I went out a few months ago to buy some beers, seems that i must have been distracted or something.
Was it really that long ago that I last posted?
Monday, 9 November 2009
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Douglas Verdun Rivett - A Tribute
At around 4.30pm yesterday, my paternal Grandfather passed away.
He was 92 years old, was failing slowly in all manner of ways, and much to his disgust was reduced to reliance on others for his most basic needs in a nursing home.
This isn't therefore a treatise on how sad his passing, but a reflection on the happiness that he brought to myself and my siblings.
Doug's rather unusual middle name was due to the nature of his own conception, or at least the ability of his own Father to be there to conceive. The story as I understand it is that Doug's father had been at the Battle of Verdun in the Great War, and had his life saved by a Captain Douglas.
For as long as I can remember Douglas and my Grandmother Pamela lived in a cottage facing Hainault Common in Chigwell Row. Doug worked for Tate and Lyle in their factory on the Royal Docks, and supported West Ham. He loved Motorcycles, and small yappy Pekingese dogs, of which they owned several. The house was small, had a door at the foot of the stairs, decorative plates on a small shelf around the top of the walls and a downstairs bathroom that held a large tub of brylcreme.
When we visited, we would walk the dogs on the common, sit in their beautifully and carefully kept Garden, and hunted the shed at the bottom for the model aeroplanes that where kept within. Ploughman's was often the lunch of choice with fiercely mature Cheddar Cheese and mouth drying home made pickled onions.
He retired the year that my Brother and Sister where born, and I really don't remember him as anything but a slightly gruff man of strong beliefs and convictions, who had married young and had remained devoted to my Grandmother until her sudden and unexpected death. Since then, he has struck me as a desperately lonely man whom had lost his raison d'etre.
The Cottage went, and he moved to Gerrards Cross where his bond with my younger sister Vanessa grew and grew. They would do the crosswords and the lottery together, and she chivvied him about his drinking and his health. she visited him every day, and was tearfull when I spoke to her about him being in the nursing home last weekend, she hated that he was so unhappy.
Now he is no longer unhappy, who knows maybe his spirit is back with his beloved Pam and their friends who have passed over the years.
I loved him very much, and I know that there are many other people out there whose lives where touched by the cheery old gent with the ridiculous dogs. I will miss him of course, but am glad that he's been released from the things that made his life sad.
Self Indulgent as this might seem, I wanted to write it for myself, so that I could remember the good times. I have no care for your opinion.
He was 92 years old, was failing slowly in all manner of ways, and much to his disgust was reduced to reliance on others for his most basic needs in a nursing home.
This isn't therefore a treatise on how sad his passing, but a reflection on the happiness that he brought to myself and my siblings.
Doug's rather unusual middle name was due to the nature of his own conception, or at least the ability of his own Father to be there to conceive. The story as I understand it is that Doug's father had been at the Battle of Verdun in the Great War, and had his life saved by a Captain Douglas.
For as long as I can remember Douglas and my Grandmother Pamela lived in a cottage facing Hainault Common in Chigwell Row. Doug worked for Tate and Lyle in their factory on the Royal Docks, and supported West Ham. He loved Motorcycles, and small yappy Pekingese dogs, of which they owned several. The house was small, had a door at the foot of the stairs, decorative plates on a small shelf around the top of the walls and a downstairs bathroom that held a large tub of brylcreme.
When we visited, we would walk the dogs on the common, sit in their beautifully and carefully kept Garden, and hunted the shed at the bottom for the model aeroplanes that where kept within. Ploughman's was often the lunch of choice with fiercely mature Cheddar Cheese and mouth drying home made pickled onions.
He retired the year that my Brother and Sister where born, and I really don't remember him as anything but a slightly gruff man of strong beliefs and convictions, who had married young and had remained devoted to my Grandmother until her sudden and unexpected death. Since then, he has struck me as a desperately lonely man whom had lost his raison d'etre.
The Cottage went, and he moved to Gerrards Cross where his bond with my younger sister Vanessa grew and grew. They would do the crosswords and the lottery together, and she chivvied him about his drinking and his health. she visited him every day, and was tearfull when I spoke to her about him being in the nursing home last weekend, she hated that he was so unhappy.
Now he is no longer unhappy, who knows maybe his spirit is back with his beloved Pam and their friends who have passed over the years.
I loved him very much, and I know that there are many other people out there whose lives where touched by the cheery old gent with the ridiculous dogs. I will miss him of course, but am glad that he's been released from the things that made his life sad.
Self Indulgent as this might seem, I wanted to write it for myself, so that I could remember the good times. I have no care for your opinion.
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Bang Bang, I shot it down.....
This weekend I went to a Clay Shoot. first time that I've done it in quite a while, and it was bloody freezing, as one would expect of May in the South West.
I'm not at all used to this clay pidgeon shooting game, and lets be honest I'm not all that au-fait with shotguns generally, at least not the ones with the barrels still intact.
I wasn't really expecting to enjoy it quite as much as I did. I had a go at the Black Powder muzzel loader, it was loud as you like but had a really nice smooth kick due to the slow burning black powder. Still couldn't hit a bastard thing with the thing, and then there is the loading process. Quite amusing on a field in Devon, probably bloody terrifying if you have 500 Zulus waving spears as you try and ram down the wadding with the rod. I also took the remaining 9 shots of the Small's round with a nice little 20 bore, as he didn't like the kick. Scoring 4 hits made me remember that I quite like this shooting business.
The big issue at hand though, was a quick test shot or two of Ing. Berretta's new toy. It's damn clever, has a side loading second cartridge, and is designed by Guigario, the man who drew the Maserati Ghilibi. I want one quite a lot. WANT!!!!!!!
Test Match Special.
If you where a BNP nutbar on the lookout for the absolute undiluted essence of Britishness with which to create a yardstick of what we are all about without their idiotic recourse to examination of your skin colour and the place you accidentally got born, then they could do worse than turn on Radio 4.
Radio 4 is of course marvelous in it's own right, the only intelligent approach to news reporting still available to us Englishmen, and home to such institutions as "Mornington Cresent" and "I'm sorry, I haven't a Clue", and the masterful "Just a Minute", but TMS is the Jewel in the Crown.
Today I was listening to the fourth day of the second test between England and the West Indies, the Windies are trying to avoid the follow on, but the chaps on TMS have decided that the best thing to do at this stage is develop a conversation on the distribution, range and call of the Common Oyster Catcher. They may have heard one earlier, or at least the mention of one, which might actually have been an anecdote about Ian Botham's Father playing cards at Oyston in Jamaica.
Genius.
Radio 4 is of course marvelous in it's own right, the only intelligent approach to news reporting still available to us Englishmen, and home to such institutions as "Mornington Cresent" and "I'm sorry, I haven't a Clue", and the masterful "Just a Minute", but TMS is the Jewel in the Crown.
Today I was listening to the fourth day of the second test between England and the West Indies, the Windies are trying to avoid the follow on, but the chaps on TMS have decided that the best thing to do at this stage is develop a conversation on the distribution, range and call of the Common Oyster Catcher. They may have heard one earlier, or at least the mention of one, which might actually have been an anecdote about Ian Botham's Father playing cards at Oyston in Jamaica.
Genius.
My Thoughts on MP's expenses.
Tiddly om pom pom.....
Oh yes, MP's expenses he exclaimed.
It's all quite dull isn't it? though really?
Yes yes, the majority of people are all getting rather aerated about the whole thingummy, but is it really that interesting?
Of course, finding out whom has a moat at home, whose husband likes poor quality soft porno, and whose Gardener gets bonuses that would make a City Gent blush is all very well, but it's all rather sordid isn't it? The Daily Telegraph have been through the metaphorical bins, and come up with, well, a load of old rubbish really.
If you are really concerned about waste of Public Money then honestly, Private Eye has been publishing the most disgraceful abuses for quite literally years, and whats a few thousand spent on a vibrating reclining lounge chair when we are about to shell out Billions of pounds on a Missile system that is of absolutely no use to us whatsoever.
So in all honesty, I've tried to be bothered, but there is some particularly stubborn Honey at the bottom of this pot, and I am sure it would be better in my tum, and anyway Test Match Special is on the wireless.
Oh yes, MP's expenses he exclaimed.
It's all quite dull isn't it? though really?
Yes yes, the majority of people are all getting rather aerated about the whole thingummy, but is it really that interesting?
Of course, finding out whom has a moat at home, whose husband likes poor quality soft porno, and whose Gardener gets bonuses that would make a City Gent blush is all very well, but it's all rather sordid isn't it? The Daily Telegraph have been through the metaphorical bins, and come up with, well, a load of old rubbish really.
If you are really concerned about waste of Public Money then honestly, Private Eye has been publishing the most disgraceful abuses for quite literally years, and whats a few thousand spent on a vibrating reclining lounge chair when we are about to shell out Billions of pounds on a Missile system that is of absolutely no use to us whatsoever.
So in all honesty, I've tried to be bothered, but there is some particularly stubborn Honey at the bottom of this pot, and I am sure it would be better in my tum, and anyway Test Match Special is on the wireless.
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
First in a new very occasional series.....2-bob cooks.
Chunky Chili
This is not a recipe in the accepted 'Delia Smith' sense of the word, more a discussion of what you could sling together to make a decent Chili. I use soya protein substitutes for meat, partly because of the health benefits of low fat content, the fact that I can't eat meat anyway without getting the raging squits, and the risk involved with consuming anything that used to have a face that has been factory farmed and processed on an Industrial basis. Please feel free to apply your own sensibility or risk tolerance to the 'meat' aspect of the list, and don't come crying to me if that cheap processed meat product eventually kills you.
This is also not meant to be a gourmet 'best possible' Chili, it's just easy to make and bloody tasty.
To make: LOTS.
3 Onions
Large pack of Mushrooms
3 Chillies. Use your discretion as to what you use, I use 3 regular supermarket Chillies, i think it gives a nice balance of flavour to heat. The headbangers will use scotch bonnet and pretend to like it, wooftahs can use less. Chop them fairly fine. for less heat remove the seeds. If you wear contact lenses make sure you either wear gloves to do this, or wash your hands LOTS before taking the lenses out tonight. Stand on me.)
1/2 clove of Garlic, chopped fairly fine.
4 teaspoons of vegetable stock powder - marigold is clearly the best.
4 teaspoons of Bisto Onion Gravy granules. (shit I know, but they do a job.)
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
1 teaspoon smoked Paprika powder
2 teaspoons Jerk Seasoning/Cajun seasoning (you can make your own if you are a ponce)
Sprinkle of mixed herbs, fresh Coriander by the handful, or whatever else you fancy
Splosh of Mushroom Ketchup, Tabasco and Soy sauce to taste.
1 can Kidney Beans
1 can Black Eye Beans
1 can Pinto beans
2 cans chopped tomatoes
2 packs of Asda 'beef style meatballs'
1 big pan (approx 5 litres or more)
1 large frying pan
1 litre jug
Cheddar
Spring Onion
Soured cream (small pot)
Chillies
Firstly chop the onions and fry them off in the big pan, chop the mushrooms and add them once the onions start to brown a little, turn down the heat and put a lid on the pan to boil down the mushroom juices. this should take around 10-15 minutes.
Whilst that's happening you'll need to stir the onions and mushrooms fairly regularly, so make the stock by the stove so you can keep an eye.
Put the stock powder, gravy granules, chili powder, Paprika, Seasoning, herbs and sauces into a jug and add about a Litre of water.
Turn the heat back up under the pan, and reduce the mushroom and onion juices until you can fry off the Garlic and Chillies in it.
Add the Tomatoes, Beans and Stock to the pan and simmer gently for a good while.
In the meantime, fry the 'meatballs' in a heavy frying pan until golden brown, and season heavily with salt and pepper.
finally, about 20 minutes before you want to serve, add the meatballs to the Chili, and continue to simmer.
This pot will improve overnight and is happy to be he-heated later, the longer you leave it the better it gets. It also freezes well.
Serve with some grated cheddar, soured cream, chopped spring onions and chopped chili as garnish.
This is not a recipe in the accepted 'Delia Smith' sense of the word, more a discussion of what you could sling together to make a decent Chili. I use soya protein substitutes for meat, partly because of the health benefits of low fat content, the fact that I can't eat meat anyway without getting the raging squits, and the risk involved with consuming anything that used to have a face that has been factory farmed and processed on an Industrial basis. Please feel free to apply your own sensibility or risk tolerance to the 'meat' aspect of the list, and don't come crying to me if that cheap processed meat product eventually kills you.
This is also not meant to be a gourmet 'best possible' Chili, it's just easy to make and bloody tasty.
To make: LOTS.
3 Onions
Large pack of Mushrooms
3 Chillies. Use your discretion as to what you use, I use 3 regular supermarket Chillies, i think it gives a nice balance of flavour to heat. The headbangers will use scotch bonnet and pretend to like it, wooftahs can use less. Chop them fairly fine. for less heat remove the seeds. If you wear contact lenses make sure you either wear gloves to do this, or wash your hands LOTS before taking the lenses out tonight. Stand on me.)
1/2 clove of Garlic, chopped fairly fine.
4 teaspoons of vegetable stock powder - marigold is clearly the best.
4 teaspoons of Bisto Onion Gravy granules. (shit I know, but they do a job.)
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
1 teaspoon smoked Paprika powder
2 teaspoons Jerk Seasoning/Cajun seasoning (you can make your own if you are a ponce)
Sprinkle of mixed herbs, fresh Coriander by the handful, or whatever else you fancy
Splosh of Mushroom Ketchup, Tabasco and Soy sauce to taste.
1 can Kidney Beans
1 can Black Eye Beans
1 can Pinto beans
2 cans chopped tomatoes
2 packs of Asda 'beef style meatballs'
1 big pan (approx 5 litres or more)
1 large frying pan
1 litre jug
Cheddar
Spring Onion
Soured cream (small pot)
Chillies
Firstly chop the onions and fry them off in the big pan, chop the mushrooms and add them once the onions start to brown a little, turn down the heat and put a lid on the pan to boil down the mushroom juices. this should take around 10-15 minutes.
Whilst that's happening you'll need to stir the onions and mushrooms fairly regularly, so make the stock by the stove so you can keep an eye.
Put the stock powder, gravy granules, chili powder, Paprika, Seasoning, herbs and sauces into a jug and add about a Litre of water.
Turn the heat back up under the pan, and reduce the mushroom and onion juices until you can fry off the Garlic and Chillies in it.
Add the Tomatoes, Beans and Stock to the pan and simmer gently for a good while.
In the meantime, fry the 'meatballs' in a heavy frying pan until golden brown, and season heavily with salt and pepper.
finally, about 20 minutes before you want to serve, add the meatballs to the Chili, and continue to simmer.
This pot will improve overnight and is happy to be he-heated later, the longer you leave it the better it gets. It also freezes well.
Serve with some grated cheddar, soured cream, chopped spring onions and chopped chili as garnish.
Today's thoughts.
Must do more blog stuff.....
Must get my act together for Big Bang at Santa Pod next weekend.....
Must try hard not to be over cynical about the media's hype of the 25 Aniversary of Hillsborough.
Must try hard not to be over cynical about sudden appearance of photographic 'evidence'
Must try hard not to be over cynical about the claims made for new improved Bold Automatic.
Must go and clean out the 'Shed of huge disorganisation' as I promised the Doris.
Must get off my arse and get read to go racing this summer, as sitting at home whilst my mates where out at the Pod last weekend was bloody horrible.
Must not write any more sentences that start with 'must.....'
Must get my act together for Big Bang at Santa Pod next weekend.....
Must try hard not to be over cynical about the media's hype of the 25 Aniversary of Hillsborough.
Must try hard not to be over cynical about sudden appearance of photographic 'evidence'
Must try hard not to be over cynical about the claims made for new improved Bold Automatic.
Must go and clean out the 'Shed of huge disorganisation' as I promised the Doris.
Must get off my arse and get read to go racing this summer, as sitting at home whilst my mates where out at the Pod last weekend was bloody horrible.
Must not write any more sentences that start with 'must.....'
Thursday, 2 April 2009
The Guardian Guide - slightly biased review....
'The Guide' is part of the Guardian's Saturday package, a combination of editorial and listings that resembles a pared down 'Time Out'.
Now, I have to declare an interest here. I like the Guardian, despite it's not very good Sports coverage and it's willfully Northern outlook, I can get past the slightly wet Liberalism and sometimes unrealistic worldview to find something good to read.
And I usually love 'The Guide'.
So why so vexxed young master 2-bob?
Well, allow me to tell you.
In the last few weeks, there has been less of the good stuff, no Charlie Brooker, and far too much of the odious little scrote who is Pete Cashmore.
Pete who? You may well ask, well a P.Cashmore used to be employed by 'Nuts' magazine, and I believe ran the 'Nuts' website. This is interesting because as far as i can see the sole purpose of the magazine's website is to solicit vulnerable young ladies with self esteem issues into posting pictures of themselves with as few clothes on as possible, on the premise that this may get them a modeling contract with the magazine, for the pleasure of the social inadequates who inhabit the site. Quite how this fits with the oft trumpeted values of The Guardian I'm not sure.
Two things I do know for sure though, are that our Pete doesn't really like anyone questioning his authority, when I asked quite reasonably if he thought that the website was appropriate and whether he thought it exploitative, he banned me from the site. The other thing is that Cashmore is nowhere near as funny as he seems to think he is, in fact I've had funnier rectal prolapses than that.
So there we have it, formerly well written and amusing magazine now unfortunately in the thrall of one of a man entirely deluded about his comic abilities, whose Ego rules his word processor, and who it seems to me is far more suited to his former life of pimping delusional young women to the internet's dregs.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Good Stuff we are liking....
Motorsickle.com 'No smoke without Tyre' T-shirt, modelled by the lovely Spannerboy.
Financial Fools Day
Lets be honest, this is equally as rubbish.
Nobody worth talking to is going to have their minds changed about the validity of the modern Capitalist society and the Global Banking System based on a few thousand people who clearly haven't anything better to do getting dressed up as members of Neds Atomic Dustbin and hanging around London for the day.
We are not going to see a seismic shift in public opinion just because some rent-a-mob bunch of trust fund Anarchists hand a banner off the side of a building quite near County Hall.
The only manner in which we will achieve a better balanced and fairer world is when the people of this Country and others re-engage with Political Activisim within the framework of democracy that we have. We need people who have a grasp of the issues that address real people, and the will to act on the basis of what is right rather than on the basis of Party Political Dogma. The Politics of the Right or the Left will not solve the problems that the western world faces at the moment, it's fresh new thinking that is required, people who are able to think outside the vested interests of their Fiscal supporters.
PMQ's are on, and it's too depressing to think any more about politics.
Nobody worth talking to is going to have their minds changed about the validity of the modern Capitalist society and the Global Banking System based on a few thousand people who clearly haven't anything better to do getting dressed up as members of Neds Atomic Dustbin and hanging around London for the day.
We are not going to see a seismic shift in public opinion just because some rent-a-mob bunch of trust fund Anarchists hand a banner off the side of a building quite near County Hall.
The only manner in which we will achieve a better balanced and fairer world is when the people of this Country and others re-engage with Political Activisim within the framework of democracy that we have. We need people who have a grasp of the issues that address real people, and the will to act on the basis of what is right rather than on the basis of Party Political Dogma. The Politics of the Right or the Left will not solve the problems that the western world faces at the moment, it's fresh new thinking that is required, people who are able to think outside the vested interests of their Fiscal supporters.
PMQ's are on, and it's too depressing to think any more about politics.
April Fools day
No.
I'm not doing an 'April Fools' gag.
Because the last recored one that was actually funny was published in the 1903 Frimley Times and Argus, relating to a specially developed pair of coal fired bloomers worn by Mrs Amberley Mabblethrupp whilst enjoying a perambulation from the Post Office to Mr Jackson Dornier's Fruit and Vegetable emporium and self service Shop.
Fuck 'em.
I'm not doing an 'April Fools' gag.
Because the last recored one that was actually funny was published in the 1903 Frimley Times and Argus, relating to a specially developed pair of coal fired bloomers worn by Mrs Amberley Mabblethrupp whilst enjoying a perambulation from the Post Office to Mr Jackson Dornier's Fruit and Vegetable emporium and self service Shop.
Fuck 'em.
Saturday Afternoon Wrestling.
No, not that American nonsense, the real deal. Kendo Nagasaki, Giant Haystacks, Big Daddy, Johnny Saint....those where the days my friend.
From the opening theme tune, to Dicky Davies announcing that we where going live to some hall in Preston, to watching the little old ladies going mental in the front row and Pat 'Bomber' Roach did something naughty again, it was manna from Heaven for the 10 year old 2-Bob.
The WWF (later getting it's lilly ass kicked by the World Wildlife Fund into changing it's name, how hard is that? duffed up in the Courts by a Panda and his mates?) was never the same, too showbiz, too much Lycra and Steroids, too much poodle hair and production values. It didn't look anything like as real. Hulk Hogan now has his own reality show on MTV the gently balding peroxide loving pooftah. I bet Mark 'Rollerball' Rocco is lifting hods still somewhere outside Dunstable, thats real geezer.
Anyway, British wrestling was Great. Shirley Crabtree I salute you.
The History of Rotten Racing.
This Month's VW Ultra has a cover story on 'Herbielizer', my Drag Racing VW Beetle.
As it's now in print, i guess it won't harm to share with you the story as i told it to Keith Seume of VW Ultra
On the 12th of May 2007 I was more worried about my Football Club being relegated than about Drag Racing, My Blue '63 that had been brought as a rolling shell from Max of the Greenhearts was mostly finished, including a 2165 (78x94mm) Motor breathing through 48mm Jenvey IDF pattern throttle bodies talking to an Omex ECU and running a lumpy FK89 cam that the Fuel Injection made more tollerable for the Street. It was my dream car, the big Engined classic Cal-Looker, one piece windows, T-Bars and Centreline 'Big-Rivet' Wheels.
On the Afternoon of the 13th of May, West Ham had beaten Manchester United, I'd been at the Champagne, and Brian Burrows was on the telephone from France talking about the Two Turbo cars he was bringing in from the States, one for himself and one to sell to another racer to boost the number of quick cars in the VWDRC Pro ranks. Whether by a mixture of elation and inebriation or just a complete lack of common sense, by the end of the conversation I had agreed to go up to Tewkesbury to see the cars, and had as good as commited to buying one of them.
Brian had sent both cars to Raceshack to have a few small jobs done, and more importantly to get their jetting sorted out for UK conditions, with less heat, humidity and Altitude than their US homes. By the time I got there Brian had selected the car that he thought had the most in it, and I saw a white '58 with a standard steel body and all it's trim retained, but for an Aluminium Jammar front beam and a missing deck lid. Around back sat a big ass Turbo that had a Holley carb hung off the back of it with a Carbon Manifold, and that dominated the engine bay. We had a chat about the price, Brian showed me all the bills that proved that i was paying only what he had spent, and as I had just two passes in my '63 under my belt at that time, Brian wanted to run some shakedown runs in the car before handing it to a novice, so we agreed that Bug Jam would be the handover day.
In the meantime i had decided that Claire Williams would be driving the Blue '63 without it's Nitrous system in the Sportsman Class as as well, so we turned up at Santa Pod with two cars, and no forward planning...more of that later. I had planned a few gentle runs to get myself used to the car, but after two passes I decided that it was running so nice that I wanted to open it up a little. Danny Allen agreed to coach me on the startline, and with his help i peeled off an 11.4 second pass at 118mph. Since that day we've never topped that run, mostly because it was a touch of beginners luck and I've never been that quick off the line since, and partly because of the myriad of small mechanical problems that have dogged me since.
On that Quick run, the car threw it's crank pulley out the back as i came through the finish line lights, thankfully missing people and other vital engine parts, to this day it still sports a small black mark on the MSD distributor body as evidence of that cheap ally pulley's bid for freedom. Being dumb i fitted another aluminium pulley for VW Action in September, and this time we noticed the crack in the webs before putting the car out, another disapointing day at the track foiled by inadequate components. There was much more of those sorts of thing to come, but a more pressing matter came to light, I really hadn't thought it out how i was going to get two race cars home from the Pod, and more to the point where I was going to keep the new one.
The VWDRC came up trumps with Team Filth sorting me right out, Andrew running about to find help, Abi (Sambasaurus) Teather phoning her mum to free up some gagarge space at her house, and the ever helpfull Rob Judge (later to be Crew Chief) of RNJ Motorsport driving home to fetch his trailer to drag it there. They are still far better organised than me, I'm lucky to have great people around me that help us out all the time and keep us racing.
In 2008 we where looking forward to Big Bang as the first meeting of the season that we could make, but it didn't go well. The car seemed to be slipping it's clutch, and more experienced onlookers noticing that it seemed to have a slight missfire and was 'flaming' from the exhaust on shifts. Along with yet another pulley going west, I decided to park the car as it was blowing more oil than i liked. People from the VWDRC wanted to get the engine out and help fix it, Shane Rae even trying to convince Claire to take me off to party whilst they made a start so I couldn't say no, but I stood my ground, helped by a dose of man flu giving me the hump, and we trailered the car back to RNJ Motorsport.
When Rob opened the Engine up it has sheered all the dowel pegs and destroyed the mating surfaces of Crank and Flywheel, and was dangling the Flywheel by a single turn of the Gland Nut. we believe that it was due to vibrations from the rear main bearing that had also contributed earlier to the pulley issue, but I still dread to think what could have happened if the flywheel had come off at the top end turning 7500 revs.... During the rebuild we brought in a Gene Berg pulley to finally put an end to that problem, even though it's four times the price of some other 'quality' manufacturers parts, and fitted a new clutch and preasure plate due to oil contamination.
The new Black Magic disc certainly made a difference.... Bug Jam 2008 saw a return to the track, and some crazy issues with traction. We had too much of it and every launch sent the nose reaching for the clouds. This scared the hell out of me, and ruined my ET's for the day, but we pushed the terminals on to 125mph, so there was clearly a major improvement in the car from that point of view, if only the driver could get his act together.
Bracket racing is cruel to those whose technique isn't perfect, and with a wildly varying ET I still am nowhere near consistent results in the VWDRC, unless consistently bad counts, but i am loving every minute. The car's history closed for the moment with a loss of oil preasure at the top of the strip at VW Action 2008, I hadn't noticed that the oil return line to the filter had crimped, so much for the American 'very expensive' braided hoses. By this time i had been made redundant and funds have not been there to get the car prepared for 2009. The lesson of all this i guess is, Drag racing can be a cheap weekend's fun if you know your limits, but chasing the dream (mine is a 10 second floorpan car with a back seat) is expensive, and what you would call near anal maintainance levels for a street car isn't nearly enough for a VW motor churning out 340bhp plus. But I wouldn't have it any other way.
It looks like I may get to go racing in 2009 as a few people have shown an interest in sponsoring the team, but it's not a done deal yet. I must thank Rob and Polly at RNJ Motorsport for all their help and support, Abi and Andrew and the rest of team filth for being great people, and John Johnstone at Big Digital (www.big-digital.co.uk
See you all at the track!
So there you have it, nearly the whole story of a boy and his Volkswagen. One Love.
Blimey it's been almost a month!
Bloody Rubbish, I have had loads of things that I've wanted to share with you all, and have been either too busy or just too bloody hacked off with life to be bothered with typing them up.
Today, however, we are looking at a new begining. The dawn of a new age of blogging from 2-bob, a few promos for some mates, and a bit of light entertainment.
Sit back and enjoy the show.
Today, however, we are looking at a new begining. The dawn of a new age of blogging from 2-bob, a few promos for some mates, and a bit of light entertainment.
Sit back and enjoy the show.
Friday, 6 March 2009
Anatomy of a Steven Segal film...
I was watching a bit of 'The divine pony-tail's' Cinematic output last night. 'Out for a Kill' it was called, and obviously our Steve has seen 'The Matrix' and 'Crouching Dragon Hidden Tiger' since he made the films that I liked, like 'Nico' and 'Under Siege'. The suspended wire work with the Chinese Actors was hilarious, but not in the good way, and the 'bullet time' slow motion for the death of his best friend's daughter would have had the Warchowski Brothers in stitches.
The Plot lines for Steven's movies have always been pretty simple, Baddies do bad things, Steven gets upset and extracts revenge with mad skillz at Martial Arts, and stylised use of Firearms. Lately he's taken to adding 'buddy' sub plots, usually employing obscure Rappers who want to get into movies, complete with cloying attempts at being a 'homie', and of course there will always be the aspiring actress 'love interest' and tits oot shots.
It occurred to me that I could write my own Steven Segal movie...
Establishing Shots:- We reveal the nefarious acts of the baddies, which will later be the reason for them crossing swords with Steven, and for some form of violent revenge...They will be Eastern European/Mafiosi/Chinese Tongs/Yardies/Yakuza.
Mr Segal:- Steven will be playing an Italian American Cop/Cajun Cook/Native American mulatto with a secret background as a Navy Seal/Special Forces Operative/CIA agent/Mercenary killer. He has just married an aspiring young actress who won't make it past reel 2. He has travelled to Honduras/Nicaragua/Eastern Europe/China with his Niece/Daughter/Best Friend's Daughter for reasons that are flimsy at best.
Steven's Daughter/Niece/Best Friend's Daughter is Kidnapped/Murdered and el Segal swears revenge.
The Ponytail starts to bust some ass, and the baddies get real mad.
Steven Contacts his former CIA Handler/Navy Seals buddy to bring more guns, and busts open the whole bent cops/secret Government cabal thing that means that now the Police/FBI/Army are after him as well now.
Steve's Missus is getting the Good News after showing 'My Little Ninja' her boobies. Baddies turn up and Steve kills them all, but not before his missus gets shot/blown up adding to his general sense of grievance and need to kick some ass BAD!
El Segal gets into some Mystic mumbo jumbo, in post 2002 films this will include some mystic vision action, and teaching his Homie that Chinese Mysticism isn't just bollocks by curing his genital warts with a dose of powdered Yak Cock.
The Black Best /famous rapper gets shot, leaving Segal to drive straight to the baddies HQ, and lay down some bad ass beat down on the Bossman's head henchman, kill the Boss and bust up the whole Drugs ring/Corrupt Government Agency/Mafia thing, and save the good looking aspiring actress who has been knocking about since the opening scene to no apparent purpose other than some light table dancing or getting her hooters out in an entirely non gratuitous fashion in the middle of the movie between fights.
Things we are liking this week.....
Fantastic badges from 'Boyce 1964' on Ebay.
Great design fella, and lovely quality.
If you want well designed non cheesy/wannabe West Ham badges this is your man.
Carlton Cole.....
I'm sorry, I was very wrong about you.
Well done for getting past the abuse that some West Ham fans aimed at you, and starting to fulfill the potential that people in the game always said you had.
Wednesday's Goal was a beauty.
Maybe I spoke too soon......
Seems that Mr David Beckham won't be honouring his contract in America after all, he's managed to pressure the LA Galaxy into a 'time share' agreement with AC Milan that will see him remain with the Italian Club until the end of the season, before returning to California for the last part of their season.
Now, I can fully understand why Beckham might prefer Milan to LA, on all sorts of levels, but I doubt that will be much of a comfort to the people who paid for tickets at the Galaxy on the basis that they would be watching what the British Media insist is one of the World's greatest footballers. Seems that self interest has again spoken louder to a footballer than Loyalty and the people who paid their huge wages, the Fans.
I'm not going to say too much about Stuart Attwell's performance as Referee at Wigan on Wednesday night, if both managers agree that you had a shocker, then i think that it's a fair bet that you did. CfC scored an absolute peach of a goal, and the game was effectively ruined for Mr Attwell's insitance on playing by the letter of the law on his (admittedly) high challenge, he was watching the ball all the way, and had no idea the Wigan player was stooping for the ball....
As usual Sky Sports News are raking over the muck endlessly, but at the end of the day we got the result, and whether Lucas Neil had intention to play the ball or not there is no excusing the actions of Clattermole and a team who had no intention of playing football by that stage.
Now, I can fully understand why Beckham might prefer Milan to LA, on all sorts of levels, but I doubt that will be much of a comfort to the people who paid for tickets at the Galaxy on the basis that they would be watching what the British Media insist is one of the World's greatest footballers. Seems that self interest has again spoken louder to a footballer than Loyalty and the people who paid their huge wages, the Fans.
I'm not going to say too much about Stuart Attwell's performance as Referee at Wigan on Wednesday night, if both managers agree that you had a shocker, then i think that it's a fair bet that you did. CfC scored an absolute peach of a goal, and the game was effectively ruined for Mr Attwell's insitance on playing by the letter of the law on his (admittedly) high challenge, he was watching the ball all the way, and had no idea the Wigan player was stooping for the ball....
As usual Sky Sports News are raking over the muck endlessly, but at the end of the day we got the result, and whether Lucas Neil had intention to play the ball or not there is no excusing the actions of Clattermole and a team who had no intention of playing football by that stage.
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Why I shouldn't drink and blog
As you will read below I have a fairly low opinion of certain footballers and minor Celebrities, and having read it I hope you will agree with me that three bottles of wine are in no way whatsoever beneficial to my writting style.
Lets be honest, it's rubbish.
Devoid of wit, style and anything worthy of discussion, it's an absolute embarrasment.
Pete Cashmore could do better, and thats a horrendous thing to have to admit.
So, it's staying right there as a reminder to me that I shouldn't log on to this page when I've been on the sauce.
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Why I hate Frank Lampard Jr
It's been offered up to me in the last 24 hours that maybe my dislike for Jade Goody and my respect for Sir Bobby Mooore may be somewhat parochial
Lets be fair, when Bobby Moore, Captain of England's 1966 World Cup winning squad, retired from football and was diagnosed with the cancer that killed him, he was not a celebrity, in fact he was selling anoraks out the back of his car and writing column for the Sunday Sport to pay the bills.
Lampard and that cunt Terry talk about and compare themselves to Bobby Moore all the time, but they have nothing like the respect for others and the game that the big man had.
Lets be honest, Jade Goody has had a more honest and decent release from this world than Bobby Moore was afforded, and there is only one Sky Tv responsible for that.
Fuck off Lampard, you have no respect, and Terry is laughable as an England Captain. You make me disgusted to be a football fan..
Lets be fair, when Bobby Moore, Captain of England's 1966 World Cup winning squad, retired from football and was diagnosed with the cancer that killed him, he was not a celebrity, in fact he was selling anoraks out the back of his car and writing column for the Sunday Sport to pay the bills.
Lampard and that cunt Terry talk about and compare themselves to Bobby Moore all the time, but they have nothing like the respect for others and the game that the big man had.
Lets be honest, Jade Goody has had a more honest and decent release from this world than Bobby Moore was afforded, and there is only one Sky Tv responsible for that.
Fuck off Lampard, you have no respect, and Terry is laughable as an England Captain. You make me disgusted to be a football fan..
Saturday, 21 February 2009
Wanted Down Under.
Now, I am aware that maybe not all of you are self-unemployed or Dole Scum, but you really should Sky+ this little beaut if you aren't near a TV at 9.15 in the morning.
It's what the BBC think is a good use of the Licence Payers money, a show about taking some bunch of Norvern Monkeys over to 'Straylia and basically taking the piss out of how dreary and average their lives are in some shit kicking northern backwater, and showing them how marvelous things are in the former colonies.
But what really grates isn't the slackjawed astonishment of the Mechanic/Ariel fitter or Telecoms monkey that they drag out there that they might be able to afford a house with an indoor lavvy in 'Straylia, but the constant puffing of smoke up the Antipodean arse by the presenter. They are wholely unwilling to accept that there may be reasons that people who don't live in some provincial backwater might not think that Australia is Heaven on Earth, but is in fact a flyblown hell hole mostly populated by gobshite inbreds whose last good read had fabric pages.
"Ooh Here we are Surfers Paradise, yes, there are used hypodermics all over the beach, and everyone is drunk or high, but look at the lovely sea!!!"
"Yes, the Brown King snake is the worlds most venomous reptile, but apparently they shit actual diamonds!!!"
"Here in Woolabagooma the temperature hasn't dipped below 42 degrees since November, so you'll get a lovely tan."
"Look at your lovely big garden, you can have lots of those famous Aussie Barbies in that eh? and you probably won't get bitten by anything that will kill you, or eaten by the wildlife. The Neighbours are lovely boorish beer soaked Rugby League fans who are very friendly and will almost never be out of your fridge, and are almost completely house trained"
Lets be honest, Australia has no culture to speak of, is like Britain in the 1950's but without the commitment to personal hygine, and there are very good reasons that when we discovered it, we decided to use it as a Prison. Australia isn't the land of milk and honey that the tabloid readers think, it's got it's fair share of social issues, crime, poverty and other shite, it's got a climate that is so unrelenting in being too bastard hot that you'd want to kill everyone you meet for fully 5 months of the year. Yes the houses are big, because they have miles of dusty scrub to build on that is fuck all use for anything else, but you can drive for days on end without finding anything worth stopping for.
There is a very good reason that London is full of bastard Colonials, and the fuckers just won't leave.
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
The Drag Racing.............
it's only 42 sleeps as they say around these parts until the VWDRC's first full on test session of the season at Santa Pod, GTi Spring Festival.
Good luck to all the racers, and I'll be posting some updates on Team Rotten's prepareations of lack thereof a little later.
Good luck to all the racers, and I'll be posting some updates on Team Rotten's prepareations of lack thereof a little later.
Saturday, 14 February 2009
Good use of the word........
Ignominious by the Sentanta commentator in the Watford v Chelsea game, shame he couldn't pronounce it.
Chelase fans ridiculously pleased with a 1-2 lead.
West Ham get to go to the fog for a replay with Boro.
All a bit meh. really.
Chelase fans ridiculously pleased with a 1-2 lead.
West Ham get to go to the fog for a replay with Boro.
All a bit meh. really.
"Our Becks" rejoins LA Galaxy.
After slating him earlier in the week, i find myself in the uncomfortable position of having to salute David Beckham for doing the right thing and going back to LA Galaxy as per his contract rather than throwing his toys out the pram to stay at AC Milan.
Even more admirable given that the US league is little more than glorified park football, and AC Milan are one of European football's Giants. If Sheik Mohammed decided to buy Cheltenham Town, because it's near the Geegee track, and got Martin Allen to buy Kaka to secure the League 2 title then we'd be in the same ballpark.
Well done David, it's a shit idea, but it's the honourable way to go.
Even more admirable given that the US league is little more than glorified park football, and AC Milan are one of European football's Giants. If Sheik Mohammed decided to buy Cheltenham Town, because it's near the Geegee track, and got Martin Allen to buy Kaka to secure the League 2 title then we'd be in the same ballpark.
Well done David, it's a shit idea, but it's the honourable way to go.
Friday, 13 February 2009
Today we are liking.......
Mont Blanc Meisterstuck Fountain Pen.
A design Icon that you can still purchase, and won't give the bank manager a heart attack.
Pull this bad boy out of your inside pocket and the person with the paperwork will know you are a serious player.
Racist Cloggie versus the Mussies.
Nice peacefull protesters being reasonable, yesterday.
Crazy Dutch Guy
Crazy haired chubby lovechild of David Cameron and Boris Johnson, Geert Wilders has been prevented from entering the United Kingdom due to protests from Muslim groups over a film that relates passages from the Qu'ran to Global Terrorism.
Now, make me wrong on this, but i was under the impression that the terrorist acts included in his film where all commited by extremist Islamic groups, all of whom claim to be acting in accordance with their beliefs?
My contention here is that Mr Wilders should enjoy the same freedom of speech that those who wish to ban him enjoy in this country, as what he is saying is not intended to promote hatred or Violence, but to create awareness that some people are in the business of distorting Islam to justify violent actions.
Is Islam really so weak that it can tolerate no criticism or comment?
The FA Cup
Saturday 3pm. The Bolyen Ground, Upton Park E13.
West Ham Utd v. Middlesborough.
FA Cup 5th Round.
Until our defeat in the '05/'06 Final stolen by the Scousers, West Ham had not reached an Cup final since 1980. But this year there will be no trip to the Millennium stadium, and hopefully no Steven Gerrard scoring in Injury time or nasty Francophone African treading in Marlon to keep Lucas Neil's hands off the FA Cup.
First however we must dispose of Middlesborough, a team who haven't managed a win in 13 games in the Premiership, and that we have beaten in our last two meetings in the Cup.
West Ham's only serious problem is a late fitness test on Valon Berhami, some might say the Hammer of the Season so far, but Kovac or Savio, January signings both, are ready to step in should Valon not make it.
The other fixtures are:
Swansea City v Fulham
McCabe's losers v Hull Fishy
Blackburn v The Cov
Watford v Chelsea.
Everton v Villa
Derby v the Munichs
and a weird threesome between Arsenal, Cardiff City and Burnley
Come on Watford!
House Prices: The greatest confidence trick ever perpetrated on the British Public?
You know the drill, six months ago some chinless wonder in the pub talking loudly about how much the Equity on his house has increased in the last two years, the same chap now crying into his beer over the 'drop' in house prices.......
But here's the rub, was he ever any better off?
Yes, the price of his house on the open market has increased, so on paper his net value has gone up as well, but so has the value of other properties in similar locations in the same time period, so if he is moving house, there is no change in relative values. What has changed is the amount of money that he would have been borrowing to fund his move, and the amount of commission that the Estate Agent earns on the deal.
so unless you are liquidating your Property, are Mortgage free, have made a speculative purchase in an area that is becoming more desirable, or have renovated or significantly improved the property with the related investment of time and money, then you haven't significantly improved your position, you are simply paying more money in Interest to a bank.
So why do people do it? Why are the British unique in Europe for being so obsessed with home ownership, and why are they prepared to pay a significant chunk of their income to a Bank in return for no increase in the proportion of the property that they actually own?
Supply and demand has a significant role to play, the availability of property in the south of England is significantly below demand, but that doesn't make sense of the insane prices being paid.
I believe that whilst Estate Agency is an unregulated Industry, and Banks are allowed to offer Mortgages so far in advance of that which their clients can possibly expect to repay in their lifetime, then there is a vested interest in the artificially inflating property prices and a willing market of people who will convince themselves that they are making money on Property whilst in fact they are simply giving money to the Bankers and Estate Agents to no real benefit for themselves.
Maybe this time the downturn will inject a bit of reality into the situation, and the Government will finally move to make a more level playing field that will make areas other than the South will be desirable places to live with better working opportunities through inward investment, and will revise their thoughts on social housing to make the 'buy to let' Industry less attractive and creating a properly democratic market with options other than huge debt for the individual.
But here's the rub, was he ever any better off?
Yes, the price of his house on the open market has increased, so on paper his net value has gone up as well, but so has the value of other properties in similar locations in the same time period, so if he is moving house, there is no change in relative values. What has changed is the amount of money that he would have been borrowing to fund his move, and the amount of commission that the Estate Agent earns on the deal.
so unless you are liquidating your Property, are Mortgage free, have made a speculative purchase in an area that is becoming more desirable, or have renovated or significantly improved the property with the related investment of time and money, then you haven't significantly improved your position, you are simply paying more money in Interest to a bank.
So why do people do it? Why are the British unique in Europe for being so obsessed with home ownership, and why are they prepared to pay a significant chunk of their income to a Bank in return for no increase in the proportion of the property that they actually own?
Supply and demand has a significant role to play, the availability of property in the south of England is significantly below demand, but that doesn't make sense of the insane prices being paid.
I believe that whilst Estate Agency is an unregulated Industry, and Banks are allowed to offer Mortgages so far in advance of that which their clients can possibly expect to repay in their lifetime, then there is a vested interest in the artificially inflating property prices and a willing market of people who will convince themselves that they are making money on Property whilst in fact they are simply giving money to the Bankers and Estate Agents to no real benefit for themselves.
Maybe this time the downturn will inject a bit of reality into the situation, and the Government will finally move to make a more level playing field that will make areas other than the South will be desirable places to live with better working opportunities through inward investment, and will revise their thoughts on social housing to make the 'buy to let' Industry less attractive and creating a properly democratic market with options other than huge debt for the individual.
Thursday, 12 February 2009
David Beckham equals Bobby Moore for England Caps.
As the Media never tires of telling us, last night's Spain v England game marked David Beckham's 108th cap, equalling the number won by the late Bobby Moore.
But David, the number of caps is that only thing that compares you to England's greatest ever Captain. Sir Bobby won the world cup, he was compared favourably with the very best who have ever played the game, and not just by the tabloid press. He was a Gentleman and a role model, not the plaything of a deranged ex-singer and supposed multiple shagger of the hired help.
Finally, although Beckham is a very good player, he may well be remebered better for being a 'Celebrity', half of 'Posh and Becks' and will see out his twilight years in the rather tacky decadence that his wife prefers. He won't be reduced to selling anoracks from the back of his car in the Upton Park car park, or writting a column in the Daily Sport as Bobby Moore was.
We shall always remember him, no matter how shabbily the football world treated him after he stopped playing, and if you want to do the right thing by England's only World Cup winning Captain, click the link over there >>> and bung a few quid to the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research.
But David, the number of caps is that only thing that compares you to England's greatest ever Captain. Sir Bobby won the world cup, he was compared favourably with the very best who have ever played the game, and not just by the tabloid press. He was a Gentleman and a role model, not the plaything of a deranged ex-singer and supposed multiple shagger of the hired help.
Finally, although Beckham is a very good player, he may well be remebered better for being a 'Celebrity', half of 'Posh and Becks' and will see out his twilight years in the rather tacky decadence that his wife prefers. He won't be reduced to selling anoracks from the back of his car in the Upton Park car park, or writting a column in the Daily Sport as Bobby Moore was.
We shall always remember him, no matter how shabbily the football world treated him after he stopped playing, and if you want to do the right thing by England's only World Cup winning Captain, click the link over there >>> and bung a few quid to the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research.
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Coffee based disapointment and musings on why Mc Breakfasts are so wrong, but so right.
I am cussing them, I am cussing them well harsh.
Once a week (or possibly twice) I like to treat myself to the dirty wrongness of a McDonalds Breakfast, two egg and cheese (plastic cheese like processed product) Muffins, a hash brown and a large black coffee (This week with a free McMug, they are quite nice actually).
Unfortunately due to McDonalds policy of only employing the sort of people who should be supervised whilst using scissors, today i arrived home and found that despite clearly specifying that the coffee was BLACK, i have a cup of dishwater coloured shit. Milk in Coffee is wrong, simple as. It ruins it.
So why do i do this to myself?
There can be no real nutritional value to my McBrekkie of choice beyond the Scottish food group, saturated fat, and it doesn't leave you feeling fulfilled. But for reasons beyond all scientific knowledge it somehow tastes really good. I mean, it shouldn't, the ingredients are rubbish, it's badly cooked and served in a special sort of waxed paper that is both non-absorbent but at the same time not greaseproof, but I never fail to enjoy it.
Except when they get my bastard coffee wrong.
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Today we are liking....
Today we are liking....Retro Fila 'Matchday' jacket.
Available from Stuarts London.
Bankers Bonus.
Apparently Alistair Darling and Sir David Walker (ex Chairman of Morgan Stanley) will take until the end of the year to complete their review into the bonuses paid to Bankers.
Which seems a curiously long time to take to say 'You aren't getting any'.
They seem to think that there may be some 'contractual' issues with the Government, who are now major shareholders in a few of these Organisations, telling their staff that because the Company lost so much money that the Taxpayer had to bale them out they will not be receiving their Bonus. Although it may seem unfair on those staff that had nothing to do with the loss incurred, it's even less fair that many people are now without jobs and homes because of the epic nature of the banking industries failure in self regulation.
Which seems a curiously long time to take to say 'You aren't getting any'.
They seem to think that there may be some 'contractual' issues with the Government, who are now major shareholders in a few of these Organisations, telling their staff that because the Company lost so much money that the Taxpayer had to bale them out they will not be receiving their Bonus. Although it may seem unfair on those staff that had nothing to do with the loss incurred, it's even less fair that many people are now without jobs and homes because of the epic nature of the banking industries failure in self regulation.
Big Phil hits the road.
After yet another disappointing home game, Roman has decided to allow Big Phil Scolari an extended holiday.
Hardly a shocker, given the Kings Road Posh' execrable form for a team that is supposedly a nailed on member of the Big Four these days, drawing at home with Hull just isn't an option if you are looking at another Championship. But lets be fair, bringing in quimming Quaresma after he fell out with yet another manager at Inter Milan after Barcelona offloaded him for being too much trouble even for them did look a little like desperation, even if they are still saying that the Russian hasn't taken his ball home (yet).
Best of all though, the Telly is full of the mug Chelsea fans who had spray painted a protest sign on what looks very much like his mum's incontinence mattress protector, demanding that they being in the Chelsea Chmipyboy from little West Ham down the road. Bwahahaha! You have no chance mate, we are playing far better than your shambles of overpriced egoists.
Hardly a shocker, given the Kings Road Posh' execrable form for a team that is supposedly a nailed on member of the Big Four these days, drawing at home with Hull just isn't an option if you are looking at another Championship. But lets be fair, bringing in quimming Quaresma after he fell out with yet another manager at Inter Milan after Barcelona offloaded him for being too much trouble even for them did look a little like desperation, even if they are still saying that the Russian hasn't taken his ball home (yet).
Best of all though, the Telly is full of the mug Chelsea fans who had spray painted a protest sign on what looks very much like his mum's incontinence mattress protector, demanding that they being in the Chelsea Chmipyboy from little West Ham down the road. Bwahahaha! You have no chance mate, we are playing far better than your shambles of overpriced egoists.
Monday, 9 February 2009
Well, that didn't really go as well as you'd hope....
West Ham lost to Manchester United, not really a surprise but disappointing all the same as I still feel that we have been playing good football, and if Scholes hadn't blatantly fouled Noble in the middle of the pitch, or Captain slow had held his position, then it may have gone to the draw that looked nailed on for much of the game. Fair play to Ryan Giggs, he did well to get it through a forrest of legs and into the net. He is, despite his unrepentant Mancunian ways, a model Professional who is hard to dislike and has been there seemingly forever.
Much has been made of West Ham supporters gently teasing Christiano Ronaldo about his recent driving mishap, can't say that I find it either shocking or terribly upsetting that a player who does his best to gain an advantage in any way possible, usually involving flinging himself dramatically at the floor, has been getting some abuse from the Hammers. He deserves everything he gets, the multiple step over, piss taking trick pony cheat. It's one of the great joys and strengths of football that is still available to us now standing and swaying along with mates in the terraces and having a beer at the game have been taken from us, they can't take away the natural inventiveness and quick wit of the fans.
I did try and watch Tottenham and Arsenal's attempt to bore us all to a mid afternoon nap, the only notable incidents in a full 90 minutes was a referee contriving a method of disallowing a perfectly good Arsenal goal, and the sheer stupidity of Eboue in getting himself sent off for two priceless acts of petulance. Despite being down to 10 men, Arsenal always looked the most likely despite Bungpuss's protestations of adequacy for his side.
The other notable occurrence of the weekend was Tony Adams being sacked by Portsmouth, handed a poisoned chalice by 'Arry was never going to go well especially for a man whose management experience only extended to a poor period at Wycombe Wanderers and then putting the cones out for Twitchet whilst he lined up the next purchase of a geriatric journeyman on a long contract for a few million. Curbishley is favourite to replace him for now, i think his unique brand of blandness would suit Pompey well.
And finally, the sporting event of the weekend. Whilst North London's smuggest residents plodded hopelessly around the Emirates Stadium, ESPN America aired a fantastically bad tempered encounter between The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens. The biggest rivalry in Hockey ended with a 5-2 win for the Leafs, but the stats told the truth of the game with 33 penalty minutes to the Leafs and 28 to the Canadiens going into the last five minutes of the game.......But the Leafs new signing Jason Blake made the difference and was a different class.
Sunday, 8 February 2009
It's a Sunday in February, so that will be 'Super Sunday!!' Gawd Bless Sky and their relentless hype.
Yup, It's another earth shattering 'Ford Super Sunday' on Sky, with Stelling and the boys rubbing themselves into an almost mastubatory level of pure excitement at the comming festival of football.
And for once, the line-up might just about justify the hyperbole.
Obviously the fixture at the Emirates isn't quite the same as it would have been in the past when Tottenham actually provided a proper rivalry to Arsenal, rather than just a geographical one, but i can never get bored of watching 'Twitchet' going balistic over the latest mishap for his ill stared assembly of very expensive footballers. Redknapp has spent the most money of any club in the Premiership in January, more even than the comedy stylings of Mark 'kaka' Hughes at Citeh, and seems intent on reasembling Tottenham teams of the past in the hope that it might work better than having a squad that look like they met on a bus. Anyone know what Teddy Sherringham is up to? Actually, don't be ridiculous, we all know what Teddingham is likely to be up to at this time on a Sunday.
After the warm up men have done their shtick, we move on to the main event. West Ham United versus some small club from Salford. Helpfully, ESPN have been trailing the game all week on their 'classic' channel by showing the '94/'95 Season meeting in which a fantastic strike from Michael Huges earned West Ham a well deserved draw and Blackburn Rovers the Title. Marvelous.
As much as Liverpool and Chelsea have been busy snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and throwing away a 1o point cushion in the case of the scousers, The Boleyn Ground hasn't been a happy place for the Gorbells wine enthusiast and his well behaved and admirable bunch of decent young chaps. Lets hope for the sake of Football and all that is decent and good in this world that Carton Cole seals a win for the Hammers again this afternoon.
Yes, that Carlton Cole. I kid you not, an unlikely strike rate of one a game for the last half dozen Premiership games has got CFC a call up to the England squad. Ladies and Gentlemen, the world has indeed gone fucking mental.
Saturday, 7 February 2009
Welcome to my world.
This is the first time for me. I've been thinging about this for a while, but sometimes it takes a while to feel comfortable enough to actually do it.
So welcome again my old friends, hello and welcome to my new friends, and a huge shrug of indifference to those who don't fit either catagory.
What you'll find here is some postings about Drag Racing with the VWDRC (Volkswagen Drag Racing Club), some postings about VW shows, some postings about Football and some postings that appear to be nothing to do with anything else.
What you won't get is any slack, and meandering or self absorbed twitter (unless it's about Twitter, I'm undecided about it so far, is it a licence for the tedious to share their mediocrity or is it a step forward in personal communications? I think it's probably a Geeks wank-a-thon for the minute, splattered with the foul seed of Meejia sad cases who wish to appear 'cutting edge'.)
So there we go.
I have no idea at the moment how this is going to develop, I'll be learning as we go so it will change how it looks quite quickly, and probably gain features and other ways of dealing with the many Ideas that i have but have never been drawn to enough to persue.
Be Lucky (or licky, who knows)
Francois van der Elst
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