No need to rearrange too much in Summer 2008

I suppose it might have been a bit too optimistic for a Scotland fan to be booking their ticket for the Euro 2008 championships after a change in fortunes in the second half of World Cup 2006 qualifying under the stewardship of Walter Smith, but then the Uefa Bigwigs drop us in this group:

France
Italy
Ukraine
Scotland
Lithuania
Georgia
Faroe Islands

Are you kidding me? That's 3 teams in the World Cup this summer, all of whom won their World Cup qualifying group, all of whom have potent strike forces, and all are more likely to beat us. Even trying to get 3rd and boost our coefficient is going to be an ask, with Lithuania and Georgia no pushovers either. We won't dwell on the Faroes!

At Least there is a couple of good away games in there, I fancy France and the Ukraine and depending on where it is to be played Italy, Genoa hopefully.

We find out the dates w/e of 10-11th February

Boomtown Rats

Saw a really interesting TV programme on Channel 4 last night about Brenda Spencer, the first ever American School Shooter, who Killed two people injured 8 children as she shot at a school across the road from her house. Her explanation at the time as a 16 year old; 'I don't like Mondays' is the basis of the Boomtown Rats (Sir Bob Geldoffs group before he decided to
change the world), song of the same name.

It was a really interesting story, as Brenda after 26 years incarcerated had a parole hearing, where as is usually the case it seems her abusive father screwed with her mind as a child. Sadly Blazing Saddles came on, on the Beeb and as it has the greatest and most funny start to a movie ever, I missed the end. Altough looks like she never got her parole.

Free Wally

Unbelievable, a blooming muckle great whale managed to swim all the way up the Thames to Central London, where on Saturday it died having been rescued and was being returned on a boat back out to see. See the story here. What absolute car crash TV that it should have been the top story on the news on Saturday evening, especially when you consider that the election results in Iraq were just made public, and there have been all kinds of new threats that violence is likely to intensify. It's terrible that one whale could die and it outweigh the fact hundreds of innocent British soldiers who shouldn't be in Iraq and are in theory breaking all kinds of international laws are now having to dodge even more bullets.

Bliar indeed! I was surprised he didn't make an announcement that he was saddened by the news the whale had died!

Where Are You?

I want to see where everyone reads me Blog from, so click on the Frappr link to the right

Nice

Prediction No.2

And This one.

Mind you it didn't take a genius to work out Man U would gub a team of diddies.

Work is boring as sin, the question is, what shall I do with myself come 1st March 2006? The joy of not having to audit is one good thing, for sure!

Prediction in!

Can't say I didn't call this.

LTA must be so happy

Aside from not getting any wild cards for Brits in the Aussie Open as they usually do and with Greg The Brit awaiting his baby back home, It was Tiger Tim and Awesome Andy who were both knocked out with not so much as a whimper. Ahh wee, roll on June/July and the green, green grass of home.

C'mon the non-leaguers today and tomorrow. My tip, Nuneaton or Tamworth to get to extra time, and then probably lose. Tomorrow, Burton will get gubbed at Man U, where all is not well.

Top 100 searches brings up really interesting website

Saw a bit of a television show going through the top 100 MSN searches for the year 2005. I was struck by this one at no 100, the only actual domain name searched. It was started by this alfie fella, (click on his photo for close up), after the London Bombings, who apparently set the domain name up within an hour of the news, and has slowly grown in the six months since to the size it is now. I like lots of the photos; with mixtures of defiance, hope, hatred, humour, compassion and sympathy that gives you a good feeling about the world. The eclectic mix is added to by the vast diversity of locations from where they were all sent.

Top 10 MSN

1. Eastenders
2. Big Brother
3. Barbie
4. Angelina Jolie
5. Britney Spears
6. Star Wars
7. Sudoku
8. Liverpool FC
9. Michael Jackson
10. Cricket

Photo Update

Photos have been updated online now here.

Predictions

Er Yeah so I called 2 out of 4, shooting a casual .500, but managed to lose my two tips (King and Whitlock) for the title. I like the look of this Klaasen kids arrows though, but not good enough to beat the reigning champion, so I now think Barneveld to beat him convincingly in the final.

Too much work for me to do as many prediction posts as hoped.

This article made me chuckle, certainly brings a new meaning to 'Swing' Bowling. Seriously, are journalists struggling so much for a story that they are having to resort to this?

'Ladies and Gentlemen...'

'...Let's! Play! Darts!'

Lakeside action once more and it's been a bit disappointing so far, although obviously not as disappointing as for past Champions Andy Fordham, John Walton or Ted Hankey all off home before even getting a feel for the oche. So far you have to like Merv King and the Australian 'Wizard' Simon Whitlock, especially with Barney not doing too well in his opener.

Certainly the atmosphere seems a little bit less interesting than in years gone by, but with slightly longer Best of 7 setters in the last 16 tonight and tomorrow, this might switch it up.

Games today: (My Picks in Bold)

Jelle Klaasen v Mervyn King (1)
Paul Hogan v Albertino Essers
Shaun Greatbatch v Per Laursen
Paul Hanvidge v Simon Whitlock (4)

'I've come here to win Matches'

Roy Keanes debut in a Celtic Shirt somewhat went against his quote above. Biggest shock of the Weekend as the Bhoys went down 2-1 against Clyde of Div 1.

Great story being Clyde's season, their Pop Idol-esque trials at the start of the season in order to get a squad together. Might well save Mcleish's job too, providing he can finally beat Hibs this season.

Drama of the FA Cup

An absolute classic of an FA Cup weekend, even if Lawrenson who is often prone to the hyperbole, admitted as much. Shocks galore, although actual ‘Giant Killing’ was left to Leyton Orient and to a lesser extent Colchester. I think that in terms of progressing the ‘diddy’ teams will have shot their boat, especially Nuneaton Borough who should have beaten Middlesbrough and Burton who could have beaten Manchester United. Tamworth must be in with a shout of progressing on their own patch against Stoke.

As for the BBC’s Live games, they chose absolute doozies in Luton v Liverpool and Leicester v Spurs, their adage of great drama from a few seasons ago never seemed more apt. Despite being 3-1 down, Liverpool still seemed to be exerting a level of control and looked like scoring. As the Hatters tired, Alonso and Steven Gerrard saw more and more of the ball, and Alonso scored two of the greatest FA Cup goals ever. His half volley was sumptuous, and the goal at the end within 10 yards of his own half showed great skill, on his weaker foot. Alonso, the quiet man was once again overshadowed by his English Midfield accomplish, whose first goal was one few could score, passing a ball into the net at the speed of most other peoples drives and with the accuracy of a snooker player. By not celebrating (Which he later put down to the fact he didn’t think it would be the winning goal), it made this unique goal somewhat dour. Mr Gerrard, even managed to spoil the final minute goal by Alonso with his screaming for a pass before realising the ball was making its way into the net from a country mile away.

Tuning into the Leicester-Tottenham match on Sunday evening had potential for ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ feel to it. Indeed, on paper it was a miss-match, Spurs flying high in the Premiership, defeated only 3 times all season, Leicester having a torrid time and run of results in the Championship. I was interested in seeing how the Scottish contingent (Hughes, Douglas) in the Foxes side and former Ess-Pee-Ell players (Maybury, De Vries) would perform against world class opposition. The first half showed Tottenham’s mettle, with two well taken goals, and they were seemingly coasting. Good management by Craig Levein who wasn’t afraid to switch things around before half-time paid dividends with the substitute, Elvis Hammond pulled one back seconds before the break. The second half was a thrilling end-to-end spectacle, Stephen Hughes equalised, Stephen Kelly missed a sitter for the Londoners, before in injury time with a replay at the Lane beckoning, De Vries the best player on the park latched onto a through ball and remaining just onside settled the tie.

The thrills and spills of the cup showed what a great game football is, and how the Premiership is really not good for the game with it’s predictability. As we enter the second half of the season, we really are just asking, who will get the final Champions League spot (Spurs, Wigan or Arsenal) and who will head to the Championship with Sunderland. The Championship too seems destined to be won by Reading with the Blades moving up with them. Oh for the opportunity of not knowing who could win the title.

Early 2006 Predictions

Premiership: Chelsea
Relegated: Sunderland, West Brom, Pompey
FA Cup: Arsenal
League Cup: Manchester United
Champions League: Barcelona
Championship: Reading (C), Sheff Utd, Leeds.

Groom to be

Knew I'd find a picture of my good friend Will, seen here singing a bit of 'Maggie May' with my goodself in Whistles, Scranton, PA, During a stint at Indian Head Summer Camp (I'm the one on the right)


Cheeky little fact for you, Scranton is the US version of Slough, if you are a follower of Ricky Gervais's The Office comedy (US Version).

Willski

Great News as the big man Will and Amanda (AJ) announced their engagement over the Christmas period. Happy days to the pair of them.

Not all Christmas Heartache

Well, happy dayz as I am not getting the boot on Christmas Eve as already thought. Contract is to be torn up at end of February. Gives me a nice chance to sort out what I actually want to do with myself now. The flavour of this month is Charity Administrator, needs good communication skills, bit of accounting and organization. I give you, er, me!

AKA Bye-Bye

Will no longer be represented by my good self. What can you do?

D-O-L-E

Dole queue for me after a dee-saster in my exams, might see this bad boy get a few more messages on it though, probably all sports related, As Dougie would say, 'I do apologise!'

So it is out with the old and in with the new.

Shouldn't have either

Lost 4-2 to PwC City, fouling, cheating bastards, now can't walk. Armitt with 2!

Happy Birthday to young Katy Robertson.

Winning finally

A good day, a cheeky 3-1 victory over Knebworth in the cup. Sadly I played absolutely dross, but Danny Crower scored a peach of a third, a beautiful half volley that arrowed in the top corner. Good old Rumpy gave it to me on the website, hahahaha. Although some bastard managed to stand on my thigh and can hardly walk, not looking good for tomorrow.

Romance of the accountants cup?

Sunday 9th October

Cup game for PwC against E&Y 1, the side that beat us 2-1 when we had 10 men two weeks ago. Different story this time as they had only 9 and a comprehensive 4-2 victory sees us roll on to Rd2 where we are guaranteed lower division oppo. Goals from Marshall, Alex F, Neil Ackhurst and Adam Cunningham won it. Played pretty well, considering I was still drunk, but could have been there all night and not got a shot on target, let alone scored. A bit worried about injuries from the lack of referees though. Some nasty stud marks on the knees and my shin pads were weeping in pain at the end.

Who needs Dailly's like these?

A long, long day which was superb until 3.06pm when it all went terribly wrong. Got home from Jo’s birthday party in London at about 2am, then 6.30 am was up for flight to Glas(Vegas)gow and the World Cup Qualifier v Belarus. Bar Buddha the pre-match venue and a nice place too by the way, arrived at 11.15am just after opening time and it was a good start to the day, a positive vibe from the TA and eventually got drunk. It all looked good on the way to the match, lucky sausage supper and everything, and the sing song good, although changing the verses of Flower of Scotland Obviously affected our boys, as 6 minutes in Belarus scored. Absolutely Diabolical performance from Scotland, see Email to the Footsoldiers;

‘The fact is, Scotland didn't do what they have been doing recently, where everyone worked hard, knew their individual and collective jobs and could then play it short and simple.
I would put the blame 50:50 on Smith:Players. I think Smith probably naively (Rangers in Europe) tried to ensure we were in with a shout until the second half where the 12th man could come into play, and try and nick it 1-0 or 2-0 against a technically sound team. The players notably Pressley and Dailly failed to keep it tight for more than 3 minutes and blew this plan out of the water. Then there was no plan B, everyone started looking at each other and no one really grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. I think Fletch had a go, (but had a crap game, his miscontrol in the second half summing his display up) as did Miller and Ferguson, although they both were trying a bit too hard either trying to beat one too many defenders or overdoing the 50 yard knocks. Honestly, it is a sad state of affairs when Alexander is the obvious Scotland man of the match.

Whilst Smith can't be blamed for the players continuous inability to maintain pressure or possession, his decision not to introduce new faces at any stage in the second half and play a crazy 4-3-3 with square pegs in round holes (Miller Left wing and Maloney on the right) towards the end with Hartley, Fletcher and Ferguson tripping over each other, is
inexcusable and oozed desperation. Also, Belarus were really strong up the middle, so we needed to get some width in order to stretch there defence, a ploy we used effectively against Italy and Norway, but we had no natural left-footer on the pitch at the end (except for Gordon) and were trying to give Maloney the ball at head height wide right. I can only assume that Quashie wasn't fit or no one could hear big Walter above the sound of
hailstones crashing on the roof.
I'm just sad, that Scotland were made to look like they didn't know what they were doing, McCulloch getting in the way on the line of Maloney’s shot in the second half , a metaphor for the game. Mind, Belarus could/should have had more, Hleb looked a bargain at £10 million, although Dailly would enhance my value too.

God bless Spanish Referees and cheap booze at Prestwick Airport!

Robbo’

A cheeky couple at Pandora’s, long and busy train ride to Prestwick and a flight back to Stanstead. Home at midnight a great 20 hrs awake during the day.

WE WON THE ASHES

Unbelievable, albeit with the helping hand of a South African, we have managed to hang on for the Draw and wrap up the series 2-1, for the first time in 20 odd years. Arise Sir Freddie! Bet Fletcher won't get a passport though!

Playing Again

Made my debut for the PwC Buccaneers today, and after only 9 of us got up for it am very tired. Played against PwC TS who had a full complement of 11, and were 1-0 up for about 60 minutes with a right backs to the wall performance. Played quite well, set up the winner with a Tugay volley from the corner that Matt Armitt managed to tuck away. Sadly defeated 3-1 in the end though as them dimwits worked out they could pass straight through us.

Ashes nicely set up for tomorrow after Freddie and Hoggy managed to undo all of the Aussies good work in a morning session straight from the gods. Bloody Warnie managed to remove Strauss, and despite the Aussies best good Humour, light (or lack of it prevailed) and England held steady for the rest of the day.

Sandridge Never Change

Headed along to Sandridge to watch the reserves play and my goodness was I pleased not to be involved in that mess. It was a terribly poor performance against a distinctly average side, relegation was meant to give us a bunch of easy games. Only highlight was Chris Wilding putting the Baldy defender on his backside. But as Chris W beat me to Player of the Year last year, I
have no time for him. Need to try to get to Thursday training though in order to get a game next weekend. I shouldn’t struggle to get a half I shouldn’t think. The first team won in the cup, 4-0, Chris Wickens bagging a hat-trick.

April

Long time without anything here, I do apologise. But what can you do. Working like a dog at the minute and still hating the long commute in. Half baked efforts to do some flat-hunting, a case of believing the mountain might come to Mohammad? Arsenal - Chelsea tonight, fancy Chelsea to accept the trophy on the Weekend as they will probably win tonight and again on weekend against Fulham.

Happy days though, birthday on Saturday, but need to get the old dear something for hers on Monday, buggar.

ambidextrus giblets

There you go, that is what you need

Booze isn't fun

What a pile of old bollocks. Read in the newspaper today that tv adverts that advertise alcohol in an amusing or encouraging way are to be banned. That's the John Smith's/Peter Kay efforts and the WKD ads.

What a pile of crap, why not ban being born for fucks sake. People surely are able to make their own choices every now or then.

Masters, Primed a beauty?

Forgot to include how nicely poised the world of golf is heading into 2005's majors. Woods regained no.1 spot in the world yesterday, pipping Mickelson (last years master!) to the Doral classic in Florida, whilst over in Europe (or Dubai!) Ernie played well to oick up a W there. Vigay has been playing well as other big names Americans are, Monty was in the hunt in Dubai and
hopefully we will see a fantastic week. European hopes appear brighter with the likes of Owen, Donald and Howell playing well and many plying their trade in the US this Spring. Bring on the Azalias and Peter Allis's faux-pars!

Weekend Blues

Strange old weekend, once again all football was cancelled, I know it snowed a bit last week but it really wasn't anything to write home about and Hadley's park should have been able to cope! I think it was more strange with the fact BBC had some sport on it even if it were a poor mans Rugby. Sunday's two close but uninspiring games allowed Jonathan Edwards and Jerry
Guscott to once again castigate the poor skills in the Northern Hemisphere. I kind of like the fact they are using national television as a soap box, Davies appears at times suicidal that people haven't the basic skills he possessed. I get the feeling professionalism isn,t all it cracked up to be
in his eyes.

Good weekend for Chelsea and West Brom, Norwich out of it now and it is 2 from 3 unless Pompy get caught up in it. Fulham too are perilously close to the Championship abyss. Back to the Champions League this week, all talk of Chelsea-Barca and the folks at ITV have got it live. Could be a few freeview boxes pulling up with cramp though as United venture to the San Siro at the same time trying to overturn the1-0 deficit from Carrolls blunder at Old Trafford on the ITV2. I can't call the Chelsea game, think united will go out, Arsenal too although only after giving it a good go and Liverpool too will scrape through, they are a bit of a dark horse saving their best for Europe and their last two performances have a destiny about them.

F1 got underway and it all looks quite happy with the new regulations, it will be interesting what a normal climatic hour of qualifying will do. No one had to push too hard on Sunday am and how long will the engine rules stay in place after BAR so readily manipulated them.

Finally, good weekend for Tennis (yawn) and reasonable for Athletics, that hall in Madrid looks the part, the millennium dome has the promise to be a similar building for us, let it host these things, the capitals answer to the NEC.

Cup Replays

Apparently it was all about the romance of the cup last night, and to be honest, maybe the romance wasn’t there in terms of results, but all three diddy teams definitely stuck it up the big uns at certain points. Whilst Hansen was whining about the lack of goals the Blades-Gunners match was superb entertainment, if only because in the absence of Terence H, Freddie
Ljungberg decided to throw his toys out of the pram, when really he was at fault a lot of the time himself. Exciting to the end though, really made my night, didn’t want extra time to end. Sack shoot-outs, extra time should continue with golden goal after the 30 minutes, swapping halves every 15 minutes. Moment of the match, apart from Paddy Kelly not diving to his right in shoot-out due to injury has got to be Pascal Cygan’s terrible attempt on goal, Shinned it good and proper.

Blogging the way forward

Thought I'd blog from work, not too bad, very tired, working hard and looking forward to Arsenal on TV tonight even without any centre-forwards!

Girls name! Not really surprised though are you!

Beckhams get 'hat-trick'

Hooliganism Rules Again!

Really is a pushing need to deal with all the hooligan issues quickly and decisively this week with the three weekend examples in Liverpool, Glasgow and Burnley. It isn't about kickoff times, the latter two showed this, it is about laying down the law and really detering the idiots. Can't see it happening though and TV will be blamed!

Best Aussie Open Ever!

First both ladies semis go all the way to set up a clash of the heavyweights, then this, Safin upsets Federer in 5 marathon sets. Plus still have Hewitt trying his utmost to stop Roddicks fire.

Real news for a change.

This is going to sound a bit ‘Big Brother’ diary room-esque, but I am amazed by just how popular and in the news this blogging is. In the dictionary; bloggers: ‘people of the year’ and now the bloggers; the Oscars of the blogging world. I didn’t realise just how many people own/run/record/make one! Fascinating stuff, I’m sure someone is missing something, but surely it could be good publicity for a celebrity to set one up and keep a diary of their lives, literally that would be an up to date autobiography, or a glimpse inside a heat magazine or hello world. I guess that would make those magazines a bit defunct. Also, the celebrity is totally in control of what they do and what they do not put on it, instead of relying on manipulation of the press. Just a thought, but I hereby copy write it, ©.

Talking of the Oscars, which I wasn’t apart in passing, already there is a story of how an actress has made good in all the glitterati of Hollywood having grown up in a rough and ready neighbourhood. This time it is Sophie Okonedo, who is up for best supporting actress for her role in Hotel Rwanda. I have no idea if she is going to win or not, I have not seen the film and hence nor have I witnessed her performance. Anyway, in today’s evening standard, it talks of her upbringing in the Chalkhill estate, Wembley, an upbringing where harsh doesn’t do it justice. Now again I’m not going to judge the area, I’ll go with the journalist who wrote the piece, but I find this sort of journalism very easy, write a piece on someone’s childhood and sensationalise it as against all odds story line. Apart from the odd Hollywood family, how many of the big names are actually Hollywood born and bred. Very few, most of them can be classified as incredibly good looking and can act pretty well (looks don’t win big roles, I don’t care if Julia Roberts is fit and Brad Pitt adorns most teenage girls bedroom walls, they both can act), but most of them are from their own humble beginnings. We don’t hear about the big names history when they are nominated so why bore me with details about the newbie’s. Sure mention it, I certainly have a lot of admiration for this lady, but I’d rather hear about the work she put in just before and during the filming, I’m guessing that the film is probably quite a good conversation if about Rwanda in the last 15 yrs. Remember more folk died from ethnic cleansing there at the hands of fellow humans as died in the tsunami.

Trying Again!

Thought I should start this bad boy up again, mainly as I have nothing to do at work until I get an important email in and it makes me look busy. Sadly, the longer I wait the quicker I will have to work this afternoon as apparently it is very important and needs to be completed by this evening. Out goes football training tonight then.
So, work is good, a little up and down in terms of having work to do, on the whole working at work is better than having to while away time, but sadly much work is just calling up people, mostly French who don’t understand me. Not so good.
It is better than the old ICAS exams though, although i'm sure I have mentioned this week during a bad moment that I’d rather be back at college. Gotta stop doing that then!
I think last week really tired me as the Kelster was here too and great as it was to see her, I tried to be to good a host (when I really didn’t need to as she is a grown girl like) and all that worrying and crap i didn't need to do tires you out. Took her to the Vic’ though and saw the hornets win and everything. Sadly they were crap last night.
Well, hopefully keep more up to date like Ollie does, we’ll not hold our breath though.

Week is a long time in accountancy

Wow, so 1 week worth of intensive accountancy training is really very tough. Plus, am at considerable disadvantage having not done any of it before unlike many others. The old progression test of Friday highlighted the need to be able to apply everything and not make silly mistakes some of which i cannot believe i made. Well not to worry, just need to stick at it, i do understand it all, just now i have to make sure i remember everything and learn from Fridays mistakes, onwards and upwards as they say!

Wednesday, Feels like Friday

So working life definitely is quite tough, especially with the old commuting lark on top of it. However, 3 days gone now and enjoying it a lot even though they are throwing so much information at you it is hard at times to remember your own name. Anyway, information is not the only thing they are throwing at you, money for one thing, the induction week so far has been class with free food and drinks, including last night that turned into a bit of a lengthy one, drinking in the west end, Budvar following Budvar, had better not get to used to that as my group are off tomorrow night to a right skanky night out, happy days. Plus they persuaded me to take a proper nice top of the range IBM laptop computer at me, so not to bad at all. The people are all cool, the only down side is the first visit to college tomorrow before starting there full time on Monday.

Great result for hornets yesterday stuffing premiership Southampton 5-2, revenge definitely served cold.

Day 1

Wow, only 1 day in and I am totally knackered. Quite a slowish day, but with nerves, meetings and introductions, it was a long and tiring one! Still it has only taken me 1 day to work out that the commuter life ain't for me.
Still on the plus side met loads of good people and am in a group of cool people, so it looks promising. Off to main office tomorrow to learn more stuff and meet other people in my field for drinks tomorrow night, nice!

Weekend over, REAL WORD!

Crap-a-doodle-doo, so the weekend has come to a climax and I managed to lose both footie games I played in although Saturday playing a side 3 divisions above us we put in a great performance and was a pleasure to play in. Good on the RL boys although Scotland took a doing from the aussies.

Anyway, off to work tomorrow, bought first ever season ticket, albeit a weekly pass. Bags packed, shoes shined and alarm set so I'm off to do this bad boy. Brilliant email from the Kelster made my day too.

Suited and booted baby!

Obviously, the Hornets taking on Derby is all the talk, Tommy 'I've played for the same team as Neil Robertson' Smith making his second return to the Vic.

RIP Daytime TV

With a heavy heart I had to say farewell to 'This Morning' today, a sad occurrence at the best of time, but my mood was further tempered by the fact Fern doesn't work on Fridays anymore, leaving Lorraine Kelly to receive my adulation. Anyhoo, daytime TV is off the menu as I start my professional grown up life with PWC as a trainee auditor. Pretty excited about the whole affair, although commuting and all the studying is going to be a bit of an arse, especially coming up to Christmas. Also not getting paid until the end of November could be arseache too. Well I'll have to wait and see about all that at my induction at some hotel on Gloucester Road on Monday. Mind winning the 10 yr anniversay Lottery draw on Saturday might change my life a bit more!
Off to watch Sky Sports News so I can feast on all the sports action this weekend. The premier leagues of course will dominate (although they are staggered a bit due to uefa cup action last nite), the return of rugby union with the southern hemisphere sides gubbing the Celtic sides tomorrow, but my pick, especially after last weekend is the rugby league tri-nations, as the lions host the Kiwis. Because I'm playing tomorrow and don't have sky, I will be entertained by Radcliffe passing out somewhere in Brooklyn on Sunday and the culmination of the Bupa Bowls championship, word!

Couldn't have planned that better, the boy Andy 'The Viking' Fordham only got mentioned by Dr Karl Kennedy during todays Neighbours episode, doesn't get better than that!

Viking in Rehab

Brilliant item from the BBC (quality television for all the family), the recuperation from injury of Andy Fordham, World Darts Champion 2004 from a broken wrist.

Anyway, From one long-faced loser to a long-faced winner Ruud van Nistelhorse sorted Sparta Praha out a treat last night with his 4-goal soiree, word is G. Neville fresh from naming Rio Ferdinand the greatest English defender ever (?) has called the Dutchman the greatest Dutchman to ever to play the game, however he went on to say Marco Van Basten is Hollands best player. I wonder how he rates Pascal Cygan?

W for win!

So after an intriguing couple of days George W. Bush managed to 'hold' off Kerry and unlike his father be returned as US President. In the end with the war on Terrorism, Iraq and homeland security it seems the morals of each were the deciding factor with Republican evangelists winning the election. I can't help but think if Kerry had shown his raw personality of his concession speech during campaigning he may have fared better. Meanwhile the most and least popular president (most votes ever for a president & most votes 'against') has a lot of work to do to repair the divisions seen in this result. But there are a few happy democrats; the satirists, Michael Moore who can make more films and money from Bush, and Hilary Clinton who could be the first female President in 4 years time. I bet there is no one happier than Bill Clinton who will be able to create his own job description for the First Gentleman, insert your own intern gag here.
My favourite part was when the vice-president introduced Bush to the podium for his acceptance speech, The smuggest man in the world now had a chance to look even smugger, I thought his face might explode! Although he may have just drunk 3 year old milk, I'm not certain. Mind it really was a bit of a gubbing he gave Kerry and now he has the power to do all he wants to leave his legacy, what with the two houses Republican, he really has a shot to finish his 'war'. We will have to wait and see what the consequences of this are.

The Neilly Boy Starts Up

So this is my quest to basically trivialize, advance myself technologically and basically journal my role in the world, so I am going to try and get this blogging thing going on and unleash the neilly boy on the world. You'll note a slightly sporty bias to most of this bloggy thing though.

What with a new job on Monday, War in Iraq and (apparently) "the most important democratic vote this century" (Sky News, 2004) in the endless throes of completion there's much to be interested in and talk about, but when it all comes down to it I'd agree with the Sun this morning, Stan Collymore is a Prick!

So here we go, hold on to your indifferent cap and wait for some infrequent words of wisdom!

The Neilly Boy is off and running (aka, still watching daytime TV for a few days)

Me