I win

So very busy at work at the moment; Mostly involved with correcting the mistakes of other people, who know that you’re going to correct their mistakes and so don’t bother doing it properly in the first place. So thus the reason for my lack of posting but I think I’ve said that before. Anyway, hopefully I will be a little freer next week.
In the mean time I would like to post that my letter won TNT’s letter of the week award this week. Hooray. For that I win a 3 day shamrocker trip around Ireland worth £79, not transferable. I doubt if I’ll actually use it, but it’s really the fame I’m after!

The Stormers?

Another letter in to the TNT:

I would like to apply for the position of TNT rugby correspondent. I assume that this position is now available and that the person who supplied TNT’s 2005 Super 12 predictions has been sacked. It was brave in the first place to tip that the Stormers would win the competition. Given their ignominious end to the campaign with a 75-14 loss to the Bulls, placing them in ninth spot on the ladder, the credentials of TNT’s tipster must be questioned. History suggests that you’ve got a 50% chance of getting it right by tipping the Crusaders to win at the start of the season.

Hope it gets published

88 days to go

The football season is practically over; the final round of the Premiership was completed on the weekend. Pretty exciting stuff on the last day to round things off, mostly at the foot of the table with all the 4 teams at the bottom a chance to stay up. Of course only 1 was going to so well done to West Brom, they were the only one of the 4 to win their match, thus becoming the first ever Premiership side to be bottom at Christmas and stay up.
Anyway, so apart from the FA Cup final this weekend and the Champions League final next Wednesday, the football season is over. There are 88 more days until the Premiership kicks off again, how will I cope with the absence of football? Well it shouldn’t be too much of a problem, international Rugby and Cricket will fill the void I’m sure. The Lions tour of New Zealand will be starting in a couple of weeks, followed by the Tri-Nations, as well as the much anticipated ashes series where England will no doubt fail to achieve the high levels of expectations that have been placed on them.

England of course are shooting themselves in the foot, months before the ashes even begins. Shane Warne is currently captaining county side Hampshire; he is taking a shitload of wickets and last week scored his maiden first class century with a 107 run knock in only 72 balls. The other star performer for Hampshire has been Aussie test batsman Simon Katich; also scoring runs freely and getting comfortable playing on English wickets. Brad Hodge and Mike Hussey are among other Australian squad members currently playing in the English county season.

Obviously county sides are free to recruit whomever they wish for their 2 allowed overseas players. However if I were involved with English cricket this year, and wanted to see the national side take advantage of their best opportunity of ashes success in years; then I would be making sure Australians stayed the hell away from cricket pitches here until they have to stride out to the centre on day one of the first test! Least of all Shane Warne, one of Australia’s main weapons, the most successful bowler ever in the history of cricket, who’s bowling the English have never been able to come to terms with. Shane is getting comfortable playing in England again, he’s getting used to the pitches, and he’s sending down plenty of deliveries to batsmen who are going to have to face him for their national side in July and August. He’ll be used to the way they play their strokes against him and will search for weaknesses he can exploit. By the time the ashes come around, he will be well and truly practised against England’s batting line up. Well done Warnie and all the other Aussies playing county cricket this year.


Work is pretty busy at the moment as we are reviewing a lot of end of year reports, thus the reason for the sparseness of my postings recently.

Black Friday

Money was a never ending object for you from the start
Picture of your only loving sister
That you just fucked up

Typical
Chemical
What you got?
Bitten by Black Friday

Electrical
Predictable
What you got?
Bitten by Black Friday?

Yeah
Bitten by Black Friday
Yeah

Could you be the only precious liar that I ever knew?
Yeah all the school girls disposing the lies
So watch the last one you use

Typical
Criminal
What you got?
Bitten by Black Friday

Electrical
Subliminal
What you got?
Bitten by Black Friday

Yeah
Bitten by Black Friday
Yeah

Typical
Chemical
What you got?
Bitten by Black Friday

Electrical
Subliminal
What you got?
Bitten by Black Friday

Yeah
Yeah

The only thing I'm going to say about the election

There has obviously been a lot of talk abou the fact that Labour has been returned to power for a record third consecutive term, and much of it has been about how their majority has been reduced significantly. The government now has a 67 seat majority which is down 45 from the last term. So much have people been used to New Labour holding power by such large majorities, that people are now suggesting that Tony Blair has something to be concerned about, and that it is the start of New Labour's decline. It's worthwhile pointing out that there have only been three parliaments in the past with higher majorities that Labour's current 67 seats; two of those have been Labour's last two terms, and the other belonging to Thatcher's government from the 1983 election.
A large reason for Labour's loss of seats this time has been the public backlash to the invasion of Iraq, and a growing general dislike for the Prime Minister. By the time the next general election is upon us, it is unlikely Blair will still be PM, Iraq will not be an issue any more, and Labour will probably win again. Unless......

I would also like to say that in a nation where there are three major political parties; Britain must use the preferential voting system that is used in Australia to elect individual seats. This would provide an outcome that is much more indicative of the public's wishes.

No thanks we don't need any more

I would like to reference this article in the Sydney Morning Herald. The international aid agency Medicins Sans Frontieres is handing back a large percentage of the money it received from the public for the victims of the Indian Ocean Tsunami. Reason being, they have raised far too much. Now, people generally gave me looks of scorn when I joked that with all the fund raising going on, they would end up having more money than we do. Only now that appears to be true!!! This all really goes back to what I was saying in my very first blog posting. The positive note on it is that it appears most people requested their donations be diverted to other programs.

Taking the bait

So I set the bait with my letter in last week’s TNT and it got a bite. There were a couple of letters in regards to the Corby case, one particularly refuting my claims on Indonesia being uncivilised.

I sympathise with Schapelle Corby and her family, but I would resist isolating Indonesia as an “uncivilised” and unjust country as James Cameron does (‘Corby’s last chance’, Inbox, TNT 1131). Neither Britain, America or Australia have justice systems anyone could be proud of as they make the most marginalised in society scapegoats. Britain has a history of turning on others like the Irish and now Muslims, subjecting them to bogus courts. Is Australia’s justice system transparent, free and fair? Can everyone be sure they will receive a fair hearing with decent legal representation? We need to get off the high horse and live by the values we believe in. Margaret Boulos, London

A pretty good response actually, I agree with her entirely. Still, it was pretty much the exact reaction I was looking for so, mission accomplished.

Monday on a Tuesday

The pagan beginning of summer was heralded with a glorious bank holiday weekend. The sun came out to play, meaning everyone drank outside instead of in. Suffice to say my liver and I are not on friendly terms at the moment.

My letter about Schapelle Corby was published in the TNT, although it didn't win letter of the week. That always seems to go to some crap letter that's harping on about something everyone else has been writing about for weeks. Anyway, I am hoping I have courted a little controversy by taking a not so subtle dig at a country of 235 million people. With any luck someone will reply with a letter of their own next week and a thread may even be started. Or extremists will hunt me down and blow themselves up on a bus going past my house.

A commanding win by the Tahs on the weekend, I know everyone isn't saying much too soon but they are going to wipe the floor with the Reds on Friday.

My tip for tonight's Champions League semi second leg at Anfield: Black armbands worn by Liverpool players and a minute's silence because the groundsman's dog died, and Chelsea win 2-0.