really pushing the nostalgia/compilation format to the edge of credibility. Its interesting to note how many of them were Channel 4 programmes...

Sam suggested the next show could be the 2 Greatest whole numbers between 3 and 6.

Unfair dismissal?

2008-01-12T07:57:00.000Z

The owner of a German company is being sued for unfair dismissal - after he fired three non-smoking workers and replaced the with smokers who 'fitted in better'.

They were sacked on the grounds that they would 'interfere with corporate peace', after they requested a smoke-free environment.

Thomas Jensen, the manager of the 10-person IT company in Buesum, told the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper he had fired the trio because their non-smoking was causing disruptions.

Love it...

Amazon marketplace P&P costs

2008-01-10T23:21:00.001Z

How come if I buy a single CD on Amazon marketplace, the fixed P&P is £1.20. If I buy a book it is £2.75. Fair enough, the book is heavier. If I buy a single audiobook on CD in the same packaging as a CD, it is charged as a book at £2.75.

Explain the logic behind that one...

The Spice Girls

2007-12-12T23:17:00.000Z

Does anybody really believe that they do their shopping at Tesco?

Shoes

2007-12-09T01:00:00.000Z

Why have I finally found a decent pair of boots to go to gigs in to replace the ones I first had when I was 18, and they hurt my feet too much. I seem to be the unlikeliest person to suffer in the name of fashion...

Silverstone and Bernie Ecclestone

2007-11-23T07:42:00.002Z

Every year, in November and December, Bernie Ecclestone starts criticising the Silverstone circuit in terms of its suitability for F1. Every year, he casts doubt as to whether that year’s race will go ahead, and screws more concessions out of the UK and the BRDC. Every year, the race is finally confirmed and goes ahead in the summer. Bernie, a skilful businessman who has made vast amounts of money and has used that to be pictured looking up at lots of tall and not-so-tall beautiful women, just has it in for his own nation staging a GP. He would get far more money if the race was held in Indonesia, or Nigeria, or Saudi Arabia, or India, or Korea, each of which would pay handsomely for the privilege of holding the race, but at the expense of the traditional fan, the traditions of F1 and, lets face it, having a home race for most of the teams.

So every year we get the same drivel and criticism from Bernie, and every year he gets more out of the organisers. I’d say someone ought to stand up to him, but there are far too many “short” jokes there…

26 November 1970

2007-11-23T07:42:00.001Z

In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 1.5 inches (38.1mm) of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever on record

Great quotes from the BBC

2007-11-22T02:21:00.000Z

"There is a no-smoking policy in all parts of the Layer Road ground. Anyone who is caught smoking will be taken away, strapped to an electric chair and electrocuted until they are dead. Thank you."

Colchester announcer at half-time in the Leicester game

"No disrespect to Adam Smith. He clearly created a great piece of work studying the rise of industry and commercial development in Europe and making the case for free markets - but come on, I'm the first ever Scottish fighter to win both the British and European super-featherweight titles."

Boxer Alex Arthur on hearing that he wasn't chosen to feature on the new £20 note

Q: 'What would you be if you weren't a footballer?'
Crouch: 'A virgin'.

Peter Crouch on Soccer AM

Jim Bloody Rosenthal

2007-11-22T02:19:00.000Z

At least he's not doing F1 any more, but he knows nothing about rugby and is the cheesiest presenter in the world:

(stolen from the BBC website):

“Last week, when Arsenal faced Slavia Prague, it was seven. For Liverpool tonight, it was eight. When Chelsea went to Schalke in Germany, it was NEIN."

Jim Rosenthal stakes his claim for corniest quote of the season on Champions League highlights.

CD cases

2007-11-18T07:40:00.000Z

Why are albums being released in flimsy cardboard cases these days? The new ones from The Eagles and Bruce Springsteen come in a cardboard case only which can easily get damaged or have the CD sliding out if it. I'm all for reducing pacakging and using environmentally friendly materils, but this is taking it too far. Packaging, by its nature, should at the very least, protect the product inside. Cardboard cases don't.

What Can You Say?

2007-11-03T13:37:00.001Z

I couldn't find London on a map if they didn't have the names of the countries. I swear to God. I don't know what nothing is. I know Italy looks like a boot. I know (Washington Redskins linebacker) London Fletcher. We did a football camp together. So I know him. That's the closest thing I know to London. He's black, so I'm sure he's not from London. I'm sure that's a coincidental name."

Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder ahead of the clash with the New York Giants at Wembley.

(from the BBC website)

Wantage

2007-11-03T13:25:00.000Z

Unintersting fact of the day:

10% of the female members of the House of Lords are old girls of St. Mary’s School, Wantage

Ferarri win the F1 World Championship

2007-10-21T18:52:00.000+01:00

As Sam rightly pointed out, the fact that neither McLaren driver won the World Championship is rather poetic justice for the illegal way that McLaren have been behaving over the last few years - it appears that they knew Ferrari's technical data and probably had incorporated some into their car. Tough luck on Hamilton who, it appears, did not know about the Ferrari data, but his car would probably have benefitted...

Notes about Welsh rugby

2007-10-03T22:42:00.000+01:00

As ranted to Dan:

If Jones had been up to his normal standard and kicked any of the penalties or conversions in the first 70 mins, we would have taken the penalty in the dying minutes and won the game.

If Martyn Williams had gone behind the posts for his breakaway try the conversion would have been more straightforward – see point above.

My problem is that Wales actually played bloody well in patches. Of all the Home Nations, they got the closest to the “big” team in their group – Scotland and England were thrashed and pointless against NZ and South Africa respectively, Wales lost 32-20 to Australia.

They came up against a very very committed Fijian team – you can almost tell who will win from the anthems and Fiji were completely up for it, and blasted Wales away in the first half. They completely deserved their win: I just hope that Fiji and Argentina can maintain that form going into the Quarter Finals. If Argentina don’t continue to play well, they could gift Scotland an undeserved semi-final place…

You have to play what is in front of you, but Wales always looked likely to have a tricky pool with Canada and Fiji. I honestly believe that Wales, playing as they did, would have beaten Scotland, Ireland and England playing the way that they did, but that is the luck of the draw.

After the start of the tournament, it was always likely that there would be one big shock (I don’t class Argentina – France as much of a shock as the Argentineans have been a very good side for a long time). And typically, it was always likely to be Wales. England and, to a certain extent, Scotland, have more of an ability to grind out unattractive results against weaker but committed opposition. England rely on Wilkinson too much – not just for penalties but for drop goals, tactical kicking and distribution. Scotland rely on Paterson’s boot from just about anywhere. Wales play fast and loose but are not the best defensively, which means that teams will rack up points against them and occasionally it all comes unstuck. This result is not on a par with the Samoa results as we played like donkeys in 1991. We actually played well this time round.

Having said that, as soon as Alfie goes it’ll be good – he’s had his time. The coach was unlucky but that is the nature of Welsh rugby – one of the hardest jobs in the world to try and meet completely unrealistic expectations.

No Northern Hemisphere teams in the semi-finals? Highly possible.

I'm not sure that was really random abuse. The key part of my argument was that we have played better than the Scots and the English. England only really played well once they had Wilkinson back against Tonga, and yes they rely on him as a talisman as well as his immense abilities. I would have agreed about Dallaglio being a talisman a few years ago, I don't agree now. Like Gareth Thomas and a few others (especially the Irish), he is past his prime.

Scotland ground out a victory. They are good at it and they play to their strengths, as do England. Agree, it ain't pretty, but I would rather see Wales lose and score 5 tries that watch Paterson score penalty after penalty from all over the pitch. That's my personal opinion...

As for supporting other teams, I will be supporting England against Australia - very little could bring me to support Australia unless they were playing NZ... I will, however, be supporting Argentina against Scotland, as I feel Argentina deserve the semi-final place more, and it would be the best thing for world rugby for Argentina to get through. Scotland are not even supported well by their own public - they can't even fill Murrayfield for VI Nations games these days let alone for WC pool games. Shocking...! Ad that's not to start on the debacle of the Borders and Edinburgh professional teams over the summer. I think that another team (Spain, Romania, Portugal, Argentina, Georgia, Russia) would actually be more worthwhile in the VI Nations than the Scots (it'll never happen but something has to give, in order to develop the game outside its heartland).

Pain

2007-09-21T07:53:00.001+01:00

In 1986, the All Black forward Wayne Shelford needed 20 stitches to his scrotum after an international against France in Nantes.

How do you get 20 stitches in there…?

The History of French Rugby League

2007-09-21T07:51:00.000+01:00

Fascinating article on rugby’s politics, the banning of league in France, the NZ Cavaliers and the status of rugby in apartheid South Africa, Romanian political investment in rugby and the death of many members of the team in the revolution (1989), the Gaelic games refusing to share facilities.

Scottish Rugby

2007-09-18T22:17:00.000+01:00

It is showing signs of improvement - they put in a good performance against a limited Romania side, but does the nation deserve a rugby team if they will not go out and support it. Tonga vs Samoa attracted 35,000 to the south of France, a fair way from the Pacific. Scotland, playing at home in the premier rugby tournament, attracted about 31,000 to their main stadium in one of their two main cities (i.e., Murrayfield), and considered it a success. Very low expectations.

England vs South Africa

2007-09-15T00:58:00.000+01:00

Now I am/ claim to be Welsh. I always have done, I always will. I enjoy watching England get beaten by most teams at rugby especially. However, on occasions like last night's thrashing by South Africa, a part of me is depressed, and remembers that I am technically 3/4 English... I have never seen a less competent, pathetic performance by a so-called top rugby side. South Africa were good, but England were abysmal. Atrocious kicking game (especially the missed kicks, Ben Kay trying the chip over the top, Perry missing touch, Farrell's drop outs going straight to SA's strengths), lack of support for the player going down in the ruck (balls turned over all over the place), the lack of basic skills of Perry and Farrell, the anonymity of captain Corry, the lack of decent backup in the sqaud to Wilkinson and Barkley (who, let's face it, are known to be injury-prone).

England are going to struggle against a fired-up Samoa.

The problems with developing minnows by the IRB

2007-09-13T18:26:00.000+01:00

As posted on a BBC blog.

The Pacific Nations play each other and the Junior ABs and Aus A. There used to be a Pacific Rim competition but it was not financially viable. There are proper international competitions in most geographical areas. The IRB have put in funding to the "minnows": you can see this in the performances of Portugal, US, Namibia, Georgia so far.

The problems however are threefold: (a) there is no money from TV or sponsors or advertising for these other competitions;
(b) European and Tri Nation club and Super 14 sides put pressure on their players from minor countries not to play internationals - this makes it very difficult to get the best representative side out (witness recent tours of Europe by Samoa, Fiji, etc.). Usually the one or two professionals are the ones who aren't allowed to turn out;
(c) Tri and VI Nations teams are (with some honourable exceptions) reluctant to tour minor nations: witness the Tri Nations expanding by having a third game between each team rather than invited Argentina and/or the Pacific Nations combined team.

Additionally, the Pacific nations have for a long time had their best players poached by NZ (and others) - there have bee players who have refused to play for Samoa or Tonga as they were waiting to be eligible for NZ. If they said they wanted to play for NZ they stood a better chance of a Super 14 contract. Better prospects for the players and their livelihood, but not for the nations.

Rugby World Cup on ITV

2007-09-11T02:49:00.001+01:00

Why, oh why. The BBC would do it so much better.

Does Argentina’s result against France give Wales hope?

2007-09-10T19:17:00.001+01:00

Right, bear with me on this one as I’m certain that this doesn’t make a huge amount of sense, but I’m being traditionally Welsh and hopelessly optimistic about RWC 2007.

Argentina have beaten France and look likely to top their group as Ireland looked poor against Namibia. Assuming that the Tri-Nations teams top their groups, then the quarter0finals would be as follows:

Australia vs England
New Zealand vs France
South Africa vs Wales
Argentina vs Scotland/Italy

The first semi-final is likely to be between Australia and New Zealand, unless the French can find top gear against the All Blacks and really shock them. Wales have a chance to surprise South Africa, the weakest of the Tri-Nations teams, which would lead to a semi-final against Argentina, who by that stage may have run out of steam. So on that reckoning, it could be a New Zealand vs Wales final in the World Cup. And in a one-off match, who knows what could happen!

OK, I’ll come back to reality soon.

In The Night Garden...

2007-09-10T19:16:00.000+01:00

The Pontypines have to go home without their children. Again. Will somebody please call social services.

Boffin

2007-09-09T17:58:00.000+01:00

On "The Restaurant" a couple of nights ago, the contestants had to cater for 800 employees at Rutherford. Throughout, they were described as "the boffins", etc. I really think that is getting to be a discriminatory, derogatory word. Even "geek" has a more positive connotation.

Minnows at the Rugby World Cup

2007-09-09T17:54:00.000+01:00

What is the point of giving yellow cards out to the Portuguese for technical offences against Scotland. Surely you need to keep the game as balanced as possible - fine give out cards for violent offences and dangerous play but make every effort to keep it to 15 against 14. The Portuguese have only 2 professional players for goodness' sake - they are certainly never going to beat the Scots, but they deserve to be given every opportunity to show what they can do. Putting on 100 points against a lesser nation does no-one any god, not the wining side as they don't get anythying from a thrashing, not the minnows, not the crowd, not the TV audience.

Superb first half try by the Portuguese by the way. If Leal is not playing professionally somewhere after this WC, I'm no judge of rugby.

Argentina

2007-09-07T22:20:00.000+01:00

After that performance (beating France in the World Cup opener), it is a disgrace that they are not in the Tri-Nations southern hemisphere tournament or the VI Nations. They are rated 5 or 6 in the world, and have now beaten France on 5 of the last 6 occasions that they have played them, but SA, NZ and Aus refuse to let them into their club. We shoudl be spreading the creed of rugby, not ring-fencing it. Samoa and Fiji and Tnga will have their best players poached by the Suepr 14 sides after the World Cup, and those players will sign contracts which make it financially non-viable to play for their countries.

Great tournament in progress, but the 8 semi-finalists will be England, Ireland, NZ, Australia, Wales, South Africa, Italy or Scotland, and 2 of France, Argentina or Ireland. That's just too predictable. It needs to be spread further.

Britain's Next Top Model

2007-09-03T21:21:00.000+01:00

It is nor often that I get angry about trash television, as I don't watch it that much. Sam freely admits that she is, however, hooked on Britain's Next Top Model. Tonight, the final three were on a Brazilian beach when the photographer called one of the girls very overweight. She was a size 10 or 12 at most, with hardly any belly at all. Just because you couldn't see the definition of every one of her ribs. The irony of the next programme being advertised being about celebrities on yo-yo diets did not escape me. Maybe in Brazil starving yourself on the beach sells magazines, but it is the symptom of a sick society. Would Marilyn ever have got anywhere in this day and age? I somehow doubt it.

Coke and Diet Coke

2007-08-31T06:34:00.000+01:00

Overheard two girls talking while I was walking the dog round Ladygrove: “can you put some of your Coke in my Diet Coke please”. What seems to be the problem here – she needs to rush of the tiniest amount of caffeine, or she wants everyone else to think she’s on a diet. If you want a decent drink, buy Coke. If you want to have a saccharine aftertaste for a week, buy Diet Coke. Either way, make a decision and stick with it. You can’t make a cocktail from two types of Coke, you know.

Mobile Phone usage

2007-08-31T06:33:00.002+01:00

Why has it become de rigueur to hold your mobile phone out in front of you like a Star Trek communicator. Or is it just in reality competitions when the TV cameras are picking up both sides of the conversation. Mind you, they are invariably filming at both ends so there’s no real need… The telephone is perfectly well designed with an earpiece at one end and a mouthpiece at the other. There’s a hint in the names as to whether they should be held in a conversation.

Muppets.

Classic Flintoff

2007-08-31T06:33:00.001+01:00

This is why he’s so well loved – very straight talking:

"If Colly goes for a wee, I'll take over the captaincy. But as for the long term, I don't know..."
Andrew Flintoff at Old Trafford

Garden Waste Bins

2007-08-24T08:15:00.000+01:00

Before we got a garden waste bin from the council, I used to cut all of the hedge in one go and then worry about what to do with the clippings. Now, I just keep going until the wheely bin is full (and compacted and filed and compacted and filled until I can't stuff any more in...). That basically means that it takes me several goes to finish the hedges. Interesting by-product of the move to segregate wastes...

Marillion - After Me

2007-08-23T22:17:00.000+01:00

There's a stray dog she feeds....

She named it after me.

I've never heard of a dog named Steve.

Photos

2007-08-18T18:51:00.000+01:00

I haven't really ranted properly for a while...

Lack of a sense of humour

2007-08-14T18:40:00.000+01:00

Some photos

2007-08-12T20:34:00.000+01:00

North Pole irony

2007-08-11T06:05:00.000+01:00

A little ironic that two of the countries that have done most to increase global warming, the USA and Russia, are now involved in competing claims over rights to the North Pole and the Arctic. The mining, oil and gas rights have become important mainly because global warming and climate change have caused the polar ice caps to melt, making it easier to mine and to extract the oil and gas...!

Smart Gas and Electric Meters

2007-08-10T08:49:00.000+01:00

From the ENDS report but rather an interesting proposal...

Limited smart metering proposals set out

Plans to roll out smart meters to all gas and electricity customers within ten years were outlined by the government last week.

From May 2008, energy suppliers will be required to provide a “real-time display” unit when installing new or replacement electricity meters under the latest proposals from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR).

In addition, for two years, starting no later than May 2008, suppliers will have to provide free displays to all households requesting them.

The government considered a wider roll out providing displays to all customers over five years, but does not think that the manufacturing capability exists to meet this demand. DBERR also thinks a limited roll out would deliver the most cost-effective emissions reductions because customers that ask for displays are the most likely to use them and adapt their behaviour. It estimates that around a quarter of households – up to five million – will request displays.

Gas and electricity suppliers will also be required to install smart meters in all but the smallest businesses within the next five years. Smart meters are more sophisticated than the displays and allow two way communication between the customer and the supplier.

The government is sticking with its plan for all gas and electricity customers to have smart meters and visual displays within ten years, and is weighing up whether to require all new and replacement meters to be smart, or whether to simply require suppliers to ensure that they are installed by a set time.

Energy suppliers would also have to improve their billing and provide customers with historical data so they can compare their energy use from one year to the next.

Taken together, these measures should save 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 a year in 2020. They would cost energy suppliers around £13 million a year, but save their customers over £80 million in smaller bills.

Cities in the USA

2007-08-02T18:05:00.001+01:00

Maza, North Dakota is just about the smallest legal city in the world, with a population of 5 people.

Markus Winkelhock

2007-08-02T18:04:00.000+01:00

Winkelhock is the only driver in Formula One history to start last on the grid and lead the race in his first Grand Prix, and due to the red flag and restart, is also the only driver in Formula One history to start both last and first on the grid in the same Grand Prix

Garbage Greatest Hits

2007-07-25T08:27:00.000+01:00

How can the new album from Garbage be "remastered" when it has only just come out? Admittedly it is a Greatest Hits collection but with new stuff one there as well. Have they really recorded the new stuff, then immediately remastered it as the first cut was not up to scratch?

F1 Nepotism

2007-07-25T08:15:00.001+01:00

After one of the best F1 races of recent history at the Nurburgring (in the ridiculously named "European Grand Prix", but that's another story), credit must go to Markus Winkelhock. In his first ever Grand Prix, in the Spyker car that is slower than any others, circumstances and and excellent strategy meant that he was leading the race before it was red flagged. More than that, he was at one stage leading by 30 odd seconds!

It is good to see that the back markers are actually getting competitive - the Super Aguris are making their way up the grid, while the Spkyers are better than they have been in the past.

Anyway, neppotism. The number of sons of former drivers increases by the weekend, seemingly. How about this for a list of famous F1 families:

Hill - Damon was the son of Graham, both world champions.
Winkelhock - Markus (see above) is the son of Manfred and nephew of Joachim (Le Mans winner in 1999) and Thomas
Schumacher – brothers Michael and Ralf
Fittipaldi – Christian raced in F1 and in the US after his father (Wilson) and uncle (Emerson) had large success
Villeneuve - Jacques was World Champion after his father Gilles had been a successful driver in the 1970s.
Rosberg – current F1 driver Nico is the son of former champion Keke, despite Nico being Germana nd his father Finnish
Scheckter – Tomas drove for A1GP Team South Africa and in this years’ Indy 500. He is the son of Jody.
Senna – Bruno (Ayrton’s nephew) is now racing in GP2
Lauda – Matthias raced in A1GP and GP2: his father Nikki was World Champion
Jones – Christian raced in A1GP after his father Alan won races in F1 for Williams
Andretti – Michael (F1 and Indycars) and Marco (Indycars) are son and grandson of Mario.
Rahal – Graham raced in the US and for Lebanon in A1GP, and is the son of Bobby
Brabham – David raced in Formula 1. His father, Jack, was World Champion in 1959, 1960 and 1966. His brothers, Geoff and Gary are also racing drivers.
Ickx – Vanina, raced in the 2007 DTM series. She is the daughter or former F1 racer Jacky.
Stewart – Paul was a team boss, after his father had been World Champion several times.
Unser – Al, jr is the son of Al.
Piquet – Nelson Piquet, jr raced in the first season of A1GP for Brazil, as well as GP2 in 2006. His father was a previous World Champion in F1.
Bleekemoelen – Michael raced in 5 FI races (only qualifying for 1). His son Jeroen is a current A1GP racer.
Mansell – Nigels’s two sons have been seen at the lower levels of motorsport, but they are only just into their teens.

Floods

2007-07-25T08:11:00.000+01:00

There were a lot of people up at the Wittenham Clumps last night taking pictures of the flooding over Wittenham, Days' Lock and Dorchester. There are now so many more outlets for people to publish their photographs - on-line versions of newspapers, blogs, MySpace and Facebook, and the BBC crying out for original footage so they don't have to send their own camera-people out to do the same job.

On another point, a letter in the Telegraph from someone flooded in Clifton Hampden said that the only person who managed to fight their way through the floods and knocked on their door... had come to read the water meter!

2007-07-11T23:32:00.000+01:00

The oldest piece of English law still extant is the 1267 Statute of Marlborough. The current version of the Magna Carta dates from the 1297 revision not the 1215 original.

Taken from Wikipedia (see link):

The chapters currently valid are c.1, c.4, & c.15 (often referred to as the Distress Act 1267), which seek to govern the recovery of damages ("distresses") and make it illegal to obtain recompense for damages other than through the courts, and c.23 (the Waste Act 1267), which seeks to prevent tenant farmers from "making waste" to land they are in tenancy of.

Colours of cars

2007-07-11T07:30:00.004+01:00

The colours of modern cars are becoming more and more nondescript. Grey, silver, beige, gunmetal, etc., are the most popular car colours (especially for Mercs but others as well). Where is the individuality and the unusual?

Rafferty

2007-07-11T07:30:00.003+01:00

How is it that a 20 month old boy doesn't go to sleep until 11 o'clock and then is wide awake again at 7 am...

Cricket

2007-07-10T04:11:00.000+01:00

In case anyone cares, in the last two weeks, I've scored 20 and 16. Two of the highest scores since I was at primary school, I think.

CSI (again)

2007-07-10T04:09:00.000+01:00

its molecular formula is C12 H22 O11. Oh, it must be sucrose....

How many thousands of chemicals have the above formula? And have they purified it to such an extent that they can get a single cound from a load of ashes?

Sam says I take it too seriously and it is meant to be entertainment. I take her point, but it still annoys me...

Brian Moore

2007-07-06T18:28:00.003+01:00

Great quote from Brian Moore against his detractors (and I have been one of them):

If you don't understand the long words, get a dictionary. And if you're going to give me abuse, at least spell some of the words correctly. My favourite this year has been the comment, "Moore, you are a compleat wunker".

The New World Sport

2007-07-06T18:28:00.001+01:00

The 2007 world Rock Paper Scissors Championships are being staged in Toronto on 13 October.

Forest

2007-07-06T18:27:00.001+01:00

Despite never having smoked in my life, I'm sorely tempted to join FOREST to campaign against the persecution of smokers. This quote puts it better than I could.

"Smokers are now the only minority who are not only abused but whose minority status is quoted as justification for abuse." Joe Jackson

In the Night Garden...

2007-07-06T08:06:00.001+01:00

I love it. Rafferty loves it more than anyhing else on the TV. I suspect that the merchandise will be this year's "must-have" (as the iPhone is not available in the uK yet..). Sam is in love with Macca-pacca, and doesn't believe that there are blue Pontypines called Wottingers.

Doctor Who

2007-07-03T10:16:00.001+01:00

The final episode of Series 3 was superb, especially on watching it for a second time. It was the first real Martha-centric episode with the rest of the series having pushed the Doctor back to the forefront (a change from the Rose-centric first couple of series). John Simm was excellent, as you would expect, and the final denouement was nicely gauged. It sets things up nicely for the Christmas special and then further for the fourth series. The rumour mills are already in full swing as to the next companions and the direction of the next series. Just too long to wait - see my previous post.

426 posts

2007-07-03T09:16:00.001+01:00

In just over two years. With a few massive gaps,I have managed to keep this blog going reasonably well...

Smoking ban - Reading

2007-07-03T09:14:00.000+01:00

On the first day of the smoking ban in England, a loose cigarette caused a fire at a pub in Reading. Irony of irony.

Prediction on credit cards

2007-07-03T09:12:00.001+01:00

A little prediction for sometime in the future... There will be a surcharge made on small transactions on credit cards (for exampe under £5). I have noticed a change in the transactions I am making - with iTunes purchases and Paypal purchases through EBay, most of the transactions I make are between 50p and £5. I'm sure the banks will complain soon that their admin charges for these trasactions are too high.

Deal or No Deal

2007-07-03T09:09:00.001+01:00

The adverts during the 500th edition of "Deal or No Deal" included:

Tena incontinence pants
walk-in showers
Seven Seas Cod Liver Oil
Dentifix

I think it is clear who they believe their target market is... Why don't they go the whole hog and advertise Saga holidays and funeral homes?

Lost and Doctor Who

2007-07-03T08:59:00.000+01:00

Why do we have to wait so long for the next installments of these two excellent series. Lost has another 3 seasons to run, but (as I understand it), they are short (16 week) series rather than the full length ones. For Doctor Who we have to wait another 9 months, with the exception of the Christmas special. I want to know how the TARDIS wall can be breached, seeing as that is meant to be virtually impossible.

I guess there's a new series of Torchwood and the first proper series of the Sarah Jane Adventures to see us through, and I'm still catching up on the Big Finish audio adventures of the Past Doctors, but still.

Sam's waiting for the new series of Prison Break with bated breath as well.

Paul McCartney (sorry, Sir Paul) and Apple

2007-07-03T08:53:00.000+01:00

There is something very ironic about Apple using Sir Paul McCartney's latest album on the adverts for iPod and iTunes. The Beatles' record company, Apple, have had a long history with Apple Computers, Inc., over many years of litigation over the name Apple. More specifically, Apple Records sued Apple Computers for promoting music using the Apple name. It all got sorted out until iTunes came along and Apple Computers turned into Apple (iPod), Inc.

So Macca advertising Apple Computer's main product is slightly strange. I guess he needs the cash to rebuild his dwindling fortune.

Citroen C4 - Alive with Technology

2007-07-03T08:51:00.000+01:00

Am I alone in finding those adverts a little creepy? I don't particularly want any car than I am driving to split transformer-like into an ice-skating robot. I also don't really want everything to bbe computer controlled about a car: it just means that there is far more to go wrong expensively.

The iPhone

2007-07-03T08:47:00.000+01:00

It is not very often that I want the latest gadget, and I hardly ever actually use a mobile phone anyway, but still. I want the new Apple iPhone. It'll be about 3 years before I get one - I have to wait until they are available in the UK (6 months), available realistically in the UK without a long waiting time (another 6 months), and once I've persuaded myself that I do actually want one havig spent ages drooling at the phone on the website and in any shop window or Apple Store that I come across.

Technology - who needs it?

CSI

2007-07-03T08:30:00.000+01:00

There are just too many nitpicks and criticisms. Firstly, I enjoy CSI, all three versions. However...

You cannot get the printout from a a 10 min GC run a couple of seconds after you've submitted the sample. You cannot get an entire structure of a steriod including stereocentres just from its mass spec trace.

Cops do occasionally run down blind alleys which don't lead the plot forwards, or maybe they don't do that in Nevada. Maybe every wild guess and seemingly random conclusion based on the flimsiest of evidence doe come off.

Maybe just when the writers have an idea for using a new bit of gadgetry then the plot will demand it (for example oil on someone's shoe means that the roof he was on has only just been repaired so it can clearly be seen in orange from a thermal camera held on a helicopter).

The serial stuff is annoying as well. Either make the programme a proper serial with proper development of the stories over a period of time, or ignore it completely. At the moment, the serial stuff takes about 5 minutes out of the episode and is completely incidental the rest of the show.

I'm not sure whether US procedures is different from UK procedure, but there woudl be no way that someone under investigation for a serious crime woudl be able to continue working with the evidence (especially forensic) of that crime, if indeed they did any work at all.

Rafferty's dipthong

2007-07-03T08:29:00.000+01:00

Rafferty is still not making an awful lot of sense, although he can miaow and quack quite nicely. He has produced his first dipthong though.

A maybe interesting fact

2007-06-22T02:48:00.001+01:00

57% of the population of London speak English as their first language. Workers at Heathrow airport speak 27 different first languages.

Make of that what you will. I make no comment just point out the fact.

Wispa and Spira

2007-06-22T02:46:00.000+01:00

I'm glad its not just me. Sign the petition, please. I really miss the Spira.

Cricket

2007-06-22T02:45:00.000+01:00

I scored 20 for the works team against Uffington on Wednesday night. That's the best score I've made for about 25 years...

Letter to the Telegraph

2007-05-17T20:16:00.000+01:00

Excellent letter in today's Telegraph saying that they bought a melon with a sticker stating "Produce of more than one country". Well, I enjoyed it.

PJ

2007-05-16T08:21:00.000+01:00

You can tell that your cat is too fat when the vet offers to carry her to the car for you....

Wantage

2007-05-15T21:51:00.000+01:00

I never knew that Wantage was such a centre for murderers and cutthroats in the 18th century that it was known as "Black Wantage". Rather an interesting if seedy past to the place...

Tortoises

2007-05-02T07:46:00.000+01:00

They have woken up and, as is their wont, shagged immediately. However, after briefly seeing one of top of the other, the next time I looked out the male had "turned around" so was either completely confued about which end was which, or tortoise copulation is more detailed than I had ever imagined...

Bloody kids

2007-05-02T07:44:00.000+01:00

I think I'm getting more and more intolerant in my old age. Either that or Ladygrove really is going to the dogs with vast crowds of underage gangs roaming the streets swearing and taking up the pavement.