Stolen!

Stolen from Jerry as this is brilliant 

and I am watching the World Cup Final, so go away! 

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I Got Sole....

 

Or at least I aint got sole.  As my feet ached as I walked it came to my attention the problem might have something to do with the soles no longer being of any use to anyone! This is annoying as these shows now fit my feet, or is it the other way around? Comfortable, waterproof unless it rains, and clearly fashionable, oh yes they are.  I suppose I will have to use the 'Sunday Best' shoes from now on, once I have wiped the dust from them. Things under the bed get very dusty I find.   

Only three more World Cup games to go.  One more week I reckon before normality returns.  I sat in front of the TV at five today and was somewhat shocked to find there was no more games!  Only the semi-finals and final to come. I began to see spiders after a while, then realised there were spiders on the telly!  I really must dust more. The 'Tour de France' which is running about Yorkshire at the moment is a nice alternative.  Watching the knees bending is very tiring to me but the scenery, without rain at that, is magnificent!
Tomorrow the 'Tour' comes past our way.  Two overcrowded miles up the road the race will flash past, except when crossing the humpback bridge with a sharp right turn, and ignore the crowds stuffing themselves with hamburger from the stalls ll over the fields in the village.  I should have gathered all the England flags thrown out by loyal fans after the World Cup games and taken them up there to sell!   I will watch on TV, I will see more this way.

Three weeks till our Great War exhibition opens.  We still have five weeks work in hand!!!  Lummy, as they used to say....

Warm Rain Saturday

I joined with this bird this morning to examine the rain and wondered if I ought to stay in rather than go out.  He was somewhat bemused as the sun burnt those of us lucky enough to be out in it while this morning the land was under a rain cloud.  bravely I went to the Museum where we were bored by the lack of custom.  Those that came, eventually, were very interesting but so few in number.  Something has to be done I say!

The press have indulged themselves once again over Rolfe Harris.  Pages are given over to the details of his 'shocking' activities and as many 'hurt' women as possible will appear in these pages, on TV and on radio, telling us of their despair.  Those who were there, and I know one who was, are somewhat skeptical.  It was clear then what was going on, so why the fuss?  Indeed why did the media not bring this into the open forty years ago?  Why was Saville allowed to continue, and why have MPs involved in abusing boys been a secret all this time when everybody knew?  Ah the hypocrisy astounds.
I note the same media make a fuss over the 'short' sentence given to Harris but fail to fuss over the even shorter sentence given to Coulson, the man who hacked phones and has become the fall guy for Murdoch's empire.  When it's one off their own they are less keen to talk, probably because they all (do) did it!

Not that I wish to complain but watching the World Cup I find the commentators talk rubbish, yes Jonathan Pearce I mean you, the pundits not much better, the constant search for pics of the crowd, senseless slow motions that are too slow, who needs to see celebrations in slow motion I ask you?  But worse are the fans.  Supposedly football fans whenever the camera picks on them they jump up and wave to the screen.  On many occasions these 'fans' were watching their team being humped yet they could ignore this to wave to the camera?  If you are losing and you support your team you do not react like this.  This I suspect is because most watched are female, accompanying the male but less interested in the game than the event and the holiday.  Dump them I say!

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Quarter Finals

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Sunshine!!!!

For reasons I fail to fathom the sun keeps shining.  Australia is colder than us today!  It is 43% in Perth and 53% in Brisbane, we reach 77% here today and it is past the zenith!  Jings, Crivvens and Help ma Boab Jimmy!   I spent twenty minutes in the sun and found it too hot.  Oh if this can last a few months I will be happy.  I was meant to live in hot places, with a Tesco close by.  
The swifts are racing across the sky chomping on beasties and screeching after one another, doing their best to avoid the police helicopter that has suddenly appeared.  Scattered around the part are half dressed young women, this is fine unless they are fat and insist on wearing shorts!  Worse still are men in shorts, it's not clever and not fashionable, especially at your age mate!  Fat men in T-shirts with ageing messages across the front is one thing, add shorts and it's a no go area.  Fine for the garden, not the street!  
A strong breeze is waving through the trees blasting warm air on everybody, this I assure you is unusual here.  Around the pubs in the town centre the 'continental layout' introduced by the council some years ago features folks sitting chatting at the tables while soaking in the sun and beer.  Whether the continentals fail to hold their drink like the English is a question others can answer.  The English flags that began to spring up a week or two ago have all but disappeared again.  I must check the recycled bins to see if there is one set apart for them alone.  

The gap in the world cup games has been useful, I have caught up on sleep!  I was so tired and feeling worn out that I fell asleep as the extra time began in the USA game the other night.  This half hour turned out to be the best of the tournament!  Typical innit?  The big four teams, all getting through by luck rather than talent, now face each other.  The 'smaller' nations who attempted to play with a bit of swagger are out but the usual crew are through.  Hopefully Belgium, the least of the four, will turn them over and take the cup home.  Any team that manages to beat Scotland deserves to win the World Cup I say!

I am touched by the birthday greetings I have received.  My great niece made a point about being an uncle, then changed it to 'Great Uncle' because I am old. Her Christmas has been spent on Amazon Books but she does not yet know this. Funnily enough I look at the cards and still expect to see one from my mum, yet she died almost five years ago.  How things stick in the mind.  I am grateful for those kind greetings, even though the poison bottle was empty......bah! 

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Busy Day

Home from an enjoyable Sunday Service, cooked a bad lunch, fell asleep from watching late night football and had to watch another game after that.  Now I prepare for the second of the day, the third starts at eleven at night!  This means I have no time to scribble (can you scribble on a keyboard?).   So here is an old picture of Greyfriars Bobby.  Bobby is the dog not the pub but the pub is named after the dog and the publican may have fed the dog but maybe not and the pub is now named after the dog not the dog after the pub.  Is that clear?   Oh I have not got the time, the teams are coming out, read this Greyfriars Bobby.

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Friday

Thrice this day I left the dark, dank Black House in which I dwell to see light. Once to wander all the way up to Sainsburys, once to sit in the sun, which immediately and spitefully sat behind a cloud for ages while the north wind froze me so I went to Tesco for yet another ill fitting T-shirt instead, and once in the afternoon to sit in the sun which actually shone!  Actually after burning for a short time (burning, heat in the UK?) I wandered back to Tesco for another oversized T-shirt as they appear to be half price!  The reason I went to get another size XXXL T-shirt is that all the other T-shirts I buy shrink. This one will shrink to a proper size I hope and at £2 a time it is worth a try.  XL shirts are medium, XXL and not quite XL after a wash and hopefully I have found the right sizes now, after they have been in the machine!  You might be suggesting I buy better quality items, I agree, but they too are often lie about the size. Anyway cheap is good, I'm not female!

Day two of World Cup. Yesterdays game was not great, Brasil were lucky. Today we are playing in torrential rain, it is like being in Kilmarnock again! 

However behind the numpties in the studio a long sweep of beach leads away to the north while the tide comes in with a slight breeze to ease the sunshine. Watching this on TV so far has been without incident.  Last night the ITV channel stream I watched on the laptop froze because this company is shocking! Why they cover football I fail to understand.  Their commentators are poor, the streams fail regularly and on occasion goals are missed because someone screens an advert before the time!  I had to move to STV, the Scottish Television Channel which as you would expect worked properly!  Bah!

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Tonight it Begins.....

The World Cup begins tonight, you may not see me for some time.......

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England Lose -Shame!

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Daily Mail

So in spite of their natural inbuilt arrogance and demands that the World Cup should, in their words, 'Come Home,' England have failed in their bid to obtain the World Cup after all. Now the papers are full of cries of 'Unfair,' 'What did Putin promise,' 'They promised to vote and din't,'and 'Quatar? I thought that was an airline?' In short they feel cheated and questions are being asked about the organisation of FIFA. Imagine, FIFA being disorganised and full of cheats who break their promises? Who would have thunk it....?

There is no doubt the organisation of football associations world wide is poor. Full of yes men and 'suits' who can emit different lies with all four faces at the same time, and who's concern for the football fan is such that on occasion they have been known to answer letters addressed to them albeit with not actually saying anything within the answer! To expect the offer of a multi million pound World Cup deal, bringing foreign tourists by the thousand, huge advertising offerings, bucksheesh by the bucket-load and a vast advert for your nation, it must be expected that nations will play dirty. Such dirt can only be helped by the secret dealings on offer from FIFA itself. This group of men (Who? How many? Why?) from the four corners of the world are in an enviable position. Whatever deal is done we can never find information regarding it, unless Wikileaks steps in. Backroom deals remain hidden and far too many are known, sorry suspected of involvement in dubious practices already. Panorama recently a programme concerning three members of this committee and their involvement in alleged corrupt practices, Jack Warner, who may one day become president of this organisation, gave tickets to his son who made money from them some years ago it is alleged, and now Russia, with no infrastructure in place, has been given the World Cup! This nation, a dictatorship under Putin with Mafia connections throughout, has been deemed acceptable to FIFA? Was it roubles or Kalashnikovs we are right in asking here? On top of all this the voting is secret and lesser folks, the fans, are rarely allowed to know who votes for who. This surely is wrong? One man did admit, very proudly, which way he had voted some time back, the New Zealand member voted on behalf of the Oceania group and voted for Germany to hold the World Cup in spite of being ordered to vote for South Africa. He refused and gave his casting vote to the Germans as he "Did not wish to see a black nation holding the World Cup." As he was retiring from his post he cared little for anyone and departed with a smug smile on his face. His action almost ensured South Africa was to obtain the Cup in 2010. 

Was there corruption in this years bidding? Russia has money and Mafia, Quatar has billions and also no infrastructure. It does have strict Sharia Law which will find Scotsmen drinking and revealing themselves at midday in city centres a new situation to deal with! If the Danes and Irish, Germans, Brazilians and Argies also arrive in numbers it will be an interesting time for the Islamists there! Whether the best decision has been reached is debatable, England certainly could, and I think should, have won, however at least this may lead to changes in the organisation of FIFA, if we bribe them enough! 

The Sun managed one of their subtle headlines today concerning the allocation of the World Cup:-


           "FIFA BUNGS RUSSIA THE WORLD CUP!" 

I suppose it is worth mentioning that cheating, dishonest practice and dubious shenanigans is not and cannot be the 'British' (and I mean 'English') way!

Did I mention however that when England were awarded the World Cup in 1966 Englishman Sir Stanley Rous was President of FIFA! He had taken over from Arthur Drewery, another Englishman! Phew, at least these seasoned Football Association men were honest and cared only for the interest of the game! (Whether this includes England's semi final v Portugal being moved from Middlesbrough to Wembley is not known however?) There would have been no 'bungs' in those days for these well paid individuals! 

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Viva Espana

At last, just in time for the new season, the World Cup is over! Quite rightly the final was won by the only side which attempted to play football, Spain! The Dutch, who we always have to call 'The Netherlands' these days rather than 'Holland,' realised that the only way to beat Spain was to stop their midfield playing. This Van Bommel started to do from the off, and 'off' he ought to have been. I have always reckoned him to be one of those louts you come across in pubs. The 'hard man' always willing to step in, or outside, with anyone who also fancied themselves. While capable of playing football he preferred, like the rest of his side,  to just kick anything that moved. Had this not been the final there is no doubt he would have been off before half time! In fact I thought the English ref was not too bad last night, allowing things to be 'forgiven' because of the nature of the game. No-one wants to send of players in cup finals, let alone this one. In the end he had to, but by then it was too late. Spain, once a nation famed for the cynical foul and hard man defender, played what football there was and got the goal far too late in the day, but at least it was a winner! Good for them! Spain have always had the potential to win things and now they are European and World Champions at the same time! An achievement they might never again equal, but they have done it, and that is what matters! Of course many of their players are young, talented, and soon to be overpaid in the English League, this will make a man of them, unless they get decapitated of course, and the footballing future of this country appears assured. While the Dutch cloggers can go home heads bowed with shame at the dirty tactics and foul football they produced the Spanish have shown us all how to play. The ball on the ground, fast passing, and clever players working hard. Just what you expect in the Scottish Premier League really, isn't it?

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Spain Through to Final.

Well done Spain! Glad to see them get to the final I thought they deserved that tonight. 

The Dutch do not deserve to be there in my opinion. Not played well, won through by luck, but however are competent and organised. Might be a good final! Spain for me. 

Viva Espana!

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Shock!

I got a shock today! Putting aside the World Cup I wondered outside and discovered the sun was shining! Look! Blue sky with little puffy clouds in the distance! The only sun I have seen for the past week is casting shadows over the pitches during the games! They say the sun in South Africa is hot, I discovered today that it is quite warm here also! I might go outside again in a few days time if it keeps like this! Germany still the only side to show form so far, I wonder if they can keep it up when faced with stronger opposition?


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Sunday Evening

This afternoon I had the delight of watching Engerland playing their last friendly match against Japan. It was a delight to me! Japan are not the mediocre side of the past, however they are still not world beaters as yet. England had most of the play and yet did not dominate their hard working opponents, indeed they went behind to a nicely worked goal early on. Cue cheering from me! The second half saw a better England side, even the commentators had begun to realise their boys were not doing very well in the first half! Yes it was that bad! A silly penalty from naive Jap defending ought to have given the equaliser to Frank Lampard. I could see from here where the ball was going (goalkeepers instinct never die) but I did not expect the goalie to save it and he did! Laugh, what me? Oh yes! Sadly as the home side desperately attempted to sort themselves out the unfortunate defenders twice put the ball into their own net! This game revealed to almost everyone the nature of England's footballing record. Not organised or capable, yet get lucky penalties and even luckier goals. This makes them think they are world beaters! In a few days they will be playing for real. I look forward to how they deal with the top sides opposing them, oh hold on they have the easy group once again! Indeed they have, USA, Algeria & Slovenia! Now I must say the USA now have a quite powerful side and the contest will be between these two, and I am looking out my USA flag for that game! Algeria are poor and Slovenia I am not sure about at all just now. Still, in a couple of weeks we the hype reaches its zenith and then comes the fall! Wooppee!

A nice picture for a Sunday evening. Unfortunately I cannot remember where I got this nor who the artist is. However I like pictures of this type and will find out the answers soon enough. Good innit?

In today's Telegraph we find Ken Clark, the only Tory I have any time for, defending David Laws after the ex- Treasury minister stepped down. This is loyalty and understandable but what does this situation tell us about government today?

Laws, who made his money in the city and became a millionaire by the time he was 22 I heard, had been claiming expenses for a flat used by his boyfriend. Claiming they were not 'in a relationship' so I suppose they were just friends who played with one another?  What irks me is not their private life, which always ought to remain private, but that a multi millionaire, demanding vast cuts in government departments which may lead to thousands of job cuts, is using tax payers money (@ 'Daily Mail') to the tune of £40,000 to pay for his weekends away! Resigning this morning he continues to imply he has 'done nothing wrong' and cannot see how this financial misuse is unacceptable? Do these people not live in the real world? I suppose he never has, his background and work life are not similar to one cleaning office floors or sitting on a checkout getting bored.

Ken Clark, who ought to be the leader of the Conservative Party in my view, is right in saying this man may well reappear in a year or so, and I suspect this will be right, however parliament needs to realise just how out of touch many of them are!