St Landrew

Love Fig Rolls. And Custard Cremes... And Digestives, and Hob-Nobs and... well it's just plain easier to say which biscuits I don't like. But I can't eat any of them, because I'd end up weighing a ton. So I don't buy any. Ever. Oh, and Jaffa Cakes too. But they're not biscuits. :smt107

Pompey had god knows how many years of misery, with a year or so with their heads in the sun, around the late 80's, before hitting the big time properly again only a few seasons back. They know what it is like to be desperate. If I was a Pompey fan, I'd be enjoying every last second of the club's premiership existence. They are there, in our place, where we should be. They don't have to make the big run of season after season consistent winning. They just need to survive, like we did all through the 90's. It's not impossible for either team, but even with financial stability, let's not be foolish, Saints task is the greater. The simple fact is that my club is in Division 3 and the rivals down the road are in Division 1. Our situation is starting to look up, and their situation is getting worse. But it might get better. They stand on a higher plateau. We'll see what each other's fortunes pan out to be after a few months or years. However, there is no who would you rather be decision. I can't see the dilemma or decision. I was born in Southampton, I again live in Southampton. No other club exists that is going to be supported by me. End of story.

Come on now, the line is America is waiting... If you're going to quote Brian Eno & David Byrne, do it accurately MB.

Although I don't condone the violence, it appears Mr Gerrard came away from that quite unscathed considering he threw the first punch, and his mates piled in to back him up. From the footage I could see, Gerrard [i won't bother to refer to him as Mister] was in it up to his neck. One rule...

It has been the last hurrah for them for many years. Sooner or later, car manufacturers have to get real. And let's face it, if you want real fun on 4 wheels, the best thing to have is an Ariel Atom**. **OK Ponty, but not in the rain.

I don't know so much mate. All that multi-tasking shortens the time required. :smile: If I'm honest, I'm slightly cheesed off that the MotoGP is going to Silverstone. The track is wide, and not the most technical for bikes, although we will see truckloads of overtaking, because of slipstreaming and multiple racing lines, so there is a big upside. But it's the perfect F1 track. Whatever else Donington is, it's narrow and will remain relatively so when the upgrades take place. Not exactly the best thing for wide F1 cars.

Why don't you do it and find out..? I suspect you'll not find much improvement, rather a difference in tonal characteristics. A&R Cambridge amps were/are always pretty good, for those on a budget. And NAD amps are pretty good for those on an even tighter one. If memory serves, I think that NAD 3020 you were selling the other day can be used as a pre-amp only too.

I've eaten at a quite a few pubs in the New Forest over the years, many of which have been mentioned above, and all were pretty good, in their time, too. Recently, I went to the Turfcutters Arms, and it is all Ash has said of it. If you like like cracking food, good service, large portions, rustic and cosy surroundings, this is the place to go. I'll be going again soon.

He's gone: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8166688.stm

The Austin Allegro gets very near, with its square steering wheel, but it has a lot of practical and clever design features from its predecessors, the Austin/Morris Mini/1100/1300/GT, so it just gets away with it. Anyone could say a Lada, Wartburg, etc... but they were hardly sold in volume. I find myself agreeing with Top Gear, by nominating the Morris Marina as the worst car ever sold in numbers, in the UK. I personally owned a Renault 9 saloon for a few weeks before I left for NZ, back in the early 1990s, and from my perspective it was the worst car I ever drove, opened the bonnet of, or even stood near. It was simply awful.

There, at last we have found common ground, so to speak.

It's not being afraid of the technology. In fact, several friends and relatives have called me over the last few years to configure their Sat Navs, because they don't know how to use them even after reading the instructions [or so they tell me]. I just prefer to do a journey without a Sat Nav holding my hand. I sometimes use a Sat Nav when sailing though, as that can be the difference betwen life and death, if one gets into a spot of bother. Getting lost, on the road, is just inconvenient, and sometimes a nice little mystery.

Oh yes, very funny. I believe I may have just split my sides. I think we know the difference between dumbly following what a piece of technology tells you to do, and knowing why you've gone in a certain direction. I prefer the latter. You add to the sum of your knowledge. With a Sat Nav, you don't [after you've learned how to operate the thing, that is].

The new owner is inheriting the last remnants of the old policy of the last incumbents, who paid more attention to the academy, at the expense of the first team. The very group of players that would have made everything else possible. I hope the new owner gets his priorities in proper order.

I take it you mean from the standpoint that, where as I may be a reasonably good driver IMO, [and a better motorcycle rider, after all these years], Marc Gene is awesome in the same vehicle [though possibly NOT on 2 wheels ]. In the company of fellow F1 drivers, he's so-so. That's why he's a test driver, and not a currrent racer.

Apparently not. I have used a Sat Nav just once; upto to Notts County to see Saints get beaten, a couple of seasons ago. The novelty over, I decided that I wouldn't be using one again. I got to my destination without the remotest idea how I'd done it. That's not the way I like to travel. I've always had a reasonably good sense of direction, and I'd like to keep it that way.

Perhaps I should qualify my opinion then, even though I thought I'd made the point many times. Raikkonen is a World Champion from when the cars had so many driver aids that they the peculiarities in them were more evened out. They were simply relatively easier to drive. Ever since the driver aids were removed, he has been found wanting. I think he lacks the finest edge of driver skill, and I also think Michael Schmacher will show his deficiencies up quite quickly. Next season, I expect Massa [if he is fit and injury free enough to drive competitively again] to take one of the Ferrari seats, and Alonso to take the other. Just my opinion, of course.

What's the betting he does encouragingly well enough to do the next race, and the next, and the next... and so on, until does indeed make Kimi Raikkonen look the unmotivated and rather par F1 driver he is turning out to be..? And I'll bet Hamilton [and perhaps an already forgotten Button] smiled broadly at the prospect too.

You may have known about it 2 days ago JB, but to most people it was just a rumour 2 days ago. Today it was confirmed. Would have been nice to get a link for a source though, St Will.

Having played football for a long time from a wee kid in the school team, into my late 20s with various local sides, I went through a couple of eras of stud arrangements, from multistud arrangements to 6 studs including 2 on the heel, and back to more. When I first saw the way blades play I couldn't believe anyone would want to use them. Their grip is directional, and is most effective sideways on, and so injury risk is higher. To see professional footballers trying to stop running on the preferred slightly greasy surface with blades is comical, as they come down on their arses for the umpteenth time. There is absolutely nothing wrong with round studs. At least they are consistent. Blades aren't, and if you go into a tackle with them showing, the risk of gashed injury is much greater too. I don't know why footballers persist with them. Sponsorship money, I bet.

Apparently these people are very good. They do Classic insurance, and that Lambretta is in that category if it is in good condition. http://www.carolenash.com/

The choppy meat/water was funny, but this one made me laugh out loud. I'm going to steal that. The aromatic/romantic duck was a lol too.

Yeah well done Paul Jordan. He finished just behind young Marc Marquez, who is almost certainly going to be a future World Champion. And you could say he did beat Bradley Smith, and that's a heck of a scalp. Got the Viffer out just before the 250ccs came out, but recorded all the races. Only just finished watching the main event. Typical Donington to be atypical of a MotoGP race. Variable weather. Elias led, then fell over spectacularly after touching a white line. Lorenzo fell over doing the same. Rossi fell over, but in true style kept it going to pass other riders who hadn't taken a tumble. Dovizioso got his first senior win. De Puniet oh so nearly made up the distance between him and Andrea, and made me squirm in my seat half a dozen times with his cavalier attitude to white paint. And Colin missed out yet again. I think he's destined never to win a MotoGP because that's pretty much the closest he'll ever get after Assen in 2006. JT equalled his best ever 6th yet again, as Rossi passed him two corners out from the flag. AND WHAT WERE DUCATI THINKING OF STARTING ON WETS when everyone else were on slicks..? Taking a gamble with Nicky Hayden starting in 15th spot may have been something, but to do it with Casey Stoner too..? Mad. As they always say, start with the tyres that fit the conditions in front of you; not what might be around the corner in 10 minutes time. As it happened, it did rain later in the race, but by then the Ducati wets were shot, and possibly worse than slicks. Some people changed to wets, but it was hardly worth it. BTW, I thought Charlie, Steve, Matt and Suzi were on good form today. And Charlie made me giggle at least once with a smart remark I hadn't heard him use before. Finally, the moral of today's races were: KEEP OFF THE WHITE LINES..! British Grand Prix result: 1 A Dovizioso (It) Honda 48'26.267 2 C Edwards (US) Yamaha 48'27.627 3 R de Puniet (Fr) Honda 48'27.867 4 A de Angelis (RSM) Honda 48'35.225 5 V Rossi (It) Fiat Yamaha 48'47.889 6 J Toseland (GB) Yamaha 49'01.551 7 M Melandri (It) Kawasaski 49'01.551 8 N Canepa (Ita) Pramac Racing Ducati 49'05.036 9 D Pedrosa (Sp) Honda 49'08.379 10 M Kallio (Fin) Ducati 49'12.112 11 L Capirossi (It) Suzuki 49'19.457 12 G Talmacsi (Hun) Scot Racing 49'38.582 13 C Vermeulen (Aus) Suzuki 49'46.665 14 C Stoner (Aus) Ducati 49'25.241 15 N Hayden (US) Ducati 49'43.835 DNF J Lorenzo (Sp) Yamaha DNF T Elias (Sp) Gresini Honda Championship standings: 1 V Rossi (Ita) Fiat Yamaha Team 187 2 J Lorenzo (Spn) Fiat Yamaha Team 162 3 C Stoner (Aus) Ducati Marlboro Team 150 4 D Pedrosa (Spn) Repsol Honda Team 115 5 C Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 103 6 A Dovizioso (Ita) Repsol Honda Team 94 7 M Melandri (Ita) Hayate Racing Team 79 8 R de Puniet (Fr) LCR Honda MotoGP 74 9 C Vermeulen (Aus) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 67 10 L Capirossi (Ita) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 66 11 A de Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 60 12 J Toseland (GB) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 55 13 N Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 47 14 T Elias (Spn) San Carlo Honda Gresini 47 15 M Kallio (Fin) Pramac Racing 34 16 N Canepa (Ita) Pramac Racing 28 17 S Gibernau (Spn) Grupo Francisco Hernando 12 18 Y Takahashi (Jpn) Scot Racing Team MotoGP 9 19 G Talmacsi (Hng) Scot Racing Team MotoGP 5

It used to be said that Newcastle were everybody's favourite second team. I think it was because they failed so often. It's probably why Saints were well thought of too. Kind of harmless, I guess. I remember the Beeb promoted a Toon V Saints FA Cup match [Dexter Blackstock goalkeeping one] a couple of seasons back, which headlined all the turmoil that both clubs were going through, so even they thought of both clubs as similar. I have no gripe with Newcastle Utd. I wouldn't wish the last few seasons we've had on an enemy, and I'm not going to make them an exception. Ultimately, only Saints exist in my mind anyway, and the rest are there just to play us.

Qualification being repeated on Freeview 301 [Red Button] at the moment. For those starting to nod off during the Hungary GP, the 125s and 250s get going properly at 12.20pm until 2.35pm. The main event is 3.00pm. Anyway, you can see the timings at the top.