Infoholic UK

Wild Cards - Saturday

2012-01-07T17:53:00.000Z

Running Total : 11/15

Cincinatti Bengals @ Houston Texans

My Patriots would dearly love for the Bengals to stage an upset here, so we avoid Pittsburgh. And as it's a bit boring to pick all home teams, I'm going to tip them to get one.

Detroit Lions @ New Orleans Saints

The Saints stellar offense against Detroit's secondary ? Blow out, Brees to pile up the yards and TDs.

World Darts final

2012-01-02T14:06:00.001Z

Running total from yesterday : 10/14

I'm going for Adrian Lewis to successfully defend his title tonight.

PDC World Darts Semis

2012-01-01T17:44:00.002Z

Couple of great games in prospect tonight, the quarters were brilliant to watch. So hard to call these.

Andy Hamilton v Simon Whitlock

Great win for Whitlock against my tip Gary Anderson in the last round. Hamilton is in the form of his life, and looks like he believes for the first time. Hamilton's scoring power to see off Whitlock, who has to miss doubles some day.

Adrian Lewis v James Wade

Defending champion v tournament favourite. Lewis is better in the longer matches and has done it before, but Wade beats him more often than not. Wade to reach his first final.

Update 1 : Hamilton, but only just. What a great game !

Update 2 : Well, at 5-1, I thought I was quids in there. Incredible fight back from Lewis, never seen anything like it in my 30 years of watching darts. Amazing.

NFL Week 17

2012-01-01T17:37:00.002Z

Okay, i'm just going to write about games that potentially impact the playoffs - teams that can either clinch their place or change their seeding today.

AFC

Patriots can nail down the number one seed for the second successive year with a win at home to Buffalo - not that it did us much good last year. Brady to eke out another ugly win, beating Marino's record but not catching Drew Brees.

Baltimore will win their division with a win at Cincinatti, who themselves need to win to get a Wild Card. Ravens to nick it.

Denver need to beat Kansas City to win their division, but Kyle Orton will have a point to prove. Chiefs to spoil the Tebow party. Which will allow Oakland in for the divisional title if they can beat the Chargers, which I think they will.

Titans to steal the last wild card by beating a disinterested Houston, who are guaranteed the third seed whatever, and Pittsburgh to crush Cleveland. Jets to win but miss out.

NFC

Green Bay have the number one seed locked up, so they will rest most of their team against Detriot, who will want to win to get the fifth seed and will therefore do so.

49ers will hammer the hapless Rams to take the second seed. New Orleans will keep Brees in the game until halftime or so, which will be long enough to get the job done and see off Brady.

Atlanta will beat Tampa Bay and hope Detriot slip up.

And in the big one, the Giants to continue the Cowboys late season misery.

Update 1 : Patriots did i the hard way, going 21-0 down at the ened of the first quarter, before blasting 49 unanswered points past Buffalo. Can't really believe we've gone 13-3 with such a poor defence - we can't give three score starts once the playoffs start.

Titans scraped past Houston, who played their starters for no apparent reason. The Jets lost, and three more interceptions for Mark Sanchez, for whom time must surely have run out.

Green Bay still managed to win, despite benching key players - backup QB Matt Flynn throwing for 500 yards and 6 TDs - wonder if someone will come in for him. Young Stafford looks class if he can stay fit too.

49ers and New Orleans both won as expected.

So far, 4/6.

Update 2 : Denver bottled it as expected - incredibly poor game - but so did Oakland. Baltimore and Pittsburgh did the business. Atlanta hammered Tampa Bay.

Now 8/11.

Update 3 : Giants always in control. Final score 9/12.

Talking 'bout a Resolution

2012-01-01T17:17:00.000Z

Resolutions for 2012

Well, the first goes without saying. Drink less, lose weight.

There's a second one concerning work, but I don't write about work on here.

Finally, get back on the Social Media horse. And stay on it this time.

I'm going to primarily (but not exclusively) make this site about sports previews and predictions. The Premier League has shown itself to be a mug's game in the last 24 hours, so I'm going to avoid that where possible.

Spoilt for choice today - last day of the NFL regular season, and PDC World Darts Semi-Finals. Posts coming up. Feel free to join in via Comments.

Trent Bridge

2011-07-29T00:26:00.000+01:00

First blogpost for more than a year, but let's get past that and move on, eh ?

I've been slightly disappointed in the media this week. The triumphalism around the victory over India on Monday was understandable, the universal assumption that England will cruise to victory in the remaining tests was not. India are a fine side, and have more steel than Indian touring sides of yore. I confidently expect them to win at least one test this summer, most likely at The Oval.

Having said that, England have to be heavy favourites in Nottingham this weekend. Here's why.

Trent Bridge used to be the best batting wicket in England. Draws were a regular result. Then, in the mid-to-late 2000s (I always want to call them the noughties), Nottinghamshire decided to redevelop the ground. They did nothing to the square, but, crucially, the big new stands square each side of the wicket clearly affected the atmospherics. The ball suddenly swung more and for longer than had previously been the case, and the average first innings score dropped by around a hundred.

Which brings us to Jimmy Anderson. England's primary seamer has taken a phenomenal twenty seven wickets in his last three tests here. Anderson is at the top of his powers at the moment, and this very talented Indian batting order looks under-cooked, due to the mad schedule their board has imposed upon them. Sadly for India, their bowler most likely to exploit the conditions, Zaheer Khan, has been ruled out again. As an additional factor, this is the ground Kevin Pietersen made his reputation on within the county game - he has two big Test centuries here. It all points to England being on top.

One word of caution - one has to go back to 2004 to find the last instance of a side winning the test batting second, and that was courtesy of a virtuouso performance by a genius named Muralitharan. That little coin tomorrow morning may yet prove to be the most decisive element.

Canadian Grand Prix

2010-06-13T23:53:00.002+01:00

Well, that was a cracker wasn't it ?

So into my F1 these days, and an absolute McLaren convert since the tour of their Technology Centre.

Contemplating a trip to Spa for August Bank Holiday as a late birthday present to myself...

ITV HD

2010-06-13T12:10:00.002+01:00

There now follows a transcript of my reaction to ITV HD cutting to an advert and missing the England goal last night. I will leave out the swear words.

Dismal England Performance

2010-06-13T10:10:00.000+01:00

No, no, not THAT. I'm talking about the rugby.

We seem to have regressed back to 1991, stick it up your jumper. Australia are building up nicely into an exciting team that is all set to break All Black hearts *again* next year.

It's not good Johnno, it's really not. We need a playmaker at 10 or 12, and we need pace at 13. Picking two bangers in the centre is not going to work in international rugby - they tackle too well. And our backs' kicking out of hand has been consistently poor for so long now its unbelievable this has not been addressed.

Kudos for hanging in there and making a game of it, but I'm afraid Australia's young boys gave our lumbering old men a right run around.

Priorities

2010-06-13T09:50:00.000+01:00

Why is it that when I come under pressure at work, as I have in recent weeks, the first things I sacrifice are the things that help me let off steam (RSS, blogging, Twitter etc) ?

It just means I end up abusing my only remaining outlet - alcohol - which just leads to an ever decreasing spiral of depression.

Going to make a conscious effort to rectify this starting now. It's either that or I'm going to start punching people in the pub.

Wild Card I

2010-01-10T10:45:00.000Z

Watched both NFL play-offs last night - okay, so I watched the second half of the second this morning, same difference.

I'm not sure whether the Bengals and Eagles were dire, or whether two very good defences just made them look that way, but Cincinnati and Philadelphia fans are going to be awful depressed this morning.

The Jets looked solid without being spectacular. They have a tough road trip to either Indianapolis or San Diego next week, and it'll be a lot harder for them to deal with those more multi-faceted offences. I'm hoping that they do us a favour and beat Indianapolis, so if we manage to pull off an upset in California, the AFC Championship game will be at Foxborough. Probably too much to ask for, and I'm not counting my chickens about the Ravens tonight - I think that's going to be very close.

Dallas look like they're on the verge of something special. Solid defence, options in the backfield, maturing quaterback, good receiving corps - potentially they've got the lot. This year may be one too early for them, but they're becoming one hell of a unit.

Snow Business

2010-01-10T10:35:00.000Z

Yuck. What a week. Didn't make it to work after Tuesday, as my rear-wheel drive car is for motorway cruising, not skidding around in the snow.

Roads around here are slowly improving as it melts, which at least meant I could get to the shops yesterday (albeit using my wife's front wheel drive), but another hefty snowfall and it's back to square one.

I hate working from home. It's so restrictive. Audio conferences are hopelessly inferior to real meetings, and I can't really talk to my team without micro-managing them.

This week's going to be an interesting one. Lots of big decisions to be made.

Man Down

2010-01-04T00:15:00.000Z

Just heard that Wes Welker has torn both knee ligaments and is out for months.

What a disaster for him and the Patriots. He has been the most consistent receiver in the league for the last three years.

Why oh why oh why did we play any of our starters today in a game that meant basically nothing. What an expensive lesson to learn.

Our chances of making the AFC championship game are now basically zero. Any win next weekend will be a good win. Chances of a an upset the week after are now very small.

Having lost Brady to the same injury for the whole of last year, we're not exactly doing well for luck atm...

Today in Sport

2010-01-03T23:05:00.001Z

So England surprised me by winning the toss and choosing to field. That may have been partly due to the local weather conditions. Great start, but only one wicket in the final session means honours even on day one. How England bowl with that nearly new ball tomorrow morning will have a big say in this match.

Manchester United. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ! Gotta love that. Ages since a proper giant-killing, but that definitely qualifies.

Villa have another home draw, against Brighton. We'll take that.

Patriots lost, but there was very little on that game. Watching the Cowboys beat the Eagles right now - that's a surprise, I fancied Philadelphia for at least the NFC championship game. They may yet get there...

Darts final was awesome - 7-3 Taylor does not tell the story, Whitlock pushed him all the way in almost every set. 15 titles in 21 years - has any sportsman ever dominated so much ?

General Election 2010

2010-01-02T18:45:00.000Z

So, there's going to be a General Election this year, probably in May.

I think Armando Iannucci summed it up best, when he likened the prospect of a Tory government to a knee-operation.

“You know it’s going to happen, it’ll get done and you’ll probably walk a little bit better as a result, but you’re not really looking forward to it.”

Truth is, all of the three main parties are left of me and far more authoritarian. I despair of Cameron - unless he's playing a very clever game and is planning to lurch back to traditional Conservative principles after securing the election, I see him nothing more than a slightly less spiteful and more woolly version of Brown/Blair.

However, mainstream thinking goes that UKIP and (even more so) the Libertarian Party don't yet have the following that means they would be anything other than a wasted, or worse, a split vote that lets in the socialists. Given they don't so much count the Tory vote in my constituency, as weigh it, that argument cuts no ice with me. Truth is, I've never lived in a marginal constituency, so my vote has never counted for anything.

So I guess I'll see who's standing in my area and will have the luxury of voting with my heart rather than my head.

Sporting Predictions 2010

2010-01-02T18:14:00.000Z

Random prediction time.

The team that win the toss tomorrow morning in Cape Town will bat and win the match, and the series.

Villa to narrowly miss out on the top 4, but we'll be in at least one cup final.

Patriots to win at home next weekend, but lose away in the next round. Hard to call a Superbowl winner, five very good teams this year, but I reckon the Chargers have the momentum and the best balance and will sneak it.

England to finish fourth in the 6 Nations, beating only Scotland and Italy.

England to lose a key starter to injury before the World Cup finals, but make the semis anyway.

And believe it or not, its another Ashes year ! Australia to win in Brisbane, England in Perth, a draw in Adelaide, Aussies to win in Melbourne, and Swanny to spin us to an Ashes retaining victory at Sydney.

Disclaimer : I am not responsible for any betting losses incurred. However, commission for winnings will be gratefully accepted !

A New Decade

2010-01-02T16:52:00.000Z

Let's be honest. 2009 sucked big time.

Professionally, very frustrating. Trying to stop people making bad decisions all day, every day, gets exhausting after a while.

Financially, well not as bad as it could have been, but the house move we thought would see our boys through until they were ready to leave home, fell through and we're just not getting a sniff for ours at the moment. See what happens in the next few months, but son number one's secondary school allocation may bring this back to the top of the agenda. If that goes wrong and he ends up destined for the local sink school, desperate times may lead to desperate measures.

Personally, it was a new low. My father passing away very suddenly and unexpectedly in May rocked the whole family for the rest of the year. When you see a man who has worked hard all his life enjoy less than two years of his retirement, it makes you question both your own mortality, and your life goals. Thankfully, my wife has been an absolute rock, so even when I felt like I was cracking up, which was probably more often than I let on, I could always come home to her.

So what's going to be different about 2010 ?

Well, as with every year, I need to cut down on the drink and up the exercise. I think the events of last year might actually make me do a little better this year. I'm not going to become a saint overnight, but if I can average one less night of hedonism per week, and one more session at the gym, then that will go a long way.

I tweeted three actual resolutions too. I haven't made any for many, many years, so this is a change.

Resolution 1 : Tweet more often. #nyr 2:40 PM Jan 1st from dabr

Resolution 2 : Resume blogging. Find a theme, build an audience. #nyr 2:42 PM Jan 1st from dabr

Resolution 3 : Meet up in the flesh with the people I only talk to online these days. #nyr 2:44 PM Jan 1st from dabr

Well, have now made a start on the first two...

Predictions

2009-02-13T18:56:00.000Z

I reckon this weekend's round of 6 nations games is the easiest to call in a long time.

France to whallop Scotland
Wales to easily beat England
Ireland to run up a cricket score against Italy

Compare and Contrast

2009-02-11T09:35:00.000Z

Mon 9th Feb : How dare RBS pay any bonuses to its staff ? They are all lazy, corrupt thieves and should be fired, pay back all past bonuses and be publicly flogged.

Wed 11th Feb : How dare RBS lay off 2,300 of its hard-working staff ? These people are not responsible for the credit crunch and without them the bank would have collapsed. They deserve better treatment.

(c) All media

Public Transport

2009-02-10T20:09:00.000Z

Bus fucked due to Brazil v Italy @ Emiratesn had to walk with dodgy ankle.

Tube fucked., took 25 minutes for what should take 12. Kicked us off the train at Seven Sisters, had to change platforms.

Train fucked. No mention of Tottenham Hale being fucked when we were at Seven Sisters and could have changed, so back we all go. Half-expected no trains from there either, but instead just missed one by seconds, probably half an hour to the next one.

Now I am going to have to call my missus to come and give me a lift from wherever I end up to my normal station in order to pick up my car.

I am officially fucked off.

Changing of the Seasons

2009-02-03T10:36:00.002Z

Having live tweeted the Superbowl, I can't be bothered to re-hash it all - besides, I had a fair bit of beer and wine, so I don't exactly have crystal clear quality of recall. Great game though - I think that Larry Fitzgerald catch and run was the most excited I've ever been in a Superbowl not featuring the Patriots.

And so the American football season ends. Unless you count the Pro Bowl, which I don't as it's played in Hawaii and is on at too ridiculous a time even for me. Apparently they're moving it back to a rotation on the mainland next year AND moving it two weeks earlier, so it falls in the off week between the conference championships and the Superbowl. Drawback of that is, it reduces the chance of Superbowl-bound players taking part from slim to none. But generally that's only about 2/3 per side max anyway. So next year, I may tune in.

Sweeping in to take its place in my sporting consciousness is the Six Nations. My wife always complains that I'm following something intently at any given moment, and in this case she's right. Will do a longer preview later, but IMHO Wales find themselves in the unfamiliar territory of being strong favourites, largely because England and France are currently trying to identify which players from the new crop are Test standard, which seems to be harder now than ever, and finding a cohesive pattern for them to follow.

Could be worse

2009-02-01T12:46:00.002Z

So Villa's run of good form and fortune stutters at home again. It could be worse - we didn't lose, Ashely Young's suspension is now over, and Carew came off the bench to feature for the first time in months.

Most importantly, neither Arsenal nor Everton won to close the gap. All right, United won again, but they're likely to go on a ridiculous winning streak to the end of the season anyway and I never saw us staying with them.

Liverpool play Chelsea today, and like Arsenal v Everton in mid-week, there's no such thing as a bad result - we will be level on points with the loser, and a draw will see us breathing down the necks of both.

I still see us ending the season in a dogfight with Arsenal or Everton, depending on how badly our form falls away. The trouble with raised expectations is, anything lowere than fourth will now be seen as a disappointment.

This Twitter lark

2009-01-31T00:53:00.000Z

So I've been checking out Twitter, and have started out by following Stephen Fry and Iain Dale.

Fry has been tweeting a bloody darts commentary tonight. Stephen Fry. Watches darts.I kid you not. Tomorrow, the Queen will probably send me an email saying how much she likes TV Burp.

I swear I've gone fucking mad. If Sid Waddell pops up on Dave presenting QI, I'll know for sure.

Superbowl Preview

2009-01-30T11:04:00.000Z

As I always do at this time of year, I've booked Monday off so I can stay up all night to watch the Superbowl. This year's extravaganza is in Tampa Bay, featuring Bruce Springsteen as the half-time entertainment.

In the red corner, representing the NFC, are, amazingly, the Arizona Cardinals. The perennial losers of the NFL limped into the playoffs at 9-7 after clinching an appallingly weak division with 4 weeks to go. Nobody gave them a prayer - me included - but deserved wins over Atlanta, Carolina and Philadelphia means they are there on merit. They have a very well-balanced offence, with two quality and diverse running backs, a former MVP and superbowl winning QB, and arguably the best receiver in the game, Larry Fitzgerald. However it is the defence that has been responsible for the turnaround in form, forcing an incredible number of interceptions, particularly from Jake Delhomme.

The AFC champions, who will be wearing white, are the Pittsburgh Steelers. They have a functional rather than exciting offence, but an incredibly mean and aggressive defence, and they'll be hoping to become the first franchise to win six superbowls.

The key to the game, as it so often is in Superbowls, will be at the line. If Arizona can protect Warner and punch enough holes to allow James and/or Hightower to keep the linebackers honest, then they have the weapons to damage Pittsburgh. If the Steelers can shut down the running game and force Warner to throw under pressure into that magnificent secondary, it'll be Pick City.

So for me, the game could go one of two ways. It'll either be a low scoring nail-biter like last year, or a complete blowout in favour of Pittsburgh. I'll be rooting for Arizona, but having tipped Pittsburgh at the start of the play-offs, I see no reason to change that now, and I think it'll be one game too far for the Cardinals.

Pittsburgh by at least two touchdowns.

One two, one two

2009-01-30T08:30:00.000Z

Ok, let's see if the Blackberry is up to it.

So I've decided to start writing again. Got to find something to do during all these train delays

Grrr, trains. Don't get me started. How can a service that supposedly runs every 15 minutes possibly be 20 minutes late ?

Sony need to get their arse in gear

2008-11-09T10:52:00.002Z

Sony's latest PS3 firmware upgrade (2.52) has resulted in a small but significant minority of machines (including mine) suddenly being unable to play discs. At all. That's right, no games, no DVDs, no Blu-Ray. Can still play anything on the hard drive, but that's a very small proportion of what we use it for.

Looking at the forums, Sony are being completely unsympathetic about it. I will be expecting a lot better when I call tomorrow.

Thankfully, my machine is still in warranty (just), but it does seem a bit much that if Sony break it after the warranty elapses, they are somehow not liable. And yet you can't choose not to upgrade (well you can, but then you can't do anything online).

Overrated

2008-11-09T09:53:00.001Z

Foreplay is overrated, says the Daily Telegraph.

Foreplay ? Nah.

Coldplay however...

Random Musings

2008-11-04T14:20:00.001Z

A setback for the Villa at Newcastle last night. Watched in the not-exactly-salubrious surroundings of the Nag's Head on Upper Street. Thought we dominated the game and should have been 2 or 3 to the good before they scored - once they got in front they grew in confidence and we could have lost by 3 or 4. Think some of the squad maybe had one eye on Thursday's UEFA cup game against Slavia in Prague. Ridiculous that for the second time this season we have to play Monday-Thursday-Sunday - you don't see the so called Big 4 having to do that.

Got home uneventfully, moderately the worse for wear, but acceptably so considering 6 hours in the pub. Watched the Colts v Patriots game I'd taped from the previous night. A not entirely unexpected close defeat, but Jabar Gaffney dropped an absolute stone blind TD in the 3rd quarter from Cassell's only decent throw of more than 10 yards all night. More frustration. Game against the Bills this weekend is now crucial - winners will be set fair for the division, losers struggling for a wild-card. Only consolation is that other than the Titans, everyone is beating everyone in the AFC this year, so 9-7 could conceivably get you into the play-offs.

Woke to an extremely sore throat, cough and temperature. Followed my own rules (must go to office after night in pub, even if genuinely sick), and it was miraculously gone after a shower. Very odd...

M25 utterly shagged this morning, with the usual effects on the local roads. Mrs I tried to give me a lift further down the line, but the road south was even worse and we had to turn back. Took 45 minutes to crawl the 2 miles to the local station, not the best way to start the day.

Off to Arsenal v Man U this weekend, courtesy of those terribly nice chaps at McGregor Boyall. Bacon sandwiches and beer from 10:45 in the hospitality area - shall be pleasantly sloshed by mid-afternoon. Would like to see England v Pacific Islands if possible, but will play it by ear.

Have turned into a Facebook whore - gone from 12 to 30 odd friends in the last week. Starting to see the attraction at long last - seems there's a critical mass at which point reward outstrips effort.

Hamilton.....WINS !

2008-11-02T19:33:00.002Z

Well, that was triumph to disaster and back again in a matter of minutes, wasn't it ?

The new wooden floors meant that when I jumped up and punched the air in my socks, I nearly went flat on my arse. Got me to thinking - what other top sporting conclusions have had me pacing around this living room and punching the air, and where does this rank ?

5...Germany 1 England 5, 2001

Sven takes over with England struggling to qualify after Keegan's disastrous reign, and this is the penultimate scene in the play. Owen hat-trick supported by Gerrard and Heskey. We didn't even play that well, we just took every chance. Meh...who cares ? Dancing around the room with son number one (then aged two).

4...Rugby World Cup Final 2003 - England v Australia

Astonishing that this is fourth, but I suppose the long period of English dominance made this seem almost expected, and we'd already won the game twice and had it pulled away by the referee. And then Saint Johnny, on his wrong foot. Tears in eyes, lump in throat. Marvellous.

3...Superbowl XXXVI - New England Patriots v St Louis Rams, 2002

17 years of following the perennially awful Patriots finally paid off in this upset over the "Greatest Show on Turf", who has been champions two years earlier and were expected to win easily again. The Patriots got well ahead but were pegged back by the experienced Rams. A superbowl had never been won by a field goal as time ran out before - it has now ! It may have been 3am, but I still jumped up, punched the air, and smashed my hand on a light fitting.

2...Brazilian Grand Prix 2008

Cruising to the finish with 6 laps left and the heavens open. Hamilton finds himself in exactly the spot he needs after the pit-stops, but disaster strikes with two laps to go when Vettel (surely a world champion in waiting himself) overtakes and looks good to hold it to the finish. Massa crosses the line for the win, but with two corners to go, Hamilton overtakes a limping Glock, who'd not changed his dry tyres for a memorable finish. Felt genuinely sorry for the Ferrari team, who thought they'd won when Vettel crossed first.

1...2nd Ashes Test, Edgbaston, 2005

Big crowd in expectation of an England victory, with the Aussies still a hundred away with only two wickets remaining. The defecit is reduced and reduced and reduced, for the loss of just one. Big Harmy rouses himself for one last effort, and sends a bouncer down the leg side to Kasper. A slightly thicker glance and it's four and the Ashes virtually secured for Australia, but Geraint Jones clings on. Technically it's not out, as the batsmen's glove was not on the bat at point of contact, but nobody cares. I wore a groove in the carpet for this one, and its top of the list because it was slow agony for two hours, and despair flipped to ecstacy with one ball. Amazing.

Anyone else want to submit their top 5 armchair moments ?

I will follow this up with the top 5 "I was there" and top 5 "I was in a pub" shortly...

Unemployment

2008-04-16T10:01:00.003+01:00

Technically, I'm unemployed at the moment. My contract with my previous employer finished last Friday, and my new one doesn't commence until 12th May. Things to do for the four weeks off in no particular order.

1..Don't die - minimal life insurance at present.

2..Nobody in family to get sick - no private health care.

3..Lots of lunches. Piano Lounge in Epping yesterday - lovely, if a little quiet.

4..Install new hard drive in son number one's PC. Impressive that it packed up only two weeks after I gave it to him. Naturally my new quad core monster ticks along nicely. Replacement drive arrived yesterday, now I just have to work out how to put the bugger in...

5..Fully utilise my leaving gifts. 6 bottles of fine wine and 3 computer games - they know me so well !

6..Generally arse about...stick to what you're good at I say.

7..Five days in Cyprus without the kids - thanks Mum !

A call to arms

2008-03-08T06:43:00.004Z

In response to this eye-popping announcement about compulsory fingerprinting for all at UK airports, direct action is now required.

It's no use petitioning the Government, we know they're not listening - we have to hit private companies where it hurts and make them understand what their customers want - make them lobby for us for a change.

Therefore I have posted the following in the comments on the related Telegraph comment article.

Right, enough is enough.

There's only one way to stop this nonsense.

"I will not buy a ticket from British Airways as long as fingerprinting is required"

All those with me respond "Aye"

Let's see

a) If they publish it. EDIT : They have.

b) If anyone responds

Otherwise, that's it, I'm looking for a new country to live in.

Anyone else who feels strongly may leave a comment. But make sure you respond "AYE" at the Telegraph first...

Roman Holiday

2008-02-13T11:44:00.001Z

Chelsea tycoon Roman Abramavich is set to star opposite Simon Pegg in the much-awaited sequel to the hit comedy 'Shaun of the Dead'.

In the new blockbuster, set for release in April, Shaun and his friends have to negotiate the streets of the City and Belgravia, dodging dazed and confused investment bankers and financiers.

The outbreak is due to a recessive undead gene, though to be triggered by a regressive unfair tax demand.

In the hilarious finale, filmed this week at London's City airport, Shaun struggles to re-open the beleagured terminal, thereby allowing the hapless victims to leave the country for good.

Pegg enthused about his latest project

"We hadn't planned to make a sequel, but the opportunity to make the world's first non-dom zom rom com was too good to miss."

Alistair Darling is 54.

Rowan Williams Must Be Sacked

2008-02-07T14:17:00.001Z

Archbishop of Canterbury calls for Sharia law

No I am not making this up.

"An approach to law which simply said - there's one law for everybody - I think that's a bit of a danger"

I'm struggling to think of anything MORE dangerous than a code of laws which DOESN'T apply to everybody.

The fact that your imaginary friend can pick and choose your laws you are subject to is a bit frightening. What's next - the Jedi code ?

And this man is supposed to be head of the Church of England. He is a woolly-headed idiot and a disgrace to his position.

Back for Bad

2008-01-09T23:01:00.000Z

That's right - I've given up on everything to such an extent that I now have enough time to do whatever I want. Including this self-indulgent stream of bollocks.

Missed me ?

BarCodes

2008-01-09T22:54:00.001Z

Sacking Allardyce after this short period, when they're safely mid-table and still in the cup. What a bunch of fucking morons. No wonder you've won fuck all in my considerable lifetime. Just 'cos you almost won something ten years ago (but finally bottled it completely) does not mean you have a divine right to European football. Knobheads.

My mood at the moment

2008-01-09T22:51:00.000Z

Would everybody - and I really do mean everybody - please just fuck off and leave me alone. You're all talking shit.

What Tarot card are you ?

2007-07-23T13:26:00.001+01:00

You are The Sun

Happiness, Content, Joy.

The meanings for the Sun are fairly simple and consistent.

Young, healthy, new, fresh. The brain is working, things that were muddled come clear, everything falls into place, and everything seems to go your way.

The Sun is ruled by the Sun, of course. This is the light that comes after the long dark night, Apollo to the Moon's Diana. A positive card, it promises you your day in the sun. Glory, gain, triumph, pleasure, truth, success. As the moon symbolized inspiration from the unconscious, from dreams, this card symbolizes discoveries made fully consciousness and wide awake. You have an understanding and enjoyment of science and math, beautifully constructed music, carefully reasoned philosophy. It is a card of intellect, clarity of mind, and feelings of youthful energy.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Petition

2007-04-27T11:41:00.000+01:00

Via Tim.

I don't normally bother with e-petitions. Total waste of time - the Government's not going to listen.

This one however, is important. An unelected bureaucracy is making a takeover bid for Europe, despite two sovereign nations voting it down, and our Government is complicit in nodding it through - even though it was a manifesto commitment at the last election that they would hold a referendum on the issue.

Once again, I have no hope that the Government will listen, even if they entire electorate were to sign it. However, it may at least succeed in publicising the issue, and embarrassing the equally spineless Tory party into opposing it, and maybe, just maybe, enough Labour MPs will discover a scrap of integrity and defect to scupper the passage of the bill.

Sign it today.

Yet another one

2007-04-16T09:33:00.001+01:00

Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ESFP)

Your personality type is playful, charming, open minded, and energetic.

Only about 7% of all people have your personality, including 9% of all women and 5% of all men
You are Extroverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

Who am I to argue with the Captain of the Enterprise ?

2007-04-12T15:06:00.000+01:00

An impassioned commander with more respect for individuals than for authority, you have a no-holds-barred approach to life and its obstacles.

I don't believe in the no-win scenario.

Bob Woolmer

2007-03-23T00:50:00.000Z

So police finally confirm what I had suspected and feared from the very first, that Bob Woolmer was murdered.

I'm the biggest cricket fan going, but I'm utterly sickened by this and I think the tournament should be cancelled. The ICC needs to send a signal that we would rather shut down the game than have this sort of thing go on. However, money calls the shots, the ICC are probably the weakest governing body in sport today, and so the tournament will continue. "It's what Bob would have wanted" they will say. Bollocks.

The rabid fans from the sub-continent who were chanting "Death to Woolmer" need to look at themselves and re-evaluate their priorities in life and behaviour. But they won't. Animals.

Swinging the lead

2007-03-20T11:54:00.000Z

Andrew O'Hagan complains today that the furore over the Fredalo incident is due more to England and Freddie's poor form than morality.

Well, duh !

We all have our ways of misbehaving / skiving / acting unprofessionally. In my own organisation, there are one or two lunchtime drinkers, people spend varying amounts of work time on the internet, many disappear to the gym, there's blogging of course - you get my drift. The point is, there are three tacit rules that must be observed.

1..You have to be good at your job. So long as you are achieving, a blind eye will continue to be turned, provided the behaviour is not too unreasonable. After all, everyone here works long hours - you can't be 100% all the time.

2..When the pressure comes on and there are key deadlines/targets to hit, you pack it in and knuckle down.

3..Be discreet. If the customers get wind of it, management can't protect you.

Sadly, by getting caught boozing by the public/media, during a World Cup, while out of form, Flintoff has broken all three aspects of the omerta. The England management team had no choice, but to take action.

Hopefully, this will be the wake-up call he needs to regain his focus and form.

Note to Self

2007-03-09T15:38:00.000Z

Watch The Great Global Warming Swindle on 4od when you get back from this weekend's stag do in Reykjavik.

Okay, so it confirms my existing prejudices, but what the hell...

The Law of Unintended Consequences

2007-03-07T14:29:00.000Z

An NHS Blog Doctor article reminded me of this recent discussion point.

It's always unpleasant leaving a pub and discovering that your clothes smell of cigarettes.

However, if the two pubs in Canary Wharf that have become early adopters of the non-smoking ban are any guide, clothes will henceforth stink of stale beer and farts. A colleague of mine likens the smell to that of a rabbit hutch...

Also, all the smokers from the above two places seem to now congregate in my formerly favourite pub, instantly making it completely uninhabitable for non-smokers such as me. I'd imagine their staff are going to kick up a fuss at the fog any day now, and then that one will convert and so on. Until then, it's off the rotation.

Envy Backlash

2007-03-07T09:52:00.000Z

More on the Envy debate in the Telegraph today, from Jeff Randall and Simon Heffer.

While Heffer's constant picking at Cameron is getting a bit boring, he does have a point when he says that the Tories have been conspicuously quiet on this subject. However, I'd be interested to know who exactly these 'undeserving rich' he refers to are...

Cause and Effect

2007-03-04T09:36:00.000Z

Via Tim Worstall, the first signs that the wealth generators are preparing to scarper.

Would the last one out etc etc...

More Politics of Envy

2007-03-03T16:51:00.000Z

This time its the Liberal Democrats who are the fruitcakes.

1% a year on a million quid house ? Ten grand a year ? Is he serious ? Now my house isn't worth anything like that much (or even half), but some of my colleagues who've been living in Central London for many years are getting close. These are not remarkable houses mind, they're just ordinary 4 bedroom houses in nice areas. There's no way they could afford £10k pa on top of the mortgage.

And bear in mind that stamp duty for a £1m house is £40k.

State sponsored robbery, pure and simple.

And as the rest of the drivel in his speech, well, words fail me. Except for two. Economic illiterate.

Cry God for England, Harry and St George

2007-03-02T10:48:00.000Z

It's not a particularly funny cover of Private Eye this week, but it does remove all doubt about who Prince Harry's father is.

Couldn't Resist

2007-02-27T15:59:00.000Z

Apologies, but I saw this headline and I just had to...

1.7 million to have dementia by 2051

Damn straight - and I'm planning to be completely plastered by half past nine.

Bonus Time

2007-02-18T10:40:00.000Z

I understand the furore over the City bonuses is all about the politics of envy, but this quote made me mad.

Another Left-wing Labour MP, Alan Simpson, backed the survey's findings but said that Mr Brown was just as responsible as Mr Blair when it came to promoting divisive policies.

He said: "There is no difference between No 10 and No 11. Downing Street has pursued policies which have courted City financiers at the expense of everyone else. Financial services and the money markets are engaged in a greed-fest - and Treasury rules are actually making this possible. Many of these huge bonuses are actually rewards for failure."

Is he serious ? Does he actually think the banks are in the habit of giving out large quantities of cash to non-performers ? I guarantee you every single one of those 4,200 people receiving over £1 million made at least ten times that for their organisation. You pay the going rate or they leave and take the business with them - end of story. Non-performers make money or are fired.

Yes, I do work for an investment bank and yes, I did get a nice bonus this month. Not a seven-figure one obviously, but then I'm not a revenue generator. However, I did feel it was payback for the many months of late nights and weekends I slogged through last year. And do I begrudge the guys on the trading floor their wedge ? Not bloody likely, those guys work as hard as we do, and they make the money for our bonus pot. And the 73% of the population who think bonuses are 'excessive' should remember that the profits those people make mostly go to the shareholders, and that the banks are 90% owned by the pension companies, and the pension companies' returns go to....who exactly ?

So go on, allow Gordon to windfall tax the bonuses away and send the business to Frankfurt - you'll be slitting your own throats you idiots...but then that's how socialism works isn't it.

Vocabulary

2007-02-13T08:55:00.000Z

Your Vocabulary Score: A+

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!
You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

NATO Generals

2007-01-22T10:18:00.000Z

Good News : NATO general says we need one more year to defeat the Taliban.

Bad News : It's 2014.

Asia Calling

2007-01-22T08:15:00.000Z

This blog post comes to you from sunny Singapore. Yes, after only nine years working for one of the largest investment banks in the world, I finally get a business trip out of London.

We are staying in the quite astoundingly opulent Fullerton hotel, which just happens to overlook the main tourist hotspot of Boat Quay (below) - naturally we had to check it out on arrival yesterday evening. Allowing myself and my long-time partner-in-crime (and new boss) to stay quite so close to so many bars and restaurants may be good news for the turnover of said establishments, but probably not so much for our productivity for the trip. Ah well, I've earned this jolly about a hundred times over, so I'm not about to start feeling guilty now.

It's a fairly unstructured trip, I'm pricipally here to meet my new team of developers and try and figure out how we're going to work this year. I was loosely involved with this team last year, and there were a lot of frustrations both here and in London, so we definitely to do some serious work on the operating model.

Anyway, I can definitely recommend the January weather here, and so far everybody has been overwhelmingly welcoming - both old friends who now live here and new colleagues seem very pleased to see me.

Felt okay this morning - woke at a decent time to watch the Patriots race into a first-half lead in the AFC Championship game, only to find out later that we'd lost. Damn shame - was looking forward to another Superbowl - I've applied for tickets to the big Superbash in Batterea, if my name comes up in the ballot, it would have been doubly wonderful to be there as a Pats fan. I'm struggling a bit now, just as London is getting into the office - Jon has been feeling poorly most of the day and has already headed back to the hotel. See if I feel like going out later - may be just a quick couple in town with the two youngsters who've just moved over, and then back for a good sleep.

Big Brother Racism Row - Reducto

2007-01-17T13:48:00.000Z

Woman made famous for being thick and ignorant on Big Brother appears on Big Brother - displays thick and ignorant behaviour.

Well, I've got the shoulders for it...

2006-08-07T14:55:00.000+01:00

Your results:
You are Will Riker

At times you are self-centered
but you have many friends.
You love many women, but the right
woman could get you to settle down.

Will Riker		90%
James T. Kirk (Captain)		70%
Deanna Troi		70%
Leonard McCoy (Bones)		60%
Mr. Scott		55%
Chekov		55%
Uhura		55%
Data		52%
Jean-Luc Picard		50%
Spock		49%
Beverly Crusher		45%
Geordi LaForge		40%
Worf		35%
An Expendable Character (Redshirt)		25%
Mr. Sulu		15%

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Quiz

What's Next ?

2006-07-29T18:10:00.000+01:00

I'm feeling a bit fragile this evening, as I'm struggling to come to terms with a great loss. After seven years of unbridled joy, one of the great lights of my life is no more.

I'm talking of course about "The West Wing" - IMHO, THE finest television drama series in history, bar none. Since first catching this show way back in its infancy in the latter months of the last century, it is the one serial for which I could not possibly contemplate missing even a single episode.

The last two episodes were shown last night - a little anti-climactic to be sure, but this was not unexpected given the plotline - and this has been followed up today by an afternoon of highlights from down the years, in which I have self-indulgently wallowed to the exclusion of all else - including the cricket - with many a tearful eye.

Goodbye West Wing, and thank you...

Bloglines

2006-07-13T17:56:00.000+01:00

How on earth did I go so long without discovering this ?

It's an online RSS reader, with the added bonus of (among other things) being able to subscribe to email newsletters and having a fairly cool Notifier app that sits on your desktop.

If you haven't tried it, give it a whirl - it's cool.

Inadvertant Humour

2006-07-11T12:53:00.000+01:00

Son Number One is on a school trip to the London Aquarium today. When I asked Mrs Infoholic if he was looking forward to it, she replied.

"Oh yeah, he'll have a whale of a time"

Cue a fit of helpless giggles from me.

What the hell has happened to justice ?

2006-07-04T09:23:00.000+01:00

Dead girl's family attacks driver's 'laughable' sentence after crash

Okay, so I know the family and went to the funeral, therefore I'm not objective, but could somebody please explain to me how drunk you have to be to hit two girls and drive off without noticing ? The guy didn't just hit Natalie, he drove right over her for f***'s sake (according to the medical reports).

Note to boy racers : If you hit someone while high, drive off and hide your car. If you can stay undiscovered for 24 hours, you can't be charged with driving under the influence, no matter how many people saw you getting pissed and driving like a nutter.

Essex police said it had conducted a thorough investigation. "With all the evidence and statements we collated there was no proof that the manner of his driving prior to the crash was dangerous."

Again, under what circumstances can you wipe out two girls without noticing and NOT be driving dangerously ?

Even if you take the driver's story at face value, what the hell happened to people having to take responsibility for their actions ? A seventeen year old girl died, and another lost her best friend and has had to cope with terrible injuries and mental trauma. You shouldn't just be allowed to collect up some litter and walk away from that...

Message for Sven

2006-07-01T19:02:00.000+01:00

Take your money and **** off you ****ing useless ****.

Quick Note

2006-06-08T15:43:00.000+01:00

No posts. Work mad. Maybe next week. Bye.

Bloody Typical

2006-05-03T10:32:00.000+01:00

Clarke wants tougher convict law

Doesn't that just sum up this useless excuse for a Government. Rather than admit they're either incapable or unwilling to enforce our existing laws, simply pass some more draconian legislation to pretend you're doing something about the problem.

And in any case, the problem wasn't that they were asking 'can we deport this person' and getting the wrong answer, the problem was that they weren't asking the question. Passing this law would therefore achieve precisely nothing.

More Cricket

2006-04-30T08:43:00.000+01:00

Another Saturday, another game. Home to Potter Street, who are a good three divisions below us (the league starts next week), and in the end it showed. After a fast start, we collapsed somewhat at the end and were disappointed to finish with only 212. I'd scored five when their medium-pacer sent down a juicy long-hop - I rocked back to pull it, but the ball hardly got off the floor and I ended up stretching and gently looping it to extra-cover. Annoying - I always seem to get to balls that keep low, particularly when playing at home. We were playing league rules i.e. 45 overs a side, but they took an absolute age to get through theirs - by the time we had tea and went out to field, it was already well past 5:30. Good job we bowled them out for under a hundred, or we'd have been playing in the dark.

Three things I observed about the different standards of the sides. Most glaring and yet least decisive was the fast bowlers - we've got two genuine quickies, they only really had one seamer who got anything above gentle medium. The nature of the pitch meant that this gave them an advantage if anything - their openers used the pace to score well. The second difference was the depth of batting - we bat all the way down to about nine, they were into the youngsters and shufflers at six. The key difference was the fielding - now we're a very old side (at 35, I was the third youngest yesterday), but we're all competent fielders and we don't generally spill catches, and the only one we grassed yesterday was a sharp caught-and-bowled chance - in contrast, they put down several fairly regulation catches. Took one myself at deep mid-on.

Didn't bowl today, but after last week, I don't really care. For the first time in a long time, I'm actually enjoying the fielding now.

Resurrecting the Daleks

2006-04-30T08:33:00.000+01:00

Watched last Saturday's Doctor Who episode with the kids on Wednesday - tried a little experiment afterwards. I put on the 1983 episode Resurrection of the Daleks from the Peter Davison era. Son number two lost interest and fell asleep, but the older lad was hooked. Strangely, he refers to the Ecclestone/Tennant era Daleks and TARDIS as 'old' and the archive stuff I'm showing to him as 'new' - which I suppose to him it is.

He got very agitated when the Doctor went back to the TARDIS halfway through episode two - "it can't be the end now, Turlough's on the ship". Think he's picked up on a pattern in the current series - the TARDIS generally only features at the start and end of each story. He got quite upset when I turned it off and sent him to bed before the end - but it's a four parter and three hours of Doctor Who is too much even for me these days.

Apart from this story, the only other episode I've got is Tom Baker's penultimate story, The Keeper of Traken. My brother has all the old videos - think I may have to borrow some.

Down and Up

2006-04-26T14:49:00.000+01:00

Another disappointing defeat for the Villa last night, at home to a team who had lost their last six. A heavy defeat at Anfield on Saturday and we could still be heading into the final day with a real chance of relegation.

Despite my admiration for Arsene Wenger, it was the return of boring, boring Arsenal last night, as the Gooners ground out a 0-0 draw to see them through to their first Champions League final. Amazing to think that this is the first time a club from the biggest city on the continent has got to the final.

Splendid lunchtime drink with Mr IcedInk - see BlogRoll. First time I've met up with an e-aquaintance - felt a bit like meeting a mate you haven't seen for months.

End of an Era

2006-04-25T09:40:00.000+01:00

Grandstand finish as BBC blows the whistle

Sad, but to be brutally honest, I'm amazed it's taken this long. They've been scraping the bottom of the barrell for at least five years - apart from the Six Nations, the Beeb no longer have any competitions of note, apart from the odd FA Cup game, which they can't show during that slot anyway.

Soggy Snickers

2006-04-24T17:55:00.000+01:00

Grey day at the Marathon yesterday - it's not quite the same when it rains, and that's twice in three years. Very disappointing. Only upside was we did actually manage to get served in the City Pride for a change.

Still aching today. Right shoulder is naturally most sore, but why are my stomach muscles complaining ?

I understand next weekend's Doctor Who sees the return of Sarah-Jane Smith and K9. Takes me back to when I was my sons' age - my earliest memories of the show are Liz Sladen partnering Jon Pertwee's doctor.

The England manager saga rolls on - thankfully Marlon Harewood hammered a sizeable nail into McClaren's chances yesterday. If they appoint any British candidate other than Martin O'Neill, I'll be very disappointed. Sadly, the fact that David Dein is on the selection panel probably rules out my preferred choice - they won't even be allowed to discuss Arsene Wenger, still less approach him.

The Trials of Age

2006-04-23T08:25:00.000+01:00

Oh my God, I ache this morning. Ten years ago, first cricket match of the season just meant a sore shoulder on Monday - by 10pm last night I could barely move or keep my eyes open. In the cold light of day - sore calves, hamstrings, sides, back, shoulders and even stomach muscles. Good job the Marathon means I get some early 'anaesthetic' this morning. Weather's disappointing, from a spectator's point of view at least - it's probably perfect for the runners.

Good game yesterday, the opposition declared on 188 and we squeezed home with one ball and three wickets to spare. I was 12 not out at the end, having gone out at number seven with 40 needed from 10, and I did a fair job during the run chase - I kept my end up while the guy who was set scored runs, and when he got out I took on the senior partner duties when the new batsman was struggling to lay bat on ball. Runs were not easy to come by - the pitch was slow and the bowling fairly tight - so I pushed the field back with a couple of controlled lofts over the top and then ran quick singles to the withdrawn men. Having said that, I reckon I was extremely lucky to survive an LBW shout to my first ball - hit me on the foot and it seemed a fairly straight ball to me. Still, he was the oppo's umpire, so no foul play - I do take a one leg guard, and I didn't really move my feet, so perhaps it was just missing leg stump.

My fielding was good, made a couple of really good stops - no catches came my way. Bowling was weird - I came on first change and the first two overs were good, getting heavy in-swing, albeit straight from the hand rather than the more dangerous late movement. But then a really weird thing happened - I loosened up, and my shoulder was fine - no pain or resistance - in a way it hasn't been in the five years I've been playing here. As a result, I completely lost my timing - I was releasing the ball either too early or too late, which meant either rank full tosses or pitching the ball near my toes. Embarrassingly, I got their opener out when he top edged a ball that bounced twice straight to mid-on. Not my finest ever wicket, but I'm off the mark for the season. I need to get in the gym and tighten up my now overly loose shoulder muscles, and somehow I have to get some bowling practice - re-model my action AGAIN for the new state of my shoulder, or at least get the timing right. Unfortunately, after next weekend I then can't play in May - on successive weekends I have a stag do in Madrid, a day at the Test Match, a wedding, and a business trip to Singapore. Not going to do my rhythm any good at all...

Something for the Weekend

2006-04-20T15:47:00.000+01:00

We're nearing the end of April, and in the Infoholic household, that always means two things.

First cricket match of the season on Saturday - Mrs Infoholic is not overly impressed at taking first turn to do the teas. Reckon I'll give it a couple of games, but if my bowling shoulder goes again (which brought last season to a premature end in July), I may just have to give it up for good and take up golf or something. My batting's improved out of all recognition in the five years I've been playing at my present club, but bowling's the thing that gets me going, and if I can't do that to the standard I want, I'm better off just packing it in altogether. On balance, I suspect the three serious shoulder injuries in 1996, 1999 and 2005 have finished my seam bowling days for good, but I'm willing to give it one last try.

London Marathon on Sunday, and I shall once again be bringing son number one to Docklands to literally watch the world go by. The fact that the pubs open at 9am has no bearing on this whatsoever. Would like to bring son number two as well, as I think he's now old enough to enjoy it, but two small boys + large crowds + alcohol = disaster.

Negative Campaigning

2006-04-19T14:33:00.000+01:00

I see Labour have taken off the gloves and given David Cameron the full cartoon treatment.

Surely the response is obvious - fight fire with satire. Lots of soundbites of 'Honest Tone', followed by the footage / newspaper headlines when he gets caught with his pants down - let's face it, from WMD to loans for peerages, there are plenty of examples. All set to Charles and Eddie's "Would I lie to you"...

Tony Blair and his awful cronies have brought me very close to the brink of the unthinkable. After a long period of reflection, I have come to realise that I have no alternative. I may, and I will stress 'may' here, have to consider doing that which I always vowed I would never do. Hateful though it may seem, and much as it pains me to say it...I'm thinking about voting Conservative.

Oh the shame...

Rock This Joint

2006-04-06T10:11:00.000+01:00

Lovely comment from Simon Briggs in an article about the England captain in the Telegraph today.

Vaughan's right knee is fast becoming the most talked-about joint since the one Bill Clinton didn't inhale.

24 hours from Topsoil

2006-04-05T16:54:00.000+01:00

Gene Pitney found dead in hotel

Oblivion

2006-04-04T16:50:00.000+01:00

If I've been a bit quiet in the last few days, and continue to be so for the coming weeks, then apologies, but I've been playing Oblivion.

I'm not a heavy gamer these days, but I've played most of the best over the years, however this is just another level entirely. The graphics are nothing short of breathtaking, the gameplay is near flawless, and the storyline well thought out (if understandably a little derivative).

Son number two nearly met with a sticky end on Sunday, when he decided to nick off with my manual (which was open next to my keyboard) and give it a good soak in the bath. Mrs Infoholic rescued the day by pulling out the staples and hanging the pages one by one on the clothes horse, but it's now about two inches thick where it was half a centimetre ! Looks a lot more 'authentic' now though :-)

Panic on the streets of Birmingham

2006-04-04T16:29:00.000+01:00

The next two Sunday lunchtimes are make-or-break for the Villa, as neighbours West Brom and Birmingham take turns to visit Villa Park.

Two wins and Villa are safe as houses, the fans will go home happy, and O'Leary survives to fight another day, and may even be in place come August.

Two draws will probably be enough to guarantee Premiership football for another year. There will be murmurings against the manager from the terraces, but no outright rebellion. O'Leary will almost certainly be dismissed at the end of the season.

Two defeats and not only are we in the shit, but we'll have re-energised our rivals' hopes, and there will probably be defeaning calls for the head of both manager and chairman, not to mention pitched battles on the streets of Aston and Witton - midday kick-off notwithstanding. Doug will panic and sack O'Leary to divert attention away from himself and the chaos.

I hate to disappoint any Portsmouth-supporting readers, but having seen how badly we are playing at the moment, I suspect a draw with the Baggies will be followed by defeat at the hand of the Blues.

Right of Reply

2006-03-25T19:18:00.000Z

David O'Leary recently called the long-suffering Villa fans 'fickle' for booing him.

Oh dear...

Armchair Masochist

2006-03-19T10:56:00.000Z

What with three televised Villa away defeats and another pair for the England rugby team, it's been a tough eight days for this armchair supporter. Saved myself a little punishment by not paying for the game at Everton yesterday, as I took one look at the teamsheet and knew what was coming. Thought I'd covered myself by being one only two people to back Ireland in the score prediction contest, so the only way I could lose-lose yesterday was if Ireland won by five points or less. Which naturally they did.

Very depressing. The awful form and run-in for Villa's Birmingham neighbours means we *should* avoid relegation this year, but Villa are unmistakably a side in rapid decline, and I am now certain we will go down next season unless there is root-and-branch change in both boadroom and backroom.

Motoring Along

2006-03-14T14:20:00.000Z

Took two and a half hours to drive home last night, due to an accident on the A13. Took another hour and a half to get in this morning, for no apparent reason that I could ascertain, other than weight of traffic. Meanwhile, serenely passed a mobile camera unit at 50mph on a deserted dual carriageway on Saturday morning, only to discover to my horror that the limit is inexplicably 40mph on that stretch of the North Circular (which I rarely use). Not a residential area, so I'm baffled as to why.

If I get fined for that, I'm leaving the country.

White Dorks on Mogadon

2006-03-12T17:36:00.000Z

I think that was the worst performance I've seen by an England rugby team since the eighties.

Brian Moore called them inept, Jerry Guscott said they were terrible, Andy Robinson admitted they were awful. Eddie Butler said that France crushed them, but in truth, the French didn't even get out of second gear themselves - they had no need.

At the start of the competition, I thought we were starting to make progress, but in truth, we've gotten worse with every game.

Robinson needs to change the players - Cohen, Tindall, Noon and Grewcock are all living on borrowed time. And Lewis Moody may have a great work rate and do many good things, but he's worth six to nine points a game to the opposition in penalties and he shows no sign of learning. If Robinson won't change the players when they're clearly not up to it, he has to go himself.

Cracking Cretaceous

2006-03-12T14:12:00.000Z

Took the boys to the Natural History Museum yesterday - the younger lad is potty about dinosaurs, and is just about old enough to walk around all day without need for a pushchair, so this seemed like the ideal test outing.

On arriving at South Ken, shortly after it opened, huge crowds at the front entrance, so we walked around to the side - completely deserted, we just walked straight in ! Moseyed around the Earth stuff for a little while until the boys got too restless, then made our way through to the Life section, and of course the good ole' dinosaurs.

The animatronic T-Rex was quite impressive - as expected, son number one wasn't at all keen to get close, but suprisingly, fearless destructo-boy was also a little nervy, until he noticed the T-Rex's feet weren't moving and decided it wasn't real, and therefore couldn't eat him. Impressive logical deduction for a three year old I thought. Nonetheless, even he didn't want to linger when we got around to the front and the dinosaur was roaring straight at him.

Back to CW for lunch at Chilis - didn't know they had a child's menu, was quite impressed. All in all, the boys were relatively well-behaved - they both had their moments, but generally it was a success. Our oldest pronounced it 'A grand day out'. About as ringing an endorsement as you're going to get from a six year old I guess...

Hiatus Over

2006-03-12T13:44:00.000Z

Have been quiet on the blogging front lately, mainly due to starting my new job. Still sitting in the same seat, but working with the team behind me rather than in front, so that's a bit weird.

Have to say I'm really enjoying it - it makes so much difference having a manager who trusts and empowers you. There's a lot of hard work ahead, but I like to think I'm making a small difference already - team morale seems to be on the rise.

Taking this job is a bit of a gamble, as it's got an immovable external deadline, which essentially makes it a binary career opportunity - we either deliver on time and get muchos kudos (and hopefully cash too), or we don't and we get sacked.

And now for something completely different

2006-02-14T00:23:00.000Z

In the cold light of day, I decided to remove a particularly expletive-filled Cabernet Sauvignon-fuelled rant about ID cards, or to be more accurate, the craven idiots who allowed this law to be passed. Let me just say this - putting aside all my idealogical and practical objections to this awful idea, as an IT professional I don't believe the Government has the expertise or management capability to make a project of such unprecedented scale work, and that administering it without significant errors - human, machine or malicious - will be next to impossible. Make no mistake - this is going to cost a fortune and it will NOT deliver any benefit whatsoever.

Consistently inconsistent

2006-02-12T12:30:00.000Z

Following last week's great away result, you just knew another shocking home defeat was coming for Villa.

From the sounds of it, our makeshift midfield did as well as could be expected under the circumstances and we could and should have taken something from the game, but for me it just sums up the season. We'll get the odd result when we need one to keep us just clear of the drop zone, but the whole club is just marking time from top to bottom. If a takeover doesn't materialise soon, I really fear for our short-term future.

Sniffles

2006-02-12T12:06:00.000Z

I've been laid up in bed (well, on the sofa) with a nasty cold for the last couple of days. Having played havoc with both my work and social diary, the only upside was that I had the perfect excuse to watch the entirety of both Six Nations games back-to-back yesterday.

The game in Paris was one of the most bizarre I've ever seen. The Irish were playing quite well, but for some inexplicable reason, kept gifting the French easy tries. Of the six tries Les Bleus scored, only one did not involve an obvious Irish blunder.

Having got themselves 40 points to the good after 50 minutes, without actually having any posession or field position to speak of, the French then completely switched off, and the Irish promptly ran in four tries of their own, to make the scoreboard look respectable. Ten tries may be a great advert for the game of rugby, but to my mind it showed up the glaring deficiencies in both teams. Makes you wonder if the French are going to stutter all through this tournament, and only fully switch on mentally when England are in town.

Down in Rome, the Italians turned in one of their best ever performances to make England work hard for their win. While I never felt worried about the result, even when Italy led by a point early in the second half, it was good to see one of the 'lesser' nations take the mighty English pack on with some degree of success.

Interesting also, despite the hype over the one-dimensional English approach, all four England tries came from the backs. Worsley and Moody really went to town in the second half, and the resulting quick ball allowed Charlie Hodgson to show why I think he's currently second only to Dan Carter in the world's premier outside-half stakes.

I think if Italy will work Scotland and Wales really hard - the Welsh in particular will have to raise their intensity from last week if they're to compete.

Relief

2006-02-08T18:40:00.000Z

As I've hinted in recent days, today was do or die for my career within my current company, and given how things have gone in the last 18 months, I was decidedly pessimistic about how things would go.

However, I'm shocked and delighted to say that everything I wanted has come to pass. I can now throw myself into my new assignment with renewed vigour, confident that my contribution is actually being appreciated.

I'm in a totally confused state now - I'd hyped myself up into throwing my toys out of the pram, and in actual fact it was all completely unnecessary.

I'll try and post something more coherent when I sort my life out...I apologise if this post appears self-indulgent, but I'm completely stunned about the day's events.

Dizzy, my head is spinning...

Western Imperialism

2006-02-07T17:28:00.000Z

If this is the effect that the West has on Chinese Students, then perhaps oppression and censorship aren't so bad after all...

After my cryptic words yesterday, I have been given a hot tip that D-day is tomorrow. Will try and blog before I go down the pub and get plastered (either way), but I wouldn't hold your breath.

Home Life

2006-02-06T18:42:00.000Z

Day off today - takes spending a 'normal' day at home to realise exactly how many hours I spend at work. After the kids got home from school/nursery, have had time to watch a new film with them (Jurassic Park III, which the 3 year old LOVED, he's mad about dinosaurs), give them a bath and put the dinner (roast lamb) on - all before 7pm, which is normally the earliest I get home.

Makes you wonder if the stress and long hours is worth the money...would I be happier earning less and having more relaxation time ? Decision day is rapidly approaching - watch this space !

Steelers Steal

2006-02-06T03:07:00.000Z

So Pittsburgh win Superbowl XL, but I'd imagine there will be a very sour taste in the mouth of all Seattle Seahawks fans after that. Three very marginal and absolutely crucial calls by the officials all went Pittsburgh's way - a Seahawks touchdown ruled out early on for the slightest of push-offs, Roethlisberger awarded a touchdown when the ball appeared not to cross the goal-line, and most crucial of all, a completed pass to the one yard line - which would have given Seattle 1st and Goal to take the lead - was called back for a holding call that only the official appeared to see.

Having said that, Seattle didn't help themselves with some chaotic hurry-up offense at the end of each half, and Matt Hasselbeck losing his head and throwing a needless interception shortly after the holding call. Pittsburgh's game clinching touchdown was an outrageous trick play, which the reserve safety completely bought - we'll never know if their injured starter would have read it, but it was admittedly a great throw by wide receiver Randel El. On the whole, Pittsburgh played quite well, including Willie Parker running in the longest running touchdown in Superbowl history (75 yards) but if you ask me, the best team lost.

For my part, I was joined for the second half by son number two, who only fell asleep after the two minute warning when the game was over - I shall be having stern words with Mrs Infoholic tomorrow. I was logged onto a Yahoo chat forum for about an hour too, until my laptop did it's overheat-and-die trick again - sadly the natives all appeared to either be 12/13, or acting like it, or trying to attract kids of that age - the only sensible conversation I could get was from a fellow Brit.

All in all, not quite the great game I hoped for - scrappy, and punctuated by unjust calls. Bit disappointing really...

Call myself a geek...

2006-02-05T17:20:00.000Z

Okay, so I wrote my first computer game when I was twelve (trust me - young for someone of my age), I have a degree in Computer Science, and I've worked in the IT industry for the last thirteen years. I'm well known as a quiz expert, I read Fantasy/Sci-Fi almost to the exclusion of all else, and I even went to a Star Trek premiere at Leicester Square once (no, I didn't dress up, although plenty did). All of which makes having to ask the following techie questions to the world at large rather embarrassing.

What's a good entry-level digital camera ? I'm not one for taking a lot of photos, but if I go away for the weekend, or do something with the kids, I'll want to take a few snaps along the way and shove them onto my PC. I'm currently looking at the Olympus FE-110 - 5 MegaPixels, 2.8 zoom and a 3.8cm screen seems good value for £100 to me - anyone know different or have an alternative ?

How good are the current breed of printer/scanners ? I've got an ancient Black Widow flatbed scanner, but no drivers or SCSI port to plug it into on my new PC, and my Epson printer hasn't worked for years. I reckon it'll cost more for the new interface and repairs than to buy a new USB device - anyone got any recommendations ?

Wrong Again

2006-02-05T17:02:00.000Z

Well bloody hell, the Scots beat the French. And what's more, they thoroughly deserved to.

So to summarise, the game I said would be competitive, was the only one that wasn't.

Good job I don't gamble, I'd be living out of a cardboard box by now...

Plagiarism

2006-02-05T11:05:00.000Z

Another stolen image from H&V - had to be done.

Jingle Bells...

2006-02-04T18:42:00.000Z

...oh what fun, it is to see, the Villa win away OH !

All right, so Middlesborough aren't playing very well at the moment, but that's still a good result in anybody's book. Haven't read the details or seen the highlights yet, but as Luke Moore scored a hat-trick and Kevin Phillips got the other, it sounds like O'Leary actually had the balls to drop his big signing (Baros), who has been awful in the last few games. I never thought he had it in him.

I've always thought Luke Moore had the ability, but until now he's always looked to lack confidence at the highest level. Having scored twice against Chelsea this season, and now bagged his first senior hat-trick, perhaps this will be the launching pad to greater things for young Luke. I sure hope so - nothing better than seeing local lads come through the ranks and go on to great things. Up and down week for the Moore family though, with big brother Stefan no longer wanted by QPR. I really thought he'd do well in the Championship - while he was never as talented as Luke, he's still quick and intelligent. Ian Holloway said similar things about HIS confidence - if he can work out the mental part of his game, he's still young enough to make a name for himself somewhere.

Return of the White Orcs on Steroids

2006-02-04T18:29:00.000Z

So England exceeeded my expectations and totally destroyed the Welsh in the second half. For once, I totally agreed with Brian Moore's man-of-the-match choice on the BBC - Matt Stevens had an outstanding game in the loose today.

On this performance, England only need to find a creative alternative at inside-centre to have a very useful unit indeed. If everyone's fit, I'd also tinker a little by playing Voyce ahead of Cohen and Sanderson over Worsley (switching Moody to 6, as I said yesterday), but Andy Robinson's hardest call is going to be at Number 8 - Corry's a fine player and decent leader, but Dallaglio is still world-class and can make a difference. I thought the BBC got a bit ahead of themselves by talking about the Grand Slam - winning in Paris is no mean feat, and the French are further along the road to next Autumn than we are at the moment. I still expect us to come a close second this year.

And I apologise to the Italians - they were very unlucky to come away from Lansdowne Road with nothing, as I don't think the Irish grounded the ball properly for either of their two tries. Having said that, there were suspicions about a couple of England's scores, but at least that would hardly have made a difference.

Superbowl XL

2006-02-03T17:29:00.000Z

Okay, the beers are in, Monday's day off has been booked - just need to purchase the popcorn.

Looking forward to this one - while obviously a bit of a comedown from recent years for us Patriots fans, I think this has the potential to be a classic. By replicating our 1985 run of three play-off wins on the road, taking some truly mighty scalps along the way, Pittsburgh will start marginal favourites at the bookies for this year's honours. Solid running game, increasingly impressive young quarterback, and a hard-hitting defence - no obvious weak points for the Steelers, and Jerome Bettis is clearly the romantic story for the weekend.

On the other hand, the NFC championship game was the first time I've seen the Seahawks this year, and I was mightily impressed. Outstanding running back, unflappable and wily quarterback, a clutch of top receivers and an offensive line to die for - while the defence is mobile and adaptable.

I'm going against my previous opinion that the AFC would win no matter what, and predict the Seahawks to come from behind to squeak a thriller late on.

Six Nations 2006 : Round 1

2006-02-03T14:14:00.000Z

At the risk of mortally offending the Italians and the Scots, there's only one truly competitive match this weekend, and that's England against Wales at Twickenham.

Last season's champions are wracked by injuries, and with England showing some promising signs of semi-recovery during the Autumn, this should be a comfortable victory for the home team. However, I suspect that despite having about 70% of possession, England's backs will somehow conspire to make it look difficult.

Prediction : England by 9.

Key man : Lewis Moody, Has only played 40 minutes of rugby in the last two months, will be targeted by the Welsh, and I still think he's suspect as an international open-side - he's a natural number six for me. If he can keep the ball away from dangerous linkman Martyn Williams, it'll make England's job much easier. If he loses his discipline, Big Lol may make his comeback earlier than expected.

Played like...

2006-01-20T11:37:00.000Z

Villa are looking for a new shirt sponsor, some wag on H&V suggested this...

Practical Jokes

2006-01-20T11:22:00.000Z

Little gem hidden in this good interview in the Telegraph

"Cooley's decision to return home is, says Jones, a 'sickening blow', though one he fully understands. 'England are going to lose a very, very good bowling coach and I'm going to lose a very good friend.' Just that morning the two of them had played a practical joke on a classroom full of coaches. The set-up was that Jones would be helping Cooley with a seminar on 'How to handle an elite athlete', but instead he turned up late, launched a volley of invective and stormed out."

End of an Era

2006-01-15T18:37:00.000Z

Just as I feared, Denver put an end to New England's dream of a third straight Superbowl win, the home team coming through 27-13

The game turned on a single play - with Denver leading 10-6, New England drove to within five yards, and Tom Brady was intercepted in the end zone, and the ball was returned the length of the field to NE's one yard line - one play later, instead of being behind, Denver had an eleven point cushion.

Call myself a big fan, but having been excited all week, I somehow inexplicably forgot to record the game, and inadvertantly caught sight of the result on the BBC website first thing this morning. An anticlimatic end in all respects - I did manage to catch the re-run this afternoon...

Ironically, I've today found the website of the UK Patriots - to think I've been celebrating in silence these past few years. At least I now have somewhere to drown my sorrows...

Winter in Foxboro

2006-01-10T17:01:00.000Z

It's that time of the year again - the NFL play-offs have begun, and the New England Patriots are looking menacing.

For those of you unfamiliar with American Football, the Patriots have won 3 of the last 4 Superbowls, and are looking for a unprecendented third in a row. After an injury-devastated season, they limped into the play-offs with a 10-6 record by virtue of being the best team in a very poor division. However, most of their sick list victims are now back, and they clicked into gear with a 28-3 demolition of Jacksonville on Saturday night. New England now travel to Denver, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Steelers upsetting the Bengals in Cincinatti on Sunday evening, which means THEY travel to favourites Indianapolis rather than the Pats.

I started following the Patriots when I first watched the sport on Channel 4 in the mid-eighties. They got to the Superbowl that year (where they were thrashed by Chicago), and for most of the next fifteen years, they were the whipping boys of the NFL (a popular Gulf War I joke was why did Saddam bomb the Superbowl ? It was the only target guaranteed not to have Patriots). However, the arrival of coach Bill Belichick and his trademark aggressive and unpredictable defence, coupled with star quarterback Tom Brady, means the Pats have turned into arguably the best team of all-time. Their first Superbowl win, where they upset the highly-fancied St Louis Rams with the last kick of the game, was one of the most exciting sports events I've ever seen.

Denver's going to be a tough game on Saturday (1am Sunday here), and I wouldn't be surprised if the great run of 10 successive play-off victories came to an end at the hands of some hungrier Broncos. But until that day, nobody is going to want to play New England - they know how to win.

Headline of the Week

2005-11-25T08:11:00.000Z

Spotted in The Sun today

'Glitter facing 10 girl charge'

England lose First Test

2005-11-16T16:18:00.000Z

Well I may have gotten the result right, but the manner of it shocked me. Very few teams in history have surrendered a 144 first innings lead quite so tamely - and quite frankly, it should have been a much bigger lead than that. The lack of application by the England middle order was quite shocking today - all guns blazing may work well on the bouncier pitches of the west, but the sub-continent requires rather more application. England's 5,6,7 of 'bangers' looks far more vulnerable here against more modest bowlers than it did during the Ashes. Having said that, no blame to Geraint Jones today - he did as much as could be expected to him under difficult circumstances - it's KP and Freddie who deserve the Paddington hard stares for very poor shots. Yes, it's great when they come off, and I do accept that that is the way they play, but you have to play to the conditions and match situation, and with four wickets down today and only a hundred needed, the necessary approach was dig in and accumulate, not thrash your way out of it.

Very disappointed. Glimmer of light is Vaughan may replace Collingwood on Sunday, Colly having made no impact whatsoever with either bat or ball, while Ian Bell worked hard to earn himself a reprieve. Udal and Giles took 2-100+ between them - wonder if Fletcher is contemplating a fourth seamer ? Step forward Liam Plunkett ?