St Landrew

To be fair to Ponty, these things take a little getting used to. My Dad thought there was life in the Spitfire [as he cabled and wired them out] after the war, and there was, but not for the UK. The Harrier has a special place in enthusiastic British hearts. Like the EE Lightning interceptor and the Blackburn Buccaneer, it was the very best at something. There is still no other fixed wing fighter aircraft that can vertically takeoff with any sort of usable payload, except the Harrier and, as proven in the South Atlantic, the Harrier can dogfight with, and beat, aircraft capable of over twice its maximum speed. Of course, even today, maneuverability is more important than absolute speed, in a dogfight. Except that dogfighting is said to be finally exiting military airspace. But they said that before, and look what happened..!

Typical SKY. Doesn't tempt me in the slightest. But then, they never will. No that's wrong. If it was free I might watch it a little bit.

Yeah, I know what you mean, mate. I tend to pause these things and let them cache the data for a minute or two. Occasionally, it works.

Painful for everyone. The upright stanchions, that surround a yacht and carry the safety wires, are designed to take quite a wallop, but to buckle on a signifcant impact. I would say a breaching mature right-whale would qualify [he wrote with every ounce of understatement]. Then there's all the tension wires and stays holding the mast. I wouldn't have thought that whale got away without injury. Mind you, I wouldn't have thought the people on board would have escaped either. The boat itself, despite being dismasted, didn't seem to do too badly either.

This should interest one or two people - an onboard camera specifically for a racing motorbike. So what..? Well the normal ones lean with the bike. This one stays upright, via tiny embedded motors, and knowing where on earth it is in the landscape. It's worth watching purely to see the angle of lean these racing bikes get over to. This was during qualifying, last saturday, for the German Grand Prix at Sachsenring, the next day. If you go to the iPlayer you can see the race, and this little camera's pictures will pop up occasionally. But here's an official MotoGP video dedicated completely to it. Gyroscopic Camera Should be free to use, after the Dunlop advert. Oh, apparently the odd person feels a tad sea-sick while watching. You have been warned.

As with all things digital, it's never quite as tidy and fuss-free as everybody makes out. Freeview reception quality often depends on where you live, and your proximity to a good, powerful transmitter, and if you can get a decent signal from it, with a less than perfect aerial. Analogue just gives us ghosting and atmospherics, and fizzing on sound, when the signal is a bit iffy, but digital suffers from drop-out. That is, not enough digital signal, and this can occur surprisingly easily in less than ideal areas and conditions of signal. Add in the compromise of an indoor area, and you may find that you are presented with NO SIGNAL from your favourite channel or enough drop out to make you wish for less than perfect, but watchable analogue, under similar conditions. You'll just have to suck it and see.

Don't know what you lot are going on about. She looks OK to me.

corpulent..?

Suddenly realised who this picture of Butterfield reminded me of Bluebottle Butterfield It's uncanny..!

Bit of fun, but it didn't really convey the impact both Leeds Utd had on football, nor Brian Clough and Peter Taylor. Michael Sheen does an extremely good impression and sometimes, in backlighting, actually looks remarkably like the man. Achive footage shows how different he really is though. Star Trek TNG Chief Engineer Colm Meaney captures Don Revie quite well too. There's a bit of Youtube footage about, which shows how close the actors got. The film didn't quite get it together though, and it's spattered with inaccuracies. One for older football fans only, who remember the spirit of the men of the day. BTW, that TV interview near the end isn't fiction. I didn't always think Brian Clough was the brilliant motivational manager he was. Like another genius sportsman, Muhammed Ali, from a slightly early age, I didn't quite get the hype, though I became a believer. Genius will shine through even to the thickest doubters. Here he is, years later after taking Notts Forest on the success tour of a lifetime, with nothing to prove. This was the man England needed. Even if he had failed with England it would have been a relative success.

[Long shot, and only because I fancy saying it] Plissken [We-haay..! How's that a blast from the past..?]

[Deadly] Pursuit [film, as I remember]

Long term planning..!

Fair play to Huddersfield, IMO. You don't build an excellent stadium like their's and expect to stay in League One. They have pretty big plans too. Are we to expect other teams to sit back while we dominate..? No. We may expect them to realise who's boss, but not to sit back..!

You're forgetting the Typhoon, of course, which is every bit as advanced in its own way, but that is for different operations. The F-22 has vectored thrust, first introduced on the P1127 or Kestrel. Very soon that developed into the Harrier, and the rest is history. However, we will see the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter soon [well, in about 2 years, they say], capable of short take off [note, not VTOL as the old Harrier was capable] and vertical landing, once depleted of stores. I have an old F-22 Raptor PC-Sim from DiD, circa 1999, that is still fun to have a go at, at times. Plus an F-35 Sim, [not DiD] from a little later, that is absolute crap. Time seems to fly faster than these aircraft.

I didn't think he had much chance with it, such was Klose's pace and determination. The chance should never have even have materialised, of course.

Hmm, don't know about Walcott. Maybe, maybe not. Agreed about Capello not being spoilt for choice though. Looking back on the squad he took, I think Calamity and [grudgingly] A. Cole were the only players who came out of the tournament with any real credit. I think the occasion got to them. All of them have had the potential to bottle it. You just don't expect them to do it at the same time.

Roberta

I don't think he made a hash of it. I just think his players let him down hugely.

Is it within its guarantee period..? I'm guessing NOT. I suspect you're talking about some form of starhead screw when you refer to the funny heads. Screwdrivers are available for these. When you get the thing open you'll be able to measure the rubber belt required, and I'm sure they are available. With the power of the internet, many things that weren't repairable [because you simply couldn't track down the bits] now are. A separate problem is the inability to change source. If the unit isn't that old, it may be a case of switching it off [properly off, i.e. the equivalent to pulling the plug] and waiting for 20 secs or so, before restoring power. You may get it back. I can't help any more than that without knowing model details.

Oils

Jokes aside, I am quite familiar with at least a dozen or so, and have heard many more. GSTQ is the very worst. All my opinion, of course.

Of all the national anthems well known to me, God Save The Queen is without doubt the very worst. It is neither rousing, nor does it refer to its citizens, other than that they are cannon fodder for the Royal Family, when they need protection. There is one good thing about it - it reaffirms my UK republicanism leanings, but it can go ASAP. However, there is a problem. Despite the obvious appeal that Land of Hope & Glory has, or Jerusalem and I Vow To Thee My Country, with their uplifting musical melodies, all are a bit dodgy, lyric wise. But this applies to many national anthems. They all have their faults. I would point out that NZ's is damn good, lyric wise, without of the militaristic bluff and bluster of others, and being Kiwi, it means well, although it is a bit iffy tune wise. Whereas the Italian one is fantastic listening after Valentino Rossi wins yet another MotoGP race [yes, I'm aware he's been injured of late, but he's going to race again this weekend] and takes the plaudits from the podium. The Spanish one has a refrain in it which Standard Fireworks must have known about when they wrote... please to remember the fifth of November... for their old TV adverts, because it is exactly the same, note for note. If I had to pick a tune only, any of the three UK anthems mentioned would serve spectacularly well. But we must have lyrics, and maybe it's time for a completely new tune, anyway. I suppose I should remind people that when the UK had the Commonwealth Games at Eastlands in Manchester, the English anthem used was Land of Hope & Glory. When a winning English athlete stood for the anthem during the medal ceremony, the English contingent in the crowd practically took the roof off with their volume. Nobody ever sang GSTQ with such conviction. Perhaps it should be LoH&G, after all.

Nice to see Hammond has his supporters. In all of the matches I have been able to see, during last season, whether LIVE or recorded for later, Dean Hammond has, at the very least, always put in a worthwhile 90 minutes. At times he was a driving force, and at times he hung in there. I'd rather he played for us than against us. Yeah Captain, on the field, next season too.

[invade] Poland [sorry, I shouldn't, I know]