Some Cape May Ferry Pictures

Nothing too spectacular, but a nice cloud formation on the return journey…

16 Mile

No, not Enimem’s follow up film, but yesterday, while in Delaware, the beloved and I drove the short distance from Lewes and the Rehobeth outlets down to Georgetown, Delaware to visit the microbrewery run by two chaps under the trade name 16 Mile. This was another one of the intended “pick up beer glass, maybe a bottle of beer and then on my way” visits. As we found the place on South Bedford Street, just to the east of the main “circle” in Georgetown, the beloved wanted to stay in the car.

I walked in to the brewery to be met by Brett McCrea (as mentioned on the front page of their website). He had just finished a tour of the brewery to a number of people and he came up and shook my hand to welcome me. This American customer service is charming but can also be really unsettling. We English just aren’t used to it. He asked me what I would like, and offered me a free tour with another party who had come in. I said I just wanted a glass, and he went off and got a couple. He then offered me a beer (an amber ale on draught) which, I have to say, was absolutely fantastic. It seemed rude to just naff off, so the beloved and I went on a partial tour.

It was clear Brett has a real passion for beer. The niche this brewery has is aluminium (I refuse to go along with the American spelling) bottles. They do two beers in bottles (the draught beer is only available on the premises) and I bought a bottle of each. We went into the packaging area, but given he took half an hour in there alone, we felt Brett may make us miss our ferry back, so we apologised and left. The fruits of our visit are pictured below.

Great beer, great passion, lovely bloke. I really wish this firm the best. Brett revered English beers, and wants to emulate them in the US. This tiny part of Delaware deserves to be successful.

An NFL Sunday

A post from an Englishman in New Jersey. I’ll post various observations. It is 11 am and I have ESPN on, and it has my favourite sports announcer, Chris Berman. He’s already annoyed me and he has been on for 10 seconds. If they cut his hands off I swear he wouldn’t be able to speak.

Here is South Jersey I have a choice between CBS, showing the Colts at the Ravens and Fox, showing the Cowboys at home to the Redskins (not the Giants). CBS get the better match up in the later games – Jets at Patriots.

Right – I’m returning to the post after all but the Eagles at Bears has been played today. I had a bit of a headache today so didn’t continue this post as an “as it happens”, but what follows is a summary of what I’ve seen today.

CBS had the better of the games, but ESPN, who had no games, have a pre-game show that lasts eons, and seems to want to cure the unemployment queues single handed with about 200 people seeming to talk about the games coming up, all marshalled by a grizzly bear passing himself off as a host, Chris Berman.

The Ravens v Colts game was quite good. You never really felt (a) that the Colts would lose; (b) that the Ravens offense would ever do enough or (c) the need to watch the Redskins v Cowboys on the Dallas Sports Network (or Fox Sports as it is more formally known). Dan Dierdorf is an absolute legend as a co-commentator. He’s one bloke I’m not arguing with. The game was close, and one expert after gave Manning credit for leading his team in another come from behind win (he took them to a field goal) but Joe Flacco threw a late INT to cost the Ravens any chance. This amused me as I was in Reebok in Delaware when the local chaveratti came in the store shouting and hollering like some yippedee yois asking where the Ravens stuff was because they lived in the same village as Joe Flacco (he went to uni at Delaware). I’m minding my own business looking at a tasteful Michael Vick T-shirt when one of the riff raff comes up to me and asks why there is no Cowboys uniforms. Why me? Do I look like a shop hand?

CBS’s panel is Dan, the legend, Marino, “Coach” (seriously, they never called him Bill, it was always “Coach” as if he were the Pope or something – oh, his name is Bill Cowher), Shannon Sharpe who appears to play the role of resident buffoon, and Boomer Esiason who has to know his days are numbered with this gig when someone more famous comes along. Compared to the Fox team, this lot are cerebral.

Fox’s game was a real stinker. Troy Aikman willed on the Cowboys but they stunk the joint out for the second week in a row and only just scraped out a victory. On their panel is a vehicle for a hair-do to get around – Jimmy Johnson – who to be fair did a good bit on the Patriots 4th down and 2 play last week – Terry Bradshaw who looks about 80 (and I still know him better for his little cameo in Cannonball Run), Howie Long who reprised that double act (was it him in that film, I can’t honestly remember – or was it Joe Klecko, I’m rambling) and Michael Strahan who seems to have done little but rent himself out since he retired. The Cowboys one 7-6 and then Fox, unfairly, found themselves between a rock and hard place.

The nearest game played to where I am staying in the NFC was the Giants entertaining the Falcons. The game went to OT and the presenter (Curt Menafee?) said they could only show the game until 4:15, despite Fox not having a game on in our region after that time. Sure enough, the Giants marched down the field and the play was cut off just as the Giants were preparing to kick the winning field goal. Fox apologised profusely saying rules is rules. I thought that was mad.

Game two of the day for me was the big CBS game between the Patriots and Jets. CBS put out their number 1 team, Nantz and Simms, for the commentary. I loved the bit where they asked Simms what he would have done had he been in Belichick’s shoes in that 4th and 2 last week – he said “I would have punted” (the hindsight call) “but I know why he did it” (so still buffing up Belichick). Great fence sitting. The Jets, who last time I heard, were dead certs to go the Superbowl, and yet have a coach whose most memorable moment this week was word of him blubbing in a speech to his team, got spanked in the first quarter – trailing 24-0 until a blocked punt got them a TD just before the break. Sanchez conducted one excellent drive at the beginning of the 3rd and then reverted to how he played the rest of the game, for the rest of the game. The superbowl bound Jets are now 4-6 (the Dolphins they mocked are now 5-5, which is odd) while the Patriots, who I think look a little vulnerable, are now 7-3, but play the 10-0 Saints next week, and have 4 out of their last six games on the road.

Notable other games were the shock defeats of AFC North powerhouses Pittsburgh and Cincinatti. The Steelers did a pact with the devil last season with all the close games they won, and the debt is now being called. The Chiefs stole one from them today and the Steelers now face a real fight to get in to the post season, with a big game next week in Baltimore, where the Ravens must win to have any chance of post-season play. The other shock was the Bengals loss to the hopeless Raiders. The Bengal bandwagon had a ton of passengers this week as the hopes of the perennial jokers were talked up as their remarkable defense was praised to the hilt. Today the Raiders scored a late tying touchdown, and then induced a fumble on the kick-off and kicked a game winning FG. Wonder how many people will jump off that bandwagon today?

The evening game is the Eagles at Bears on NBC. Where is Bob Costas? I see that absolute cock Keith Olbermann is sniding away on the show, sneering and jeering. He really is obnoxious, and he can be on my dream team of commentary with Chris Berman and Andy Gray. The Eagles are 10-0 up, the Bears were booed on their first drive, and I can’t wait for the Eagles post-game show. The pre-game effort I saw on Comcast (the local sports channel here in South Jersey) wasn’t good enough to be called “amateurish”. There was so much back-slapping and in-chat that I thought I’d broken into a pub conversation in a language I didn’t understand.

Overall, though, it is a decent experience going through 10-12 hours of NFL on a Sunday even if the adverts really, really grate, and I’ve had a headache. I’m sure I’m delerious because I could have sworn Paul Collingwood scored a century and Spurs won 9-1. It is a mad world.

WindyBricks In Sports Illustrated

Bless my soul. While enjoying a moment of contemplation last night, I was reading an edition of the US’s flagship magazine Sports Illustrated, and I came across a piece that mentioned my little old WindyBricks. On Page 24 of the November 9 issue, there is a piece entitled Apologized (The Yanks love a zeeee), and mentions our club’s Kumbaya session with Occidental Cured Pork in August where both sets of supporters made daisy chains and sang folk songs, while watching the football, and swapped masonry to enable better construction of each other’s houses.

Of course, the Americans were amused that the Met Police took stills from the film “The Firm” and put them out as people they wanted to interview for the off-key singing and breaking the daisy chains.

Biggest small club in the world. WindyBricks….

Not Been A Good Week For Climate Change Advocates

Feel free to pass on this post all you readers who get bored me going on about this…

I read today on Devil’s Kitchen and on Watt’s Up With That that some little rascal has hacked into the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University and leaked the contents on line. Of course, with anything hacked, the veracity of the data needs to be very carefully assessed but most of those who know this sort of thing believe it genuine. I would encourage people to visit the Watt’s Up With That Site to get more information – link here. The CRU is a major source of “pro-Climate Change” data and evidence and some of the stuff leaked is pretty interesting. Such as this…

“I’ve just completed Mike’s Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd from 1961 for Keith’s to hide the decline.” (emphasis mine).

Tricks? Hide the decline?

I wonder why the BBC aren’t reporting this? Where is The Guardian on this?

As I said head over to Watts Up With That for more information.

Of course, Climate Change proponents have their world leader, the man who picked up a Nobel Peace Prize, the man who gives gravitas to the climate change agenda and the cataclysmic consequences of doing nothing. In his recent tome Al Gore, the man who brought you “An Inconvenient Truth” has included this picture. (Linked from Watts Up With That – click here for the post (and I would really encourage you to read the comments for a laugh)

This picture is so funny in so many ways. It is the equivalent of releasing The Day After Tomorrow as scientific fact. Note that Cuba and Panama are under water. If Cuba (highest point 6580 feet) is gone, how come Central Florida (highest point 300 feet) is still there? I am not saying that illustrations need to be spot on, but this ridiculous.  If the highest point in Panama (11,000+ feet above sea level) is under water, well…. Al Gore’s previous powerpoint tour included linking Hurrican Katrina’s devastating impacts in New Orleans to climate change meaning more powerful, more frequent hurricanes. Since the dreadful Katrina, no major hurricane has had anywhere near that impact in the US. This year has been deathly quiet. Some years it does, some years it doesn’t…..

But Al has a book to sell, and he showed his real scientific knowledge to Conan O’Brien here in the States with this magnificent piece of accurate information -  link here – Al Gore believes the temperature in the centre of the Earth is several million degrees. Now in itself this is not that important but when the bloke tours around the world telling us what to do, is given a reception akin to reverence wherever he goes, and makes outlandish statements at the drop of a hat, I have to say “why isn’t he being challenged when he is talking bollocks? While Geothermal is something that should be investigated, I’ll bet someone we know has shares in this business.

One commenter says pretty much what I would want to say..

Why does any ‘respectable’ TV channel give this certifiable fool any air-time at all?
Doesn’t ANYONE check what piffle he utters? Why is this buffoon not mocked by journalists around the world?

“Several MILLION degrees” only two kilometres down from the earth’s surface???
What codswallop!!

L.Ron Hubbard once said that if you wanted to make serious money, then start a religion. Given that climate change belief was recently put alongside a religion in terms of its views for employment purposes in a UK court ruling, maybe that loon was not so loony after all. I mean, look at Al Gore’s recent purchase….

No. Not been a good week. Not that you would know, of course. Come the revolution, without a doubt, he’s up against the wall.

 

Day 2 Dawns…

This is the worst jet lag I have had coming to the States. Asleep by 9:30 last night, waking up at 7 a.m. Hopefully I will be back to normal soon. Hammered it down all last night, but lovely and sunny this Friday morning. I think we are wandering up to Atlantic City later..

So some observations – ironically if I had stayed in the UK I could have watched the Dolphins v Panthers game last night, but we don’t have NFL Network on our cable here and I was just too knackered to find a bar that was playing it. Looked like the Dophins got through despite losing Ronnie Brown for the season, with Ricky Williams picking up the slack. I still doubt the Dolphins will make the playoffs, but they don’t lack for heart, that is for sure. I await the Jets v Patriots this weekend with much interest. Not sure what we are up to on Sunday, but we’ll be Eagles free until 8:20 (US time) here in South Jersey.

On the walking front, did a couple of miles to get a coffee, sub and newspaper yesterday. We get the car today so it will be up to me to get the motivation.

I also follow the Bulls and they were on TNT last night, at the Lakers. Of course, that means a 10:30 start here in Jersey, and as my eyes were popping out of their head, there was no chance. Just seen the ESPN round up of the game and they did not show a single Bulls basket in their 108-93 loss. Wonderful.

Food – we had a lovely greasy din dins at a burger joint last night called Five Guys. All along the wall we could look at their great reviews, awards etc. I have come over this year with the exchange rate around 1:66 (compared to 1:74 when I got married in November 2008 and 2:00 in September 2008) and so things have got relatively more expensive, but that meal cost £10, which is more than a UK McDonalds. But the quality is superior, no doubt.

Where the States does win hands down is the cost of clothes. Nothing more to add.

We met up with our memorable friend from our wedding last year in her office near where the beloved used to live. I really feel like Cape May is my second home, and we are being royally looked after. Such a shame it is such a short time to stay here….

Why are Mike and Mike talking about Twilight?

Early News Of US Visit

Minnesota Want Favre Back. What a surprise…

Equally, Favre is non-commital, talking about the present….Surprised?

Peter King’s comments are awaited.

I do so miss ESPN Sports News in the morning. It is better than Fox and Friends analysis of Islamic terrorism. It is all the internet’s fault.  Look, I know Rupey wants to charge for his media content, but don’t make your opposition so blatant. To say they said all these home-grown terrorists were loners who spent all their time on the net would be simplifying it – after all they could be talking about me!

On a tenuous link to the original thread title, here is the beer my mum-in-law left to me. Not sure I could sell that today in Ireland, but….

Well, doesn’t Favre come from there. Which, according to this link, is more than this beer does. I am not commenting on the taste yet as give me a chance, it is 8 in the morning here….

Can’t Get Away From “Soccer”

A week or so in the States beckons and still proper football dominates. I got into Philly nicely and on time, the immigration checks were light, no customs searches and a smooth drive home. We had a nice meal at Momiji’s Japanese restaurant in Rio Grande (near Cape May) – link here - and as I entered the restaurant I thought it best I let Dmitri Younger know I’d arrived safely…and find out the football scores..

“Ireland leading 1-0″ was the response. Playing well, unlucky not to be further in front. France are effing crap. That sort of stuff. I asked him to let me know the final score by text…

Once the meal was finished (I chose wrong, the mother-in-law decidedly chose correctly – and by the way, who the flaming hell thinks tofu is edible?) and we got into the car (my middle finger on the right hand survived being sandwiched in the door) I put the phone on and got bro’s message..

France through henry cheated.

Four words summed it up. I got to our lodgings, was delighted to find the internet working, and read the stories before retiring to bed at 7:30 (US time). This morning I saw the youtube clip and saw this picture, of Henry’s handball..

First up – let us say this. Henry’s sleight of hand got France through – there was no certainty of Ireland winning a penalty shootout so pedant as I am, it did not cost something Ireland had. It cost them the opportunity, and they did have fifteen minutes, I believe, to equalise (and in fact take the lead courtesy of an away goal). Secondly any Irish fans, it does hurt doesn’t it? So did Maradona in 1986.

But honestly, is anyone surprised? FIFA got the result they wanted – they got their big media market through (France), and they got their world megastar through (Ronaldo / Portugal) by blatant rule changing, gerrymandering and fixing by seeding a draw that should never have been seeded. So they sanction this sort of cheating, and then the player cheats. So much for their effing fair play initiative eh? Whenever they do that nonsense and France play in the Finals we can all have a good laugh, eh? Maybe they should set some sort of precedent by banning Henry from the first three games of the World Cup Finals to show that they are serious about players cheating, but then again, it has always been ok to cheat to score a goal, but not ok to do it in preventing a goal. That has always been perverse to me.

I feel sorry for Ireland, in reality. It would have been great for the watching of the World Cup with ZS (a far too infrequent member of this board) with Ireland in it. They did very well in a tricky group, and are very well coached. It would have been magnificent to see the insufferably arrogant French come a cropper as it might get them to change – just as Euro 2008’s exit made England get away from the matey matey crap and get a proper manager / coach in charge. But most of all, France have blown up any pretence of fair play, making it as laughable as we all knew it was. France, and Henry (who lets face it, is only doing what the vast majority of players would have done) will be damned for much time for getting there in the most dishonourable way. But football hasn’t had honour for years. They just cheated at a high profile time.

So here, at 7am in Cape May, jet lag gloriously in effect, I am writing about European international football. It is better than talking about Sarah Palin.

OK, Back To Book Reviews – Ruinair by Paul Kilduff

 

 

Although the stats on Amazon say this book is 368 pages, it is probably nearer 340. Why the obsession with numbers? Well this book is obsessed with the taxes and fees, and so I thought I’d make a little point.

The book might be 340 or so pages long but it ran out of ideas long before the end. In fact I would go as far as to say that I’ve never read such a front-loaded book in all my life. This book could have been one of three things – a witty, somewhat cynical travelogue about out of the way European place; a commentary on the budget airline industry and the different players and how they are going to survive; or a tale of Ryanair’s utter ruthlessness under the leadership of the charismatic, but exceedingly c***ish Chief Executive, Michael O’Leary.

Kilduff tries to do all three, and comes up short on the lot. On the travelogue his quite amusing style grates as the book develops and what works for Beauvais at the start is wearing thin when he visits San Marino and Liechtenstein. He pokes at open doors about the remoteness of the airports, and the siting of Ryanair destinations in outposts in Norway, but that’s not the point. The travelogue is not his raison d’etre of the book, and it comes up short.

I thought the concept of the book was to fly where Ryanair went and visit the sites there, but instead the book becomes a tome on all the various budget airlines flying around. So we have details on Easyjet, Air Berlin, Niki, and all other sorts of point to point airlines. It got a bit dull. Ryanair are Ryanair and the rest are different. So while the pieces on Easyjet and Southwest, which rather frame the Ryanair story, are useful, some of the others just melt into the book with no real redeeming quality. As an expose of the budget airline industry, it comes up short.

Where the book is at its best is on Ryanair and all its ruthless practices. Sure the calling of the airline Ruinair throughout gets dull, as does the deliberate change to Michael O’Leary’s name, but that’s mild. Kilduff uses the wit and wisdom of O’Leary brilliantly at times, and much of this is focused at the start of the book. After 100 or so pages I thought “has O’Leary got much more to say, are there that many more quotes he has made, that many more anecdotes on the horrors of Ryanair?” It seemed that Kilduff used all his good material early and tailed off.

It wasn’t a bad book by any means, but I felt if Kilduff had shortened it, concentrated more on Ryanair, and O’Leary’s downright obnoxiousness (is that a word) then it would have been even better.

If There Was One Thing I’d Change..

about me, it would be that I am too soft. Sure, I have asthma and would give a lot to get shot of it (except, it seems lose weight which would bloody well help), and of course I’d like to lose weight too, and I’d like to get some concentration inside me that allows me not to be distracted… Apart from these, I would seriously like to get rid of being such a worrying little wuss. This morning it was me, down to a tee.

I had to drop our border collie off at the kennels this morning. The poor little mite was unsuspecting as he jumped in the car for what he thought was a nice little car ride, only to be dumped in a kennel for a fortnight. Everyone tells me that the dogs enjoy them, that they get a nice routine out of it, and we would like to come back to a dog that has a bit more self sufficiency and independence about him. But it was horrible. The kennels aren’t – they’ve been really good. Ray, who I’ve met twice seems like a great bloke. Lesley, who I’ve not met, has been efficient with the e-mail responses. But still, it was horrible giving him up – he is such a character. I don’t mind admitting I got upset. And to think I didn’t want the wife to come along in case she did.

The dog sleeps in the spare room, and as I was suffering from the walk last night, I went and slept in the room to avoid waking the beloved. So I slept next to our border collie and just felt sad. What a softie….

After I’d dropped him off I was in a bit of a whirl. I had to online check in and the way BA are doing things these days, getting in early after online check-in opens is a big deal. But before that I needed to sort the money out for a current account with my building society. Some cheeky c*** cloned my card last week, so that has caused hassle, but the building society in question did the business and got a replacement card to me quickly. Anyway, I drove to Eltham, and then realised I’d left all the stuff at home. When I got back I got a real shock..

I went onto my e-mail and I saw someone sharing my name had ordered a few books from a website. They had used my e-mail address even though they appeared to be from Byker (in North East England). Now when you have had one card cloned, you really start to worry… what if they got another? I don’t mind telling you, in my mental state, I went into pure dmitri demented delirium mode. I phoned all my card companies up checking if they’d be cloned. I phoned and e-mailed the book company (who told me the books were on invoice and no card number was issued). I can go into right tizzies, and this morning, on the back of leaving a part of my family on his own relying on strangers to help him, I was ripe for it.

Some wonder why I write this sort of stuff – I think it does help a little and most of the people who know me know that is what I am like anyway so reading it isn’t going to do anything. Some may take the mickey, but it is up to them. I am fine. I’m a blubbing sort of bloke, and I don’t mind saying it. It is still a mystery to me how this blubbing idiot got through his mum’s eulogy (enough said about that the better) without a tear, but goes all soft over a dog, or a eulogy to one of his friends. I remember when my cat died – he hated me, and yet his hatred was endearing – and I was all over the shop. Oh sod it, I’m rambling.

I think I’ve toughened up a bit, but I still have a long way to go. I suppose I’ll never suppress my emotions. I suppose I’ll have to live with that.

2 Hours….Mission Accomplished

First up, sorry Dan….

On our wander tonight, my intention all along was to walk to Lee Station and then get a bus home. Regrettably Dan had to go home early so we split our paths at Blackheath – he headed to Lewisham, I headed towards Blackheath Village. When I got to Lee I saw the train I could have got pass over the bridge above, so I walked on. A bus had not got to me by the top of Burnt Ash Road, I felt pretty good, so decided. Tonight would be the night…..

The walk up Burnt Ash Hill, not imposing but uphill for quite a while, really tried me, but once past the Crown the walk eased off and after 2 hours and 6 miles, I reached home. Including walking up the steps at the Foot Tunnel, I have now done it.

Dan, we will change the overall target now to El Gordo. Poster to follow in due course…

Some Random Thoughts From The Weekend

England v Brazil – What the hell is it about commentators that they lose their minds when the team in yellow is playing? Brazil’s pretty much first team handled England’s 1 1/2 team reasonably comfortably, but they weren’t that amazing in a heat that probably suited them more and with an England team missing several key players. 1-0 was fair enough, but we won’t be seeing Wayne Bridge, Jolean Lescott and Wes Brown in our back four come June – I hope. However, the ITV team were purring over this new incarnation as if Pele et al had never failed to lace up their boots. Throughout the years, with a couple of glorious exceptions, the England v Brazil games are rarely any good. A friendly in Qatar, in blistering heat, with half a team – I’d expect Brazil to beat us. So they did. Move on. Nothing to see here.

Was Steve Rider, Ian Wright and Marcel Desailly the nadir of international punditry?

Iwatched the Pacquaio / Cotto fight yesterday morning and the best man won; I think Mayweather beats him quite comfortably, unless there is some weakness in his chin he hasn’t shown previously. I also saw the Haye v Valuev fight and while the best man won, it is a bit strange how, unless Valuev was docked points for being utterly awful. Haye barely hit him – can you win a points decision like that. I was with Jim Watt on that. However waht I wasn’t with Jim Watt on was his crying out for Cotto’s corner to stop the fight and let his man be quit on his stool. No warrior wants to go out like that, and boxing isn’t for people like that. I don’t want a man dead, but Cotto showed in the round after Watt’s first bleat that he still had something left. There was a chance that IF he caught him flush the fight might change. I am no fan of Sky’s commentator either – Adam Smith. Ian Darke showed how it was done in his commentary on the Haye fight – he didn’t give Jim Watt the run of the ring, rather debating with him that Valuev should get no credit for coming forward and missing by miles. Smith seems to turn Watt’s diatribes into the story line – following him religiously, moving into hyperbole effortlessly. Pacquaio is great. No doubt. But he’s been beaten before, so someone unlocked the door. The longer he goes, the more likely someone will find the key.

Vistaprint had better be good. It was like buying something using Ryanair’s website. Something that started as £5 per item ended up nearer £8.50 by the time I’d finished. It had better be good.

Just finished Ruinair, by Paul Kilduff. Book review to follow.

It has been a weekend where people I met 20 years ago have been in the forefront. First up, excellent to reestablish contact with a member of what I called the C1 group – bloody hell, she only moved to Shepperton and I lost touch. Still, she’s moved to Sunbury now, or as I call it “Thank Hell It Rained That Day” (in relation to the only time I visited Sunbury). The rest of the possee have spread far and wide from my days in Liverpool. One is in Geneva, one is in Dubai, one is in Chester, and I’m not sure what happened to Kath and Ross. Still, I get pleased to reach back to people I got on with so well from the past. It gives me a nice glow.

I have also heard of my close mate who runs a law firm who is going through a terrible time through no fault of his own. I’m not going into it any more, but yet again the criminal fraternity cause the successful man to be brought to his knees, and yet no-one cares. We need more like my friend to make the country a prosperous place to live in. Instead, we seek to do them down. You wonder why my love for this country ebbs away? Why I feel like a change of scenery may be best?

Tonight is my last walk for a couple of weeks. I hope to go a bit further - my companion needs to be home early. Oh dear.

I watched England’s first half against Australia in the Rugby Union on Saturday. Then I decided life really wasn’t worth wasting on that and did something much more enjoyable. We’ve run out of bleach in the toilet.

It is cricket related to some degree, but I thought I’d stick it here. When are we going to stop apologising when occasionally the luck goes our way. Take the Ashes “If you look at the stats, they had 8 centuries to our 2, they had the top three bowlers – England did win crucial sessions”, I say “so effing what”. No-one goes on that we lost the third test the year before against South Africa because Smith had a couple of lives due to umpires; no-one mentions the year before that we’d have won the Lord’s test if Bucknor had given Sreesanth out when he was stone dead LBW. But we are supposed to apologise because we won the crucial sessions. This came up due to the question being asked about our win in the first 20-20 game, aided by Duckworth Lewis. The opposition knew the rain was coming, so they should have been ahead. When it rained, they weren’t. Tough. So why should we apologise for winning, and saying we were lucky. Fuck Off. It isn’t just cricket, it is everything. We can be too triumphal in victory, but we can also be annoyingly patronising and faux apologetic. Be like the Aussies, for heaven’s sake.

I await The Bottom Of The Barrel’s comments on Peter King’s comments with much anticipation. For fans of American sport, I’d say it is the best blog I’ve come across. The authors are far more grumpy than me.

Something my beloved said this morning made me chuckle. I was talking about taking a cheque I had drawn back to the original place I got it from (a building society) as my replacement card had come through having been cloned by some toe rag slag. I was agonising over whether there would be a problem when she said “they work for you, you know.” In one comment she summed up the difference between the US and UK. In the US, they do work for you. If you don’t like them, then you can go where the hell you want and they are desperate to keep you. In the UK, there are so many barriers and impediments to progress and change put up that to move accounts or regular trade, you have to weigh up whether it is really worth the aggro you know it will involve. With my o2 furore earlier this year, the oft quoted phrase was “I am sorry, but I can’t do that.” “I am not authorised to do that.” “You are in the wrong sir, not us” (the last one was a beauty – they cut me off with no warning, then referred me to a text message purporting to say I hadn’t paid my bill, but in which it offered me broadband!). The US customer focus isn’t a myth, it is real. It may be a case of the grass is greener, but if they mess up, they don’t generally blame the customer for their own stupidity. They know they’d lose trade. The beloved was soon told of the error of her ways….

Onwards and upwards.

They Dont Half Write Some Nonsense…

And today it is Don Banks on the very controversial call Bill Belichick made last night that ended up handing Indianapolis victory in the showdown with the Patriots.

Article here.

Sure – 4th and 2 on your own 28, up by six with two and a bit minutes remaining, you have to punt if you are going by the book. But Belichick has never been a “by the book” coach, and that’s why he is hated. His cocking a snook at the receied wisdom has made the press and the media pundits look foolish and they don’t like that. The fact he treats them liked he’d treat a sewage leak in his house means that when the chance comes, the media mafia will come down on him like a ton of bricks. (Or should that be tonne, now we have signed the Lisbon Treaty with no referendum).

When it comes to a questionable play, the media are going to love it when it goes wrong. I hold no torch for Belichick or the Patriots – I loathe them both – but the glee in filling an article calling it “the worst call of his career” and “potentially disastrous to his play-off hopes” is the stuff of nonsense. Unless some miracle happened, even if the Patriots had won last night, they are not likely to top the Colts record. I think the Colts at worst were going to go 13-3, and that would mean the Patriots sweeping the table the rest of the season (or maybe one loss), which includes trips to the more than useful New Orleans Saints and Houston Texans, I would hope a tricky trip to Miami where both unbeaten teams in the league nearly came unstuck, and, of course, their inevitable home defeat by the all-conquering AFC East behemoth, the New York Jets (see posts past).

So pretty much certainly, despite last night, the road to Miami and the Superbowl was going to go through Indianapolis anyway.. so the drama in this quote is a little bit misplaced…

“..And because of it, the Patriots could well come up short in this year’s playoffs as well. That’s what might have been on the line with Belichick’s call. At 6-3, the Patriots’ shot at securing homefield advantage in the AFC is probably gone. If the road to Miami and the Super Bowl goes through Indianapolis now, New England can’t be comforted by that news. Need I remind anyone the Patriots and Colts have met three times this decade in the playoffs and each game has been won by the home team?”

Last Play Off home game? Indianapolis were eliminated in their own stadium. They are by no means unbeatable at home, whatever they say.  But there’s a piece to write. Let us get this into perspective here – the Patriots were winning this game handily, but then Peyton Manning put them under a bit of pressure (as he is pretty good) and they thought there was a chance of shutting down the game by running a 4th and 2 play which would have given them a first down, meant the Colts would have had to burn all their remaining time outs or the Pats would run down the clock, and even if they went three and out, they could punt it with some time eroded off the clock and no margin of error. By punting from their 28, they’d have give Manning probably sixty yards to go in two minutes and I’m not sure how many timeouts left. That’s a piece of piss if all goes well and they get a drive going. Sure, by failing, you’d make that task easier, but it isn’t as if they needed a field goal. You either back your defense to keep them out of the end zone, or you don’t. Because this call went against received wisdom, it gives the Monday Morning QBs a great story. For chrissake, I’m writing about it!!!

Banks warms to his theme…

“That’s why in this series, against this particular nemesis, with so much at stake, Belichick’s decision could continue to haunt these Patriots long past Sunday night. The same way New England blowing an 18-point halftime lead to Indianapolis in the 2006 AFC title game was a singular hurt before Sunday night.”

There is ever so slightly a difference… The Colts won a regular season game last night. Both teams are pretty much assured a play-off berth this season. The chances are that this means the Patriots will need to go to the Bengals and play a wild card team rather than have a week off, but that’s becoming less of a factor now, it seems. The other game meant that Indianapolis went to the Superbowl and the Patriots season had ended. It is the difference betwen losing a World Cup Qualifier in your group, or being beaten by the same team in the World Cup Semi-Final. You see the difference? Banks has trouble, it seems.

“He’s the best in the league at it, so we trust him,” Patriots defensive lineman Mike Wright said. “It was Coach’s decision, and everybody backs everybody on this team. Everybody had full confidence in the offense. It just didn’t go our way. It sucks. But you let it go. You have to let it go.”

“After a loss that was almost unique in its sting, those were the words the Patriots had to say. Now let’s see how long it takes New England to really mean them.”

Oh do leave off. Next Sunday the Patriots, hopefully stung to pieces by this loss, will beat down on the brilliant, no, make that Superbowl bound New York Jets, and the world will move on. The Colts face two tricky road games, the second of which is against the Texans and I hope I’ll get to see that in the States on TV when I’m over there.

No, Belichick, in hindsight, made a mistake. If he’d have got the yardage, he’d have been lauded, but now he’s derided. To make that derision really stick, make the game bigger than it is. It is really like saying that with Chelsea winning their game against Manchester United last week, the league is now their’s, despite the fact they still have to meet again and we aren’t even halfway through the season. As we wait for Peter King’s column, Don Banks has given us much to chew over already….

This Blog May Be Small…

…but last week saw the most hits in a week, and I seem to be widening the readership – if only by a few each day – and of course handily helped by THAT Barbados map being the first in google images for “Barbados Map”. So, yes, it is a bit of a fraud.

I hope those who come across this stream of angst continue to enjoy it. Internet coverage is going to be light in the next couple of weeks, so postings will be few and far between, but I will be taking what spare time I have to continue my enlightening of all concerned as you get Dmitri’s Stateside musings. But this does depend on a number of circumstances….

So with the last rants ringing in your ears, it is on to international matters for the first time in a year.

You Have To Laugh At These Deluded Fools

The 4-4 Jets, fresh off a beautiful home defeat against the Dolphins and a week off, seem to have regrouped. Four losses in five games going into their bye week seemed only to recharge the mouths of this bunch of champions. From being on a low having lost to their hated rivals despite, in their minds “outplaying” them (special teams touchdowns don’t count in Ryan land), they came out talking….

Woody Johnson believes that they will “absolutely” make the play-offs. Of course they will. Their press man in the New York Post has it all mapped out…

“Consider this delicious scenario: The Jets beat the Jaguars today at Giants Stadium, the Patriots lose to the Colts tonight and — voila! — next week the Jets play the Patriots in Foxborough,, Mass., for first place in the AFC East.

That’s potentially how much of a swing week today can be for the Jets, who already have beaten the Patriots once this season.”

Absolutely respecting your opponent, eh, Mark Cannizzaro… The Jags, like the Jets, were 4-4. The Jags, like the Jets, needed a win in the worst way as they have the Colts AND the improved Texans in their division, and the Titans are now showing signs of life after their early disasters. This was a team that needed a win. But no. Win today, win in Foxboro (you stopped laughing yet?), and…

Mark, retrenches and calls it close…

CANNIZZARO’S CALL

This won’t be easy, but when is anything ever easy for the Jets. It figures to be a close-to-the-vest game that the Jets will win by forcing a couple of key turnovers and by Sanchez playing a clean, turnover-free game.

JETS 23, JAGUARS 17

According to the NFL site, a poster said a Jet player “guaranteed a play-off place”.  Another numbskull.

So when Maurice Jones-Drew kneeled on the 1 yard line and not scored a TD, then let the Jags run the clock and kick the winning field goal as time expired, you had to laugh.

Maybe next year, eh Jets? I’m sure the Patriots are crapping themselves.

Update – I’ve just seen NY Post’s Mark Cannizzaro’s verdict on the rest of the season (after that Miami loss, following on close behind the other Miami loss and the Buffalo home defeat)…

PREDICTION: The Jets, who have given away three games this season, are better than their record and will show it in the second half, going 6-2 and making the playoffs as a wild-card team at 10-6.

 

Looking good. Especially looking at the games they have left (New England away; Indianapolis away; Cincinnati (home), Atlanta (home) – none of these are muppets). Good luck.

Balearic Brutalities

And so on to the final part of the fridge magnet trilogy…

Words fail me… Well they don’t but you know what I mean.

The monstrosity on the left was purchased by Sir Peter. It is a Majorcan fridge magnet in the shape of the traditional water bottle, I believe… On this bottle is a map of Majorca with what appears to be random red squiggles all over it. Off the coast we have supersized fish, some sort of sun thingamy, a person I believe purporting to be a bikini-clad muppet, and other things to the east of the island I have not a clue what they are supposed to be. I once went to the north-east coast to some khazi called Cala Mesquida in the mid-1970s. You were never allowed in the sea because of a red flag telling us not to (and a couple of people drowned while we were there), except for one day (the last). Unfortunately this day was adorned with a tempestuous thunderstorm that ended out taking out the lights. I imagine the sea was filled with the critters on the right of this magnet.

And so to Statto’s effort. This, as you may have noted, is supposed to be a flip-flop with some themes from the Balearic hotspot. One of the neat little effects of this magnet is the sand filled bottom section (I bet the designer / manufacturer patted themselves on the back for that one). Go to Majorca and your sumbrella matches your yacht’s sails…or was there a paint shortage. Also, please make your sunchair out of a cricket pad… all we need is BOD’s sausage fingers on the table and we’d be in clover. The sun is having a colour crisis. This is cynical tat, albeit well made, but daringly nonsensical. This could be anywhere with a beach and sand. Nonsense.

My thanks to both of you….

 

Lands End Tat to John O’Groats Tat

Having never been to the extremities of this fair land of ours until this year, I have been to both in the space of a few months with wife and border collie. Of course, it would be remiss of me not to purchase utter tat at both locations, and so I did.

Why do these people obsess over border collies? We can’t all own these pesky mutts, can we? In any case, it seems a lot further than the mileage these people suggest on their mileposts. Maybe it is because John O’Groats seems such a long way.

The Land’s End magnet is awful, as it seems to have been chucked together by an ADHD afflicted four year old. The milepost is falling apart, I think that’s supposed to be a cat, the wall is about the only redeeming feature of it. The John O’Groats magnet focuses only on the dog and on nothing else. There are no wild border collies up there, but a ton of sheep, something my dog absolutely adores…

John O’Groats is a soul-less hell, existing to fleece gullible tourists, of which I was one. This magnet is part of an assortment of old tat. However Lands End is far more tasteless…

It Has Been A While – The Magnets Return!

And first up is, at current reckoning, my only South American fridge magnet… Made of wood. Where on earth is Curitiba, I hear my limited readership cry, and I will tell you. It is south west-ish of Sao Paolo in Brazil. It came my way because my boss went out there for a business meeting about some chemical products…. he is a good man.

This is impressie stuff, and very innovative. In many ways it is the antithesis of the fridge magnet art. Its wooden background is adorned with a tree which looks like a pile of snot on top of a matchstick. The two matchstick pieces on top of what looks like white icing make an effective roof, and I’d certainly have a word with the architect / builder about that doorway. However, they make look like matchsticks on the roof, they are, in fact rubbery, as is the window slit.

I actually think this one is quite cute… which is more than I can say for the magnets that follow…

Good Family Fun Clip…..

Hat-tip to Eishockey and In Joba We Fail for this clip, which had me in a fit of giggles last night…

My Quote Of The Day…

From the always excellent “Underdogs Bite Upwards” blog comes this belter…

“I know the British have a long tradition of complaining about the weather but these people are taking it way too far. It was meant to be a conversation opener, not a religion.”

It tickled me. It is contained in this post.

Here is another good excerpt…

“Anyway, Mrs. Sting was apparently asked how she justified herself and ElectroHead campaigning on green issues while having seven houses and flying everywhere in jets while pouring burning aviation fuel out of the window and all the rest of it. She said:

“I would like to think that we both work hard for the rights of indigenous people… but we do need to get around.”

Oh. They need to get around. Nobody else does so everyone else can make do with mud huts and all gather around the smouldering remains of the local power station after the Green Saviours have torched it.”

There, in a nutshell, is what they (and by that I mean the glitterati, cognoscenti, illuminati and guardianistas) think of you little people.

They hate us. Really they do. Is being married to an American and a quaint desire on her part to meet her parents once in a blue moon sufficient reason for “me to get around”. Or should I be taxed to penury for the pleasure?

To be fair to Leg-Iron, the post he linked to was from a blog by Steve Shark, which, as yet I’ve not read any of but will be sure to do so…