Been a while...

The computer crapped out, lost everything... and only now am I gettng back to updating and maintaining stuff. Bit like an allotment actually.

I am sure I could do better?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaIJKM0sjdo&feature=player_embedded

Post Olympic Blues...

They really do exist you know. I suppose everyone will go back to being cynical now?

Summer Holiday...

Well, if you can call it that. We have had rain here today. Again. It is an urban myth that here, in Great Britain, we actually have seasons. It is all a lie to encourage the tourists to come visit. In my mind, we are and will be forever stuck in autumn... I do hope I am wrong.

The Greatest Olympian...

I bet there are loads of pieces like this doing the rounds at the minute? Must be? But I thought I would write one anyway...

The argument continues to rage. In pubs. On trains. Across breakfast tables. Who is the greatest Olympian? Coming from a not very sporting family it is hard to comment. Sure, dad (and an uncle) ran a few marathons an did OK but sport wasn't really pushed in our house. It was a sort of 'take it or leave situation'...

I 'sort' of left it and chose academia instead. I loved it. Then I started to play football for the chemists. But only very briefly. Didn't want to push it much. Obviously...

Anyway, later I took up rowing. Enjoyed it. Actually, I fell in love with the thing but then I fell in love with a girl and a job and stopped. But lately, I have started to get more physically 'active'! Almost 'sporty'... So when this question has comes up in the pub or in front of the TV, I feel qualified enough to throw my hat in the ring. So, here we go...

Steve Redgrave (Rowing)... Five Golds and a Bronze medal. He knew how to win races. Pretty good.

Matthew Pinsent (Rowing)... Four Golds. He didn't know how to lose races.

Rebecca Romero (Rowing, then Cycling)... A Silver in a boat then Gold on a bike. Historic.

There's a theme developing here...

Brad Wiggins/Chris Hoy (Cycling)... Loads. What they haven't won between them is probably not worth winning (maybe?), but the story is set to continue over the next few days...

Greg Searle (Rowing)... A Gold medal, then felt 'sorry' for what he had just done. He, together with his brother, had beaten the fancied Italian Abbagnale brothers. He picked up a couple of Bronze medals too along the way.

But my vote, if it matters, goes to Katherine Grainger (Rowing)... No Golds, only Silver. But she keeps coming back for more! After three successive silver medals at the last three successive Olympic games... Surely that encapsulates the spirit of the Olympics motto 'Faster, Higher, Stronger' or maybe that should read 'Be Faster, Be Higher, Be Stronger'... She wants Gold, and if there was an event at the games for trying then she would already be champion.

The next couple of days will show...

When it goes to plan, Katherine ought to be saying 'Fastest, Strongest, Highest'... And I cannot wait!

Tuesday

This coming Tuesday will see me take my final exam for this year. I will be partly qualified...

Football...

We've only gone and done it again! By now penalties should be a thing of beauty for England. Maybe they are...

Government...

It has become a joke. All the wrong headlines. All of the time.

Cheltenham 2012

The Festival looks good this year but alas, I won't be there. I have selected a win and a place for each race though...

Over to you now Bruce!

The Fear...

We went to an animal show yesterday...

And I enjoyed it! I guessed from the size of the venue it was going to be crammed with the 'creepy-crawly' variety of animal but bought the tickets and off we went...

I'll be honest. The f**king snake threw me! The spider ('Grace') did too. I think?

But I DID NOT ENJOY THE SNAKE. Didn't enjoy it one bit. Sure I touched it. I was even 'calm' enough to take some pictures...

I didn't want to touch Gloria, (I kid you not, it was... she was called 'Gloria'), but how are you supposed to demonstrate to a four-year-old that you need to experience things to be able to learn from these experiences? I tickled that snake. I could tell you the species but was paralysed ('internally' obviously), by the story about the time they got Gloria a mate. Well, to put it bluntly, she ate her mate. Kaput...

Anyway, yesterdays fear was nothing compared to today. I have hated the remains of today. Jack has done some crazy non-important stuff as four-year-old children are wont to do...

But for one split second, the situation I had 'let' him get himself into, (a hill and his bike were involved), started to take control. That, is the biggest fear of all.

Whitney Houston

This is a pretty sad return to the 'blogging scene'... but alas, Whitney has died. We don't know how yet but  everyone has a theory...

But I heard this earlier and thought 'Fuck!' http://jakefogelnest.com/post/17460767716

Such a waste of such a talent.

(Ta Jake Fogelnest)