Thursday, October 27, 2005

Things I learnt last night

They don't call it "The Moan Stand" for nothing.

Whinge, whinge, whinge....Everton are a team low on confidence...bleating at the players isn't going to help. No-one ever plays better for having 10,000 people tell him he's sh*te. At one point Beattie dropped 30 yards to receive a ball from Kilbane which he worked insider for Neville (I think) to work forward and someone behind me rewarded his effort with an angry shout of "Get in the box Beattie".

We lost again...although I reckon we were the better side. We just have no cutting edge whatsoever.

The crowd was very flat which isn't usually the case on these League Cup nights and it certainly wasn't the case for the Bucharest game (a game we had virtually no-hope of winning)...We should have got behind them 'cause they are definitely showing signs of improving. Arteta was ace on the right and van der Meyde came on and looking pretty good on the left.

SB

Monday, October 24, 2005

Couldn't escape if I wanted to

WATERLOO RUGBY Official Website

Crammed a lot in this weekend. On Friday went to see Wallace & Gromit (Very good) and on Saturday managed to make it along to St Anthony's Road for Waterloo V Manchester. Lovely club, very welcoming and friendly...Ace, ace bar too. Cains Lager is lovely. I've been hoping to try it for a while after Anne spotted it on a night out and gave it a whole-hearted thumbs up.

Drank far too many pints of it and as a consequence was pretty much useless for most of Saturday evening. Waterloo played really well too and overcame a 0-12 deficit to easily run-out winners...nabbed that all important bonus point too. Top time had by all (although the blokie I was with, Mark, insisted on sticking on the Stella Artois when the delights of Cains Lager & Bitter plus Deuchars IPA were on offer).

Will hopefully be doing that again very soon.

The advantage of afternoon drinking means you neatly sidestep the hangover so I was almost fighting fit for Everton V Chelsea on Sunday. There wasn't much optimism going into the game but we set off from the Black Horse determined to do the team proud. Despite there being a fair few seats empty we really got behind them. I know full houses and vociferous support should go without saying for the blues but these are lean times (how long was it since we scored).

Anyway we went toe to toe with them and we took the lead via a James Beattie pen (won after Cahill robbed Sean Wright Phillips and he rather impetuously hacked him down at the very edge of the box). James had to wait a while before taking it and I was sure he was going to miss but he blasted it into the roof of the net.



Bearing in mind the five 2nd half goals the Pensioners scored last week there was a bit of trepidation around going into the 2nd half. They equalised fairly quickly from a superb Lampard goal (I thought it had come from a foul thow) but we didn't buckle or capitulate and could well have had another pen from a blatant John Terry handball...saying that on another day they might have had another goal from Drogba. True enough Gudjonson was off but didn't touch the ball but if you aren't interfering with play stood on the penalty spot as the ball is played through then when are you?

COYB!

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Nice poem

'When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say

For it isn't your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass

You may be like Jack Horner and chisel a plum
And think you're a wonderful guy.
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.

He's the fellow to please - never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear to the end And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartache and tears If you've cheated the man in the glass.'

Friday, October 21, 2005

It was 200 years ago today...

...Admiral Nelson drove the French away!



"Nauticus"
The Gentleman's Magazine, LXXV (November 1805), pp. 1044-1045

Let others hail the rising sun!
I bow to that whose race is run.

'Twas noon, when England's gallant fleet
The sails of France and Spain discern'd;
Or victory or death to meet
Each British tar with ardour burn'd.

Destructive showers of bullets fly;
The scuppers flow with streams of blood;
Harsh thunders rend the vaulted sky;
Fierce lightnings blaze along the flood.

Undaunted NELSON foremost stands—
The cause his Country's and his King's
When, lo! to aid the Gallic bands,
From Hell malignant Envy springs.

In human guise, at length to stop
The Hero's bright meridian fame,
From Santa Trinidada's top
She takes, alas! too sure an aim.

Th' envenom'd shot deep-pierc'd his heart,
A heart disdainful of all blows
By man directed:—But, what art
Can guard against infernal foes?

Two Spanish crews with pride advance.
The Temeraire seem'd nearly won;—
When Victory snatch'd the flags of France,
And strew'd them o'er her favourite son.

The splendors of proud Gaul are past!
Britannia mourns her NELSON'S fall.
E'en foes shall deck his grave:—THEIR MAST
HIS COFFIN, AND THEIR FLAGS HIS PALL.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Comin' straight outta Netherton

Teenager fires BB gun in my old school

Well, whilst almost every Old Ambrosian I've spoken to is pretty negative about the place it was certainly not that bad when I was there.

Also recently it was meant to be on the up...just goes to show you.

It was not the most academic of places...I reckon a lot of the people who came out with average GCSEs should have got good marks. I myself got 3 Bs and 5 Cs but we were never even told about college or university...it wasn't really presented as a goal for us. Careers advice seemed to consist of "Which one should I put you down for? British Gas apprenticeship or The Army?"...I'm not trying to make out I was Oxbridge material (you've seen my spelling for starters) but you'd think there was more to life than that.

Friday, October 14, 2005

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Snake bursts after gobbling gator

BBC NEWS World Americas Snake bursts after gobbling gator

Well that clears that one up...A draw.

Lion Vs Tiger, Orca Vs Great White & Bear Vs Gorrilla still to be decided.

It'd be pretty unlucky to get eat by a snake and find a live, angry alligator waiting for you in it's stomach.

Monday, October 10, 2005

England

England............What's to be done. I just can't be arsed. The games are just so mediocre at the moment. We have qualified for the world cup and yet people have barely batted an eyelid. At the weeked we all tripped down to Barracuda in town to watch the game and while our intentions were honourable after half time we barely glanced at the screen. This is unusual as generally I am the one who's really enthusiastic about England games.

Aside from the uninspiring match we dranks lots of beer and had a good time. The Barracuda has a truly bizarre array of adult type vending machines in it's toilets but we resisted the temptation to invest in an inflatable sheep.

In other news Scotland somehow managed to lose to Belarus therefore ending their world cup hopes (typical, they do the hard work and then stumble at the last) and Ireland kept their hopes alive with a tight win against Cypress.

The best game would have been Northern Ireland against Wales which finished 2-3 with a good comeback from Ulster being pegged back.

Also Lovell Rugby got my new rugby top to me in world record time (1 working day!!!! tremendous).

Lovell Rugby

Thanks chaps.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Happy Super-Birthday

Well then another happy year on the board. 31 of them chalked up now. Being the landed gentry nowadays I got a fair bit of gardening stuff but that's fine by me as I have a lot of projects in mind (I won't bore you with them here but it's amazing how much you get sucked into gardening). Anne got me a woodburner for the patio so I think I'll be looking forward to some pyro-maniac moments too.

My mate's daughter, who is only one and a bit years old, managed to learn how to send me this e-card :


October is well and truly the birthday season...Two good mates of mine, Paul Cunningham and Carmel Wilde both share my birthday and Flynny who I've known since god-knows-when has his tomorrow. The father of our little e-carder has his birthday on the eve of St Crispins day.

Carmel texted me to tell me she was being taken for a champagne breakfast down in Royal Leamington Spa where she works...then 20 minutes later she texted back to tell me that it was just Bucks Fizz sans champers (It did strike me as a but early I have to say).

In other news the fellow I work with here in Manchester who spent yesterday mocking me with the typical thieving scouser jokes had his wheel trims stolen from outside his house last night...Good old God, Sometimes not so mysterious. I got to sit back and say "Well of course in the Capital of Culture we can afford alloy wheels."

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Play the game

Played footy last night and was, of course, ace ;)

It's always good to have a game of 5-a-side...Have been playing for years with the same gang of people so it's pretty friendly...fitness levels ebb and flow but nowadays well seem to be wearing more bandages and failing fitness tests more often.

My brother played for the first time in 2 years...he struggled a bit which was kind of funny but as per usual a good time was had by all. At one point I, for some unfathomable reason, decided to focus only the ball and run full pelt into Mike Summers......this has left me with a rather bruised nipple where his elbow caught me, very painful.

After footy nipped to St Benets now it's been decorated it's been described as "Less Phoenix Nights and more Boogie Nights"...not sure if it's completely Phoenix-free but it's still a friendly enough place and it doesn't mind a bunch of stinky, humid lads trooping in straight after playing footy. There is no pint like the post-footy pint on Tuesday.

St Benets is a really nice parish...at the moment I am going to St Francis in Garston because an old school friend of mine, Fr Ron, is parish priest there. St Benet's will always be home though. A nice little community & we've been very lucky over the years with some ace priests Fr O'Reilly, Fr Paul "Figo" Fegan and Fr Sean to name a few.

Fr O'Reilly was an irishman who built it up from nothing when Liverpool expended and Scotland Road, the old Catholic area of the city, was cleared and the people dispersed to new suburbs. He was an old school priest. If he said pray you said "Alleluia". Figo is actually more of a family friend than a parish priest and actually used to play five-a-side with us. Fr Sean is the current priest and is another lovely bloke. There are plenty of others I could wax lyrical about, I remember one priest who REALLY hated communists and used to deliver real blood & thunder sermons about it. I remember seeing little old ladies walking out in disgust as he shook his fist and called Chairman Mao a "little bastard" (as kids we thought it was the coolest thing ever).

Monday, October 03, 2005

Oh God

Another weekend, another defeat for the blues with out a goal scored. I'm not screaming for people to resign or anything but not signing a striker before the start of the season was little short of dereliction of duty.

COYB.........please.

SB