Travel map (again (possibly))

I think I've done this before but here is my latest travel map.

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Aren't I just a big old travel bore!

Restaurant owner uses Facebook to track down bill dodgers

Too darned depressed about Everton to post anything about their dire, dire performance against Wigan. Suffice to say that that side should be more than capable of holding their own at this level. I know dross when I see it and those players are nowhere even close. In the past Everton teams were just not good enough and so results like that were understandable if not acceptable. These players are a million miles away from the journeymen of the past and that's what makes it all the more annoying. Come on lads, remember how good you are!

Anyway in order to lighten up the mood this is great :

Restaurant owner uses Facebook to track down bill dodgers

Peter Leary from seafood restaurant Seagrass on Melbourne's Southbank was fuming when the diners ate their way through the menu, pairing oysters, trout and red emperor with some expensive wines, slipped out for a cigarette -- and never returned.

But Leary, left with an unpaid bill of A$520 ($340), remembered one of the diners asking about a former waitress, whom he then contacted and she suggested they check through some contacts on Facebook.

"We searched a few names and there in front of us his face came up," Leary told Reuters, referring to one of the diners.

"He was pictured with his girlfriend who was the only girl in the group. We also knew where he worked, at a nearby restaurant, which was handy. It'd been clear they were in the trade."

Leary contacted the manager of the other restaurant, where both the man and his girlfriend worked, and explained the situation.

Within hours the diner returned to apologize and paid the bill -- and left a generous tip for the staff.

Leary said the fellow restaurateur called him later to inform him that both the man and his girlfriend had been sacked.

Brilliant stuff, you've got to laugh at that. Well done to the restaurant owner.

Woohoo, my Google bomb seems to have worked

It's took me a couple of months but at long last Nice Stuart Brandwood (Ie me) is now above Not Nice Stuart Brandwood (some weirdo who confessed to lots of debauchery in a Jerry Springer hoasted tv game show).

Over the last couple of months I've been SEOing for all I'm worth by pointing as many links as possible at a page containing some photos I submitted to the BBC website. This week it's finally paid off because the BBC page is now above the Daily Mail page (which should always be the case in my book).

Anyway thanks Google, having the other bloke above me was getting a bit worrying.

Space Spider on the loose

Spider in Space

If this isn't the first twenty minutes of s dodgy sci-fi action film I don't know what is :

First it was a tool bag, now NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station have misplaced an orb-weaver spider.

The bug was taken into space aboard the shuttle Endeavor last week, but was reported missing after crew found its tank empty.

But Nasa managers have insisted that the orb-weaver was not exactly lost, just temporarily misplaced..

“We don’t believe that it’s escaped the overall payload enclosure,” Kirk Shireman, Nasa’s deputy space station programme manager told the Times.

“I’m sure we’ll find him spinning a web sometime here in the next few days."

The spider was one of two orb-weavers taken into space for a three-month research mission.

It was hoped the missing spider might have sought refuge in its neighbour's tank, but the remaining spider has spun a web so thick, to cope with the zero-gravity conditions, that is is impossible to check.

Back to sport...

Right so back to matters sporting...Everton were pretty unlucky not to beat boro at the weekend. Very annoying, an early lapse cost us a goal in the first ten minutes and from then on in we dominated the game. It was an annoying afternoon realy but Yakubu finally popped up with an equaliser.





Two points dropped really but other results seemed to go our way so we stayed in position in the mix with Villa.

England were similarly annoying against Australia on Saturday...The Aussies didn't really show anything amazing but ultimately England gave away tonnes of easily kickable penalties and that was that.



On Tuesday I stumbled upon Munster V New Zealand....what an awesome sporting contest. Munster gave absolutely everything and we SO unlucky not to come away with a famous win against an admittedly understrength All Blacks side. Brilliant stuff, well done to the BBC for putting it on.

BNP Membership list goes online!!!!!

This, it has to be said is very, very funny. The entire membership for the British National Party (BNP) has been leaked and published online.

Let's face it, if you are going to be a fully paid up member of a vile, racist, facist organisation that paints itself as a legitimate political party then you'd hope it's hatemonger members would have the courage of their convications to be open about their views.

This is one of their websites...it make amusing reading with all the panicking comments about how they are all going to lose their jobs. Aparently their is policemen, teachers and a vicar in the list. Hope they are sweating now. Surely this is legitimate schadenfreude :

"Jesus H Christ! Its true, I've just seen my details. Who in the BNP has done this?"

"I'm also on the list, what the f*ck is going on? I could lose my job"

"I've just had a call, I'm on it to. I want my f*cking member money back, like has been mentioned here, I could lose my fucking job. I'm bloody angry."

Squirm you racist scum, squirm!

Hats off to whoever did this.

Liverpool FC try to kidnap Liver Bird

cultural imperialists try to steal city's symbol

Oh look, liverpool fc being cultural imperialists :

The owners of Liverpool Football Club have applied to register the Liver Bird as their trademark, prompting the city council to take legal advice.

The club have applied to the UK Intellectual Property Office to register the image for £450.

Bosses hope it will stem the tide of counterfeit Liverpool merchandise bearing the famous Liver Bird emblem.

But Liverpool City Council said the club had "no right" to claim the bird as its own.

Deputy council leader Flo Clucas said the council was taking legal advice over the trademark application.

"I have some very real concerns over it," she said.

"They do already have their crest trademarked, but they have no right of ownership to claim the bird, or any version of the bird, as their own.

"The Liver Bird, not only does it appear on the Royal Charter for the council, but it is also used by local businesses and schools.

"It belongs to the city and nobody has a right to claim it exclusively as the own. It's a symbol for the city."

That is a new low from a club you used to be able to respect even though you disliked them.

Rugby union re-structuring

Plans for a Rugby Union championship gaining momentum

"Members of the Rugby Football Union's council have backed setting up a new professional 12-team Championship to replace National League One.

Earlier the umbrella body for National League One clubs, First Division Rugby, had called the prospect of the new championship "financial suicide".

But six League One clubs subsequently gave the proposal their support.

The RFU said the vote to support the formation of a new competition was carried by an "overwhelming majority".

Coventry, Doncaster, Exeter, London Welsh, Nottingham and Plymouth Albion were the teams who sent a memo to the RFU council urging them to vote in the change.

It concluded: "We sincerely request your support in moving the development of level two rugby into the professional era without further delay."

The RFU believe the Championship is "the way forward" for English rugby, but FDR chairman Geoff Irvine responded by stating he was "amazed" the RFU had made the memo public "on behalf of a minority group of six clubs".

Under the RFU's plans, the leading Division One sides this season would become Championship founder members - if they agree to turn professional.

Interesting developments...I'd hope this will see a stronger higher profile set of teams for the various under-represented regions whilst reducing travelling costs and stabilising the lower tiers. That REALLY needs doing. Waterloo are really struggling this season...all these trips to the south west are proving a huge millstone.

David Moyes - Manager of the Year!

Congratulations to David Moyes for scooping the Manager of the year award at the Northwest Football Awards. He did do an absolutely outstanding job last season, I mean ultimately there was only really one blip and that was the FA Cup defeat to Oldham. Great runs in the UEFA & Carling cups and finishing 5th, can't really complain about that.

Oddly enough I was also looking closely at these awards because one of the companies I'm currently working with, JMC, were up for an award for. They provide IT solutions for quite a few of the clubs in the north west so congrats to them too.

Amusing thing of the day...people getting annoyed about John Sergeant

Boo hoo, I'm the star of the show not John Sergeant

It's all a bit pathetic really, all the catty judges & reality TV addicts getting all bothered because people are treating their precious 'talent' show with the contempt it deserves.

Reality TV is just nonsense and celebrity based reality TV is nonsense x 100 end of story. Don't complain if the public decide to have a bit of mischeif.

And while we are at it can the BBC presenter stop referring to it as "Strictly" please. It's just annoying.

The big one

It doesn't really matter what is at stake, England V Australia is always massive. England looked good last week against the Pacific Islanders but this is a big test. Me and Anne will be doing Christmas shopping tomorrow but at 14:30 that's got to stop and beer and rugby takes over.

Bit gutted about England's dismal performance in the cricket today. That Stamford Series really has disrupted things.

at what point does a superstition become silly

West Ham 1-3 Lucky Conkers

That is very un-Everton....the scenes in the Everton end after the second goal were utterly bananas, I know footy fans do generally go nuts when their teams scores but the looked something else. An utterly seething sea of joy. God bless The People's Club.

Brilliant to see Everton do something amaxing like that once again.

I love it when they make me love them.



Was in the Waterloo clubhouse for the closing stages of the game, I'd just resorted to extolling my lucky conkers in order to fashion a turnaround in Everton's fortunes. Certain bluenoses in the immediate vicinity were just telling me how silly the whole thing was when we equalised, took the lead and made the game safe.

catching up

So where to begin, well. Number one...Everton. We dominated the first half without even having them truly on the ropes. We trudged off honours even in terms of chances but optimistic. Fellaini had been imperious in winning posession and distributing it (He also hit the post and should have had a penalty).

The second half was all different Fulham got a lot tighter and Fellaini looked a lot les effective. He doesn't rampage around the midfield, merely just imposes himself. In a quicker, more frantic game he was much less effective. The Gwladys St nerves started jangling and Moyes responded with early, positive substitutions. Pienaar is the opposite, a limited player who just takes the games by the scruff of the neck & gives absolutely everything.

The only problem was that it was Pienaar and Fellaini who made way. Evertonians, it has to be said, were bewildered. Fulham were the better team in the second half there is no denying it but late on Osman stroked over a perfect cross for Saha (who'd come on for Fellaini) to head home...and that was that. A nervy & tense end to a week that had seen us gain 7 points and climb to 7 place.





So then onto Lewis Hamilton, after him being so dreadfully unlucky last year it was great to see him bring it home this year. But Lewis, the last corner or the last lap of the last race? Let's do it a bit easier next time. It's superb though, he is just a great bloke. It's great when the nice guys finish first (although you do have to feel sorry for Massa).





And then over to America...it doesn't matter about your feelings for that particularly country, it doesn't matter how turned off by politics you are...Barack Obama winning is truly inspirational. He's such a charismatic orator and for a black man to be President of the United States of America only 50 years after the repression of segregation is amazing.



One more thing, the this thing with cheating footballer Steven Gerard just running into players and get a penalty whenever he feels like is just getting ridiculous now. Never, ever, let a rednose bemoan young Ronaldo's 'diving' without challenging them on it. It's truly pathetic. Equally pathetic was Bernie Ecclestone making excuses for the blacked-up Spanish fans who gave Lewis Hamilton racial abuse at Barcelona. Happily the media has been quick to condemn it. If you aren't part of the solution you are part of the problem.

And that's it...I think we are upto date.

Autumn internationals at the weekend....bring it on.

so much to do

So much to blog and so little time.

How annoying that I haven't got round to blogging the recent momentus events. Everton keep consequetive clean sheets and America elects a black president....astounding.

The big decision 08...which online betting site to use

So as America gears up for it's big decision this week a fair few of us are glued to our online gambling websites. Yes I know the future of the free world is at stake and the dawning of a new political era is about to happen but following on very closely to this concern is online gambling concerns.

You see as the pundits go over the polls and every move McCain, Obama, Biden and Palin make is micro-analysed a fair few of us a looking at online betting shop websites and thinking "5-1 is a very good price in a two horse race".

(Incidentally Google have recently relaxed their restrictions on advertising online casinos and gaming sites.)