St Landrew

Well the term Mickey Mouse, when applied to a football club, suggests that they have been around for 5 minutes and have had little on no success, or support during their short sporting life. Middlesbrough may not have had the most illustrious history, but they've been around for quite some time, have had a large loyal following in the past, and have achieved a bit of success in their years. Hardly Mickey Mouse. But I would have thought it obvious. Perhaps you just wanted the big explanation again..?

Owned a Lambretta in the past. Lovely scooter, but sadly, cool doesn't get you to work and back, reliably every day.

There's been something seriously amiss at Newcastle Utd for years. They're a so-called big club who continue to flatter to deceive. They have all the infrastructure, it seems, and yet they employ alsoran players, or other top clubs cast offs, and make managerial appointments that are almost embarrassing. They should be top 6 every season, yet manage to badly under perform. And when they do get their act together, they always manage to screw it up in the end. They should take lessons from Saints demise, otherwise they'll drop like a stone.

Middlesbrough founded 1876 Saints founded 1885 Hardly Mickey Mouse. Now if you were talking about Wigan [founded 1932], I could possibly agree.

Can't comment on this particular Honda, but I have a relative who pops by on his 125cc cruiser occasionally. It is mechanically very sound, yet when one opens the throttle, all you get is induction roar and a gentle increase in speed. I know cruisers look good, but honestly, if you're restricted to 125cc, I'd get a lightweight trail bike. Nimble in traffic, and with enough performance to get you out of trouble. Something like this: Even if you never use it offroad, I suspect you'd find it more satisfying in the end. Above all, test ride a few.

Rather have my Viffer, thanks Lee. Nice though. EDIT: That's the new S1000RR, yes..? 193BHP..? That's crazy for a road bike. Oh well, it's reduced Rev Saint's list of bikes by one, I'm sure.

Well, in that case, I've always admired the Aprillia/Rotax engineered BMW F650 Single. Not outright ultra fast, but extremely quick and a lot of fun. Though definitely NOT the perfect bike for the beginner, as the engine has enormous low down performance.

Spudgun, don't take any notice at all of the above..! Only kidding. After several years of first being a system disk, for a short while, and for the main part, being a data disk, the Maxtor 120Gb HDD on the very computer I wrote the above post, has decided to give trouble. I think it's the recent rise in temperature, and it has decided to start warning me, so I can't really trust it anymore. Never mind. Several years having a fully functioning Maxtor HDD is a bit of an achievement anyway. I'll be a bit kinder to it while I get another HDD sorted and the important data transferred.

Would that be a special discount..? Care to elaborate..?

Not sure about awesome. Diverting maybe. It certainly made a change. I'm inclined to agree with Arizona about Monaco. I'm sure the drivers love it, but as a race, it's F1 at it's processional worst. Which is a great shame, and there's nothing they can do about it, apart from making the roads much wider, which they can't. I remember being slightly impressed by the glitz and glamour for a short while, in my younger years, but then quickly realised all the glitz and glamour in the world can't make a boring race spectacularly great. If they took it off the calender, it would take me all of 5 seconds to get over it. Once again, well done Jenson, Rubens and BrawnGP. The class of the field. EDIT: Did like the camera capturing the cars changing direction and load along the swimming pool section. The way some cars bounced and jiggled around there, and the way the Brawns seemed to sweep left and right. Now that was awesome.

Interesting point. I'm not sure what will happen, as to the usage, to all the existing analogue frequencies. The general public seem to be resisting the call for digital radio, and frankly, who can blame them..? Digital radio isn't without fault. Granted, the technology should mean generally better quality sourced signal, but at what cost..? Digital radios are a 20th of the efficiency of side-by-side comparable FM radios, and although they offer far more choice of channels, who regularly tunes into more than half a dozen anyway..? Don't get me wrong, I have no problems with digital radio. I'd just like the analogue frequencies to remain too.

Reliable, but don't you find them a tad expensive, Lee..? I would have thought a Honda, a perfectly well made bike. Think about it - their cars are the most reliable around, and they achieved that on the back of their motorcycle engineering practices. Their bikes are considered extremely reliable. A Beemer seems a bit of an extreme jump into exotica, first time of asking. Just my opinion, of course.

You won't need to go anywhere near those sums, if you wish to buy a secondhand machine. At £4,000, you practically have 90% of the secondhand market at your disposal, unless you're aiming at something rare, exotic, or just extremely new. Remember also that there may well be a 33BHP restriction involved for the first 2 years after you have passed. I'm not solid on this information at all, so go here for an explanation. http://www.vauntage.co.uk/cbt_licence_rules.htm Btw, 33bhp will be fine to start with, if you go down that route, or there is Direct Access, the route, I believe Baj took. With all the hoops people have to jump through these days, I'm so glad I got my licence years ago. Good luck, Rev.

Mine doesn't have a topbox, but as the bike is a sports-tourer, it's something that many companies have ranges to equip it with; and it's something that I'm definitely on the look out for. Givi and Kappa systems spring to mind, but of course, one should never pay the asking price when there are plenty of people just gagging to sell you these things. eBay is awash with them. A well designed topbox doesn't alter the balance of the bike to any great respect, and they are always removeable. I can only echo the previous advice. Find something you are comfortable with, because not only will you have to be responsible for your own road safety but, in all honesty, you'll have to do the job of several car drivers too, and that is NOT to condemn car drivers per se. It is so that your senses will be alert. Once you've gained that extra perception, you will be able to enjoy your riding just as much as you know you will. As to being boring; believe me, the average 500-600cc touring bike has real usable performance most other road users can only dream about, so don't think, for one moment, that you're being boring. But I'm sure you'll eventually find a reason for wanting more.

Welcome to the clan. Is it just possible we might require our own forum at this rate..? Baj got a lot of advice when he was choosing his machine, and I think it was all pretty helpful. Come back when you need some of your own. Haven't actually photographed mine yet [must get around to that], but it's absolutely stock, and exactly like this one. To be truthful, mine is a tad dirtier. Still another week until I'm allowed to ride it as well. Better get cleaning it I suppose. Ho hum. The frustration is getting to me.

I know they've built much more conventional 2-wheel designs, that have NOT overly excited me, but perhaps, with this concept, they should just stick to what they know. It's a step too far towards a TRON bike, for me.

I thought it wasn't easy being green..?

Not knocking semi complicated approaches to solutions in any way, but I always find it strange why people would want to buy external HDDs or other means of backup to their data, if all they are going to do is keep the data on the same machine, and transport a few gigabytes at a time. Simply buy another HDD and slot it into the machine you already have. It couldn't be simpler or cheaper, and is pretty damn reliable too. System HDDs have a lot to do, which is why it's a good thing not to saddle them with personally important information, as well. But ones sat in the next bay, purely holding data, pretty much idle away the hours unless they are accessed. As one upgrades from one PC to the next, it's a simple process to unscrew this second HDD and put it in the newer one, and with a couple of strings, almost totally, taking your intact data with you. Occasionally, you may have to change from IDE to SATA, as the technology changes, but it's not rocket science, and all but the densest could do it with a little nudge of online instruction [even the sometimes iffy instruction from here ]. Just check the conditions of your guarantee first though. Some computer manufcturers will allow you to open the box [e.g. Novatech], provided you tell them what you propose, and it won't invalidate the guarantee. Honestly, if you're reading this on your PC, and it has one HDD doing all the fetching and carrying, then look up the price of the correct decent sized HDD [say 250 to 500 Gb] to install alongside it. Once you have the thing in place, you've have little need to worry anymore about data loss. You can even redirect your My Documents folder to live on the second HDD too, so that everything becomes completely seamless.

Oh I don't know, I like the Bugatti Veyron, as the last/best piece of self indulgence of the car world. But before anyone decides to put themsleves into penury, purely on its performance figures, perhaps they should look at a fast motorcycle. At legal speeds, plenty of bikes are the same or actually quicker. Plus they carry a price tag only 1% of the Veyron. There you go - pant wetting performance for anybody, if not the ultra glamour. And frankly, is that worth screwing yourself into the ground to find £1.4M..?

Splashed out on a couple of DVDs of BBC series I have wanted for a few years. The first one was Middlemarch from 1994. Excellently watchable period piece that only the Beeb seem to know how to pace and present. I find I'm getting the same old emotions, from when I saw it back then, of poor Dr Lydgate having his ambitions twarted, and young Dorothea Brooke marrying the middle-aged scholar Edward Casaubon. There's sub-plot and sub-plot, just like a good period novel should have. No dumbing down from George Eliot [Mary Ann Evans]. The second DVD, I'm in the process of watching, having got about half way through; and it's To The Ends Of The Earth from 2004, based on William Golding's trilogy. I missed the first episode the first time round, but got caught up in it from the very first minutes of the second. This time, I have the leisure to watch it at my own pace, but it's so watchable that immediately the first episode finished I was into the second straight away. There's something oddly quirky about it, and the unexpected keeps popping up, which is rather imaginative of Golding, as all the story is centured around the character of one passenger and his interactions with others on an 18th century ship bound for Australia. One thing that truly nails the drama down, [and Middlemarch, for that matter] and gives it real authenticity, is that the actors speak their lines in the manner and language of the time. Too many times in recent years have I seen semi-serious period drama/films staged where the actors speak in modern manner, dialect, and word. And it just completely ruins the whole process. For people who occasionally like their dramas set in other era, these are both recommended. And give them the full attention they deserve.

Not to worry. If, after checking things out, you find that your HDD is suspect, then remove it. and go get yourself a new one, and install a new system on that. Hopefully, you'll have the discs, which will make it all rather easier. Once you are up and running with your, as yet, uncluttered new system, reconnect your old HDD [as a slave if it is IDE]. Once it is recognised by the system, you can begin retrieving data from it. You may even find that in a new role as a mere data carrying disc, it is happy to idle along, read and writing information you wish to store. Just remove it from the duties of being the main drive. All is certainly not lost.

In the last yearbook I have, for 2003/04, all the squad, reserves, academy, and women's teams feature. It would be nice to have the women's team back eventually. But first things first.

Of course it does, and whatever I say is always going to be my opinion. Unless we are dealing with cold hard facts, there will always be a real chance of disagreement. As it is, I found the Office too squirmingly real to be funny, and Extras was just unfunny. But I've never been one of the herd, so I'm sure my opinion is in the minority. Still love me..?

Can't remember who ex-Saints groundsman, Dave Roberts went to work for [i think it was for some particular national sporting association], but he'd know how to fix the Wembley pitch, maximum sunlight or minimum sunlight, I'm confident of that. Oh dear, just found this old memory: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/2653395.stm

Yeah, I missed it as I had a last minute invitation on Friday to go on a sailing weekend around the IOW. So last minute, in fact, that I even forgot to set the HDD recorder. Still, I thought as we were crashing through some bloody choppy stuff in the Solent, I'll catch it on iPlayer. Oh yeah..? Not until today, as there was an internal problem at the BBC website. Not quite a cracker IMO, as some MotoGP races are just the best thing to be seen on TV, but it had its moments. Seeing Rossi fall off, come into the pits about 4 times and finish last was something new. And the rest of the gang were swopping places faster than you could shout OVERTAKING..! Everyone was on tenterhooks in the semi-wet, but only Lorenzo and Melandri were really making the most of it. Then they all came in for slicks, because Vale had decided to [so it must have been the right thing to do] and when he promptly fell off and everyone else was 6-8 seconds slower per lap, Jorge and Marco just decided to come in when they jolly well felt like it. Seeing Melandri get the Kwacker onto the podium was nice, but the highlight was Pedrosa chasing down teammate Dovizioso. Some of the speed into corners he was achieving was just silly. His bike looked to be on rails. Might have a look at that again before the remaining days are up on the iPlayer. EDIT: Got my Dutch VFR800Fi GB registered yesterday. Shan't be doing any of that immitation stuff on it when I start riding it next month.